"Ok, everyone ready?" Lewis looked up from his writing, stifling a yawn as he reached for the cup of water next to him. He'd hardly gotten any sleep the night before. The possibility that Sophie could be lurking, hunting one of them was terrifying. The fact that Sophie was only after Bella didn't make him feel any better. Bella was only one step away from Cleo and as they'd realized, Sophie wasn't dumb.

"Ready." Cleo nodded, holding out her hand towards Bella, who stood in the middle of the room with her arms at her sides.

Rikki took Bella's other side, mirroring Cleo. "Go ahead."

Bella gritted her teeth as Lewis threw the cup of water at her. For hours now, they'd been working on solutions to the Sophie problem. Currently, they were practicing keeping Bella from transforming in case of a surprise attack.

Water splashed everywhere, soaking Bella. "Go!" She shouted. She tried to move as little as possible as her friends immediately got to work. Cleo twisted her hand, pulling the water off of Bella. Rikki's brow was furrowed in concentration as she slightly moved her fingers.

"Good job, Rikki." Lewis encouraged her. "I can hardly see any steam."

"8...9...10." Lewis counted down, almost holding his breath. He waited, but Bella looked to be totally dry. "We did it! She didn't change!"

"He's right." Bella nodded, looking down at her clothes. "I'm dry."

"Good job! That's three times in a row!" Lewis made a quick note before reaching out to wrap an arm around Cleo. "If you girls can match that timing you can keep Bella from transforming."

"Oh come on, Lewis." Zane spoke up from his seat at the table where he'd been watching with his head resting unenthusiastically in his hand. "It's still totally obvious. Sophie's going to see it."

"Maybe not?" Bella was trying to stay optimistic. She needed to right now. "If it's night, or if we keep the café pretty dimly lit-"

"It still isn't going to work." Zane almost sounded like he was talking to himself. "I mean, Cleo and Rikki, or me, will have to be right next to you all the time. And not just next to you, but ready for an attack at any moment." He shook his head. "You're both great at using your powers. Much better than I am." He looked up at the girls. "But it still looks like you're doing something weird. And how would you explain the fact that she would have just watched Bella go from soaked to totally dry in seconds? You don't think that would look weird? To everyone watching?" He shrugged. "It's just not going to work, guys. In fact, it'll just make things worse." He looked to Rikki, worry aching in his chest. "Please. Don't give Sophie any reason to suspect you girls too."

"We can keep practicing." Cleo tried to lighten the mood. She looked to Lewis for backup. "Yeah? Grab another cup?"

"You got it." Lewis hurried to the kitchen for a refill.

"I mean, if Sophie attacks when you're onstage..." Zane was still talking. "Even the audience will see. This just doesn't look casual enough."

"It's going to work." Rikki said firmly, taking Zane's hand and squeezing it tightly. "We can do this. Just breathe." She waited for him to take a deep breath before continuing. "It's going to be ok." She said calmly. "We're going to keep practicing until it's flawless." She took Zane's chin between her thumb and forefinger, drawing his face close to hers. "Have a little faith." She kissed him, swatting his shoulder as she walked back to her place next to Bella. "Alright." Rikki announced as Lewis returned with the water. "This time, let's try it from two feet further back."

Sophie almost whistled as she walked into her apartment. She hurried to her monitors, dropping into her desk chair with a spin.

"Let's see if we got anything while I was gone..." She murmured to herself as she quickly fast forwarded through the different footage reels. "Nothing." She smiled. She hadn't expected to get anything else, not now that Bella had been warned. If anything, it only proved her theory. "Even she isn't dumb enough to get caught twice." Sophie smirked. This was all playing out perfectly. Bella. The same Bella who'd gotten Will to quit diving. The same Bella who convinced Will not to let her take any of the moon cave rocks. The same Bella who had taken virtually any chance Sophie'd had away from her... now she was her ticket up and out.

Sophie pulled out her phone, scrolling through the events list for the café.

"The show starts at 9pm." She leaned back in her chair, smiling and relaxed. She'd decided that that was the place to do it. Not while Bella was onstage per say, but maybe right after. Bella used the back office as a dressing room, and Sophie knew that's where she'd be right after they wrapped up. She didn't really care if a couple other people were in the room when she threw the water, it's not like they'd be prepared with cameras like she would be. Odds were good that she'd be alone, though.

