The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea

  Also by Kerrelyn Sparks:

  How to Love Your Elf

  The SIREN and the DEEP BLUE SEA

  kerrelyn SPARKS

  KENSINGTON BOOKS

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or events, is entirely coincidental.

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2020 by Kerrelyn Sparks

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4967-3006-0

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-3006-0

  ISBN-10: 1-4967-3006-2

  To my father, Les, aka the Mighty Oak.

  Knowing that you were proud of me

  meant the world to me.

  I will miss you more than I can say,

  and I love you now and forever.

  Acknowledgments

  As the last book in the fantasy world of Aerthlan comes to a close, I would like to thank all the people who made it possible for this journey to reach its final happy destination. Many thanks to editor Alicia Condon for gifting these last two stories with her wonderful skill and talent. Another big thank-you to everyone else at Kensington Publishing: Alexandra N., Alexandra K., Jane, Lauren, Elizabeth, Carly, and everyone else working behind the scenes. Thanks also to my agent Michelle Grajkowski of Three Seas Literary Agency for always being there for me.

  I would like to invite everyone who has enjoyed this series to go to my website at www.kerrelynsparks.com to experience the interactive map! You’ll be able to travel around Aerthlan and visit the different places that you read about in each book.

  On a personal note, I wish to thank MJ and Sandy, the best critique partners/best friends on Earth and Aerthlan. And my love and gratitude to Brody’s number one fan, my husband, Don, who has been complaining for years that Brody does all the work but never gets any action.

  And finally, I am grateful for all of you reading this—my fabulous readers who have embarked on this journey into Aerthlan and stuck with it to the end. You’re as loyal, clever, and courageous as any heroes or heroines I have ever imagined. May you always feel Embraced.

  Prologue

  In another time on another world called Aerthlan, there are five kingdoms. Four of the kingdoms extend across a vast continent. The fifth kingdom consists of two islands in the Great Western Ocean. These are the Isles of Moon and Mist. There is only one inhabitant on the small Isle of Mist—the Seer.

  Twice a year, the two moons of Aerthlan eclipse each other, or as the people call it, embrace. Any child born when the moons embrace will be gifted with a magical power. These children are called the Embraced, and traditionally, the kings on the mainland have sought to kill them. Some of the Embraced infants are sent secretly to the Isle of Moon, where they will be safe.

  For many years, the Seer predicted continuous war and destruction across the four mainland kingdoms. But not anymore. Now he claims a wave of change is sweeping across Aerthlan, change that will bring peace to a world that has known violence for too long. And it is happening because of five young women from the fifth kingdom: Luciana, Brigitta, Gwennore, Sorcha, and Maeve.

  The women were hidden away as infants on the Isle of Moon, and there they grew up as sisters. They knew not where they had been born, nor if they had any family. They only knew each one of them was Embraced.

  This is Maeve’s story.

  Chapter 1

  Maeve glanced at her two eldest sisters as a startling realization popped into her mind. Luciana and Brigitta had everything a woman could wish for. They were queens. They were powerful, smart, and beautiful. They had lovely children and handsome husbands who were admirable rulers. So how on Aerthlan had they become so incredibly boring? Good goddesses, she was tempted to scream!

  For the last two hours, Luciana and Brigitta had talked about nothing but babies. Feeding a baby, weaning a baby, bathing a baby, dressing a baby. Weren’t there more important things to discuss? For example, where the hell was their friend Brody? He’d been missing for almost two months. Why hadn’t he let anyone know where he was going?

  It was so aggravating! The blasted man had a history of keeping secrets. At first, he’d led everyone to believe he was simply a dog shifter. But then they’d learned he could shift into any animal he liked. And recently, they’d discovered he was able to talk while in canine form. What other secrets was he hiding?

  Unfortunately, all her thinking and worrying had not yielded any results other than to make her tired and weary. In frustration, Maeve let her gaze wander aimlessly about the elegant cabin of the Eberoni royal barge. It was decorated in the country’s official colors of red and black: a thick red carpet and big, comfy chairs and footstools upholstered in red velvet; a carved black table laden with cold meats, fruit, and pastries. It was the most comfortable way for her pregnant sisters and their young children to travel. The mothers’ soft droning voices and the gentle sway of the barge had caused the little ones to fall asleep on cushioned pallets.

  Maeve stifled a yawn. After leaving Wyndelas Palace, they had traveled for three days to reach the town of Vorushka, where they had said good-bye to their sister Gwennore. Then they had crossed into Eberon so they could board this barge on the Ebe River. Maeve was exhausted but far too worried about Brody to take a nap.

  Luciana and Brigitta’s conversation took a sudden turn for the worse as they delved into the pitfalls of training a child to use a chamber pot. With a groan, Maeve lurched to her feet. I can’t bear it any longer!

