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ARIA

A gust of wind blew loose grains of sand into my face, and I wrapped my arms tighter around my middle.

Shuffling forward with the line of women in front of me, I resisted the urge to rub my eyes.

Again.

All it did was make them sting.

The late-afternoon sky was gray, matching the mood around me.

None of us wanted to be on Mug Beach in southern California, on the coldest day we’d had all winter, but when the alts commanded, there was no choice other than obeying.

Stupidly, I was wearing nothing but a sweatshirt, some thin leggings, and underwear.

Most of the others were wearing coats, and I envied them for thinking ahead.

I’d assumed whatever we were called in for would be over relatively quickly.

All of us were women between the ages of eighteen and forty, and we had showed up long before sunrise.

Just like the official messages instructed.

Failure to comply led to massive government fines that I sure as hell couldn’t afford.

As soon as we arrived, a massive crew ushered us into what must’ve been the world’s biggest line.

Someone had tried to count how many of us were gathered, but she had given up somewhere around five thousand.

She hadn’t been even halfway through the group.

I had stayed in my car, regretting not bringing my coat, up until the very last minute.

So, I was only six people from the back.

Which meant I had been there all day.

And I still wasn’t getting close to the front.

I had my headphones in my pocket, but the battery was dead, and I was tired of listening to music anyway.

I just wanted to go home.

Another gust of sand blew into my face, and I bit back a groan.

Was this day ever going to end?

“This is ridiculous,” the woman right behind me snapped, stepping out of the line.

She immediately captured the attention of everyone nearby.

It wasn’t like any of us had anything better to do.

We all watched her stride over to one of the guards nearby.

He was human, but still a fairly big guy.

And he had a gun, not that any of us thought he was going to use it.

Women were too valuable to the alts.

We were there because one or more of them was trying to decide if he wanted or needed us.

We all knew that.

It had been all over the internet since they announced their existence a few years ago, and we realized they’d taken over every government on Earth.

Now, we were at their mercy.

Whatever they were.

The internet as a whole was fairly confident that they were supernatural creatures from a parallel realm—creatures like dragons, vampires, demons, and whatnot.

But there wasn’t much evidence.

All we really knew was that they were big and powerful, and they needed women.

“What’s going on?” the woman who had been standing behind me demanded, speaking to the human guard.

“We’ve been here all day, hungry and freezing our asses off. At this rate, it’s going to be tomorrow afternoon before we make it to the front of the line. We’re starving. We’re thirsty. We’re cold. Can you at least let us go home for the night and come back in the morning?”

The man studied her for a moment.

His hold on the gun no longer looked threatening, but it hadn’t from the beginning.

“I’ll make a call,” he finally said.

“I’ll wait.”

Silently, I cheered the woman on.

I wasn’t about to risk my life to wrap up this hellish experience, but I was glad she didn’t have the same qualms.

The man eyed her.

“Take a few steps back.”

She didn’t look like she was going to, but after a moment, followed the command.

He pulled a phone from his pocket and dialed.

After it rang a few times, his expression stiffened.

Someone must’ve answered.

I couldn’t hear what he said as he looked at the line, speaking quietly.

The conversation didn’t last long before he hung up and looked back at the determined woman.

Lifting his voice, he said, “I’ve informed the alts of the situation. They’ll come to a decision and let us know. Go back to your place in line.”

I let out a soft sigh of disappointment as the woman stormed back to her spot behind me.

The alts obviously weren’t going to do anything.

We were objects to them.

Broodmares.

Useful only for our?—

The line suddenly moved forward much faster than it ever had before.

That had to be a fluke.

Right?

But it didn’t stop.

The guard answered another phone call, then stepped up nearer to the line.

Looking down the beach, I could see another doing the same to his portion of the group.

Our guard spoke loudly, reading from his device.

“Listen closely. The alts running today’s process have started moving through people much faster. Food and water bottles will be distributed by the end of the hour, and lights will be set up to maintain safety. They have someone going through the line as we speak to give you an estimated end time, as well. The alt in charge apologizes for not understanding human needs and taking care of them earlier.”

