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I wondered where he could possibly be taking me. Not that I had the map memorized, but I didn’t remember seeing any other pools on campus.

As Kendall led me further into the corner, I saw that there was a door, somewhat camouflaged, right next to where the wall touched the thick glass. Kendall lifted a hidden metal flap on the wall to reveal the same kind of retina scan that was on the entrance of the school. He leaned forward for the device to scan his eye, and the door unlocked and popped open an inch.

Kendall glanced at me as he pulled it open the rest of the way. “Only mermaids can get in here.” He held the door open for me, but I was hesitant to go in.

“What is it?” I asked, peeking in and seeing nothing but darkness. Some cynical part of me was wary that this might be some kind of trick.

“It’s a secret exit that leads directly into the lake,” he said, unphased by my suspicion. “Only a few of the Mer students know about it. And now you do, too.”

My suspicion dissipated instantly, replaced by a humbling sense of honor. On the map, the only way in or out of the school was the front entrance from the subway. But as The Dome was built and funded by mermaids, it made sense that there would be an escape hatch only they could access. If something happened to The Dome, of course, the mermaids would be concerned with saving only themselves.

I fought the eye roll at the thought and stepped into the small space. Kendall followed and closed the door behind us.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see that we were in a small room, about two meters wide and two meters deep. There was a flight of stairs directly in front of us that led to a room about the same size. A faint bluish glow came from the floor of the room at the top of the stairs, giving this moment an even greater sense of magic.

Kendall encouraged me up the stairs, where I saw that the glow was coming from a round portal in the floor that was completely open to the water of the lake.

He pulled his shirt up over his head, revealing that deliciously chiseled chest. When he proceeded to take off his pants, like stripping down in front of a girl was no big deal, I failed to resist admiring his admittedly impressive package, my shock making my only reaction to stare. He flashed me a cocky, seductive grin as he sat at the edge of the portal.

He stuck his legs in the water, and I noticed that they didn’t transform. His legs were still human legs—muscular, thick, nicely-tanned legs. And his dick was still nestled firmly between them.

I realized two things. One, that the lake was fresh water, not salt water. And two, I didn’t have my swim top, so if I went in, I’d be just as naked as he was.

I gasped. “I can’t go in there,” I objected with a fervent shake of my head. “I don’t know how to transform without salt water. And I don’t have the first clue of how to swim without my tail!” Not to mention the whole naked thing.

“It’s alright, I came prepared.” He reached into the pocket of his discarded pants, pulled something out, and tossed it to me.

I caught it instinctively, fully expecting it to be a condom and preparing myself to scold him for thinking I was that easy—although, really, who was I kidding?

I looked down at my hands to see that it was a small vial full of clear liquid.

“It’s salt water,” he said with a chuckle that said he knew exactly where my mind had been. But there was still a challenge in his beach-wave eyes.

Understanding dawned on me, and I let out a self-indulgent laugh, still unsure about this experiment. The pool in the training room was nothing but salt water, so I had no trouble staying in my mermaid form there. But this tiny amount of salt water?

“How long will it last?” I asked, pulse racing at the thought of returning to human form too far from the portal.

“You’ll be fine,” Kendall reassured me with a chuckle. “Once transformed and in the water, your body will have no reason to change back into a human form until your skin begins to dry. Many mermaids actually struggle to change back to human form in water, salt or not.”

“Really?” I asked, a bit more confident. “Why would they want to?”

“Out in public, with humans, could you imagine accidentally letting your tail out because some water happened to splash on you? That would expose you—and our entire species. That’s the whole purpose of our Transformation class, in fact. Every other species at this school takes that time to learn how to shift. We use it to learn hownotto.”

I nodded. That made sense.

“So you thought ahead enough to bring me a tube of salt water, but you didn’t bring me a swim top?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips in a playfully accusatory pose.

Kendall smiled in faux innocence and shrugged. “I guess I forgot.” His tone was sultry, and that challenge still burned in his gaze.

A thrill flooded my insides. I was rarely one to back down from a challenge. So, I figured it was time to up the ante.

I pulled my shirt off and tossed it on the floor near his discarded clothing. Then I shimmied out of my slacks and panties, keeping eye contact with him the whole time. I couldn’t help but smirk when his eyes broke contact to flash down at me, appreciation dilating his pupils.

The only thing I didn’t remove was my black lace bra. No sense giving away all my secrets just yet. I had to make him work forsomething.

With a wry brow arched, he patted the spot on the floor beside him at the edge of the portal, and I sashayed over to sit. I popped open the vial and rubbed the salt water over my bare thighs like lotion.

The reaction was instantaneous, my legs merging and pink scales covering my flesh.