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They walked out together, shoulders bumping once. Marshall leaned down and glared at her before turning sharply and stalking down the corridor.

“Marshall.” Autumn hurried to catch up with Marshall. “Would you fucking stop already?”

“Why?” He stopped and glared at her. “So you can get me fucking killed, too?”

Fellow officers moved around them and turned their heads and stared. Autumn grabbed Marshall’s arm and pulled him around the corner. She had been tempted to smile, but seeing as she didn’t usually, she simply nodded as a handful of officers walked past.

“Let me go,” Marshall snapped, pulling his arm out of her grip once they were alone.

“What happened at Tripp?” The words seemed sluggish in her throat. She had to use far too much force to get them out of her mouth.

“What do you think?” He rubbed his hands over his cheeks and let out a huge sigh.

“I have no idea.” She hadn’t even heard the name before.

“Fuck you. You can knock off the sweet innocent routine now.”

“You believed him?” Autumn’s face grew cold, and then her arms and her torso as her blood drained to her lower body.

“He knows what goes on around here.”

“He thinks he does.” Autumn shook her head. She could do this. She could trust him, right? “I’m not some undercover agent. I went for a walk because the fucking testosterone was threatening to choke me. Next thing I know, this naked woman starts talking to me, and it turns out she’s a fucking mermaid!” Autumn whispered-screamed the last two words, just in case. And the relief at being able to finally say the words rushed through her.

“You expect me to believe that bullshit? You knew her name, and she knew you,” Marshall hissed. “I watched the video, Autumn.”

“It’s not like that. Yes, we know each other, now.” She emphasized the last word, but Marshall’s sneer didn’t shift from his face.

“I’m going to do Chalmers’s fucking bidding, and the moment we get back, I’m wiping my hands of you, and this whole fucked up service.”

“Marshall.” Autumn begged to be believed, but she didn’t chase after him again.

Instead, she watched him walk away.

Autumn had thought she had felt trapped before, but now she wasn’t just trapped, she was screwed.

She had a mark on her.

One that would land her six feet in a pit.

No.

That was too kind.

They’d leave her out to feed the wildlife.

Autumn put her hand in her pocket and searched for the small sewn-in coin pouch. She didn’t dare open the pouch and touch the soul stone with her bare fingers. The hardness through the material calmed her. Until she remembered what Chalmers was making her and Marshall do. Her stomach churned as she remembered the threats of what would follow should either of them go against him.

Marshall found her in the morning. He didn’t look happy about it. And when he repeated their orders, Autumn nearly ran to the ocean to drown herself.

Standing on the edge of the beach, Autumn’s eyes ached in the glare of the sun. The winking lights off the water no longer carried a calm beauty to them. She hadn’t slept. Not a wink. After tossing and turning for hours, she gave up. By then the sun had already woken, spreading the cold light of dawn over the world she inhabited.

No, not inhabited.

The world she invaded.

She had avoided the harsh words. But the truth would no longer be hidden behind diplomacy and justification. At least not in her mind—not anymore. She had allowed herself to believe they didn’t know. She had ignored all the clues that told her that of course they knew, they just didn’t care. Nothing could be ignored any longer.

The water washed over her bare toes, and she flicked a glance over her shoulder.