I was gaping at the guard long after he put his phone back in his pocket and went back to his original spot.

Maybe today’s alt didn’t only see us as objects.

Or maybe he preferred to keep his broodmares fed.

It didn’t matter either way, because whoever and whatever he was, he was never going to choose me.

I’d seen pictures of the women who were taken.

They were every color and ethnicity, but always built tall and strong.

Often, they were curvy, too.

They all looked sturdy, and I was both short and skinny.

My long, thick black hair was wavy and therefore big enough to make my pale face look smaller, too.

I’d put it up in a bun to keep it out of my eyes, though.

And my eyes were such a faded shade of blue that they almost looked gray.

Often, the women chosen came from impressive backgrounds or professions.

I was just a struggling college student who delivered food to keep myself afloat while wading slowly through classes at twenty-five.

I had tattoos, on top of that.

A sleeve of them on my right arm, a small one beneath my ribcage on the opposite side, and a large one on my hip.

I’d never seen tattoos on anyone who was taken.

So as soon as I got to the front of the line, I should be free to go home.

The sun set while we all feasted on the massive boxes of takeout food that were provided for us.

The line was still moving just as quickly as it had begun to after the guard’s phone call.

A large snack was passed out two hours later, along with coffee and soda.

We were given more of the same two hours after that.

Dessert came another two hours in, and I was still salivating after finishing a gigantic slice of cake.

It was almost three in the morning when my group—the final one—made it to the front.

There were about fifty of us.

We quickly formed five rows of ten women, with person-sized gaps between us.

I noticed a few gigantic guys and a supernaturally gorgeous woman scattered through a group of human guards.

They were clearly alts, and didn’t look nearly as exhausted as the humans.

“Step into the water together,” the one alt female on the beach instructed.

She had dark hair and tan skin, and was both tall and strong, like the human women who had been taken.

She’d told the last three groups the same thing, and we had seen the whole process.

The group of human women always stepped into the ocean, then stepped out a few seconds later when she told them to.

I didn’t know how many humans the alt in charge had already claimed, if any, but I hadn’t seen him take anyone from the groups ahead of us.

They’d all been free to go home.

Hopefully the same would be true for everyone in our group.

Though, I had a feeling the stubborn woman behind me was going to get picked.

She had the same build as the women who were taken, and seemed like she would survive it well based on her personality.

My group stepped toward the ocean.

My bare toes met the saltwater, and a shiver rolled down my spine.

It was ice cold.

I started to take a step backward, but the woman spoke again.

Quickly.

“Stay where you are.”

Shit.

My heartbeat picked up.

I heard the women around me start breathing a little faster, too.

“All of you, take three large steps forward,” the woman commanded.

My throat swelled.

This was bad.

Very bad.

Please let the alt dude want the sassy woman from earlier.

I stepped forward, and wet sand squished between my toes.

Another shiver moved over my skin, sending goosebumps over my legs.

I took another step.

The cold was unreal.

Every instinct I had screamed for me to get out of the water.

Instead, I took my final step forward.

A wave rolled over my calves, and I let out a shaky breath.

The movement had separated me from the rest of the women.

Our legs were different lengths, and our definitions of a large step were our own.

The space between each of us was definitely more than the size of one person now.

“Stay where you are,” the woman repeated.

“A man will emerge from the water. Do not acknowledge him unless he speaks to you.”

What the hell?

My eyes scanned the surface of the small wave rolling toward us, then went out further.

They widened when his figure slowly rose from the ocean ahead of us.

As he moved closer, he rose higher.

And higher.

He was huge.

Definitely the biggest alt I’d ever seen.

Then again, I hadn’t ever actually seen an alt up close.

He approached smoothly, and my eyes widened further as he stepped between rows of women without so much as a glance at them.

His gaze was focused on something near me.

I assumed it was on the determined woman from earlier, because she was next to me.

He towered over all of us with both height and insanely thick muscles.

On top of that, the man was stunning.

His tan skin was flecked with finger-sized specks of something in random places.

