The Sea of Her (The Sea of Her 1)

By Lynn Robin

Leilani has a gift:
the tears she cries all turn into pearls.

Three years ago, her well-kept secret got exposed — and upon finding out, the sinister Twins who rule the island have claimed her as their bride-to-be.

The Twins stole the Crown from the King of the Ocean many years ago, obtaining powers no man should possess, holding everyone prisoner and controlling dark sea creatures that haunt the streets at night.

Desperate for divine intervention, Leilani throws a message in a bottle into the sea, pleading for the King of the Ocean to awaken from his slumber and save her.

The next day, she finds an unconscious young man on the beach.

Keanu is a mystery, quiet and seemingly cold-hearted, stormy-eyed and bearing scars, harboring deep secrets of his own.

Could he be the King?
Or could he at least be Leilani’s savior?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynn Robin
• Release date: Jun 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005057572

Lynn Robin

Lynn Robin (1992) is an author of Paranormal Romance novels.Born and raised in the historical city of Leiden in the Netherlands, she has felt the urge to write stories ever since she was little— preferably ones with ghosts and other spooky things (probably because her parents let her watch Stephen King film adaptions when she was nine).Next to that, she likes to add a healthy dose of romance to her books; star-crossed lovers and forbidden romances, preferably about monsters hiding in the bodies of young men, and girls blessed with angelic powers—or at least humans touched by magical abilities.She made her debut in 2017 with her Dutch series entitled the Schimmenwereld Serie (the Phantom World series), containing six books about ghosts, angels, demons, music, dance, art, and—of course—love. She won the Best Book of 2018 award with the fourth installment, Schimmendroom (Phantom Dream), chosen by the jury of The Dutch Indie Awards.In 2020 she debuted internationally in English with the highly romantic Kissing Monsters series which concluded with 8 volumes in 2021. Her latest release is The Sea of Her, a still ongoing paranormal romance series in a tropical setting about the Weeper of Pearls, a Wild Stranger from the Sea and a long-lost King of the Ocean.Besides being passionate about writing, she’s also a rather dedicated running/fitness/yoga/martial arts enthusiast, and likes to spend time with her family, play videogames, or freak herself out watching documentaries about haunted houses (for research, she claims).

Book preview

Prologue

She feels cold.

Lost.

Loveless.

Thunder rumbles in the distance, clouds swirl overhead, the ocean’s waves tug at her dress, at her limbs, restless, hungry.

Cold.

The water is cold, as cold as she feels inside. Iciness bites into her skin, but it also wraps itself around her heart, whose pounding rhythm seems just out of step, as if it doesn’t know anymore which way to go.

Lost.

And whenever a heart gets lost, the rest of you gets lost as well. It’s not merely so that she doesn’t know where to go anymore, it’s not that she doesn’t know where she is—for she knows this sea she’s standing in all too well, even now when the storm is gaining and churning in its depths. No, she feels like she has actually lost herself, because there are too many secrets and therefore too many lies, and she is a feather floating on the wind, a feather wishing for someone to catch her and keep her close, because she doesn’t know for how much longer she can drift on like this, in solitude and fear.

Loveless.

She’s alone, she’s scared—yes, she can admit that, is brave enough to do so, even though it makes her feel weak and brittle—because all the love she’s ever known resulted in death, betrayal, and then, betrayal once more.

No one should be without love.

Without its safety. Without its protection. Without its warmth.

All she wants is a pair of arms to keep her safe from the darkness of her future, which is staring back at her from a distance in the form of a castle rising out of the ocean, enshrouded by mist and swirling clouds.

All she wants is a body to guard her against the destiny she can’t outrun by herself any longer, someone to shield her from that final blow she knows will break her forever.

All she wants is another soul to keep her warm with promises that aren’t based on lies, with love that is real and not based on gaining power.

All she wishes for is a savior—

A voice behind her says her name.

Her breath catches and her eyes widen, but she doesn’t turn around, she only stares ahead at the advancing storm, trembling all over because there is an even worse storm now behind her.

A storm of emotions.

