USAT Bestselling
author, Nichole Giles, is the author of The DESCENDANT series and The WATER SO
DEEP series. Her dreams include owning a garden full of fairies, riding a
unicorn, and taming her pet dragons. She loves traveling to tropical and exotic
destinations, driving with the convertible top down, and playing music at full
volume while she sings along.
Connect with the Author here:
Recently forced into
the underwater city of Atlantis, Emma Harris has managed to avoid marrying the
merman who brought her, but her grandfather—the Sea King—insists that joining
with the abusive Merrick is inevitable. When Emma discovers a poison that might
restore her human lungs, she goes in search of the rare creature that carries
it, prepared to try the poison no matter the cost, so she can return home to
her family—and to James.
Since his girlfriend
went missing, James’ depression has destroyed his chance at a basketball
scholarship and incurred the wrath of his uncle, who was once his strongest
supporter. When the police inform him that he’s a suspect in Emma’s mysterious
disappearance, James sells his beloved motorcycle to buy a boat so he can find
Emma and prove his innocence before going on trial for a murder he didn’t
commit.
With destiny against
them, it’s only a matter of time before both are imprisoned forever.
Snippet:
“What is fire? How
does it change a fish?” Maia planted herself on a stool near Emma’s dressing
table, riveted by details of another way of life. “Will you tell me all about
the land? Tell me where you’ve come from and the ways of human people, and I
will show you where you belong and the ways of the Mer.”
Thoughts of James
and her family engulfed Emma, stealing her ability to talk, and move, and exist
underwater. Everything here was different, even language. The Mer would never
understand what she’d lost, because they didn’t understand emotions the way she
did, and some feelings couldn’t be explained. But maybe if she told someone,
unloaded some of the burden, she would at least find the strength to go on.
She rolled onto
her side and faced Maia over the edge of her hammock. “Fire is like holding
captive a slice of the sun.”
“But the sun is
dangerous, my Princess, as is the air.”
Emma remembered
the warmth on her shoulders, the brightness in her eyes and the breeze in her
hair as she drove her convertible up the coast. How it felt to breathe, to
recognize scents and feel the difference in altitude whenever she went anywhere
far. The sweltering heat of dry sand beneath her feet, grass under her fingers,
the cool, rough stones in her cove that lacked formations and moss. She
remembered the fear of her past, the pain of fists connecting with her face and
body, the stabbing wounds inflicted every time judging eyes trailed her in the
halls at school, and finally understood that what had happened then was part of
another lifetime.
That was before.
Before James had come into her life and forced her to feel again. Made her
proud to be who she was, regardless of what that meant. Her past had no bearing
on her future, and only as little or as much meaning to her true self as she
allowed.
“The sun is a
wonder, Maia.” She rose from her hammock and used the mini-spear—intended for
opening clams—to draw a round sun on the sandy floor. “Glorious and warm. A
bright orange ball in the sky that forces people outside, urges plants to grow,
and heats the surface of land.”
A memory James
flashed in her mind—the fervor in his eyes, the security of his embrace, and
the ferocity with which he’d defended her and Keith, despite her initial
resistance to his advances. “The sun and its fire can transform water into air.
It burns with the zap of an eel, and squeezes as the tentacles of an octopus
around your middle. It can turn white skin red, and then make it fall off,
leaving behind pale, new layers.”
Maia shifted, but
her attention remained riveted on the circular pattern Emma carved into the
sand. “I don’t believe I would like fire.”
“Fire dwells
inside me,” Emma told her, entranced by her own hypnotic drawing. “Fire. Not
water. I have to find a way to go home.”
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