Surfaced: The Clockwork Siren Series, #3

By Katie Hayoz

WHAT IF LOVE MEANT EXPOSING YOUR DARKEST SECRET TO THE WORLD?

 

Melusine Doré, monster hunter extraordinaire, has finally figured out what she is: half lethal mermaid, half-human…and completely in love.  She's doing her best to live her happily-ever-after. It seems, for once, that nothing will destroy her fairy-tale ending. Fellow hunter Levi Cannon loves her for who (and what) she is and the two of them have been able to hide her tails from the world. But when she and Levi discover that someone is trapping and torturing monsters, they're led on a journey to a traveling freak show. A simple investigation quickly turns into a tangled mess and the hard-won happiness the couple has earned begins to crumble. Levi goes missing and Melusine must tap into all her unusual talents to find and rescue her lover. This time though, Melusine won't be the deadliest fish in the sea.  It seems the demons, or, in her case—monsters—from her past, are angry and unwilling to let go.

 

Adventure number three in the Clockwork Siren Series, Surfaced by Katie Hayoz brings much more than clowns to the fading tents of this steampunk traveling circus. Despite the danger, Melusine and Levi prove that the show must go on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katie Hayoz
• Release date: Sep 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215236055

Book preview

Chapter One

The broadside fluttered in the wind, stopping only to wrap itself around Melusine’s naked thigh. She lifted it, the headline in thick, block letters announcing MONSTERS GONE TO MADNESS. Melusine let go and the paper swirled about then continued on its way.

Melusine needed no newspaper to tell her that monsters in Chicago were wreaking havoc. She and Levi had been called out every night for the past week to slay some beast or other. It was always like this around a full moon—it wasn’t only werewolves who were affected by the lunar change.

Mel swallowed a sharp pain her throat. All monsters felt the moon; including her. The feeling started as a slippery knot in her stomach, but ended up as a deeply stitched sense of dread throughout her whole body.

Whenever you’re ready, Miss Doré, Zahn called out from behind the helm of the boat. He had his back to her, his eyes resolutely on anything but the naked woman standing on deck.

Levi Cannon, however, grinned, his eyes drinking in every inch of her. His voice came muffled from inside the round copper, glass and rubber helmet that Zahn had fashioned for him. Or you can take your time. If I run out of air, this is a nice way to go.

Melusine had all but forgotten her undressed state, so concentrated on the task ahead of her. She, Levi and Zahn were on Levi’s boat and were passing through a particularly disgusting part of the Chicago River. Not only was sewage pumped into the river around there, slaughterhouses dumped everything from entrails to entire carcasses into the water, creating a bloody, bubbling mess. But lately, it was not only slaughtered cattle that was sinking below the surface. Humans, too, had been pulled under. Pulled under by greedy webbed hands and bit into by hungry jaws.

Water goblins. Those ghastly beasts were the size of toddlers, but had teeth like saw blades and lion-like strength. They loved to play. With death.

Melusine sighed her relief as the boat skimmed past the nastiest part of the river. It stopped where the water was not clean, but clean enough for filth-loving creatures to survive in. A breeze brushed over her bare skin. Melusine would have to dive in and there was no point in wearing clothing that would just slow her down. In a matter of moments she would transform, anyway.

Or…she hoped she would. And yet dreaded it, too.

Levi touched her arm ever so lightly. It’s okay, Mel. You’ll do just fine.

It would be the very first time she changed into a mermaid of her own volition. The very first time she actually wanted the scales to cover her skin, the very first time she hoped her fins would form. Up to now, she’d always seen the change as an affliction and a curse. But today, she would use her power to hunt in her own element.

A bubble on the surface of the water burst, a heavy, sulfuric odor unleashed by that one pop!

Water. Water was her element. But she’d have to go through this.

She glanced at Levi, the round helmet the only part of his submarine armor he would wear tonight. The goblins only came out when they smelled a human. And neither she nor Levi knew if she was considered one. So no India rubber suit for Levi. Just a snug-fitting bowl of air round his head and a pair of gloves. He had a dart shooter in one hand and a silver fork in another.

