Mermaids keep a secret other magical Creatures would kill for – they can store excess lifeforce for later use. When Grace loses the necklace storing the last of her lifeforce she sets in motion a chain of events that could forever alter the balance of power among Creatures. With her own life’s energy almost depleted she’s forced onto land to recover her necklace, and quickly becomes entangled in the malign intentions of a succubus and her cohort of ghouls, all determined to do whatever it takes to learn Grace’s secret. With the fate of all magical Creatures at stake Grace soon realises her attempts to keep her secrets may have caused a war her kind can never win.

Chapter 1

Grace smiled as a wave rushed up the beach and washed around her ankles, the subtle hints of lifeforce in the water making her body ache for more. As the wave slipped back out cool wet sand oozed between her toes, a pleasant distraction from her sunburn. With her lifeforce nearly spent she couldn’t afford the energy to heal. Not until she drowned someone.

Hundreds of people were bodysurfing, swimming, and jumping the waves, but she only needed to drown one of them today. Grace pulled her blond hair over her shoulders as another cool wave washed around her feet, sinking her deeper into the sand. Her claws, normally hidden when in human form, began to protrude from under her fingernails as her needs grew stronger. She had to choose a victim before she lost control and took someone she couldn’t live with.

Hating herself just a little for giving in to her needs, she began humming, the subtle enchantment disguised by crashing waves and yelling children. She reluctantly pulled the temporary affliction of her feet from the wet sand and began meandering along the beach, determined not to let the water draw her into a killing frenzy.

Several young men eyed her as she strolled and she made herself smile at one, a tall, skinny, awkward-looking kid about sixteen or seventeen, but he turned away in embarrassment. She couldn’t help her sense of relief that he didn’t fall for her. Still, if she spoke to him she could easily lure him into the ocean.

A few yards ahead a boy of three or four squealed in delight as his father chased him into the waves. Grace almost swooned at the rush of the child’s lifeforce when the next wave struck her feet, and not just his. Hundreds of people were begging her to drown them. She made herself continue humming, widening the effects of her enchantment. A teenage girl, maybe fourteen, fell under her spell.

The girl pushed sun-bleached hair aside and bit her bottom lip invitingly as Grace strolled past. She had two friends with her though, either of which could cause a problem unless Grace took all three.

A few yards further along a toddler with brown skin and black curly hair spooned wet sand into bucket his father was holding. She felt the father’s will crumble under her enchantment, but didn’t dare look at him in case he left the child and tried to follow her.

A swarm of small children ran across her path to escape a wave, dodging around a tanned, muscle-bound guy carrying a boogie-board into the water. The guy did a double-take as he saw Grace, but made an effort to turn and follow a pre-teen girl who looked enough like him that she couldn’t have been anyone else’s child, his parenting instincts overriding her enchantment.

Another wave washed around her ankles, trying to tease her concentration away and draw her back to the ocean’s embrace… and a killing spree. Killing indiscriminately felt so callous and… inhuman, and she didn’t want to forget she’d once been human herself.

Another wave struck, the lifeforce in it tingling her skin and sharpening her breath. Determined not to fall prey to her own needs, she left the water’s edge for the hot sand, grimacing as her feet lost their natural toughness from exposure to the water.

Almost entirely human now, sand ground painfully into her un-calloused soles and clung to her feet and ankles, giving her a pedicure she didn’t need or want.

Maintaining her enchantment, she continued to search for a victim who wouldn’t weigh too heavily on her conscience. Humans ran about, lazed, read, and generally had fun. Some watched her, several young men staring openly now, but their instincts, or perhaps doubts, kept them from approaching.

Eyes followed her, heads turned, and a few mouths fell open as she meandered across the beach. She suspected that if she walked into the ocean now, at least half a dozen people would follow.

An older man slathered in poorly rubbed-in sunscreen did a double-take as he glanced her way. Quickly ensnared by her enchantment, his eyes wondered to her bikini-clad breasts, but then his face flushed red when he noticed her watching and he turned away, his embarrassment enough to break her hold.

