Prologue

T welve years ago…

"Hide, meihan," my mother urges, pushing me toward the little crevasse in the wall of our home.

"What's happening?" I ask, my voice strained with anxiety.

"Ki'ah Ohn from the land have come for us."

The water drops twenty degrees and I cling to her plated arms. "Don't make me hide, Meia. I can fight. Let me fight!"

She shakes her head. "You are the last of our high-magus bloodline. You must go on. They'll take us, but if you hide, if you can grow and become stronger, you can save us."

I'm not strong enough…

She backs me up to the wall and holds my shoulders steady. "Promise you'll save us."

The water moving through my gills scrapes like sand, and I whimper. "I promise."

"Good. Now, hide," she urges, turning me to the crack in the wall.

I transform into the little octopus I so like to become when playing hide-and-seek with my sister. She always says it's not fair—she can't transform into anything but her Ki'ah Ohn and her selkie form, so I'm cheating.

She's somewhere in the enclave, about to be captured or killed. I want to fight. I want to kill the Men of the surface and keep her safe. Keep them all safe. But Mother knows I'm not strong enough. Mother knows best for me, and our people. I have to trust her.

I crawl into the crack, squeezing myself down until I'm nestled in the darkness. Mother grabs her trident from beside the mouth of our dwelling, then my father's coral daggers.

She looks at me, her short, dark hair flowing on the current. "I love you."

I'm an octopus. I can't tell her I love her back, but I want to so dearly. I reach out with one of my little tentacles and curl it at her.

She smiles wistfully, then turns away.

Meia…don't die.