The Tide Watches — Episode 1

To save my boyfriend's company, I married a merman. He was cold. He was hungry for touch. You agreed. You finally agreed. And he was ashamed of his tail. I used that against him, over and over. Don't make me laugh. What is this garbage?

That slick, slimy tail of yours makes me sick just looking at it. No. Then my boyfriend had me killed. If I remember right, the last person I saw before I blacked out was Elias.

Don't be scared, Rina. I can save you. If I can't save you, I'll die with you. To save me, the merman tore out every last scale.

He let himself dissolve into seafoam. He was terrified of pain, but he tore out his own scales, through agony that would have made anyone else pass out. He loved sunlight, but he dissolved into foam beneath it.

He hated me more than anyone, but he traded his life for mine so I could live. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night I married him. He was hiding the shame and the hurt behind his eyes. I looked up at him.