I opened my eyes with a violent gasp—air scraped painfully into my lungs as if I had drowned. Water poured from my mouth as I coughed hard, chest burning. I remembered the fall… the ocean swallowing us whole… Theo's limp body in my arm… and then—
A wave crushing me into darkness.
My first thought wasn't about where I was.
Or if I was alive.
Or even how I ended up breathing again.
"Theo!" I croaked, panic rising until it became a scream. "Theo! Theo!"
"Hey! Hey! Land girl!" a voice snapped beside me. "Cut the screaming, will you? We just rescued you, and now you're blowing out our eardrums!"
I whipped my head toward the voice.
A guy with long, messy blue-and-silver hair sat cross-legged in the sand, arms folded, looking thoroughly annoyed. Sunlight shimmered off his damp hair like fish scales.
"Are you one of those fierce, hot-headed beast girls?" he asked, eyeing me up and down. "'Cause, uh… not hot. At all."
Did he just—
But I didn't have the luxury to be offended.
I pushed myself off the warm sand. My hands sank into tiny white grains—powdery, fragrant with sea salt. Palm trees swayed above, and turquoise water sparkled under the sun.
A beach.
A tropical beach.
How…?
"King! Hey, King! Rocco, buddy—what are we gonna do with this girl?" the blue-haired man shouted toward the shade.
King?
I looked over and froze.
A man sat beneath a cluster of palms, turning a dagger in his hands. The blade shimmered like liquid—then dissolved into water the moment he closed his fist, dripping down his wrist before vanishing into the sand.
He stood.
The sunlight hit him fully, revealing sun-kissed bronze skin, a powerful chest, cut abs, wide shoulders, and a necklace of sharp white shark teeth laying against his collarbone. His hair was dark, windswept, and wet, sticking to his temples. He looked like the ocean carved him from its tides.
"I'm not sure what to do with her," he said quietly. "She came empty-handed… except for her beast friend."
He walked toward me, and my heart dropped as I saw Theo lying motionless in the sand beside him.
I scrambled to my feet and stumbled toward him.
"Theo!" My voice cracked. I dropped to my knees beside him. His skin was cold, his breathing shallow. "I'm sorry—I'm so sorry you had to go through that because of me. Gideon's going to hate me. He's never going to forgive—"
My sobs cracked open. Ugly, ungraceful, gasping sobs.
"You know," the blue-haired guy chimed in casually, "you're not pretty when you cry. Like, not even close to the mermaid I know."
I glared at him through tears.
"Chance," the other man—Rocco—said firmly without even turning. "Stop."
Chance held up his hands. "Fine, fine! Just saying."
But then something strange happened.
Warmth gathered in my palms.
Soft blue light bloomed beneath my fingers.
Every place my tears fell onto Theo's skin began to glow. His cuts closed. His bruises faded. His breath deepened—
And just like that, his injuries disappeared.
My breath hitched.
I touched my hands, trembling. Fire… healing… What was happening to me?
I glanced at the marks on my skin.
The flame sigil still glowed faintly.
"Fertility" shimmered.
And now a new word burned softly:
Friendship.
"What the hell…?" I whispered. "Am I even still me?"
Chance yelled, "Hey! Woman! Why are you ignoring us?"
Rocco approached, irritation etched across his features.
"Chance," he said, voice low, "I told you to stop."
Chance muttered, "Yes, King. Whatever you say, man."
Rocco kneeled beside me. He gripped my shoulders and gently turned me toward him. His expression shifted when he saw my tear-streaked face—annoyance melting into something almost… soft. He wiped my tears with the back of his thumb, then abruptly looked away, clearing his throat.
"Stop crying. We rescued you and your friend, didn't we?" His voice was gruff, but not unkind.
Then his eyes returned to mine—sharp, observant, unsettling.
"What are you?" he asked, almost whispering. "There's something about you… something that makes me feel off. We should've left you to die, yet everything in me refuses to." His jaw tightened. "I don't like being forced by instincts I don't understand."
"King! So that's why we couldn't leave her?" Chance asked.
Rocco ignored him. His gaze bore into mine.
I was just as confused as he was. Everything that had happened—the marks, the fire, the glowing tears—left me shaken. I was a librarian, a thrill-seeker on weekends… not whatever this was. Not someone with powers or destiny or strange symbols burned into her skin.
But I couldn't break down again. Not here. Not in front of strangers.
I steadied my breathing, pushed back my emotions, and bowed my head slightly.
"My friend Theo and I are truly grateful you saved us," I said softly. "I'm sorry if we caused trouble. We just escaped a… a dangerous situation."
"My name is Sienna."
Chance beamed. "I'm Chance! And this is our King, Rocco!"
Another king.
First a wolf king.
Now an ocean king.
How many rulers did this world have?
"King?" I asked gently. "If you don't mind me asking… the King of what?"
Chance burst into laughter. "Oh, she's in trouble now! Everybody knows the mighty King of these seas!"
"I am the ruler of Mariner's Bay," Rocco said simply.
He gestured toward the bodies of water surrounding us.
"Now tell me. That beast friend of yours—his injuries disappeared when you touched him." His tone hardened. "What did you do?"
"I… I don't know," I admitted truthfully.
He studied me a moment longer, then stood.
"You're coming with us," he said. "Both of you. Chance, maybe we can use them. Maybe ransom them. Or sell them. One way or another… I'll get something in exchange for pulling you two out of the ocean."
He walked toward the shoreline. As he approached the water, the sand beneath his feet shuddered.
Then something incredible happened.
Patches of sand rose from the sea—lifting, growing, connecting—until a massive floating island emerged like a summoned creature rising to greet its king.
A floating kingdom.
My jaw dropped open.
Chance lifted Theo onto his shoulders and flicked a water blade toward me, guiding me forward. "Come on, girl. Better follow the King."
I followed him onto the colossal island. Warm wind brushed my face. Crystals and diamonds embedded in rock sparkled beneath the sun. Gold reflected off the water in shimmering waves.
Then I saw them.
Mermen.
Actual half-human, half-sea-animal hybrids—tails, scales, fins—moving gracefully through water channels that intertwined with walkways. Children giggled as they dove, adults shifted between forms, and the entire place glowed with life.
But beneath the brightness, I saw it clearly.
Their bodies were thin.
Their faces tired.
Their movements slow and strained.
They smiled—yet every smile was exhausted.
A beautiful kingdom with sick, weary people.
What was happening here?
And what awaited Theo and me in a place ruled by a king who felt compelled to keep us but didn't trust us?
Whatever came next… I had no choice but to survive it.