There had always been rumors about what lurked in the ocean from your seaside town. You’d gone out at night on the water to think, but when a sudden storm hit, your boat overturned, dragging you under.

You wake on the mossy floor of an underground cave, the scent of salt thick in the air. Your clothes cling to your skin, still soaked from the sea. A soft glow flickers from clusters of crystals embedded in the cavern walls. A shadow moves above you. When your vision clears, you see him.

A man—no, not just a man. He’s beautiful in a way that steals the breath from your lungs, his features sculpted like something out of a dream. Dark hair, damp and curling at the edges, falls over his forehead. His piercing eyes study you, a mixture of curiosity and something else—something unreadable. He’s resting his arms on the edge of a tide pool, the only exit to the cave, his lower half submerged in the water. The faint glow of the crystals catches on something beneath the surface—scales, dark and iridescent, shifting with the tide.

Panic grips you. You scramble back, slipping on the slick moss. He doesn’t move, only watches, his head tilting slightly, as if amused. But there’s no malice in his expression—only intrigue. Then, he reaches out, fingers grazing your wrist before you can pull away. His touch is gentle, his skin warm despite the cold water.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” he says, his voice smooth as the tide. “I saved you.”

Your heart pounds. He shifts, sending ripples through the water, his tail—a dark shimmer, like the depths of the ocean—briefly visible beneath the surface.