Lips slowly parted as Aether finally drew breath—his chest rising in a trembling gasp, as if the ocean itself had just allowed him life again. His lashes fluttered, wet and heavy… and then, his eyes slowly opened.
And he saw… a…
She.
She wasn't human—no, not by anything the world above would dare call real—but gods, she was beautiful.
Terrifyingly so!!
Like a secret the sea had never meant to share. A forbidden wonder lurking in the deep, too exquisite and too wild to belong to any world he knew.
Aether's breath caught. Floating just beyond reach, framed in the sapphire haze of the deep, was a woman—no, a siren.
Her gaze met his, and the world fell silent.
Her eyes… haunting. A shade of deep purple, not merely a colour but a sensation—like velvet soaked in midnight.
