Prologue

PROLOGUE

EVIE

Control: the power or ability to direct, manage, regulate, or restrain something.

The definition itself is easy enough to understand, but the act of actually doing it? Well, to be honest, I don’t think it is anything more than an illusion.

Yes, you can control the moment, but it’s nothing more than a few fleeting blinks. And, in truth, if you’re being completely honest, you merely control your perspective, right?

Come on, Evie. Get your shit together.

I told myself as I leapt over what remained of some kid’s sandcastle.

Running Deadman’s Beach had become part of my morning routine over the last few years. What could I say? I enjoyed tempting fate first thing in the morning.

I chuckled, making sure I remained just out of reach of the crashing waves.

It makes me feel alive.

I started a conversation with myself, like any sane person would before they’d had their morning coffee.

Well, you need to do something that makes you feel alive. Hell, you’re twenty-four and you’re in bed before ten.

I bit the inside of my cheek.

Asshole.

No. Nope. Not today. Not. Fucking. Today.

That train of thought can just fuck right off the rails.

I turned and started up the stairs that led to the pier because, you know, there is nothing more invigorating than standing in the middle of something you can’t have.

I am happy.

I am content.

I fucking worked too hard to get where I am to be anything but fucking ecstatic.

The crisp, salty morning air filled my lungs, stinging deep in my chest as I slowed to a stop at the end of the pier.

Fluorescent pinks and purples were scribbled across the early morning sky, the sun now fully above the skyline. For a moment, I just took it in.

This was my happy place. One of the only places my mind was ever truly quiet.

It was the closest I would ever be to my real home.

I came to terms with that a long time ago.

There were no hard feelings.

None.

I didn’t think about the Sea Cities anymore.

Or him.

Especially not him.

I don’t even know why I ever felt homesick for a place that broke me—broke my family.

The Sea Cities were toxic, overrun with corrupt families that would kill anyone who got in their way without thinking twice. I guess it’s because, if you take a step back and look at my life, you would also see that while it’s true the Sea Cities broke me, they also built me.

They made me into who I am at my core.

I am a creature of the sea.

I am a mermaid.

A chuckle escaped my lips, and I sighed.

Better not think that too loudly this close to the ocean. I might very well keel over dead if any royals overheard.

In their minds, in their hearts, I don’t belong to the ocean.

I am an abomination.

They cannot see past my curse. They do not care who I am or who I want to be. All they care about—the only thing that matters to them—is that I am a siren.

I do not fit into their perfect world.

“Miss?”

A man tapped me on the shoulder, pulling me back into the moment from the distant memories I had briefly immersed myself in.

You sure do like torturing yourself for fun, don’t ya? the little voice babbled in my head.

“Yes?” I said, spinning around.

He stooped down and picked up my phone.

“I think you dropped this.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Man, have I been on a roll with this thing lately.

“Thank you.” I smiled. “I swear I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached.”

Instantly, I watched his demeanor change.

His eyes brightened as his cheeks flushed. His attention shifted completely to me, as if whatever had occupied his mind only seconds ago had suddenly ceased to exist.

I didn’t react.

I had learned a long time ago to hide my reaction. It made the conversations that followed much less awkward.

I brushed off the flushed cheeks, the light that illuminated their eyes, and the inner dialogue that became clearer the longer the interaction lasted.

Realizing your curse doesn’t only affect you, but everyone you come into contact with, is a hard pill to swallow.

A truth no one wants to accept.

I didn’t have the energy to keep up appearances today, so I cut the interaction short. I took my phone back, politely rejected the man who clearly had a ring on his finger, and began my run back to the coffee shop to meet up with the one person I didn’t have to fake it for.

“Triple mocha, iced double espresso, extra creamy whipped cream?”

Her bright red hair was a beacon to my heart.

“You know me best.”

“I am the one and only,” she replied, standing and flinging the strap of her designer purse over her shoulder.

