Cam strains against the ropes holding him to the chair. They're expertly tied though (curse Evie and her extensive knowledge of boats), so he eventually gives up struggling and resigns to glaring at his captors. Evie and Zac are sitting across from him, watching to make sure he doesn't actually succeed in escaping. Lyla's leaning in the doorway to Santos' mermaid lair reading a book. Sirena's popped in a few times to check up on them. Nixie's absent.

She's probably still really mad at him. He would be, if it was the other way around. He did betray her and threaten to betray her home, but he just wanted his best friend back. Since getting rid of Zac's powers wasn't really an option, there was only one way left, and that was to become a merman himself. But with his attack on Mako last month still fresh in everyone's memories, there's no way he's getting out there this full moon, and unless they all have a change of heart and decide to forgive him, it won't happen next month either.

Though if he could find a way to distract them long enough for him to slip in…

A timer on Zac's diving watch goes off, and the boy startles.

"Looks like you can go now, Cam," Evie says as she stands up and stretches. She goes to untie him, and about thirty seconds later he's free of the ropes and standing. "Better luck next month, yeah?"

He has no idea how they know that the moon's safely past Mako, but then he remembers Santos' detailed charts. They probably had it timed to the second.

Cam doesn't say anything as he marches upstairs, past a surprised-looking Santos, and out the door. He's got some planning to do.

Zac was an idiot to try to get rid of the gift Cam would kill for.

As expected, there's no one out here at this time of night. It's a Friday, so it's not all that surprising that his parents haven't called him yet, demanding where he is. Zac probably called them, saying they were spending the night at Zac's, which has happened so many times before that his parents don't really question it.

The moon is full and bright above him, and Cam is suddenly struck with the irony of this situation. He remembers when Zac was first turned, how Can had to try to keep him locked up to keep him from being moonstruck. Now he, the human, was the one who was kept under watch with lock and key. Cam just wants to feel the freedom that Zac gushed about, and while the idea of a fate, being the person destined to do something great, is appealing, he would still try to turn even without it. Zac doesn't know how lucky he is.

There's a person sitting on the beach, and in the dark Cam can't tell who it is. He's content to just leave them alone, until he sees them stand up and start walking into the water. Cam knows before the lights start that they're a mermaid, and it can't be anyone but Nixie. Everyone else was at the house.

"Nixie!" Cam calls. Her head's above the water, so he knows that she heard him. She stares at him for a few moments without responding, and then dives.

Damnit! She's long gone by the time Cam gets to the spot where she was sitting. She's mad, he can tell, but he had really underestimated how long she'd be able to hold a grudge. Not everything that happened while they were in cahoots was a plot for him to betray her, no matter what she likes to think. True, he did start with the intent to use her for his own gain, but she proved herself a sharp person with her friends best interests in mind. Had things gone differently, Cam would have loved to get to know her better.

Things didn't go that way, though, and there's nothing Cam can really do about that. He's at a bit of a loss for what to do now. He supposes he could just keep trying to get at Mako, and maybe eventually he'll be successful, but how long would that take? A Year? Maybe more? He's got about a year and a half left of high school; he can't spend every month trying to get to the pool.

There's only one thing he can do. Give up, or at least seem that way. Try to make up with Zac, get back into his regular routine, all the while working to set up something that will keep them occupied next month. Something that'll give him the time to get into Mako and to get out. And maybe if things go well enough, he can even keep that particular surprise from them until he's come up with a way to soften the blow.

It's a good a plan as any. There's only one problem: Cam has no idea what kind of distraction he needs, or how to cook one up.

This one's very short, but it's extremely relevant for the plot. Whether anyone knows it or not, Cam's pretty much always three steps ahead of everyone. Then again, Who knows what wrenches Rikki and Will will throw into his plans.

-Bathyal