Page 1

Prologue

“It is mine now. Everything is mine.”

The attack came with no warning, no hint of impending danger.

A burst of blinding white light shot from the gray-scaled fingertips, black claws guiding the spell toward its target.

Aria dove down, beneath the opening of the coral structure from where she had watched the carnage of Timarra unfold. Her mother, captured, demanded she hide, like a coward. She had to preserve her place as heir, survive to bring her kingdom and people back from this ruthless attack.

Coral exploded above her, raining debris down through the water faster than she could navigate to avoid it. Sharp bits and pieces knocked into her back and arms. A large chunk smacked her on the back of the head, and sparks erupted in her line of vision. Or maybe that was the residual flash from the spell.

Whatever it was, it left her vulnerable for a split moment. A split moment and Dima had her in her sights.

The witch appeared in front of Aria, long black hair coiling and spreading around her face like pet eels. Her black eyes glinted with malice, her smile filled with terrible mischief. The scales on her forehead and cheeks caught the flickering reflection of the moonlight that reached them below the water’s surface.

“Sweet little princess, whatshallI do with you?”

Aria darted away. Seaweed cinched around her tail and halted her with a sharp tug. The sea witch’s magic sent strands of kelp to restrain her wrists as the creature herself swam slow circles around Aria.

“You may have outsmarted that octopus and human wizard duo, but me?” The witch laughed, released a ripple of bubbles from her lips. The gills along her neck flexed. The humor ended so suddenly the scales along Aria’s tail and those that painted her arms tingled in warning. Dima snaked around to come in front of Aria again, this time so close Aria leaned away from her. The kelp bindings tugged her back in place.

“No, no, no.” The witch drew one pointed nail along Aria’s jaw. “I’ve got a use for you. Something that will benefit us both. See? I’m in need of someone who escaped me long ago. Someone with whom we both have a mutual acquaintance. Return him to me, and I’ll set your mother and sisters free. I’ll cease my destruction upon this kingdom.”

“I’ve bargained with a trickster before. It’s no bargain at all.”

“One way or another, you will do my bidding, little princess. The future of your family is entirely up to your willingness to agree.”

To prove her point, she swirled one long-fingered hand, creating a churn of water that flashed with colors and light. Aria got her first glimpse of her family, trapped within a cage of kelp. Sharks circled the cage, snapping at the random arm of greenery that fluttered in the undersea currents.

“All I have to do is send a single spell and that cage comes down. Those boys are starving, and merpeople are a delicacy they don’t often have the chance to indulge in.” The witch cut a hand through the projection and instantly formed another image. Only this time, it wasn’t a vision. The ringlet glowed with power, throbbing slowly, like it had a heartbeat of its own. “What will it be, princess?”

The importance of her family’s well-being was ingrained in her. There wasn’t a thing she wouldn’t do for them, for her mother, after the near-destruction she had caused only a decade earlier through her own recklessness.

Slowly, she drew her attention from the golden circle to meet the ashen eyes of the sea witch disguised as a mermaid.

“What are your terms?”

A pointy-toothed smile crept over the witch’s scaly lips. “Smart girl.” Dima flicked her fingers and the unbroken golden band separated at an invisible closure. “You have experience in the human world, and that experience will serve you well in fulfilling my terms.”

One of the kelp bindings forced Aria’s arm out. The more she resisted the motion, the tighter the binding wound around her until her fingers tingled from the lack of circulation. The treacherous weed forced her wrist into the open ring.

“You have seven days, princess. Seven days to bring him back to me.”

“Who?”

Even as she asked the question, dread filled her belly. There weren’t many merpeople she knew who possessed magic. They were as rare as kingdoms in the vast ocean. She knew who it had to be.

The ring—manacle, she realized—snapped shut. The metal seared her skin as pain ripped through her, agonizing, soul-splitting pain as her bones and skin were forced into a transformation. Scales tore from her flesh. Her tail split down the middle, muscle and tissue shredding apart only to weave and form the very limbs she’d learned to despise.

The witch watched her forced transformation with an evil gleam in her soulless eyes. Her tongue flicked out to lick thin lips. Was sheenjoyingAria’s agony?

The gills along her neck shrank until Aria found herself choking from lack of water, then choking from too much water when new lungs demanded air. Panic swelled in her gut.

She stared, wide-eyed and puffy-cheeked, at the witch.

“The Forgotten Prince. Return him to me by sunset of the seventh day and your family will be free.”

The witch flicked her hand. The kelp bindings released Aria.