NERINA
The ocean had always whispered to me.
Even on land, where I was raised in a quiet cottage on the Isle of Aeris, I felt its pull. The tide hummed in my bones, and sometimes, if I listened closely enough, I could hear it calling my name. The waves would crash against the cliffs below our village, and I'd close my eyes, imagining what it might feel like to be part of them—not just a visitor at the shore, but something deeper. As if I belonged to the sea.
No one could explain the strange mark on my hand—an intricate wave etched into my skin like a birthmark, cool to the touch even under the summer sun. And no one ever questioned it. I was the girl who loved the sea too much, and that was enough explanation for the villagers.
But I wasn't just any girl. I didn't know that yet. Not truly.
On the morning of my nineteenth birthday, the sky was pale and golden. My friends had planned a small gathering near the beach to celebrate—nothing wild, just laughter, cake, and the ocean air. The Isle of Aeris was quiet, forgotten by most, its edges kissed by turquoise waves and guarded by secrets that even the wind refused to tell.
I should've felt joy. But a strange tightness pulled at my chest.
Maybe it was the way the sea looked at me that day—calm, almost expectant. I walked along the shore while my friends stayed back near the bonfire, my bare feet sinking into wet sand. The waves rolled in and out like breathing, soft and hypnotic.
Then came the dizziness. A sudden pull in my stomach, as if something inside me had shifted.
The last thing I remembered was falling.
The salt, the cold, the rush of water around me—and then strong arms, catching me mid-fall, before everything went black.
---
I woke to the sound of distant dripping.
Stone. Cold. My eyes fluttered open. I was lying on a smooth surface surrounded by blue-green walls that shimmered like glass. Water echoed in the distance, and glowing crystals lined the corners of the space. A cage. A damn cage. Iron bars curved upward into a dome around me.
My heart kicked hard against my ribs.
"You're awake."
I turned sharply.
He stood at the edge of the room—no, the cavern. Lean and tall, with dripping dark hair that curled slightly at the ends, and sharp sea-green eyes that glowed faintly in the dim light. His shirt clung to his chest, soaked, revealing lean muscle underneath. He looked like something sculpted by the gods—elegant, untouchable. Dangerous.
"What the hell?" I croaked, sitting up, dizzy. "Where am I?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stared at me like he was trying to solve a riddle written in an ancient tongue. Finally, he murmured, "You're lucky I found you."
"You kidnapped me."
His jaw tightened. "I saved you."
"Then why the cage?"
"To protect others. Or maybe to protect you from yourself. I'm still deciding."
My mouth opened, then closed. There were a thousand questions clawing at my throat.
Before I could speak, the water behind him shimmered, and a woman stepped out of it like she had been born from the sea. Her hair flowed around her like seaweed, silver and dark. Her robes glittered, each fold rippling like a current. Power radiated off her.
She looked at me, eyes sharp. "Show me your arm, girl."
I hesitated. The cage door clicked open behind her command, and I stepped out, trembling. I held up my hand slowly. She took it gently, then turned it over to look at the water wave mark near my wrist. Her eyes widened, then narrowed.
"She's the one," the woman whispered. "The sea-born child."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, voice shaking.
She looked over her shoulder. "Kaelen, take her to the castle."
I blinked. "Castle?"
Kaelen—the boy, the one who caught me—stepped forward, jaw tense. "You'll understand soon."
Something shifted between us as he approached. His fingers grazed my elbow, just barely, but the spark that rushed through my skin nearly made me gasp. His breath caught too. He felt it. That something between us—undeniable and strange.
As we began walking down the glowing tunnel of water, he kept his gaze ahead but spoke quietly. "There's something you need to know."
"Try everything," I muttered.
"I'm bound to you," he said. "By prophecy. I'm your protector. Whether I want to be or not."
I stopped walking. "Excuse me?"
He turned slowly to face me. His jaw clenched as if the words he was about to say pained him. "You're not just some girl with a mark. You're the daughter of the sea's last queen. You were hidden away as a child to survive the prophecy of death that surrounds your bloodline. But the moment you touched the sea today… it awoke everything."
My heart thundered. "You're lying."
He stepped closer. Too close. "I wish I was."
His voice dropped, a growl. "And the worst part? I feel everything when I'm near you. Want everything I shouldn't."
My breath hitched.
We stared at each other in the dim glow of the water-tunnel, the sea humming softly around us. Something inside me cracked wide open—desire, fear, power. All of it.
And this was only the beginning.
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