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Chapter One
Aerin
In the bag you go, Aerin thought with quiet curiosity as she carefully placed the mysterious, barnacle-covered trinket into her worn leather bag, slung securely across her shoulder. She wasn’t sure what the artifact was, but she trusted that Miranda, the local antique dealer in town, would recognize its origins. Swishing her shimmering tail, she plunged deeper into the shadowy depths, hoping to find a few more treasures.
The seas were especially murky today; sand and grit had been stirred up by the recent passage of fishing boats entering Mystic Harbour before last night’s storm. Aerin hoped that her early-morning swim would lead her to some freshly uncovered unique trinkets or shells.
Just as she was about to turn back and head home to the cliffs, her delicate webbed fingers brushed against something smooth beneath the shifting sand. Her webbed hands made it easier to scoop away the gritty particles and uncover a partially buried, weathered golden plaque. Digging her long, blackened nails into the sand, she strained to yank the plaque free. Aerin winced as her claws threatened to detach from her nail bed. She shook her webbed hand to ease the pain and realized the shiny plaque was connected to something larger. Not wanting to waste more energy or risk her safety, she swept her tail through the sand, kicking up thick clouds of dust that swirled around her.
When the clouds dispersed, she gently brushed her tail over the surface, clearing away the loosened debris. Whatever it was had clearly been here for a long time.
What do we have here? Aerin thought, staring at the golden coffin. She couldn’t imagine how much it would fetch at auction. However, she wasn’t so excited about the body she might find inside. Who could afford to be buried in such a coffin, and how had it ended up in the sea? A shipwreck isn’t out of the question; there had been many off the coast of Indigo Cove over the years. Maybe I’ll be able to get my roof fixed before it completely rots.
It had been almost a year since she found anything of real value, and her funds to repair her crumbling ancestral home were running desperately low. She didn’t want to dip into her emergency fund. Though it didn’t cost much to live in the small town of Indigo Cove, with a population of roughly ten thousand, she still had to survive. Despite a few barnacles here and there, the coffin was in excellent condition. Using the harness around her waist to help with large hauls, she clipped herself to the handles on either side of the coffin and, with a firm tug, pulled it free from the seabed. Much to her relief, once freed, it was lighter than she had expected; the weight of the sand had been keeping it buried. It must be airtight. If someone went to such trouble, whatever’s inside must be valuable.
Pulling herself up onto the end of the dock, Aerin’s legs quickly replaced her turquoise-scaled tail. Her leggings and T-shirt returned, and she grabbed her hoodie, which she’d left on the pier, before diving in. She hauled up the coffin, and from its size, it was definitely an adult’s. The dock connected to one of the many caves, but this was the only one with a secret tunnel to her home.
I couldn’t have found a nice, small chest of gold. No, I had to find a solid gold coffin, she thought, dragging the coffin from the cave at the base of the cliffs through the tunnels to her home on the cliff edge. In human form, her strength was slightly reduced from her siren form, but she wasn’t going to ask for help and risk having to share this bounty.
She scraped the coffin through the secret opening and into her basement. She flicked on the lights, and the last remaining bulb flickered before holding steady.
I really need to add bulbs to my shopping list, she huffed, catching her breath. Grabbing a crowbar from an old toolkit, she knelt beside the coffin and pried open the lock. It snapped off easily, the metal having long since weakened from rust. Looking at the broken lock, she hesitated. Is this intended to keep something inside or to protect the corpse from grave snatchers?
“Let’s see what we have found.” Aerin sighed as she broke the airtight seal with the crowbar. The smell of musty clothes wafted out as she slid the lid off, only for the weight to crack one of the wooden floorboards.
Great, another thing to fix, she groaned. Selling the coffin would earn her enough to replace the floorboards and the roof. The house had been in her family for over a hundred years and was long overdue for maintenance.
“You’re not what I was expecting.” She tilted her head, staring down at the emaciated elderly man, lying on the crimson silk lining, with a burgundy cushion behind his head. Noticing his outdated ruffled shirt and waistcoat, he resembled someone straight out of an 18th-century Regency romance novel. There’s no way you could’ve been down there for nearly two hundred years. There should only be bone left by now. What exactly are you? Her eyes narrowed as she studied his crepe skin and wispy grey hair.
Living alone for the past seventy years, trapped in the body of her twenty-four-year-old self, she knew what it was like to remain frozen in time.