They glinted dark blue in the moonlight.

His eyes seemed to glow the same shade, and his messy, dark hair was cut just short enough not to hide them entirely.

Multiple silvery-white piercings climbed up one of his ears, put on display thanks to the way his hair was shaved on the sides and around the back.

There was a tattoo on his opposite shoulder in the same color.

The mark was definitely made of magic somehow, but I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to resemble.

A pair of dark swim trunks clung to his hips and thighs, but I didn’t let my gaze linger there.

I shouldn’t have been looking at him at all.

The alt woman had said not to acknowledge him.

Staring definitely counted.

I jerked my head back to its neutral position, staring straight ahead as the man reached the woman beside me.

A heartbeat later, my view of the dark ocean was concealed by a massive chest.

The specks on his skin were scales .

I could tell, because one was less than six inches from my face.

The blood drained from my cheeks.

It wasn’t a good sign that he’d stopped where he had.

Not even a little.

A cold knuckle brushed the bottom of my chin, and I nearly jumped.

The man tilted my head back, until my eyes met his.

They were blue.

So, very blue.

Like bottomless pits of?—

He dipped his head, and his lips met mine.

The kiss was softer than I would’ve ever expected.

It surprised me so much, I didn’t jerk away.

His tongue brushed my lips, and for some insane reason, I parted them for him.

One of his hands went around my waist as his tongue met mine, the taste of him warm and spicy, with a hint of salt.

My hands went to his neck of their own volition.

I wasn’t in control of them.

He picked up the pace, kissing me deeper.

Faster.

Hotter.

My mouth moved with his as I pulled him closer, desperate for more.

Tingles raced over my shoulder and down my spine as we made out shamelessly on the beach, but I barely noticed them.

I barely noticed anything .

Until a throat finally cleared nearby.

And suddenly, the man’s tongue slowed.

I started coming to my senses as he eased his mouth away, pressing his forehead to mine.

We both caught our breath, staring into each other’s eyes.

I should’ve been embarrassed, but I was just stunned.

And confused.

Very confused.

Women making out with the alt who stole them had definitely never made the news.

The man murmured something so quietly, I barely made the words out.

“ Evve tah .”

It took me a moment to translate them, but I’d been forced to learn the alts’ language years ago just like everyone else on Earth.

“ You’re perfect .”

My forehead creased, but the man had already lifted his head.

He was looking at the woman on the beach.

She must’ve been the one who cleared her throat.

“Done?” she drawled the word in her language, the sarcasm in her voice unmistakable.

“Never,” the man rumbled, also in their language.

It was different to hear the words aloud from native speakers rather than in the clumsy way our language teachers had said them.

My brain couldn’t quite translate them fast enough.

The man’s gigantic hands landed on my waist a moment later, and he threw me over his shoulder.

I made a noise of surprise, but otherwise didn’t react.

The motion was smooth enough not to cause me any pain, though my nose came precariously close to a gigantic muscle on his back.

He spoke again to the woman who had been giving orders as he strode out of the water, carrying me with him.

“Tell the demons to prepare the portal.”

Demons?

So the online conspiracy theories were right about that.

“They’ll be ready, Majesty,” the woman tossed back.

Majesty?

Who the hell was this guy?

Was he a demon too?

The scales on his skin made it seem unlikely, but maybe they were all demons.

The way he spoke about them didn’t make it sound like he was one, though.

He carried me down the beach quickly, hauling me away from the guards, other alts, and human women.

He jogged for a few minutes, and I bounced lightly against his back.

I wanted to ask him what was happening and why he’d picked me, but as I finally decided to open my mouth, he called out to someone else.

“Is it ready?”

“Yes, but your human will need to walk through on her own feet. They pass out for days when they’re carried,” someone called back.

I might’ve gotten one or two of the words mixed up, but that was the gist of it.

And I definitely didn’t miss that the demons called me his human.

The alt man set me down on my feet facing him, his hands remaining on my waist as I wobbled.

His eyes met mine again and he said in a low voice, “You have to walk yourself through the portal, Sweetheart.”

