Faraway: The New Protectorate Stories: Volume Five

You're never alone in the water.Clementine Ortega is adrift. Isolated by her powerful abilities and left behind by a sister trying to forge her own path, she accepts a job no one in their right mind would ever agree a lifetime position on the barren Farallon Islands. Inhospitable, unreachable by boat, and surrounded by some of the deadliest, most territorial predators in the ocean, it's perfect for a witch whose isolation is necessary for her survival.

Emory was never cut out for pod life. One of those mermen who prefers solitary coves to the intense dynamics of a pod, he’s spent decades making the jagged shoreline of the Farallon Islands home, keeping his eyes out for a mate to entice — or steal, depending on the circumstances. It’s a lonely existence until the day a woman appears on the rocks.

His newest obsession thinks she’s alone when she dares to dip her toes into the water, unaware that the bloody hunt to claim her has already begun. Clementine is about to discover that tales of people being snatched by mermen are more than just paranoid whispers. The threat is very real… and he’s not letting her go.Faraway is a standalone novella in the wider New Protectorate series and can be read without the context of the other books. Content warnings can be found in the backmatter of the book and on the author's website.