“Whatever you are, you’ve certainly been in the water a long time.” She leaned over him, trying to see if there was anything in the coffin, anything that might hint at his identity, anything she could auction off.
Surprising her, a skeletal hand shot up and clutched her neck.
He’s still alive! Aerin froze, waiting for his grip to tighten, for him to strangle the life out of her. However, the man remained still, his eyes closed.
He must be in some coma-like state. Carefully, she unpeeled his fingers from her neck; she didn’t want to hurt him in his delicate state. He didn’t try to fight her, confirming the attack had to be some sort of defensive reflex. Letting out a sigh of relief, she placed his hand back down at his side and noticed his extended fangs cutting into his thin lower lip.
“Vampire, a starving vampire,” she mused. Even if he wanted to hurt her, he was far too starved to do her any harm. His lack of reaction to her voice confirmed his comatose state. “I could stake you, put you out of your misery. Then, I’d be able to sell your very elaborate coffin without any problems.” Sirens weren’t known for their empathy, but as she stared down at his pathetic state, she found herself wanting to help instead of harm him.
“How long have you been down there?” There was no way to tell his age until she fed him some blood. “If you’re an older vampire, you might have been able to endure being trapped in the water for so long without completely losing your mind. Perhaps this coma is to conserve your strength. There haven’t been any recent shipwrecks with vampire passengers visiting the cove, and the Kraken has been remarkably well-behaved lately. I don’t know why I’m trying to talk to you when you can’t hear me. I’ve been living alone for far too long,” she said, running her hands through her ink-black hair.
“You’ll feel far more talkative when we get some blood into you. I can’t leave you like this. I’ll need you out of the coffin because your presence will surely lower the value at auction, and I think it’s only fair that you should let me keep it since I’ve saved your life. We can negotiate when you’ve healed up. That’s if you don’t turn out to be a blood-crazed lunatic and I have to stake you,” she said, pitying his weakened, frail state. It would be easy to stake him while he was weak. “I’ll keep you in here for now until we fatten you up. I’m worried that if I move you like this, you’ll crumble.” She lifted the heavy lid back onto the coffin and slid it over him. “I’ll be back,” she reassured him, tapping on her deposit for a new porch and roof.
Aerin wasn’t keen on heading into town during the morning rush. Small talk didn’t come naturally to her, but to get blood, she’d need to visit the blood bank. She grabbed her bag from the kitchen table and her cosy woolly boots. She hated wearing shoes, but loved how the soft wool felt against her feet. Besides, she’d never go into town barefoot.
Leaving the stranger in the basement was the safest choice. She reasoned her precious treasure and surprise guest wouldn’t be alone for long, and the coffin would shield him from the rising sun while she was away. Lingering by the front door, she wondered if bringing a drowned vampire back to life was wise.
Who’s to say he wasn’t dangerous? Maybe he was dumped in the sea on purpose? But I can’t put him back without knowing. I’ll give him enough blood to wake him, but not enough to fully restore his strength. I’ll keep a stake close by in case he turns out to be ungrateful to his new host. Aerin shut the door behind her without locking it. She had lived in Indigo Cove for over ninety-four years and rarely had visitors. Her dilapidated family estate wasn’t the most welcoming place; many in town believed it was haunted, given its disrepair and its lonely perch on the cliff’s edge. Only the wild faeries dared to roam in the untainted nature around her home. The faeries could often be spotted dancing on the cliffs; let her alone, and she was more than happy to return the favour.
If I go to the blood bank, they’ll question why I need blood, and questions lead to gossip—they always do in small towns. Maybe a small bribe will distract the receptionist from prying, she thought, walking the fifteen minutes down the hill into town.
Chapter Two
Aerin
Hoping some sweet pastries and coffee would keep the receptionist at the blood bank distracted, Aerin waited patiently in the queue at Crescent Coffee along the boardwalk before heading to the hospital. The coffee shop opened after sundown and closed after sunrise to accommodate nocturnal creatures, night owls, and early risers like Aerin. After getting caught behind some tourists wrapped up warmly before their early morning ‘Kraken Spotting’ boat tour, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop. Aerin admired the decorative night sky lighting the coffee shop’s ceiling, so it didn’t seem like she was listening in on their conversation. Between the tours and the Autumn Festival next month in October, the small town filled up with human and magical tourists alike each day.
