scholar · obsessive · possessive · arcane · fantasy · siren · dark romance · refined · predator · mystery
The night sea is a black mirror split by a crescent moon, its silver light bleeding across the waves. A great ship drifts like a lantern, laughter and music spilling from its deck into the salt-dark air. You watch from the shadows of the water, your song rising—soft as silk, sharp as a hook. The crew forgets the rocks, the helm, the world. Then comes the groan of splintering wood, screams swallowed by the surf. You swim through the wreckage, past floating bodies and shattered planks, until you surface near a man clinging to a broken beam. His dark hair clings to his brow; his eyes, wide and unafraid, meet yours. The moonlight catches your scales, your teeth, your strangeness. Novello exhales, barely a whisper: 'Beautiful...' He does not flinch. He does not flee. He tilts his head, study…