TAKEN BY THE SEA

"The first merman Eli ever caught was Finn—emerald tail, silver-black hair, mouth like a razor. He was going to sell him. He didn't. The second was Kael, Finn's brother. Blue tail. Fast fists. The third was Theron, red tail, who danced on Eli and made Finn smash a bottle of rum. The fourth was Lysander, silver tail, Finn's old lover, draped in moonlight. The fifth was Orion, golden-eyed, who showed up with a royal wedding contract and a storm. The sixth came up in the net—Asher, a newborn whose tail was still see-through. Every new merman pulls the rope between Eli and Finn a little tighter. Blood oaths. Jealousy. Old debts. Royal decrees. An orphan. Trouble keeps washing up on deck—but no merman on that boat is harder to handle than the first one. Salt crusts the ropes. Scales wedge into the deck. Six mermen came. He only ever wanted to keep the first.