I blinked.

He was so stupidly gorgeous that it took me a solid thirty seconds to gather my thoughts again.

I needed to get my shit together, fast.

“Why do I need to go through the portal at all? My home is here. My car is still in the parking lot. I don’t look like most of the women you guys pick. I?—”

“I’ll send someone for your things.”

I blinked again.

He turned me around so my back was to his chest, and started walking.

I had no choice but to walk with him, though my steps were a little shaky after making out with an alt and being carried up the beach.

The demons who were running the portal must’ve been sitting in camping chairs, because I saw them abandoned a few feet to the side.

The demons themselves were hidden, which was kind of a relief.

“I think I’m being abducted,” I said.

The guy who’d taken me chuckled.

“Surely there are worse fates than being abducted by the king of the sea.”

So he was a king.

…

of the sea.

Whatever that meant.

And humility obviously wasn’t one of his strong suits, considering he thought being stolen from my home was a privilege for me.

“What do you even want me for?” I asked, as we neared the portal’s front.

It looked like a big, flat circle of swirling mist, and I really did not want to walk through it.

“You accepted my kiss. Now, you are my bride.”

“ What ?” I demanded, pressing my back against him tightly as I tried to avoid the swirling mist I was about to be consumed by.

“Brace yourself. Portals are unpleasant,” he said, taking a step forward and walking me with him.

The fog engulfed us, and a wave of heat washed over me.

It was immediately replaced by an icy chill, which sent painful tingles over my arms.

The king kept moving, and another bout of heat followed.

I made a noise of pain, and his grip on my hips tightened as he picked up the pace.

“Almost there, Sweetheart.”

We stepped out of the portal, and I let out a deep breath as the pins-and-needles feeling finally disappeared.

But the moment we were free, the world tilted—and I screamed as we plummeted.

The king’s grip on my waist tightened, and my scream cut off as we plunged into the water.

I fought like hell to kick back to the surface, but the king’s hands remained steadily in place, holding me a long way beneath the surface of the water.

An electric shock pulsed around me, and when I looked down, I saw a massive, scaly tale under me.

I screamed, and the king pulled me deeper.

Desperation set in, and I shoved weakly at his hands as my vision grew unfocused.

Something alien brushed against my mind.

It felt wrong, but right at the same time.

“Just breathe, Sweetheart.” The king spoke into my head.

He was insane.

Utterly insane.

And if I was hearing his voice in my head, so was I.

My fight grew weaker, and everything around me blurred.

Beams of light shone through bright turquoise water, and my hazy mind noticed how beautiful it was as I?—

“brEATHE,” the king ordered, and I finally took a breath.

Instead of choking on water, it sort of…

moved through me.

It didn’t feel like air.

There was definitely more to it than that.

But there was no denying that it wasn’t affecting me the way it should’ve.

My vision cleared with the breath, and I felt water leave through my abdomen.

My hands flew down to my stomach.

The king tugged my sweater over my head with one hand, dropping it in the water.

All I had on beneath it was a bralette.

Looking down, I nearly screamed again at the sight of lines on my lower belly.

Lines like gills.

Everything started to spin again, and I felt a massive pulse of water.

Looking down, I panicked all over again at the sight of the midnight-colored tail below me.

It wasn’t connected to me—it was just moving under me.

“You’re fine. It’s just my tail.”

His tail.

Like he was a giant fish.

Or snake.

Or…

mermaid?

I could definitely feel his hands on my waist and his chest against my mostly-bare back, so mermaid seemed to be the right label.

Although, I wouldn’t have envisioned a mermaid as a gorgeous man with a tail so much thicker and longer than I was.

Mer-monster, maybe?

I didn’t fucking know.

I wanted to demand answers about what he’d done to me.

I wanted to tell him to undo it.

I wanted to know who and what he was, exactly, too.

But I had no idea how to do the mind-speaking thing he was doing, so I just clutched his arm tightly when he tucked me up against his chest and wrapped his arms around my middle.

With a powerful sweep of his tail—his fucking tail —we shot through the water smoothly.