The Abyssal King Only Wants Me

Before they passed, my parents left me a legacy I never asked for: a merman. In this coastal town, they are bred like thoroughbredsexpensive, beautiful, and meant for one thing: the continuation of the line.

But nature had been unkind to me. I was born with a withered right leg, a shriveled limb that forced me into a permanent, uneven hitch. And my merman, Caspian, loathed me for it.

"A freak like you should just crawl away and die," hed snarl, his voice a haunting melody laced with poison. "You aren't fit to touch my scales, let alone carry a brood."

After he smashed the last of my mothers porcelain vases in another fit of rage, I fled. I limped out into the rain, my heart a ragged thing, and found myself wandering into the Abyssal Aquarium on the edge of the docks.

In the dim, blue light of the back gallery, a stunning silver-white tail breached the surface of a massive tank. It didn't splash; it glided, coiling around my waist with a firm, cool pressure that felt like a caress rather than a restraint.

The mermans eyes were the color of the deep Atlanticpure, piercing blue. He tilted his head, guiding my gaze to a weathered wooden sign hanging by the glass:

[DEFECTIVE STOCK. TRADE-INS WELCOME.]

His eyes shimmered with what looked like unshed tears as he exhaled a string of iridescent bubbles.

"Mistress..." he whispered, the sound vibrating in my very bones. "Take me home."

It was time. Time to trade in the old, bitter ghost in my house for something new.

But when I finally told Caspian to move out, he didn't flee to the ocean. He blocked the door with his powerful tail, his eyes bloodshot and frantic.

"Youre throwing me away?" he choked out, his voice cracking. "For that... that piece of trash?"

I woke up before the sun hit the bay today, hitching my way down to the docks. My hip ached with every step, but I pushed through it.

I found a trawler that had just hauled in a deep-sea catch and bought a heavy leather pouch filled with fresh, Grade-A pearls. The merchant counted my silver coins, his grin widening with every clink.

"Living the high life with that merman of yours, huh, Jo?" he chuckled. "Treating him like a king. I bet he keeps you real comfortable at night."

My face went ghost-white. I didn't wait for my change; I just turned and limped away as fast as my cane would allow.

Behind me, the predictable whispers started, sharp as sea glass.

"Shes delusional. A cripple trying to keep a Thoroughbred? That merman hates the ground she limps on. Word is he tries to bolt every time she turns her back."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, trying to outrun the voices. By the time I reached the house, Caspian was already awake.

He was in one of his moods. I heard the crash of glass before I even opened the door.

The moment he saw me, his tail lashed the floor, propelling him toward me with terrifying speed. The sharp tip of his fin flicked across my cheek, leaving a stinging, hot trail of red. He didn't even look at the wound. He snatched the leather pouch from my hand, rummaging through it with a sneer.

"Youre late, little gimp. Please tell me you didn't buy more bottom-shelf refuse."

He popped a large, lustrous pearl into his mouth, crunching it with disdain. "Tastes like silt. Mr. Blackwoods merman gets the pearls imported from the South Pacific. Why am I stuck with a bargain-bin owner?"

I covered my stinging cheek, my voice barely a whisper. "I was there when the boat docked, Caspian. I got the best they had. Mr. Blackwoods staff hadn't even arrived yet."

He let out a sharp, cold huff and turned his back on me, his tail splashing water across my skirts.

I sank to the floor, my good knee hitting the wood with a thud, and began to pick up the shards of the life he was systematically destroying. When I went into his room to change the water in his tank, I found something tucked behind the artificial kelp.

A few of my missing gold sovereigns. And a damp map of North Point.

There was a circle drawn around Mr. Blackwoods estate.

I didn't need Caspian to tell me. I knew. He wanted a man like Blackwoodtowering, athletic, wealthy beyond measure. Not a lonely, limping landlady with nothing but a crumbling seaside house and a heart that was too easy to bruise.

I dried the map, folded it neatly, and left it on the stand by the tank.

Later that evening, as I was balancing the ledgers, a harsh scraping sound broke the silence. Before I could stand, Caspian burst into the study, his eyes glowing a manic violet-red.

"Did you touch my tank? You took my coins and my map!"

He lunged, his fingerswebbed and clawedpinning my wrists to the desk. "Listen to me, you pathetic gimp. If you think stealing my things will make me roll over and breed with you, you're wrong. Youre a broken thing. You don't deserve to be a mother."

