A Sea of Blood & Sapphire

A Sea of Blood & Sapphire Book One Florence Gray Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Florence Gray. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Cover by David Gardias of Best Selling Covers Editing by Alexa Thomas of The Fiction Fix Art by Eternal Geekery Content Warnings This book contains multiple adult themes intended for readers 18 and older, including violence, gore, physical and sexual assault, and substance abuse. Mental health topics, such as suicide, self-harm, and depression. Listed below are the exact chapters where potential triggers could occur: Chapter 1: Self-harm, suicide, gore, themes of death and war Chapter 6: Mentioning of gore, themes of contemplation of death/depression. Chapter 7: Physical abuse, specifically familial Chapter 26: Substance abuse and attempted sexual assault Chapter 31: Panic attacks Chapters 36 and 37: Mentioning of poisoning, attempted murder Chapter 45: Threatening of self-harm, minimal gore and violence Chapters 50 and 51: Violence, gore, themes of war “She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart.” -Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid Part 1 A Ship to Wreck Chapter 1 Amaris The sea was set aflame by the single strike of a match. Quicker than lightning, the mermaids bolted, tearing through any obstacle between them and freedom from the burning ship. They clawed through the front lines of sailors, granting no mercy as their pleas cried out into the night. The mermaids were captivating from the first chord that escaped their lips, and even among the burning sails, they sang. Meanwhile, the sailors persisted with sword and shield, stuffing their shirts into their ears as they fought to ward off the luring melody. A futile attempt. The man closest to me abandoned his weapon, the silver rapier hitting the deck with a loud clang. He fell before the mermaid, sinking further into her web of seduction. The temptress’ lips turned upward toward the dark and moonless sky, her features plastered with triumph. She sealed his fate with her murderous song, but the mermaid knew the portrait of love and sensualism she painted in his mind wouldn’t transpire. There was only the promise of a savage, certain death. Her long, pearlescent talons sliced through his neck, and blood poured from the wound in crimson waves. I turned away, unable to watch any further. Until today, I’d only heard the rumors of what my kind could do. I hadn’t the faintest idea that this was what they were capable of. What I was capable of. At the turn of a mermaid's eighteenth birthday, we surfaced to take our first prey, in what we called our Claiming Night. Tonight was mine. I should be eager to join my cove in the hunts. Still, something deep inside me twisted with disgust at the notion. Smoke and flames invaded my senses, but fear held me to the spot. I was more terrified to join in on the feasting. The thought alone sent my skin crawling, from my neck down to the scaly tips of my fins. Pounding footsteps approached me, disarming any plan of action I had. Too late. I was too damn late. A mass of damp, brown curls emerged from the smoke. Eyes stuck somewhere on the precipice of caramel and green caught my attention. The male’s shirt was soaked with blood and sweat, clinging to his broad shoulders. At one time, the fabric had been white. Now, it was stained with blotches of dark green: mermaid’s blood. His eyes raked over my scales with a gaze as sharp as the dagger he fisted. “You aren’t singing,” he said, more a statement than a question. His voice was rough, like sand coated his vocal cords. I shook my head in answer, too fearful to peel my eyes from the dagger. “Why?” he asked. I took my attention off the knife long enough to meet his eyes. “I’m ashamed." My voice sounded weaker and more panicked than I’d hoped it would. His brow arched, skepticism contorting his face with harsh, brutal lines and angular features. He turned toward the blood-stained sea, and I felt my entire body decompress, soaking up its moment of freedom from the weight of his glare. “Go slither back to your personal hell, then. I want to watch you leave without taking anyone with you. If you so much as open your pretty mouth—” He waved his golden dagger in front of my face, like some sadistic game of show-and-tell. “I’ll bury this deep inside your throat before you can even blink.” For good measure, he gave me a wink that left me unsure whether my cheeks should drain of color or fill with it. I choked, struggling to get a full sentence out, so I only nodded. He leaned down to me, a wide, sarcastic grin revealing the dimples in his cheeks. From so close, I could make out little flecks of rust in his eyes, like someone had carved them inside. They were like coral reefs in a sea of hazel. Beautiful. He spat venom in his next words, his tone vicious and sharp. “And I never miss.” He straightened, adjusting his coat. “Now leave, before I change my mind.” A shiver ran through me, and I whirled around, diving headfirst into the murky depths. Screams of sailor and mermaid alike tore from the throats of those around me. The boom of a nearby cannon crushed a mermaid on impact. “Amaris, watch out!” someone—one of my sisters—screamed. A glimpse of silver propelled through the sky, straight toward me. I plummeted into the water, putting as much distance between myself and the cannon as I could. Down, down, down I swam. Flesh and bone crunched, and a blood-chilling scream erupted from above me. Even though the water muffled the noise, it was still deafening. The iron weapon had found its intended target in a member of the cove.