“Where are we going? I thought we were having coffee here this morning?”

“Plans change.” She winked.

I took a big bite out of the whipped cream sticking out of the top of my cup and eyed her suspiciously.

I knew Nyko inside and out.

That tone meant she was up to something, and our day was about to take a wild turn.

“Yesterday, I was wildly outbid by a crazed snake. Today, someone at the bank accidentally disapproved his loan.” She gasped dramatically and covered her open mouth with one hand.

“Nyk.”

I side-eyed her as I slid into the back seat of her Suburban, carefully avoiding eye contact with her chauffeur. While he was immune to my power, he still gave me the creeps.

“It’s the Crescent Suites, Evie. There was no way I was going to let that bastard move any of his sluts into our old penthouse. If he wants to sit back and enjoy the best view in Hollow City, he can grovel at my door.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Dead,” she shot back.

“I mean, I know you’re serious about the groveling. I should have said you can’t be serious about taking him back.”

Nyko hesitated for a moment, and in that moment, I knew exactly what she was thinking.

We had been best friends since I came to this city almost five years ago. I knew how badly she wanted to be Queen of the Demons, and Jax was first in line to take over his father’s throne.

On the other hand, I also knew Nyko was obsessive, jealous, territorial, and completely over the top—a personality that did not pair well with a high-strung, spoiled-rotten, can-do-no-wrong playboy.

“Miss Creed,” my doorman said as he held the lobby door open for me.

“Charles.” I nodded.

“Would you like me to take your bags for you?”

“That’s okay. I didn’t get too much today,” I said, lifting my arms to show their weight.

“Miss Evers took it easy on you today, did she?” he asked jokingly.

“For a change,” I admitted.

He pressed the button for the private elevator that took me straight to the penthouse floor, and I stepped inside, letting go of the weight of the outside world.

Through the glass wall of the elevator, I watched Hollow City fall away beneath me as I rose toward the top.

Charles was one of the very few humans in this city I had grown attached to over the years.

He didn’t ask too many questions. He talked just enough to keep our interactions from feeling awkward, and he was always just…happy.

Not over-the-top, in-your-face bubbly.

Just genuinely happy.

I dropped my bags by the door and headed toward the kitchen. I didn’t even know what was really in them. I had just smiled and nodded whenever Nyko handed me something, insisting I had to have it and reminding me that we were celebrating her victory.

I needed a vacation.

A reset.

Something to remind me that life was good.

Grabbing a water from the fridge, I caught a whiff of myself and suddenly realized why the woman at the perfume counter had kept trying to get us to sample their latest scent.

“Shower first, then we figure out the rest of the day,” I said aloud to myself as I took a drink.

Instantly, I began choking as the water went down the wrong pipe.

Gasping for air, I smacked myself in the chest.

I would literally be the only sea creature in history to drown on dry land.

I brushed off the rush of icy air that prickled my skin as I took off my running clothes and stepped into the shower.

When I crawled out of bed this morning, I knew I was going to go on my morning run. I knew I was going to have coffee with my best friend. I knew my personal chef was going to drop off my favorite seafood salad for lunch, and I knew I was going to have to find some way to distract Nyko from wanting to spend another Friday night at her brother’s club, toying with those who thirsted for the control we had over them.

I didn’t expect Nyko to buy the most sought-after real estate in the city.

I didn’t expect her to ask me to move into one of the penthouses as if this one meant nothing.

I didn’t expect to feel so far from home today.

Rinsing the soap from my body, I froze.

Not intentionally.

For one impossible second, the water seemed to harden around me.

My arms wouldn’t move.

My lungs tightened.

I tried to step back and couldn’t.

Then—

Nothing.

The water splashed normally against the tile as I gasped for air.

I stared down at the drain, trying to convince myself I had simply gotten lost in my own mind for a moment.

What the fuck…

Get yourself together, Evie.

You’re losing it.