Humming still, she continued her slow walk, both hoping and fearing she’d attract the right person. Many people stared openly now as she strolled past, one couple even following from a distance. Grace hesitated when she saw Maria on the sand ahead. Her sister’s dark hair cascaded to her waist, the light breeze moving it as she anxiously watched Grace, clearly determined to help if needed.

A toddler ran into Grace’s leg and bounced off, the little girl landing on her rear in the dry sand.

Grace stopped humming. “Are you okay?” she asked as the toddler looked up with surprised blue eyes. A child of her own might have appeared much the same if Grace had had the opportunity while still human.

Sand clung to the little girl’s hands and legs as she stood. “Uh-huh,” she said before offering a gorgeous smile. The child’s parents didn’t seem to be nearby, catering to Grace’s darker instincts. This close, Grace could feel the child’s lifeforce emanating from her body like mist from dry ice. “You need to go,” Grace whispered hoarsely.

An old, almost buried instinct to keep the toddler safe welled up in her, but it was fleeting and hard to cling to when her need to survive was growing so strong. She wanted to walk away, but her own needs ensnared her as much as her enchantments had caught the people on the beach.

Grace smiled back at the little girl, sensing herself approaching an edge she couldn’t back away from. “Hush little baby,” Grace found herself singing, the old nursery rhyme coming unbidden.

Her body ached with need and desire as her claws protracted and her canines lengthened and pushed hard against the insides her lips. Today more than any other day in the past few decades she had to kill someone. She wished it didn’t have to be such a gorgeous child.

“Mamma’s going to buy you a rocking bird…” Rocking horse? Mocking bird? She couldn’t remember, not that it mattered. Slowly, deliberately, she reached for the child who watched her as if in a trance. “Are you lost?” she asked in the same sing-song voice, lifting the little girl up.

The toddler stared, wide-eyed and unblinking now, her will completely washed away by Grace’s voice. “How about I help you find your mother?” Grace continued. She smiled at the little girl. “Would that be good? I saw her in the water, taking a swim.”

“Uh huh,” the girl murmured, still staring.

“I think that would be best,” Grace continued as she turned toward the foamy waves.

“Oh, there you are!” a young woman cried, running over to snatch the girl from Grace’s arms. The woman was pregnant with her next child, maybe half-way there.

Grace’s enchantment shattered like a stomped-on sandcastle. She clenched her fists to hide her claws as the woman became her new focus for murder, reluctantly letting the mother keep the toddler.

“She’s a beautiful girl,” Grace managed, clenching her teeth.

The woman smiled. “Thanks. If only she had a leash. I swear I only turned away for a second. Come on Tiani. No running off again, okay? You could have drowned and I’d never have known.”

Grace’s instincts made her tremble as the woman left with her victim, but she forced her needs down until her canines receded. It took a full minute more before her claws did the same.

“That was stupid,” Maria said from behind, her tone annoyed to the point of anger.

“I-”

“You could have drowned the toddler before her mother even realised she was missing.” Despite centuries without seeing her homeland, Maria still retained her Italian accent.

“I was nearly there Maria.”

“Two days, Grace. Just two left. I can feel you slipping away.” Maria touched Grace’s pearl-encircled sapphire necklace with a single fingertip, the necklace matching the one Maria wore. “You should kill more often. It makes it easier. You can’t always rely on disasters to carry you through the years.”

Grace tried to smile, but her charms were completely wasted on her sister.

Maria’s dark brown eyes watched her, full of concern and love and fear. “You’re going to have to pick someone. The less you think about it the easier it will be.”

Grace watched the humans enjoying the day’s warmth. “Easier? The only time it was easy was when you made me and I was in the throes of transformation. I didn’t even know what I was doing.”

“Pretend that’s today.”

