Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/T_BTtdxuLSk
Bewitching Books Exclusive Excerpt – When Indigo first meets Bay from Secrets of the Mermaid by Catherine Stine
Indigo tried to determine which portrait was Bay’s. Was it the last one, a striking young man with flowing hair and the mischievous look of a human pirate?
She startled and spun around as a bass voice boomed, “Ah! You found me!” Face to face with the very man in the lively oil image, she gasped. His was masculine beauty perfected: tall, wide-shouldered, a square jaw and wide mouth, as full-lipped as a man could get away with, and half-turned up in a sexy grin. He looked to be in his late twenties like her, and in the hard-bodied shape of a marathon swimmer who trained relentlessly. Or was it noble genes? No doubt both. He wore a green velvet dinner jacket, tight black pants and boots of fine leather. His energy was palpable—male, self-assured, old-blood noble.
“Bay?” she croaked out.
“That I am.” He held out a hand and she shook it. When he clasped her hand and raised it, she thought he might kiss it like some gallant knight from human myths, but this was a figment of her overactive imagination. He released her hand and gestured to the wall of portraits. “Yes, the Finleys come from a long line of Royals going back, oh…to the Ice Age. There aren’t many left. The commoners had too many spawn.” He chuckled. “May I?” He reached in his jacket pocket, pulled out a medallion and held it out between thumb and index finger. A merfolk figure with its tailfin looped around the words Keeper of the Merfolk was imprinted on it. “May I?” Bay repeated as he pointed at the collar of her dress.
“Pin it? Um, why not?” She held her breath as wisps of his breath tickled her collarbone.
Then she took a step back, if only to be less overwhelmed by his charismatic force.
“You are now an official Keeper, welcome to the tribe.” Bay gave Indigo a broad smile; this benediction clearly brought him great satisfaction, even though she’d already been sworn in yesterday by Reece Ectelon and others of the High Council. Reece was the senior-most merman, who had traveled from Corfu to Pyreshore just for her swearing in. Oddly, Bay Finley had been absent from yesterday’s event.
“So, thanks for the pin and the well-wishes.” Indigo paused to collect herself. “I was surprised you didn’t attend yesterday’s ceremony.”
“Oh, that. Formal ceremonies bore me, and Reece tends to be so long-winded.” Bay shrugged. “I thought it would be much more interesting to invite you here, to my own gathering. Besides, I was out on a research venture of my own.”
Her skin prickled. Why was he criticizing Reece? Bay’s competitive streak flashed sharply in his eyes, or was this hunch as off-kilter as it had been when she sensed Bay was about to kiss her hand? “Do tell,” she said dryly. “And what were you studying?”
“I found a tablet of my own. Similar coded pictographs.” His gleeful eyes dared her to ask more.
“Oh? Okay.” She tried to sound unfazed. “Where did you find it?”
He winked. “Not far from the spot you found yours. Near Coralline Crest.” Her blood, normally cool, heated up. This guy was definitely into going fin-to-fin. It wasn’t like one person had dibs on research, on important discoveries. It wasn’t as if she owned the tablets she’d unearthed from that blast site, though she was pretty sure she’d found the first tablets from this area, from this epoch. Reece was shocked when she’d sent word of her finding, and that was a month ago. Bay had discovered his tablet only yesterday.
Plus I have the mysterious mossy globe hidden away. I can take my time figuring out what it is. No need to rush and cheapen the effort in a blood sport competition.
She was being too sensitive. This guy’s over-confidence was getting to her. She shook it off. Just as she was about to tell him she was going to mingle, a stunning woman floated over as if on a tropical wave. She had a pink anemone blossom in her long, turquoise hair, and her luminous skin had pink scale prints down each cheek and sleeveless arm. She linked one around Bay’s. “Hello. Are you going to introduce us, Mr. Finley?”
Was Bay blushing? This was rich. “Um, Indigo Rain,” he said. “This is Abigail Torrent.”
“His fiancĂ©e,” Abigail explained with a playful poke in Bay’s side. “I hear you are the mermaid who found the amazing coral tablet.”
Was that a frown settling over Bay’s face like a red tide? Indigo laughed inside though she was curiously deflated at the fact Bay was spoken for.
About the Author:
Catherine Stine is a USA Today bestselling author of paranormal, urban and historical fantasy with romance. Witch of the Wild Beasts won a second prize in the Romance Writers of America’s Sheila Contest. Other novels have earned Indie Notable awards and New York Public Library Best Books for Teens. She lives in New York State and grew up in Philadelphia. Before writing novels, she was a painter and fabric designer. She’s a visual author when it comes to scenes, and sees writing as painting with words. She loves edgy thrills, perhaps because her dad read Edgar Allen Poe tales to her as a child. Catherine loves spending time with her beagle Benny, writing about supernatural creatures, gardening and meeting readers at book fests.
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