Sophie's phone chimed from the counter in front of her. Zane?" She raised an eyebrow. Maybe he'd finally come to his senses. She crossed her legs as she held the phone to her ear. "Yes?"

"Hey, uh, Sophie." Zane didn't sound quite like himself, his voice coming across rather thin through the phone.

Sophie waited, but he didn't continue. "What?" She asked impatiently.

"Look, I was just wondering if maybe... you wanted to talk about partnering up again. You know," He added quickly. "Like, if you wanted to sponsor another diver or something? We... do work well together."

"Oh shut up." Sophie rolled her eyes. Really, she'd expected more from Zane than this. "You're an idiot if you think I'm going to drop the mermaid thing just because you want to partner up on diving again, Zane. Did you really think this would distract me?"

"I'm not trying to distract you." Zane sounded firmer. "I've just been thinking a lot about what you said. I'm looking at venturing away from the café as my sole source of income."

"And the timing is a complete coincidence that you came to this conclusion the day after I told Will I knew about Bella?" Sophie asked coolly.

"Not completely." Zane admitted. "Sophie, you need a new project. Come on." He sighed. "You're hunting mermaids. People are going to think you're insane."

Sophie's eye's flickered over the printed stills scattered over the desk. "Who's to say I haven't already found one?"

Zane's voice grew even stronger. "Sophie, Bella is not a mermaid."

"Well someone is." Sophie shot back. "Let's just say I've had some luck, Zane, and no one will call me a liar once I expose Bella for what she is."

Zane didn't think it was possible for his heart to sink any lower, but he was wrong. He felt a drop of sweat run down the middle of his back. She had proof. She must.

"Plus." Sophie continued. "If she isn't the mermaid, then nothing will happen when she gets wet, will it?" Sophie said smoothly. "And the world will spin on."

"Yeah, but come on." Zane stopped just short of pleading. "She's totally stressed waiting for you to jump out of a bush at her or something. You can't treat people like that."

"She's hardly a person." Sophie snorted. "I'm right about this, Zane. I know it. It's the only thing that makes sense. You and that group have ruined plenty of opportunities for me." She swallowed, remembering how at one point she'd actually considered Zane a friend. She'd respected him. "But you're not going to do it this time. Tell Bella I'll see her tonight."

She slammed the phone on the desk.

"Why would she tell you when she was going to attack?" Bella crossed her arms, shaking her head as Zane hung up.

"She's good." Lewis paced, deep in thought. "If you don't show, that's suspicious. In fact," He ran a hand through his blonde hair. "If we do anything out of the ordinary it'll look suspicious. If you do show, she'll toss water at you."

"And we'll get it off of her." Rikki snapped her fingers. "We've gotten pretty quick, you know. We are down to three seconds. If we play it right we can make it look like Sophie missed her."

"I still don't think that will convince her." Zane leaned forward on his elbows, exhausted. "It looks too weird."

"No it doesn't." Bella looked to her friends. "We can totally make it work. The moment I see Sophie coming I can start getting ready to react." She smiled. "I'll pretend not to see her, and the second she throws it I'll step aside. Whatever hits me, you guys take care of." She nodded to Cleo and Rikki. "Cleo from the front row, Rikki behind the bar. I'll play it up, act like I'm mad and pretend to wipe it off and stuff." She snapped her fingers. "It's going to work."

"But you don't think she's going to keep trying?" Zane stood, suddenly incensed, pushing his chair back with his knees. "I mean, what about next time? What if she pushes you in a pool?"

"We're together all the time already..." Cleo stood as well, casting a concerned look in Zane's direction.

"And we won't let them get close enough to a pool for that to happen." Rikki reached for Zane's shoulder, though he didn't react. "We can do this, Zane."

"I feel good about it." Bella wasn't lying. They'd practiced until they ran the drill like a well-oiled machine. Rikki could heat the water so quickly that there was hardly any steam, and Cleo was brilliant at moving it away. She'd even managed to thin the water to a point where it was all but invisible. This was going to work. She knew it.

