Chapter 1

The first line led the way for the second. The individual strokes held little meaning, but when added together, a story formed.

I lost myself in the story. My hand raced across the textured paper. Nothing else existed besides the breathtaking scene in front of me, and I was merely the vessel lucky enough toimmortalize this moment in time. It wasn't until the final ocean's wave was etched to mysatisfaction that I paused to just enjoy the scene in front of me.

The harsh afternoon sun became a source of beauty, turning the vast, terrifying ocean into a field of sparkling gems.

As someone who didn't have much experience with deep waters, the ocean scared the hell out of me. Giant squid, underwater volcanoes, poisonous creatures of every kind imaginable, and what did you mean there were black holes in the ocean as well?

No, thank you.

My feet could stay firmly planted on solid ground, where there were already enough dangers that could end my fragile life. And being raised in a family of supernatural beings, I was very well aware of just how low on the food chain humans were.

Not that my parents or circus family would ever let anything happen to me.

I was honored to have some people's bedtime story nightmares on my side, but at the same time, knowing that dragons, bird gods made of fire, shifters, and fae were actually real and not just fictionalvillains inside fairytales didn'texactly give me a peace of mind.

While I knew the people in our mismatched family were the good guys, it didn't mean they were all nice. There was a reason the Black Cat Circus was known for collecting lost souls who had nowhere else to go.

They had abandoned them—abandoned me—so we formed a family of our own. And growing up with beings much more powerful than I was taught me to be curious, but your instinct of fear should never be underestimated.

It was the reason I could admire the ocean while having the desire to never be inside of it. I was more than happy to be the bystander capturing its beauty on the sidelines.

Another crash of the waves, this time threateningly close to wetting my bare feet, and I knew my drawing session had gone on for too long. It was time to return to the circus grounds.

I turned to leave, but a loud crash had me spinning toward the sea again. I was frozen in place, a gasp caught in my throat as I watched the massive creature create giant waves that caused the tide to rise to my ankles.

So much for staying dry.

I'd heard about whale breaches online but had never seen one in person. I never knew they happened this close to shore, and based on the excited shouts of the beachgoers around me, it wasn't a normaloccurrence.

People rushed to pull out their phones, while I already had my sketchbook open to a blank page. Mycharcoal pencil flew across the paper in a rush to capture the scene unfolding before my eyes.

I could draw from memory, but it was easier to capture the entire essence with a reference in front of me, and I didn't want to miss a single thing about this moment.

Themagnificent creature breached again, this time jumping higher until most of its body was in the air. The force of its dive back into the ocean had the water rising higher up my lower leg, but I didn't have time to move. The desire to finish the drawing before the whale disappeared consumed my every thought.

I was disappointed when I didn't see the whale breach a third time, but that quickly turned intoexcitement when the whale's nose—blowhole?—popped out of the water, much closer to shore this time. Water shot out, creating asparse waterfall that only had its audience screaming louder with appreciation.

My mouth was agape in awe along with the others. I'd heard that people went on trips to the ocean, hoping to catch sight of a whale in person, but I never understood the point.

It was another animal—a giant one, sure, but nothing really special about it. In fact, I would dare say whales and other ocean-dwelling mammals were a bit silly. How could nature allow a species to evolve to haveprimary residence underwater yet only be able to hold their breath for an hour or two at a time? It was like having a landlocked bird that couldn't fly—oh wait, those were chickens, but that was beside the point.

My point being, I didn't really understand thefascination of whales. That was until this moment. The majestic whale moved closer, and I swore we made eye contact.

"Mommy, the whale's looking at me!" A squeaky voice had me turning to my side to find a little girl jumping up and down excitedly as she pulled her mom's hand.

I shook my head and let out a soft chuckle. Of course, there was no way the whale was looking at me of all people among this crowd. I was probably overly excited, just like the child was.

"My new friend's gone, Mommy!" she cried out, and when I turned back to the sea, her words proved true. The water returned to its normal sway of waves, as if the whale had never been there in the first place.

I waited a few more minutes, hoping to catch another glimpse of the giant mammal, but there was no other movement. With a sigh of disappointment, I slowly made my way back to the site that would serve as our circus grounds for the next few weeks.

The whale was still at the forefront of my mind, and my fingers itched with restlessness. The need to get home as quickly as possible had me ignoring the calls and greetings that were thrown my way as I rushed past the other members of Black Cat Circus. I didn't stop until I was sitting on the floor of my RV with my sketchbook placed in front of me.

I let my body take over and drowned myself in the art. It didn't take long to finish the page, and when I did, I ripped it out of the book and placed it beside me.

Time didn't exist as I entered this trance. It wasn't until I couldn't ignore my grumbling stomach that I paused and realized I was on the last page of my sketchbook and my floor was now covered in finished drawings. It was a good thing Rhett, my old roommate, however brief, had moved in with his boyfriend or else he'd see this mess and think I'd gone crazy.

How many different drawings featuring a whale could one create?

A limitless amount, apparently.

In fact, if it weren't for my need for food, I'd probably keep right on drawing. And that thought was a little more than alarming.

This wasn't like me. Muses were something every artist had, but I'd never becomeobsessed with one before. The world had so much beauty to draw from. I was content with the idea of capturing as much of it as I could, so why was I so focused on a damncetacean?

Even as I lay in bed after dinner, a giant haze of blueish silver followed me into sleep. Dark, glittering eyes haunted my dreams. They were eyes I hadn'trecognized, but I didn't mind drowning in them as I fell into a deeper slumber.