A Wraith Beneath the Tides (Beyond the Tides, #1)

by Emilia Jae

A woman burdened by the weight of what she considered a curse, bound to the sea and its depths.

They had no idea who or what she was. A brave, knowing man would halt his efforts—a wiser man would run.

Within the sea, Esmyra was stealth incarnate—a wraith beneath the tides.

The elven Kingdom of Sumnae possessed gifts of mind and sight, which were given by worshipping Vydenne, the Goddess of Illusion. The nymph and woodland Kingdom of Terrana possessed extraordinary gifts that allowed them to manipulate the elements of weather and soil by the God of Growth, Villaem. And lastly, Irah, the God of Rage and War, was the ruling god of the mortal kingdom, Lephyrin. While his subjects possessed no gifts of magic, they were avid warriors and fighters—a race of destruction.

Draevyn Rowe wasn’t just any mortal prince—he was a fire-wielder. The only one known to exist in all of Rymelle.

Atlas, the firstborn and heir, was granted the power of shadows and smoke, renowned for blinding enemies and casting them into darkness. Draevyn, however, received Irah’s raging flames, granting him the renowned name of Lephyrin’s Phoenix.

For in a world where trust was a rarity, Esmyra was more than aware that the greatest power of the realm lay in the art of deception.

The daughter and weapon of the realm’s most notorious pirate, whose reputation spread far and wide across every sea. But in private, she was simply Esmyra—a slave to her father’s will. A monster that lingered beneath the tides, feared by all men and creatures alike.

Because the truth was, she wasn’t sure where Esmyra ended and the siren began anymore. The lines had blurred over the last few centuries.

When Draevyn laid eyes on Esmi in that tavern, it was akin to a bolt of lightning through the chest, waking him from a deep slumber.

Siren shifters supposedly went extinct when they were hunted down by men following the loss of their true home. And even then, the description of them in Rymelle’s legends weren’t identical to Esmyra herself—while they could still shift and walk on land, their song could only be used while in the sea, and all it did was lure men to them. They couldn’t manipulate minds the way she could with a single glance. They also hadn’t possessed the power to control the tides, nor would their skin camouflage when threatened.

“I’m not the heir to the sea, Captain.” She paused as his eyes flared, his brows slowly creasing. “I am the sea. The storm. The depths. The monster within.”

He tried to do a good thing, for once. Something greater than what the Phoenix was always known for—death, destruction, and ruin. He wanted to bring someone peace. Just once.

Draevyn had never balked before a foe, never yielded. Yet, Esmyra was the only being he’d ever come across who had his body yearning to kneel.

The Phoenix and the siren moved as one, their powers creating a deadly dance.

“And what is it you believe now?” Their gazes remained locked as she said, “That the only person I can trust, likely in this entire godsdamn realm…is you.” She let out a huff of a laugh. “My enemy’s son.”

“Consider me under your spell, Wildfire. Those talons of yours sank into me the moment we met, and by all the gods, they refuse to let me go.”

Esmyra was everything any man would be lucky to have—she was breathtakingly beautiful, powerful, humorous, and absolutely fucking lethal.

By the tides that swallowed our name, By the earth that buried our flame, By allies that whispered lies untold, We summon the power we once did hold. From the gods who bound our bones in shame, We summon your fear, your blood, and our name. Essence of water, fire, stone, and mind, Unravel our chains and return what is mine.