"I do too." Lewis agreed. "They're nailing it, Zane." He raised his shoulders. "They can do this, don't worry."

"Sophie will get bored eventually. Something else will come along and distract her." Rikki nodded. "We've just got to be careful until then. Really, we're lucky this is happening. We should have a plan in place for if something like this happens."

Bella checked her watch. "I guess we need to leave soon for the café. You're sure we should still do sound check and everything?"

"We're behaving exactly like we would otherwise." Lewis repeated the sentence for the tenth time that night. "We won't give Sophie a single feather to stick in that cap of hers."

"Alright then." Bella inhaled. "We're on guard the second we step foot out that door."

The café was almost sold out for the band's show that night.

"Any sign of her?" Rikki leaned in to ask Zane. They were both working behind the counter, though people appeared more interested in watching the show than they did in drinking juice.

"Nothing." Zane was hardly getting anything done as his eyes swiped restlessly from table to table, door to door. "I don't see her." He looked up to the stage, where Bella was pretending to talk casually to Lewis. Bella was making a grand effort to appear light and breezy, but Zane could see the worry behind her eyes. Every time someone shouted she ducked like a bunny, eyes scared as they scoured the room.

"Cleo's in place." Rikki nodded toward Cleo's place at a stage-side table. "And I'm ready." She took a deep breath as she reminded herself that it could happen any moment. She turned to Zane, who hadn't stopped eyeing the crowd. He had an odd expression on his face. It was more than worry... was it fear? She stepped in. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Zane answered, though he gave her no other acknowledgment, his eyes still gazing at the crowd of faces.

Rikki waited, but Zane didn't appear to have anything else to say. "Hey." She shook his arm, squeezing it.

"What?" Zane pulled out of her grasp, moving back to the register.

"You're clearly not ok." Rikki followed him, crossing her arms and speaking low. "Pull it together, Zane." She elbowed him playfully. "Remember, we're selling more than juices tonight. Sophie needs to believe this is all real."

"It's real." Zane repeated, trying and failing to force a smile to his face. He still seemed lost in his head as he slammed the drawer closed. Rikki almost walked into him as he suddenly changed directions. "I've actually got to run out real fast, you'll be alright here."

"Where are you going?" Rikki frowned. "Do you think that's a good idea? With Sophie out there?"

"She's after Bella, not me." Zane clenched his teeth as he looked around the café for Sophie one more time before turning to Rikki. "And it's not like I can help much once she gets here, can I?"

Rikki opened her mouth to argue, but deflated. He was right; he couldn't manipulate his powers well enough to help Bella in the event of an attack. "Where?" She crossed her arms, shaking her head exasperatedly.

"I left my phone at the house." Zane hated himself for lying. "I'll be back soon."

"Fine." Rikki held her hands up. "Go. But be careful. Got it?"

"I know what I'm doing." Still more than lost in his thoughts, Zane pushed past Rikki and out the door. He needed air. He had been wrestling with guilt and his conscious all day. He needed to regain control of his life. And he had a plan of his own on how to do it.

"I don't know what it is you dragged me out here to talk about, but-" Sophie began talking the second Zane appeared at her door. "I was halfway there when you called. I already told you, nothing you guys do is going to distract me. I know Bella's set tonight doesn't end til twelve, I still have plenty of time to get there."

"I know you do." Zane said, feeling oddly relieved and terrified at the idea of what he'd come here to do. He leaned on her doorframe, panting from running there. "Let me in?" He practically fell through the doorway as she stepped aside.

"So whatever you guys have cooked up, it won't work." Sophie couldn't keep the smirk from her face as she swung her door shut. "Did I mention that I have video? Pictures?" She picked up a handful of pages from her desk, waving them in the air before dropping them. "I'm not getting distracted this time."

Zane swallowed, his fear confirmed. The second he'd heard that the cameras weren't where Sophie had said they'd be he'd known. She had to have gotten something. He continued, determined.

"Sophie..." Zane began. "There's something I need to tell you. But I want to talk to you first."

"Well thati doesn't make any sense." Sophie said haughtily. "Get to the point, Zane."

