Faye and the Ether

Faye knew the stories. 

Selkies fascinated with humans. 
Merfolk that wrecked ships. 
And sirens who drew people in to their destruction. 

But she didn’t know those tales were real.

Until she met Daron.

Together, they enter a glimmering world full of darkness and magic that Faye never knew existed.

A world that her fate is intertwined with.

Amid harrowing adventures and a friendship that blooms into something more, the tides shift, and inky darkness sweeps in, threatening everything Faye holds dear.

NOTE: This book is the first in an Upper YA/NA fantasy series that features mature situations, some adult language, and two romances (one slow-burn) that lead to mild/moderate steam as the series progresses.

If you loved the adventure and mythology of Percy Jackson and the romance and twists & turns of A Court of Thorns and Roses, you'll love this series full of found family, shifters, magic, dark world-building, and diverse characters.

When I was a child, my mom took me to the sea.

There we built sandcastles. There we danced like fairies in a ring. There we stood as the ocean sucked at our toes, tucking them down into the sand like clams. I always imagined the ocean was trying to pull me in. As if it wanted me to come and live there like the water horses my mom told me about.

But I was a child then. As I grew older, I didn’t believe that anymore. I didn’t know my childhood imaginings had been right.

***

It was a good way to die. Swimming in the ocean alone. I suppose it was good I didn’t have a lot of opportunities.

The day at the beach wasn’t one either. I never had a chance to be alone. Mom smacked a volleyball. It soared across the blue sky like a bird in flight before dropping. Merri raised her hands, hitting it with a loud thump. Their laughter and conversation drifted to me on the breeze. My breathing mimicked the roaring of the waves and I focused on that. I wished to be alone with nothing but the salt water and crashing waves and inky clouds rolling in for company. 

I floated in the deep, just at the point where the waves formed. My legs dangled in the water, so far from the sand sprinkled with hidden shells far below me. A wave came and I stretched out, making my body part of the sea, like driftwood that might ebb and flow long enough that it became something different entirely, instead of a broken branch, a treasure.

The wave propelled me forward towards the beach. The water kissed my face, my lips tasted of salt, no beginning or ending existed between the ocean and myself. When the water grew too shallow, I turned to walk back into the deep, my toes sinking into the damp sand, but I paused.

It was just a glimmer.  It could have been the scales of a fish or a reflection on the choppy water. But my stomach fluttered. And I still wonder, even now, if there wasn’t something out in the ocean that day, seeking me out.

I wrung my long black hair out. The water dripped back into the sea. And I walked up the beach, dropping into a beach chair, the plastic rungs biting into my legs. I snatched sunscreen out of my bag. Better to put some on before mom reminded me. I had fair skin, yes, but I had never once burned. A fact that didn’t stop my mom from worrying in the least.

As if my thoughts summoned her, mom walked over, dropping into the chair beside me. Her short caramel curls fluttered in the breeze. She drew a book out of her bag and slipped it into her lap. “So, Faye, are you ready to start school this week?” 

I dropped my head against the chair and groaned. “Mom.”

“It’s your senior year. There’s so much to look forward to.”

I slid down in the chair. “Yeah being done.”

“Come on, there has to be something you are looking forward to. Merri is excited.” She gestured to her on the beach where Merri popped a pair of oversized, red sunglasses onto her face.

“Merri is always excited about everything.”

“Have you thought about joining the swim team this year?”

“Mom,” I dragged her name out. “I don’t want to be part of a team.”

She sighed and picked up her book, popping her finger into the page where her bookmark rested and tucking her feet down into the sand. Her eyes skimmed over the page but they were tight, her lips pursed. 

I fiddled with the frayed edge of my beach towel. “What are you reading about?” She flipped the book closed where I could make out the cover. I groaned but had to fight the smile edging up on my lips. “Selkies? Mom. This is a vacation, not work.”

She chuckled. “I teach mythology because I love it.”

“You know everything there is to know about mythology by now. Why not pick up a beach read?”

“There’s always more to learn,” she said, before flipping the book back open.

✨ Magical Realm

🧚 Fairytale Creatures

💕 Friends to Lovers

🌹 Slow Burn

🔮 Prophecies

🔀 Twists & Turns