His words were a serrated blade, twisting in my chest. I clenched my fists, fighting the sob that threatened to break me.

"I was changing the water," I said, my voice trembling but flat. "I put them on the stand so the map wouldn't rot."

Caspians fire died instantly. The room fell into a suffocating silence, so quiet I could hear my tears hitting the hardwood.

A flash of somethingregret? Confusion?crossed his handsome face. He reached out, his hand hovering near my shoulder.

I didn't wait. I wrenched myself away and stumbled out the door.

Bayberry Cove isn't large, and on a night like this, there was nowhere to hide. I walked with my head down, wiping my eyes, my breath hitching in the salty air.

Before I realized it, I had walked into the Abyssal Aquarium.

Usually, I came here to buy specialty brine shrimp or treats for Caspian, trying to buy his affection. Tonight, I just wanted to disappear into the blue.

Suddenly, a massive silver-white tail breached the surface of a nearby tank, sending a spray of cool water over my face. I flinched, remembering the sting of Caspian's fin earlier that morning. I braced myself for an attack.

But the tail didn't strike. It waved gently in the air, shedding water, before slowly, tentatively, curling around my waist like a silk ribbon.

I looked up. A merman with hair like spun moonlight and eyes of deep sapphire was floating there, watching me through the glass. When he spoke, his voice was a low, resonant thrum that seemed to vibrate in my chest.

"Im sorry. Did I startle you?"

As he spoke, a stream of tiny, shimmering bubbles floated toward the surface. He looked genuinely embarrassed, reaching out with a delicate, webbed finger to pop one.

Against my will, I laughed.

He smiled thena real, gentle smileand gestured toward the base of the tank. There was a small, brass plaque there:

[ABYSSAL DEFECT. TRADE-INS WELCOME.]

I froze. A "defect"?

I looked at him closely. His skin was the pale ivory of the deep ocean, his features more refined than any merman Id ever seen. But then I saw it. His dorsal fins weren't smooth and rounded like Caspians pampered, bred-for-show fins. They were jagged, tipped with sharp, defensive spines. His tail, though magnificent, was scarred, with missing scales that broke the silver pattern.

He was imperfect. Just like me.

Seeing me stare, he tightened his tail around me slightlynot to hurt, but to hold. His blue eyes locked onto mine with a desperate intensity.

"Mistress..." he whispered. "Please. Take me home."

He called me Mistress. A title Caspian had never uttered without a sneer. He gave me the dignity I had forgotten I possessed.

I looked at his pure blue eyes, then back at the "Trade-In" sign. A sudden, wild thought took root in my mind.

If Caspian hated me so much, why was I fighting to keep him? Maybe setting him freeand bringing this silver ghost homewas the only way we both could breathe.

I didn't say yes immediately. I left the aquarium in a daze, but my step was lighter than it had been in years.

His name was Soren. And I wanted him.

When I got home, I didn't go to Caspians room to apologize as I usually did. Instead, I went straight to my office and pulled out my savings. If I was going to bring Soren home, I wanted him to have the best.

I emptied my ceramic jar and noticed more coins were missing. I sighed. Caspian was likely siphoning off my savings for his escape. Fine, I thought. Consider it a severance package for a year of misery.

I began making a list: Industrial-grade tank, high-flow filtration, premium sea minerals.

Suddenly, the air in the room turned cold. Through the crack in the door, a pair of violet-pink eyes watched me.

I used to fear that lookthe cold, unadulterated loathing. Tonight, I ignored it. I didn't invite him in.

After five minutes, Caspians patience snapped. He shoved the door open, his voice sharp with irritation.

"Hey. Im hungry."

I didn't look up from my list. "I bought pearls this morning. They're in the kitchen."

Caspians tail lashed the floor. This was his version of an olive branchactually speaking to meand he was offended I wasn't groveling.

Suddenly, his nostrils flared. He glided toward me, leaning in close, sniffing the air around my neck. His pupils constricted into slits.

"Why do you smell like a High-Abyssal? You went to see another male?"

Before I could answer, he laughed, a cruel, dismissive sound. "Wait, what am I saying? Youre a crippled low-life. What kind of high-tier male would even look at you?"

He snatched the list from my hand. "Large-scale glass tank... advanced aeration system..."