Grace stared at the soft sand, a torn piece of dry seaweed crushed under someone’s footstep. “Dying once was enough. It’s not a memory I cherish.”

Maria placed her hand on Grace’s shoulder. “You didn’t die. Of all the victims the sea should have claimed that night, I saved only you.”

“No, I died. We can’t we have children Maria. Living people have children.”

“You’re my daughter! My sister. My love.”

“I’m your creation.”

Maria stiffened as hurt and anger collided on her features.

Grace instantly regretted the words. “Your my best friend and the person I love most in the world, but I’m not your daughter. My mother died in England a century ago,” she said softly.

Instead of the expected outburst, Maria’s eyes filled. “You’re not human Grace, and neither am I. We kill humans. We have to.”

“Not all magical creatures have to kill for lifeforce. Most just take what they need to survive, like vampires.”

“Never compare yourself to them! We’re magical. Even if there was enough magic in the world to sustain us, it’d do them no good. They’re parasites by nature. We kill only from necessity. Never mind. You’re the only thing in the world I care about Grace. The only thing. Don’t ever belittle that. I love you more than my own life. I even defied our sisters to create you.”

Grace couldn’t meet Maria’s eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I hate this part. If I didn’t have to kill there’d be nothing to hate about this life.” That, and her inability to have a child of her own, but she kept that to herself as she toyed with her necklace, the slight tingle of stored lifeforce it still held doing little to make her feel better.

Maria’s expression softened. “Would you rather I’d let you die that day? Would you change that if you could?”

“I just wish…” Wish what? That she could kill without feeling guilty? Did she ever really want that? “I really hate this part.”

“Sometimes you have to kill to survive, Grace. All life struggles in one way or another, and we’re part of that. We keep the balance by taking the injured, the unlucky, and the stupid.” She glanced around the beach. “And sometimes we take those who don’t deserve it. It’s how life works.”

“I know.”

Maria took Grace’s hands. “How about I help you pick someone? That way you can blame me and you won’t have to feel guilty.”

“I’ll still feel guilty.”

“Maybe a little less guilty?”

Grace couldn’t help a tiny smile. “Maybe just a little.”

Maria pointed to a balding man walking toward the water. “How about him? He’s old enough to have lived well, and by the look of that mole on his back he isn’t going to survive much longer. Nothing to feel guilty about. Right?”

Grace watched the man for a moment, but he didn’t go deeper than his knees. If he feared swimming beyond his depth then no enchantment would likely lure him further.

“A decent rip would be handy about now.”

“You’ve got it easy little sister. In the old days we had to wait for a shipwreck or creep into a village at night and steal a child. Many of us died that way.” She got a distant look in her eyes, but it disappeared almost as quickly. “Nowadays there’s plenty of people in the water. Just pick someone swimming alone and drag them under. Better yet, stalk a surfer. No one will notice if they don’t surface for a while after a spill, and by then you’ll have another year to chance upon a disaster and top up that necklace.”

Chance upon a disaster? It sounded so cold.

Maria squeezed Grace’s arm. “How about that boy?” she said, pointing with her free hand. “He’s out way too far, and no one’s near him.” She raised an eyebrow. “What kind of parent lets a kid that young swim out so deep on his own? Looks like he’s getting into trouble, too.”

“He’s not in troub… oh.”

“C’mon!” Maria began dragging Grace toward the water.

“Okay, okay!” Grace said, hating herself for listening. She could do this. It would be far too easy to drown the boy, and after that she wouldn’t have to think about it again for a year. Wincing as the sand ground into her feet she walked down to the water and sighed in relief when a cool wave washed soothingly against her shins, toughening her skin.

The touch of water brought on the familiar need to change forms as well as the comforting sense of Maria’s enthusiasm and love. Grace struggled to hold onto her human shape as she walked deeper into the ocean, the waves crashing into her thighs.