Zane took a deep, shaking breath as he prepared himself. "I wasn't lying when I said we should partner up again. I was just lying about wanting to team up on a sponsorship project."

"So, what?" Sophie raised an eyebrow, uninterested. "You want in on this now? The mermaid thing?" She snorted. "Yeah, right. You're one of them."

"You're right." Zane was barely audible.

"Also." Sophie hadn't stopped talking. "I thought you didn't believe me. So how would you be planning to work with me on it? Hm?" She waited pointedly for his response.

"Sophie it's me." Zane said the words before he could stop himself.

Sophie paused, giving Zane a sharp look before opening her mouth to speak. "What's you?"

"In the pictures and the videos you took." Zane picked one up, looking at it. He'd never seen a photo of himself like that before. It was oddly... nice. "This is me."

"Zane..." Sophie looked bored. "If you expect me to believe you rented a costume or something for her-"

"That's not what I'm saying." Zane shook his head miserably, imploring Sophie to understand him. "In these pictures... it isn't Bella." He looked Sophie dead in the eye. "It's me."

Sophie froze for a long moment, eyes glued to Zane's. For several of the longest seconds of Zane's life, the only sound in the room was the two of them breathing heavily. Sophie took in a long breath before bursting out into hysterical laughter.

"You have GOT to be kidding me." She dropped into her chair, dissolving into gasping giggles. "Out of all the things you guys came up with to protect her, this is what you're going with?" She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "I mean, come on. Zane, I've seen you swim. You had legs."

"It happened after that." Zane spoke quietly.

"Oh, did it?" Sophie nodded, clearly mocking him. "Why don't you tell me about it, Zane? I'm all ears."

"You can't take any video." Zane said quickly. "I told you I wanted to partner up. I meant it. So promise you'll listen to what I have to say. Then you can decide what to do."

"GO." Sophie rolled her eyes, though a strange feeling was starting to nibble at her mind.

"You were right." Zane talked slowly as he talked, hands in his pockets. His voice still wasn't very strong, but he was alert as he kept an eye on Sophie. "I was the only person in town who believed in mermaids. And I did find one. Or..." He paused, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It found me."

"Bella?" Sophie crossed her arms.

"No, that's what I'm telling you." Zane could feel himself getting frustrated. At Sophie, at the whole situation. He hated doing this, but he knew it was what he had to do. "Bella isn't anything, she's a normal girl." He exhaled forcefully as he faced her. "It's me. I'm the mermaid. Merman." He dropped his arms to his sides. "The pictures, the videos... they're all me. I'm the one you caught swimming that night."

Sophie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. " I-" She stammered.

"I mean think about it." Zane approached her suddenly, walking up so close that he was almost breathing on her. "You keep saying how Bella being the mermaid is the only thing that makes sense. But that's not true." He shook his head vehemently, suddenly on fire. "The only thing that makes sense... is that it's me. You haven't lived here very long Sophie. Did you know Bella moved here within a week of when you did?" He continued without waiting for an answer. "I was obsessed with mermaids for two years before she got there. No one in town has heard me mention them since. It's because I found out they were real."

"But I saw you swimming after both Bella-" Sophie said her name in a teasingly sweet voice. "And I moved here. You sure seemed pretty human then."

"I told you I found out they were real, not that that's when I changed." Zane felt ten years older as he looked at the redhead, not a shadow of humor on his face.

Sophie straightened in her seat a bit. "If this is the truth, then why are you telling me? And why are you so concerned with protecting Bella? You know what I'm planning to do."

"I don't care about Bella." Zane crossed his arms. "And I do know what you're planning. That's why I'm telling you." Zane exhaled, his heart pounding uncontrollably in his chest. "I'd been thinking about going public for a while." He hoped he'd practiced enough to make the lie sound convincing. He shrugged casually. "We make a good team, Sophie."

"I still don't believe you." Sophie held up her hands, shaking her head.

"It's not like it's hard to prove." Zane shot back hotly. "I can show you anytime you want."

"So..." Sophie paced, a more-than skeptical look clear on her face. "You, Zane Bennett, are a merman. And you want to go public, with me as your... partner?"