  “Sweetie, are you all right?” Luciana asked.

  “Ye look a bit flushed,” Brigitta added.

  “I’m fine.” Maeve wandered over to the table, but nothing looked appealing to her. She’d hardly eaten at all the last few days.

  “You’ll feel better once we’re back home at Ebton Palace,” Luciana announced. “No doubt there will be a dozen suitors waiting for you at the pier.”

  Maeve winced. Why were her sisters so eager for her to marry?

  Luciana leaned close to Brigitta and whispered in a voice loud enough to be
heard, “Maeve has become extremely popular of late.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Brigitta whispered back. “She’s grown into such a beauty.”

  Maeve rolled her eyes. Right. As if all those suitors were interested only in her appearance, not the fact that all four of her sisters were now queens.

  “I know of at least one duke, three earls, and a dozen or so barons who claim to be smitten with her,” Luciana continued.

  “Oh, my!” Brigitta clasped her hands together. “A duke would be perfect!”

  Maeve sighed. She didn’t want a duke. She wanted a dog.

  Luciana chuckled. “I wonder if the duke will be dressed in purple or green?”

  Maeve stiffened at the reference to the Telling Stones. The number three; the colors purple and green. Those were the stones that had predicted her future.

  And she hated it. She hadn’t wanted to play the Game of Stones. In fact, the stones had only fallen out of the chalice because of her refusal to play. So maybe they didn’t count?

  But the pebble marked with the number three seemed too fitting to discount. There were only three members left in the Circle of Five, a murderous group intent on taking over the world. No one knew who the first two members were, but no doubt the Chameleon was the third. And three also matched the number of kings the evil shifter had killed: Frederic of Eberon, Gunther of Tourin, and Petras of Norveshka.

  The Chameleon had caused trouble in Woodwyn, too, shifting into a dragon to kidnap their sister Sorcha. Whoever he was, he had proven impossible to catch since no one knew what he really looked like. Only Brody could identify him by his scent.

  But what had happened to Brody?

  “Excuse me.” Maeve headed toward the door. “I think I’ll take a turn on the deck.”

  “No doubt the fresh air will do you good,” Luciana said as Maeve slipped out the door on the barge’s port side.

  Closing her eyes, she lifted her face to the warm sun and took a deep breath. A summer breeze feathered her cheeks and brought several scents to her nose: the sweat of hardworking sailors, the earthy smell of nearby farmland, and most importantly, the familiar scent of the Ebe River.

  All her life, she’d felt a strange connection to bodies of water. She’d always known whenever a storm was brewing over the Great Western Ocean. And she’d been able to communicate with seals and other creatures of the sea.

  Now that she was able to actually shift into a seal, she was even more attuned to water. With just a sniff, she knew which ocean, which river, which lake, even which well a sample of water came from. More than that, water had become a second home to her, as comforting as her bedchamber at Ebton Palace.

  The river called to her, inviting her to jump in and shift. Let the water carry her weight, buoy her burdens, and wash away her worries. Not now. She opened her eyes and glanced up at the sun. It was high in the sky, so it had to be almost noon.

  She wandered toward the bow of the barge, passing by the sailors who stood at the railing, using poles to keep the vessel floating down the deepest channel of the Ebe River. Eberoni soldiers, under the command of Colonel Nevis Harden, stood watch every few feet. Nevis and his troop had met the women and children this morning in Vorushka and would see them safely down the river. Once they arrived at Ebton, a troop of Tourinian soldiers would be waiting to escort Brigitta north to the capital of Tourin, where she ruled with her husband.

  For the last three years, Maeve had been living at Ebton Palace. Although she was happy to be with her eldest sister, she always missed the other three something terrible. And so, she’d been delighted when they had all been reunited for three weeks at Wyndelas Palace in the elfin kingdom of Woodwyn. There, the fourth sister, Sorcha, had married Brennan the elfin king and become his queen. The three elder sisters had stayed for the entire three weeks, but their husbands had returned to their countries and royal duties after a few days. It hadn’t taken long for Luciana, Brigitta, and Gwennore to complain about how much they missed their mates.

  But did no one miss Brody? Maeve stopped at the bow of the barge and searched the sky. Sometimes, Brody took the shape of an eagle. But not today. The sky was clear.

  She shifted her gaze to the river to see if she could spot any otters. While living at Ebton Palace, she’d used this river as her place to shift into a seal, and every month on the night of the full moons, a river otter had come to play with her. It was Brody, of course, although the fool had never realized that she knew. She’d kept waiting for him to admit what he was doing, but he never did. It was another one of his blasted secrets.

  Even when she’d shifted for the first few times on the Isle of Moon, he had come to keep her company in the form of a seal. He’d always been there for her. Every month.