The beach was shallow for the first twenty steps or so, but there it dropped off. A wave crashed against her waist and it was almost too much to hold her human form. She clenched her teeth at the next wave and barely managed not to revert. She wouldn’t last through another.

Looking around to be sure no one was watching too closely, she dived under and slipped off her bikini bottoms. As the ocean welcomed her, her body shuddered in near ecstasy. She held on for another second just to prove to herself that she could, but then her legs fused into a long, powerful tail.

A single flick and she was away, powering under the waves faster than any human could hope to swim, the bottom half of her body elongated and shaped like a dolphin’s, the end of her tail a fan over two feet wide.

Her hair washed out behind her, the golden sun-streaks tinged with green and blue now, while her skin changed to the mottled colour of the sandy bottom to help her blend in.

Better to take the boy quickly before she had time to talk herself out of it. She cleared the breaking surf and swam deeper, scaring schools of fish in all directions.

Few humans were brave enough to swim beyond the waves, but the lack of sand under their feet didn’t deter them all. Only the fact they weren’t the preferred prey of anything in the ocean made it even remotely safe for them. Anything except a mermaid.

Grace stopped and faced the shore as a swell moved over her, the water there almost luminescent with lifeforce. She could absorb the lifeforce, but it was like drinking from a morning mist. She need much more than the ocean could ever give to her.

Hopefully the boy had grown some sense and retreated into the relative safety of the group, but it only took a few seconds to find the small pair of legs pumping beyond the reach of sand, his body bobbing up and down with the surface movement.

Staying close to the bottom, Grace drifted nearer, allowing her instincts to crowd her thoughts and dissolve her human desire to nurture and protect the child. If she relaxed completely she’d risk taking more than just the child though, but she couldn’t do it while thinking entirely rationally either. She might drown a dozen people before regaining her senses.

She felt Maria’s presence on the beach, her sister’s feet in the water and her emotions calm and assured, but focused. There was no obvious danger then. Her disappearance under the waves hadn’t been noticed, not that it would really matter. People would forget soon enough. Magical creatures could never have stayed hidden otherwise.

Hopefully Maria had managed to collect her bikini bottoms. Clothes were hard to come by when you were naked and broke. With her tail moving up and down she eased nearer, wary of people close enough to see the boy disappear. She didn’t want searchers in the water if she lost control.

She waited until the boy drifted a few yards closer to her, and as a swell moved between the boy and the nearest person she darted in behind him, drove her shoulder against the back of his knees, grabbed his ankles and took him under.

He didn’t react for a moment, but then thrashed and kicked. She dug her claws into his skin and flicked her tail, forcing him deeper.

The boy’s desperation became blind panic, but she held his ankles hard against her chest.

Having drowned herself once, she hated inflicting the same fear on someone else and cursed herself for forgetting to sing, but his panic was completely beyond her enchantments now. His arms struggled wildly for the surface while he tried to kick free, but it didn’t take long before his strength waned.

She loosened her grip and turned his limp form in her arms.

He seemed so small, sandy brown hair floating about his face. He blinked, smiled, and mouthed the word, ‘Mum’, and then his eyes rolled back.

The word felt like a knife in her stomach and Grace’s instincts failed her.

Grabbing the boy by the shoulders, she shot up at an angle, breaking through the surface just beyond the breakers.

She pinched the boy’s nose and blew oxygen into his mouth, but he remained limp. She flicked her tail and pushed toward shore just behind a wave, and as she reached the first person she drove her tail downward and felt sand.

“Quick,” she said, pushing the boy into a well-tanned woman’s arms. “I think he’s swallowed some water.”

The woman hesitated as she came to terms with someone appearing in front of her holding a limp boy, but then she took the child. “What happened?”

“Just get him to shore! Go!”

Grace held back as the woman spun and desperately struggled toward the beach, all the while trying to keep the boy’s head above water. Several people came to help as Grace took the opportunity to slip under a wave and shoot away like a terrified porpoise.

Want to read the whole story? Epicentre is available on Amazon.