"Sure." Zane tried to keep the tremor from his voice. "Fame looks good on us, Sophie. And you know how much more successful you'll be if you work with me." He met her eyes. "You were right about one other thing too." He ticked the names on his fingers. "Rikki, Cleo, Bella, Will, Lewis... they all know." He left Nate's name out of the conversation. No point in dragging him into drama he needn't be concerned with. "And now you. With that many people in on the secret, it's really only a matter of time until it gets out. I'd rather be ahead of it. Control the narrative."

Sophie crossed her arms, eyes narrow as she examined Zane. "Show me. Now."

"Not here." Zane shook his head.

"Why not?" Sophie cocked her head to one side. "Got something cooked up somewhere else?" She clicked her tongue. "I knew you were manipulating me."

"I don't know how many cameras could be running right now in here." Zane cast his eyes around the room. Knowing Sophie, anything could have been set up without his knowledge. "We'll go to my house. You can pick any room in it and we'll be the only ones there; my dad is out of town." He took a deep breath, trying almost desperately to calm himself. "I'm not trying to trick you, Sophie. I'm telling you the truth." He only wished he believed himself. "Come on. I'll show you. Then we can go from there."

"Where is she?" Bella's breathing was shallow as she leaned towards Lewis during a five-minute break. "We're halfway through."

"I don't know." Lewis couldn't believe Sophie hadn't shown yet. "Maybe she was lying? Maybe she isn't coming?"

"I'll believe it when I don't see it." Bella said tersely. "She said she'd see me tonight, I'll bet she's just biding her time. I can't stand the waiting."

"Anything?" Rikki hopped up on stage to talk to Bella and Lewis.

"Nothing." Lewis announced. "No sign of Sophie anywhere."

"You're waiting for Sophie?" Nate paused as he walked by, sticking his head directly into their conversation. He smirked. "The lady walked with me on my way here tonight." He shrugged. "Then she got a phone call and said she needed to go back home." He popped his eyebrows. "But I'll bet she comes back."

"She went home?" Bella turned back to Lewis and Rikki as Nate moved over to his keyboard. "Why did she go home? Do you think she just wanted to get away from Nate?"

"That doesn't make sense." Lewis paced back to his drum kit, dropping onto his stool.

Rikki froze, a sinking feeling settling into her chest. She whipped around to face the group. "Where's Zane?"

Sophie looked around warily as she walking into Zane's home. "So I guess Will and Bella and the rest of them aren't hiding around here somewhere?"

"They're still at the café." Zane said tersely as he dropped his phone on the kitchen counter. He felt a pang of misery hit him as he pictured telling Rikki what he'd done. She'd never forgive him.

"Alright." Sophie dropped her hands onto her upper thighs, looking around. "Where do you want to do this?"

"Pick any room you want." Zane said tiredly, though he could hardly breathe. "I'm not trying to trick you, you choose."

"Hmm..." Sophie made a show of looking around. "Lewis? Can you hear me? I'm just gonna stay in the kitchen, kay?"

"It's just the two of us here, Soph." Zane leaned against the wall, letting his head drop back for just a second before pushing off of it to get a cup.

"Don't I get to pick that too?" Sophie plucked the glass from his hand and replaced it in the cupboard, her eyes landing on a vase on the table.

Zane held up his hands, taking a step back as she pulled the flowers from the crystal, leaving nothing but water inside.

"Stand over there." She pointed toward the middle of the large room, feeling oddly like a bank robber dealing with a hostage. She checked the time, clicking her tongue. "I still have time to make it to the café when you're done with your little show."

"Go ahead." Zane stood perfectly still, his arms held slightly out to the side. His heart was beating so hard that it felt like it was humming in his chest. He was terrified, though also completely paralyzed as he realized that there was no turning back.

Sophie hesitated, watching him. She'd never seen the expression on Zane's face before. He looked utterly and positively determined, yet the blood had completely drained from his face. For the first time, she wondered if there was any possibility that he might be telling her the truth. Could the mermaid really be... Zane?"

There was only one way to find out. Feeling suddenly hesitant, Sophie threw the water at Zane.