  Except the last one. Where the hell was he?

  And why was this stupid barge going so terribly slowly? She needed to do something to find Brody. But what?

  Once again the water called to her, and she was tempted to shift. If she swam really fast, she could beat the barge to Ebton Palace. Wouldn’t that give her sisters a shock! They thought she could shift only when the moons were full.

  It had bothered her for years that Brody could shift whenever he wanted while she couldn’t. So, in the privacy of her bedchamber, she’d used her bath time every evening to train herself. For the first week, she’d only succeeded in getting her feet to morph into flippers, but now, she could become a seal whenever and wherever she wanted.

  She hadn’t told anyone yet. She had wanted Brody to be the first to know.

  With a groan, she turned and paced toward the back of the barge. Why had the purple and green stones tumbled from the chalice when it had tipped over? Those colors meant nothing to her. Now a blue stone—that she would have liked. Brody had the prettiest blue eyes she’d ever seen. Or at least she could have picked black and white, since he spent most of his time as a furry black-and-white dog with a black patch surrounding his left eye.

  She stopped at the rear end of the barge and planted her hands on the railing. Instead of worrying over a few silly stones, she should deal with reality and figure out what to do. She wasn’t a child anymore, in spite of what her sisters thought. In a few months, at the Autumn Embrace, she would be twenty years old.

  Something bumped against her skirt, and with a jump she glanced down at the furry black-and-white cat rubbing against her legs.

  “Oh, you gave me a start.” Her eyes narrowed on the cat’s face as it looked up at her. Blue eyes. Just like Brody’s. Her heart leaped up her throat. “Brody, is that you?”

  “It’s called a cat,” a wry voice announced, and she glanced up to see Colonel Nevis Harden approaching. He smiled at her. “The sailors keep her onboard to catch mice.”

  “I see.” To hide her embarrassment, Maeve leaned down to rub the cat behind its ears.

  “I heard something interesting this morning.” Nevis stopped beside her at the railing. “Apparently, on the way to Vorushka, you asked several farm animals if they were Brody.”

  Maeve straightened, her face growing warm. “I had good reason to suspect the cow. He was black and white spotted.”

  Nevis’s mouth twitched. “So are a lot of cows. I take it the pig was black and white, too?”

  She gritted her teeth. “Yes. But I fail to see why this is so amusing. Brody has been missing for almost two months, and no one seems the least bit concerned.”

  Nevis’s smile faded. “We are concerned.”

  “Then do something!”

  “Such as?” Nevis gave her a frustrated look. “Brody can shift into a bird or beast. He can fly over mountains and swim across oceans. How on Aerthlan would we ever find him?”

  “But he could be in trouble. He might need help.”

  “If he’s in trouble, he can shift into some sort of creature and escape.” Nevis folded his arms as he leaned against the railing. “Try not to worry. I’ve known Brody a long time. It’s not uncommon for him to disappear for a few months.”
>
  “But he—” Maeve stopped herself before saying that he’d always made time to see her on the night of the full moons. That was their secret time together, and she didn’t want anyone else to know.

  “But he always comes back,” Nevis finished for her. “And he usually has some important information. He’s simply doing his job as a spy and investigator.”

  Maeve knew what Brody did for a living, but not much more than that. “Do you know where he came from originally?”

  “Not sure where he grew up.” Nevis dragged a hand through his hair, and for a few seconds, the scar on his forehead was visible, one he’d received years ago from his best friend Leo’s lightning power. “Brody told me once that he has a mother and a sister, but I don’t know where they live.”

  “How did you meet him?”

  “Hmm.” Nevis’s eyes narrowed as he thought back. “It was the summer of the year 691. Brody was sixteen. Leo and I, twenty-one. There was a severe drought that summer, and with no lightning storms, Leo’s power was completely depleted, leaving him vulnerable to attack. My father and I were extremely worried about him. Then, one day, this scraggly dog wandered into camp, looking half-starved. I gave him a bone from the commissary. Then he followed me into my tent and shifted. Scared the crap out of—oh, no offense, my lady.”

  “Go on,” Maeve urged.

  “He said his name was Brody, and that he’d just spent a month at Ebton Palace, listening in on King Frederic’s secret meetings. You know who that was?”

  “Yes.” Maeve nodded. King Frederic had been Leo’s uncle, and he had feared Leo because of his Embraced powers. Feared him enough that he had tried his best to get his nephew killed. And when Luciana had been betrothed to Leo, she’d also become a target.

  “So I gave Brody some clothes and took him to see Leo and my father, the general,” Nevis continued. “They hired him on the spot, and he’s been working hard ever since. Not just helping Leo, but the other kings on the mainland, too.”