Mel felt the thin, silver chain she’d wrapped around her left wrist drape down onto her hand. In her right hand, she held her own dart shooter, loaded with silver-plated barbs. She climbed to the railing, spread her arms and closed her eyes. She swallowed the prickly ball of apprehension in her throat and told herself she wanted to change. Told herself it was okay to do so. She had to convince the terrified part of her soul that it was not misfortune to be half monster.

In her mind, she saw herself in her mermaid form—spiky coral-colored scales, two whip-strong tails, and fan-like fins. She gave into the sense of dread that had been blanketing her, gave into the inner beast that she felt clawing to get out.

Ripping her hand from Levi’s, she broke through the greasy film on the surface of the water, plunging into the depths of the river. Searing pain burned through her, from her feet to her hips, as her scales took form, one by one. She lost her concentration and the transformation stopped mid-way, scales half grown-in, their scalloped edges and needle-like barbs tearing through her skin. She forced herself to keep focus, despite the pain. Her gills were not yet formed, only slight indentations between her ribs. She writhed about, gasping in water, feeling it like a knife through her lungs until her gills opened up.

But though they weren’t in the worst of it, the water was still too polluted here, too thick for her to breathe in easily. She stuck her head out and coughed, breathing in both fresh air from her mouth and dirty water from her gills at the same time. It made her head spin. She slipped under again as Levi jumped in. This time, she had fully changed. And, compared to how she’d experienced the change before, it had been simple.

She felt movement in the water next to her, and suddenly Levi was there, looking utterly ridiculous in his helmet. The siren in her hungered for him as a hunter hungers for its prey. But though the change had come about easily, so had the ability to dampen the most evil instincts that came with it. The only hunger she allowed herself to really feel was the hunger to keep this man happy and by her side.

The water was tinged a rusty brown and there was all matter of slimy debris, but Melusine could still see through it. From a dark pocket of rubbish came a massive shadow just behind Levi. She readied her shooter and nodded to Levi, warning him that the water goblins were already on the move. A human to tease and torture was something the creatures could not resist. The giant shadow came closer and closer, finally breaking off into separate parts as each goblin tore from the mass.

They swarmed over Levi like wolves on a lamb, their scaled gray bodies covering his own, their long-webbed fingers grasping his arms and legs and helmet, their pointy fin-like ears flapping about in the water, their teeth tearing holes in his clothing and breaking his skin. A few floated downward as Levi shot them or poked them with his fork, but he wouldn’t be able to kill the whole covey on his own. Melusine’s eyes flicked up to the copper tube that housed the rubber hose feeding Levi air. She had to slay the beasts before they sunk their teeth into Levi’s lifeline.

Goblins of all sorts had an aversion to silver, and if it pierced their skin it meant death. Melusine cranked the dart shooter and narrowed her eyes as she aimed. The noise was dulled in the thick wetness around them, but Melusine heard the muffled thwack as the harpoons found the flesh of their target. Several goblins left Levi to come after her, though she realized by the way they’d initially ignored her that she was not their natural prey. Their fingers grasped at her hair and her fins. One tried covering her eyes. A sharp pain shot through her left tail as one bit into it. The beast, however, released his teeth rather quickly as the barbs on her scales scratched his mouth to ribbons.

She whipped the silver chain about, burning the beasts that came in contact with it. The others she shot with the darts, their sharp, silver tips going through the monsters’ hide like a knife through butter.

Finally, she saw only one left. It was chewing through Levi’s air hose. Melusine pointed the shooter at its heart, her last dart hitting its mark.

She lifted an eyebrow at Levi, wanting to boast that she’d saved him once again, when she saw his expression behind glass change from satisfaction to surprise. All of a sudden, long fingers covered Melusine’s eyes from behind, sharp claws piercing the tender skin there.

She heard the whoosh of a dart through the water and the dull smack when it hit the goblin’s skin. The beast let go and Levi hit it once again, his shooter level with his eyes, a large grin on his face.

It was his turn to cock an eyebrow at her, his expression smug.

While the submarine armor of Levi’s helmet was intact, his clothes and gloves were riddled with gashes. He pointed