His eyes lit up for a second. The violet softened into a shimmer of excitement. He quickly masked it with a sneer.

"Hmph. I knew you couldn't stay mad. Youre trying to buy my forgiveness with fancy upgrades, aren't you?"

He shook his head, looking smug. "I saw you crying when you left. I thought you finally got the hint, but here you are, still desperate to keep me."

I opened my mouth to correct him, but he didn't give me the chance. He held out his hand.

"Since you're feeling generous, give me two more sovereigns."

I didn't argue. I simply handed them over. Caspian looked at me suspiciously.

"You aren't going to ask what they're for?"

To find Mr. Blackwood, I thought. Usually, Id ask and start a fight that ended in me feeling like a monster. Tonight, I just wanted him gone.

I stayed silent. Eventually, Caspian scoffed, turned, and slammed the door.

Seeing Soren again made my heart do a nervous little dance. I arrived at the aquarium carrying a bag of large, lustrous black pearls, my pace almost brisk despite my limp.

Soren was resting when I arrived, his body floating gracefully in the massive tank.

He was breathtaking. His silver tail looked like it had been dipped in diamond dust; even in the dim light, it shimmered with an iridescent glow. His torso was lean and powerful, with defined muscles that spoke of a life in the wild, not a breeding tank.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. His pupils dilated, and his tail churned the water as he surged toward the glass.

"Joanna! Get back!"

A foul, fishy stench hit me. From a neighboring open tank, a massive manta rayeyes a sickly redleapt into the air. It was huge, twice my size, and it was coming straight for me with its mouth agape.

I couldn't move. I raised my arms to shield my head, bracing for the impact.

But the pain never came. I heard a heavy thud as something slammed into the concrete floor.

The manta ray let out a pained shriek, flopping helplessly. Soren was out of the tank, standingno, balancingon the coil of his massive tail. He stood over six and a half feet tall, his expression icy and lethal.

I trembled. I had never seen a merman look so... predatory.

Soren reached out a hand, his voice softening instantly. "Joanna. Come here."

I went to him. He wrapped his tail around me, pulling me into the cool dampness of his chest, and leaned his forehead against mine.

"Are you hurt?"

The way he clung to me, as if he was the one who needed protection, made my heart hammer.

"Im okay," I breathed. I looked at the ray on the floor. "What happened to it?"

"We are the 'defects,'" Soren said, his voice bitter. "The staff doesn't feed us properly. It was starving. It didn't mean to hurt you; it just saw prey."

My heart broke for them. I immediately opened the bag of black pearls and offered them to the ray. The creature hesitated, glancing at Soren with palpable fear.

"You can eat," Soren commanded.

The ray devoured the pearls. Once finished, it nudged Sorens tail, looking ashamed. Soren sighed, reaching out to pull a jagged harpoon tip from the rays side. Then, using his tail like a powerful spring, he hoisted the massive creature back into its tank.

The sheer strength of it stunned me. "How... how are you that strong?"

Mermen were supposed to be pets. Caspians strength was all for show; he just broke dishes. But Soren... he was a warrior.

Soren looked down, his long lashes casting shadows on his cheeks. "In the deep trenches, you fight or you die. I spent a long time fighting."

I reached out and touched his hair, a silent gesture of understanding.

Soren pointed to the few remaining pearls on the floor. "Were those for me?"

I nodded.

But Soren shook his head, looking away. "You should take them back. Don't bring them again."

"Why? Do you not like them?"

"No," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "They're too expensive. You have another merman at home. Hes... hes the 'perfect' one. He should have the best. I can survive on scraps. Seaweed, salt water... I don't need much."

A wave of fierce protectiveness crashed over me. Soren didn't ask for pearls. He didn't ask for gold. He just wanted to be seen.

I made my choice. I reached down, took his scarred tail in my hands, and pressed a lingering kiss to the silver scales.

Soren shuddered, his entire body turning a faint shade of pink. He pulled his tail back, cradling it like a treasure.

"Three days," I promised him. "Im coming back to take you home. And there won't be anyone else there. Just us. Okay?"

I walked through my front door and dumped the leftover black pearls in the entryway.

Caspian appeared like a gust of wind, grabbing a handful and chewing them. "These smell weird. Like another male. Did you buy these off some street urchin? You're so easy to scam, its pathetic."

