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Chapter 1
“On my count.” My cousin Taura’s voice resounded in my mind. “Three. Two. One.”
Taura, Gellian, and I tipped the preserved bladders made from the skin of sea cucumber upside down and swallowed the liquid inside. The brew burned down my throat and set fire to my chest. We slammed the empty vessels on the tavern’s counter and laughed.
Taura grabbed my waist and one of my hands and twirled me. I loved the feel of the water on my skin—caressing it, soothing it, energizing it. A haze of bubbles floated all around us.
“Whoa,” I said as the merrum hit my blood, charging my pulse and leaving me a little unsteady on my fins. I held on to the counter for balance.
Outside the window of the bar, scores of lemon-colored butterflyfish crossed the reef, most likely headed for the stony coral patch they grazed on. I blinked, trying to make them stop swirling.
“You’re a lightweight,” Gellian joked, downing another drink like a true party animal.
Taura’s brown eyes filled with concern. “Have some calamari rings,” she said, offering me a seaweed basket filled with the delicate treats.
I nibbled on a few.
On the table in front of us, a Sharkrider threw down his handful of cards and pushed the table away. As he stormed out of the bar, he slammed into a deep-sea fisher slow-dancing with a harvester.
“Watch where you’re going, ya’ guppy!” shouted the diver.
The Sharkrider spun around and loomed over the diver. “You got a problem?”
I tensed, bracing myself for trouble.
Taura squeezed my arm, her pale forehead scored by apprehensive lines.
Gellian’s blue eyes sparkled. My best friend likened a good tussle to sport. Told us the violence turned her on. That’s where we disagreed. A fight always brought down the mood and ruined our party. Blood? No, thanks.
“You should apologize to my lady,” said the diver.
“Shellfish off.” The Sharkrider’s nostrils flared, spitting out bubbles.
The bartender intervened, pulling a long trident from underneath the counter. “Time to leave,” he said, soaring across the bar and jabbing the weapon at the Sharkrider’s chest.
The wild merman narrowed his eyes, grunted, and then stormed out, generating a current that whisked my hair across my face.
Good riddance.
Shark Bait bar was a real dive. Seedy characters, ruffians, and lawless Sharkriders frequented the place, gambling, chewing sea tobacco, drinking, getting rowdy, and causing fights. Dim lighting illuminated the old and cracked furniture. The waiter behind the counter looked about two hundred years old…probably from all his partying. Inside, the place stunk of mersweat and sometimes of blood when a rumble broke out…like we needed to attract the real sharks. A half-drunk band played screeching rock tunes in the corner. The little hole-in-the-wall bar was a stark contrast to the bright, exploding color of the reef outside the windows.
But I loved it there. They served the best merrum in Tritonia, and no one would ever think of looking for a merprincess here. Several times in the moon cycle, I’d sneak away to the bar to escape my father’s kingdom.
Poseidon. If King Triton knew I came here, he’d have a fit. I’d be locked up in my quarters for a month. Possibly assigned a guard and never let out of anyone’s sight. My father was a conservative king. Partying, mermen, merrum, and dancing were not activities fit for a princess. Noooo. We had to attend all formal events: meetings, celebrations, negotiations, war councils. Basically, sit and look pretty. Offer up intelligent conversation. Flatter the noble guests at court. Soothe wounded egos when conflicts arose. Even solve difficult strategic and political problems in the realm. Sometimes, my duties exhausted me, and I just needed a reprieve from it all.
At Shark Bait, I could be myself. Relax, dance, drink, play, and get rowdy. All the things any self-respecting, twenty-two-year-old wanted to do.
“Sea god,” said Taura, running her fingers through her limp, red curls. “Eight degrees to your right. A hot Sharkrider is checking you out, Cousin.”
Gellian pulled up her corset, highlighting her boobs, and pouted her crimson lips. “If you don’t go talk to him, Nyssa, I will.”
I didn’t doubt that. Gellian was like a walrus when it came to mermen. If she saw one she fancied, he was hers, whether he liked it or not.
Completely the opposite of me. I turned into a blabbering, embarrassing mess when it came to talking to a handsome merman.
Still, curiosity got the better of me, and I casually glanced over my shoulder. What waited for me made me nearly fall off my chair.
Poseidon. They was right. Some hulk, muscled from head to fin and complete with tattoos and long, wild black hair was giving me the sexy, come-hither, I-want-to-mate-with-you eyes. Not that I’d ever done that. My purity remained intact. Mainly because I hadn’t met anyone who’d taken my breath away and made my heart sing….and because my father would murder the merman if he found out. Facing the threat of having their mersac cut out wasn’t exactly a turn on.