Of lies and betrayal exposed by truth.

She should run. But she can’t, because she cannot unhear the ache in that voice, the pleading, the wanting, the need, the craving.

The voice is closer now.

Then, two strong arms come around her and air gets caught in her throat when she’s pulled into a hard but warm chest, the arms tightening around her. Aching, pleading, wanting, needing, craving.

His voice slips into her ear: I had to come back.

The storm rages around them, but they’re two pillars in the sea, caught in their own hurricane.

His breath brushes her skin: Please—forgive me.

Tears gather in her eyes and then they slip and they pour and they fall.

Like pearls. Pearls of heartache.

His plea shatters the pieces of her heart, causes the sea of her to rise and crash down, drowning her in waves: Please.

The Weeper of Pearls

01

Three weeks earlier

The sea is restless tonight.

Leilani can feel it deep inside of her, this strange connection she has had to the ocean for as long as she can remember. Which isn’t that long, only ten years or so—whoever she was before she awoke on this island as a young girl will probably forever be a mystery to her.

She thinks she’s a twenty-year-old woman. She thinks she’s an orphan, since she has no memories of parents, of family. She thinks she must have come from another island, somehow fell into the sea, and that the waves, or perhaps fate, carried her here for some reason.

Yet she doesn’t know anything for sure.

What she does know, however, is this: the ocean is trying to get her attention tonight. She gazes out the window of the restaurant, studying the sea’s azure shade that’s slowly taking on a lilac hue as the sun is setting below the horizon, its waves deceptively calm.

No, the restlessness comes from deep within the ocean, and now the wild waves are reaching and frothing inside Leilani instead, warning her.

As if it knows something is coming.

Or rather, someone.

Could I have a refill, dear?

Blinking, Leilani tears her gaze away from the ocean view to find one of her only three customers smiling at her, pointing to his glass. It’s Mr. Kahala, who often comes here with his wife, an elderly couple who have to be in their eighties at least. Wrinkled, gray-haired, and sweet-faced, they are some of the few who still come here to dine ever since Han’s death, the previous owner of restaurant the Hibiscus.

Some of the few who do not resent Leilani after finding out about her secret three years ago.

Shaking off her unease, Leilani smiles and retrieves a bottle of red wine from behind the kitchen counter. Making her way over to the Kahalas, she quickly glances around the restaurant to make sure her other customer isn’t wanting for anything: a girl sitting in the back, a young freelance photographer called Hina, with bleached strands in her dark hair, and wearing so many shell necklaces they always click together whenever she moves. Absorbed in the book she’s reading, she absent-mindedly stuffs some seaweed leaves into her mouth.

These three make up tonight’s customers.

The Hibiscus, placed upon a cliff overlooking the beach on one side and the town on the other, used to be a popular restaurant frequented by the locals. Leilani can still clearly recall those days—she also remembers the joy it brought to Han, how bright his eyes looked on busy nights, a white bandana tied around his hair and a towel slung over his narrow shoulder as he sweated over the stove.

He taught Leilani how to cook. He taught her to love this island and its people.

At first, they all loved her back.

Until three years ago.

Until Han died.

Until she exposed her own secret.

Han would be devastated if he knew how empty his restaurant is these days. It’s not the first time Leilani thinks this, and it’s also definitely not the first time the thought causes a lump to rise in her throat. She forcefully swallows it down and blinks away the burning sensation in her eyes, smiling at Mr. Kahala as she tips the wine bottle to pour him a new glass—

From the corner of her eye, she catches a disturbance in the fish tank in the heart of the restaurant, as if the fish have been startled by something.

Then, the doors fly open and a cool sea breeze breathes against her skin.

Leilani stiffens, the wine bottle clutched between her hands, her mouth dry, her heart skipping a beat.

Mr. and Mrs. Kahala’s eyes have widened.

Hina glances up from her book and stops chewing.

Slowly, Leilani turns around, lowering the bottle down on the wooden table. Yes, the sea had already been trying to warn her tonight. For them:

She takes in the young men now standing in the entrance.

