Page 22 of Fionn (Starlight Mermen #1 | Starlight Alien Mail Order Brides #7)

M aelis had never been so scared. The beam of her torch sputtered, throwing jagged shadows across the cave walls before shrinking to a weak glow. The battery was almost gone. When it failed, there would be nothing left but darkness.

She shoved again at the boulder that had crashed down from the ceiling. It didn’t budge. Her palms stung where stone had pierced her gloves, her muscles trembling with exhaustion. The rock sat wedged in place like a cork in a bottle, sealing her into the underwater cavern.

Her chest ached. Every breath she took drained the last of her dwindling air.

Alone. Trapped. Buried beneath the ocean.

Panic pressed hard at the edges of her mind, but she bit it back. She shouldn’t have come here alone. Foolish. Reckless. Deadly.

They say, at the end, you think of those you love. Maelis didn’t. Instead, her thoughts turned unbidden to the strangers who had appeared on the island two weeks ago. The alien mermen with their strange beauty and unreadable eyes.

One of them most of all.

Cerban.

The torch gave a final flicker, then died.

Darkness swallowed her whole.

Continue the story in Cerban !