Sirens and Scales Read online

Page 2


  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  B. Kristin McMichael

  Waves And Secrets

  Waves and Secrets

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Natalie G. Owens and Zee Monodee

  A Clash Of Fire

  A Clash of Fire

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Konstanz Silverbow

  Dragon Wings

  Dragon Wings

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  About the Author

  N.D. Jones

  Stones of Dracontias

  Stones of Dracontias

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About the Author

  Cate Farren

  The Mermaid’s Puppet

  The Mermaid’s Puppet

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  About the Author

  Kelly Anne Blount

  By Water’s Edge

  By Water’s Edge

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Three Weeks Later

  About the Author

  Jennifer M. Eaton

  Dragonmount

  Dragonmount

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  About the Author

  Jennifer Laslie

  Mermaid Adrift

  Mermaid Adrift

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Mindy Ruiz

  Sirena

  Sirena

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Katalina Leon

  The Lady Prefers Dragons

  The Lady Prefers Dragons

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Author Bio

  D.D. Miers & Jessica Soucy

  Slayer in Lace

  Slayer In Lace

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  Kyoko M

 
; Of Blood and Ashes

  Of Blood and Ashes

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Sirens and Scales

  1 Collection. 27 Tales of Enchantment and Danger!

  From the darkest skies to the deepest seas, dive into a breathtaking collision of mermaids, dragons, sirens, and more in SIRENS & SCALES, a unique Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Collection!

  Your travels through these stories of dazzling ocean tides and the dizzying reaches of the heavens will leave you breathless. Join dragon shifters and mer-creatures for an experience of salty seafaring adventures and magnificent airborne enterprises where sky meets sea, love meets its match, and imagination has no end.

  With 27 full-length stories of enchanting fiction, you'll learn the secrets of Atlantis, soar to uncharted peaks, and discover creatures of wing and fin and those who love them.

  Ready to set sail and catch the tide before your chance for adventure is lost forever?

  The Mermaid’s Escape

  Kellie McAllen

  The Mermaid’s Escape © 2017 Kellie McAllen

  * * *

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  The Mermaid’s Escape

  Four shipwrecked divers, one mermaid princess who longs for the freedom to choose – or not.

  Destined to marry the gorgeous, high-ranking Kai and inherit the throne from her grandfather, Princess Coral is the envy of every mermaid in the shoal. But all she really wants is the freedom to decide her own fate.

  When Coral runs away from her own wedding and escapes to the land, she knows the clock is ticking. She has five days before her human body will succumb to the curse that binds all mermaids to the sea. Overwhelmed by the harshness of a deserted island, Coral is ready to accept her fate and return to the shoal, but with the arrival of four shipwrecked divers, Coral starts to understand why her mother was lured away by the human world.

  When Coral is given the choice she always wanted, will she make peace with her destiny, or risk everything to forge her own path in a whole new world?

  The Mermaid’s Escape is a reverse harem, sweet and steamy romance.

  1

  Like the creature I’m named after, I am beautiful but untouchable, treasured but imprisoned. My grandfather named me Coral after the thing my mother loved most about the sea, in hopes that I could lure her back when everything else had failed. But she loved something else more, and my name is just a reminder of his failure.

  I stare at the reef separating my kind from the rest of the sea. Colorful fish dart between the vibrant rainbow of polyps piled high upon the rocks, and anemones sway back and forth with the currents. I hold out my arms and flick my iridescent tail gently to stay afloat in one spot, each scale throwing off multicolored twinkles of light that sparkle in the clear water.

  I want to lay back and let the current take me where it will, deep into the darkness beyond the reef, where no court watches my every move, and no kingdom demands my loyalty. The coral imprisons all of us, but sometimes I feel like the only one who notices.

  Meribel approaches silently, but I recognize the familiar swish of her fins. Her arm links with mine, and her pale hair mingles with my own dark locks as she leans her head into mine. She doesn’t say anything, just lets me linger in my sorrow. After a few moments, I feel guilty for letting her comfort me. She’s losing more than me today.

  “I’m sorry, Meribel. If there was anything I could do to change it, you know I would.”

  She shakes her head and sighs. “He was never mine to lose, Coral. Just because I wished it with all my heart doesn’t make it so.”

  Meribel knows what she wants, always has. She wants a quiet life inside the reef, with two little merlings and a merman who swims home every night with a passel of fish for them to feast on. More specifically, she wants Kai, the boy she’s loved since we were merlings, playing hide and seek together in the reef. And Kai wants Meribel.

  But instead, Kai and I are set to be mated this afternoon when the light reaches its peak above Persephone’s Cradle. I will succeed my grandfather as queen of our shoal, where I will live out the rest of my days in this coral prison, and Kai and I will produce an heir who will carry on my family’s legacy when I am lost to the depths, more moons from now than I can fathom.

  My fins shrivel at the mere thought of my destiny.

  “Your grandfather is calling for you, Corie. It’s time to go.” Maribel tugs my elbow and flips her tail to propel us back towards the palace where my handmaids wait to adorn me.

  They will twist my hair into elaborate braids, dotted with pearls and woven with sea grass. For the first time, my breasts will be caged behind curved shells, never to feel the caress of waves outside my dressing room again. They will be caressed by the hands of my husband instead, a merman who does not love me and who will spend the rest of our lives wishing I was someone else. An ancient Pāua shell necklace will drape around my neck, a symbol of my royal lineage, the heavy weight of it a permanent reminder of my sentence.