"Eat them or don't," I said, my voice cold. "I don't care."

He froze, the pearl halfway to his mouth. I didn't wait for a reaction; I just went to my room to bathe.

When I climbed into bed later that night, I found Caspian already there. He was soaking wet, ruining my fresh linens without a second thought. I frowned.

He didn't notice. "Human beds are actually pretty soft," he mused.

Mermen were bred for breeding. That was the law. A year ago, I had bought an oversized bed, hoping hed join me. He had chosen to sleep in his cramped tank rather than touch me. Now, for some reason, he was here.

He reached out a webbed hand. "You smell good tonight. What did you put on?"

I pulled the covers up to my chin. "Your room is down the hall, Caspian. Get out."

His hand stopped in mid-air. He looked at me, genuinely stunned. "What? You mean you don't want to...?"

I turned my back on him.

"Fine!" he barked, his pride wounded. "You can beg on your knees tomorrow, and I still won't come back to this bed!"

He slid out of the room, crashing into a side table on his way.

Finally, silence. I pulled out my phone and found Mr. Blackwoods number. It was time to clear the space for my merman.

The sun was brighta perfect day for a new beginning. The aquarium staff was scheduled to deliver Soren this afternoon, but first, I had to finalize the deal with Mr. Blackwood.

Ten gold sovereigns. That was the price wed agreed on. It was exactly the amount Caspian had stolen from me over the last few months.

We were sitting in the parlor, the paperwork laid out between us.

Caspian emerged from his room, rubbing his eyes and looking annoyed. "I told you, I don't want people in the house this early! I hate the smell of"

He stopped dead when he saw Blackwood. His eyes lit up, his tail shimmering as he glided over. "Mr. Blackwood. Good morning."

Blackwood looked Caspian up and down, a predatory glint in his eye. "Hes a fine specimen, Joanna. Truly top-tier."

Caspian looked confused. I took a slow, deliberate sip of my tea.

Seeing that I was ignoring him, Caspian leaned into Blackwoods space, flirting shamelessly. Blackwood smiled, standing up. "The ten sovereigns are paid. Give me the contract, and Ill take him now."

I stood up to get the papers.

Panic finally hit Caspians face. "What is he talking about? Are you... are you selling me?"

"Yes," I said, my voice steady. "You want a man like him, and I want a merman who doesn't hate me. We haven't bred, so the contract is still transferable. Hell take care of you."

I expected him to be thrilled. I expected him to pack his bags and bolt.

Instead, he grabbed my wrist, his grip bruising. "No. I won't go! I don't give you permission!"

The delivery truck from the aquarium pulled up just as Caspian was losing his mind.

He was frantic, his tail sweeping everything off my coffee table. A shard of porcelain sliced through my leggings, drawing blood. I had never seen him so unhinged.

"You can't do this! My parents gave me to you!" he screamed, his violet eyes brimming with tears.

The doorbell rang. "Caspian, stop," I snapped. "You don't like me. This is better for everyone."

"How do you know what I like? You don't know anything!"

Blackwood reached out to grab his arm, but Caspians tail lashed out, nearly breaking the mans ribs. He lunged toward me, his tail raised to strike in a blind panic.

An Abyssals tail can hit with the force of a ton. I braced for the impact, closing my eyes.

Suddenly, the front door burst open. A silver blur moved faster than I could follow.

Soren was there, throwing himself between us. He took the full force of Caspian's blow.

I watched as Sorens recently healed scales shattered. Blood began to seep into the carpet.

"Enough!" I roared.

I shoved the contract into Blackwoods hands. "Hes yours. Take him. Now."

Caspian stared at Soren, then at me, his nose wrinkling. "That smell... it was you. All those days, Joanna was seeing you?"

He turned on Soren, baring his teeth. "Don't you know she belongs to me? You lured her away, didn't you, you gutter-fish?"

Blackwoods security team stepped in, throwing a heavy capture net over Caspian. They dragged him toward the door. Caspian gripped the doorframe, his eyes fixed on mine, red and pleading.

"Joanna! Are you really tossing me away for this freak?"

I didn't answer. I was already kneeling by Soren, looking at his bleeding tail. Caspians voice faded as they hauled him into the truck.

"You'll regret this! I never needed you anyway!"

I didn't care. I just needed my silver merman to be okay.