Truly, in that moment, I couldn’t have asked for a better honeymoon. Feeling the weight of his hand in mine, the warmth of the sun beating down on us, everything felt right in the world. We’d found our peace, at last.

I allowed my thoughts to grow indulgent, as we stood in the sea foam, eyes closed to the dawn horizon. I’d come to love this man, against my better judgment, I was sure. But in this moment, I regretted nothing.

So engulfing was the richness of this moment, swaying with the lapping waves, that I barely noticed the first bump against my ankle.

Eric caressed my face, his hand on my chin guiding my lips to meet him again, and again, until our bodies were pressed against each other, his hands travelling the length of my… and there it was again. A bump, against my leg. I broke our embrace to look down at where our feet had sunk in to the sand.

A small bottle bobbed in the water, insistent in its knocking against my leg. “What have we here?” I murmured, a wicked delight coming over me at the unexpected. _Idiot_.

I bent to take the small bottle in hand, Eric coming to stand behind me, lacing his hands around my front as I uncorked the stopper. “A treasure map?” I asked him, smiling up at his tanned freckles and mischievous grin. I tapped the glass against my palm to loosen the note inside.

“I have all the treasure I could ever need,” he said, gently kissing my neck. It was with a stupid smile of contentment that I unfurled the parchment, and felt my veins run cold in an instant.

_You have taken what does not belong to you. Return him by sun down, or it will be your last._

My wild gaze searched the horizon, finding more, and more bottles springing to the surface. Bobbing on the waves, floating to shore, readying for attack.

“Vanessa?” Eric asked, confusion turning his features innocent against the rising crest of my guilt.

I searched the sea for any sign of her; red hair, scales, those serpent eyes. Nothing. How had she found us?__

__

_No_, I thought, _I can’t let her take him. I won’t. _