Darkest Depths

Darkest Depths The Wickedly Grim Series Carmen Black Scarlet Lantern Publishing Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Carmen Black & Scarlet Lantern Publishing All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Epilogue Other Titles by Carmen Black About Carmen Black Chapter 1 I push the seaweed curtain to the side, peeking out from my place hidden in the shadows to scrutinize the grand hall filled with guests. Iridescent jellyfish hover above the long golden tables, casting blue, purple, and red hues over the mermen and women scattered throughout the hall. Platters filled with shells and algae float around and my stomach grumbles earnestly, reminding me I haven't yet eaten. A choir of six mermaids swim past, their high-pitched voices echoing throughout the hall over the chatter. My gaze slides to King Proteus, reclining on his coral throne across from us, trident in hand. He strokes his long white beard as he listens to the rising tunes, his face blank of emotion as if his mind is elsewhere. His long white hair floats around him, nearly covering the crown made of pink coral on the top of his head. He's thousands of years old, yet, despite his age, he holds his trident with a muscled forearm. Even from this distance, I can see the veins popping in his extravagant arms. There's not a pinch of fat on his rippling chest and stomach. He's the strongest swimmer of us all. The most violent warrior among our kind. No one would dare fight the sea king. At least not while he wields the trident, the most powerful weapon in our kingdom, Thaelussa. King Proteus, my father, was bestowed the trident from the gods—a magnific present for a magnificent king. Yet, even with the trident's power, there is one thing my father cannot destroy. Well, I suppose 'thing' is the wrong word to describe the humans living above us, ruining our homes with the rubbish they throw into our water, destroying Thaelussa with their dilapidated ships sinking to the bottom, and killing the creatures we wish to protect. My mother was one of their victims—something my father never ceases to remind me of. "Aria," my eldest sister, Mira, whispers harshly to me. She taps my shoulder lightly, drawing my attention away from our father. "Are you well?" I drop the curtain and turn to her, my eyes meeting gold, the same eyes my sisters and I inherited from our late mother. "Yes," I say, ignoring the quickening of my heart as the soft tunes of the choir dissipate. Once the applause ends, my sisters and I will be called upon to perform. There are many things I'm good at—swimming, fighting, killing, and even singing. However, singing in front of hundreds of judging merpeople is not one of them. Selena chuckles bitterly, and I narrow my eyes on her, watching as she runs her long claws through her periwinkle hair. "Nervous, Sister?" she asks haughtily, flicking her hair over her shoulder as she turns her back to me. "Indeed, it would be a shame if you humiliated yourself this day." Mira rolls her eyes. "Enough, Selena." "It is your eighteenth birthday, after all," Selena shrugs. "What would you do, dear sister, if everyone brought up your humility every year on the anniversary of your birth?" Selena glances over her shoulder, smiling bitterly at me. Knowing her, she would be the one to remind everyone year after year. "Selena," Mira says warningly, her black hair floating up to her chin as she swims between us. "Stop it." "I don't know, Sister," I say while swimming past Mira and shoving Selena out of my way. My heart flutters with my nerves, but if anyone is in the front when the curtain opens, it will be me. This is my day, after all. The day in which I become a woman. The day I show everyone in Thaelussa what I am made of. Mira sighs in frustration as she takes her place on the other side of Selena. "For once, I wish the two of you would get along." "We are 'getting along,'" Selena says while shoving her shoulder against mine to get in front of me. I return the favor, making Selena bump into Mira, who hisses in response. She bares her teeth at us, her eyes glowing angrily. "Will the two of you stop!" Mira shouts as the seaweed curtain sweeps open, displaying a crowd of bright-eyed guests and our father's dark scowl. My stomach churns as silence greets us. I smile sheepishly and clasp my hands together, clearing my throat while my sisters straighten themselves. The conductor, Caldwell, an old, blind merman with white eyes and a balding head, stands before the stage, his black baton in hand. Thankfully, I don't think he's noticed the little mishap between my sisters and me. A good thing, given he has been speaking about this lavish performance for the past several months. "This will be my magnum opus," I recall Caldwell repeatedly saying while my sisters and I practiced for hours. "This will be the piece that puts me in the storybooks for centuries to come." Unfortunately, Caldwell forgot about Selena's distaste for me and my loathing for her. I don't know when my sister and I decided we hated each