They’re seemingly in their mid-twenties; seemingly, for their appearance hasn’t changed in decades, Leilani’s been told. Bronze-skinned and black-haired, both of them tall, dressed in identical clothes: long, marine-blue coats that nearly reach the ground, embroidered with tiny silver starfish, and loose pants. The one on the right wears his coat buttoned up to his chin and his hair pulled back in a bun atop his head; the other one lets his coat hang open and has his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing thin but toned forearms. His long hair falls in wild waves over his shoulders. They look identical, yet are night and day.

Akamai and Haku.

Everyone’s greatest fear.

The rulers of Hibiscus Island.

Also known as the Twins.

Leilani has been told they simply arrived here one day, about sixty years ago, two young men from one of the neighboring Crown Islands, looking for jobs and ending up working on a fisherman’s boat. Then they fell into the sea and were gone for hours.

Everybody thought they had drowned.

But then they emerged from the ocean… changed—and in possession of the mystical Crown, that used to belong to the King of the Ocean.

They were wielding powers no human being should have, and ever since, they have taken control over Hibiscus Island, demanding payment from every shop and restaurant owner, and punishing anyone who makes the mistake of breaking their rules or simply getting in their way.

The Twins are responsible for many deaths.

Like Han’s.

Leilani clenches her fists at her side, curling her fingers into her loose, long skirt. Every few weeks the Twins come barging in, threatening to kill you or your loved ones if you don’t pay up. It’s the reason why some people get desperate and try to stand up against the Twins and fight them, or try to flee from the island.

Every single one of them ends up dead.

Drowned.

Now, Akamai’s lips curl into a falsely pleasant smile as he folds his hands in front of him, glancing around the restaurant. I have to ask you all to leave, he says softly, stepping forward. Behind him, Haku’s long, wild hair slides from his shoulders as he jerks his chin up. Akamai’s black gaze locks onto Leilani, running down the length of her body.

A violent shiver tears itself free from her spine.

We are here, Akamai continues, to speak with our bride-to-be. The Weeper of Pearls.

02

A breathless hush has settled over the restaurant.

I shouldn’t have opened up tonight. Leilani swallows, hard. I felt something wasn’t right.

After all this time, I should have known better.

Still, nobody has moved.

While Akamai’s eyes keep roving over Leilani’s face and body, making her feel sick, Haku turns to the customers. Leave, he says, his voice a little deeper than his brother’s. Now, he snarls when still no one responds.

Mrs. Kahala gasps softly and hastily reaches for her cane, while her husband takes her arm protectively and starts pulling her away, shooting Leilani an apologetic glance as he shuffles past her. The Twins step aside at the very last moment to let them through, Haku’s gaze burning into their backs.

Hina’s necklaces click and clack as she moves, her book tucked under her arm. Leilani sees she meets Haku’s eye head on, an act of silent rebellion, though only for a moment—a cool ocean breeze slithers into the restaurant, tugging at a strand of hair framing Leilani’s cheek before moving on with a hiss, causing Hina to stiffen as if it’s a dark whisper worming its way into her ear, speaking of wicked things.

Pressing her lips together, she lowers her face and hurries past Haku.

He closes the doors of the restaurant, the fabric of his coat straining around his shoulders.

Now alone with the Twins, Leilani forces herself to take a steadying breath. Without a word, she turns around and walks into the open kitchen, retrieving a cotton sack from under the counter.

All the while, she feels the Twins’ eyes on her.

Leilani weighs the sack in her hands for a moment. It is filled with pearls.

The payment for her freedom.

Tightening her hold on the sack, she moves to step away from the counter—only to bump into a wide chest.

Akamai smiles down at her, settling his hands on her bare shoulders to steady her as she stumbles back, her heart racing. His fingers are cool and dry, his grip loose yet powerful. His skin is impossibly smooth from up close, his eyes unsettlingly dark, and his voice a purr: Don’t be so nervous, Leilani. It doesn’t have to be like this. You do not have to fear us.

His hands are still on her shoulders.

His eyes cling to her lips, awaiting her answer.

It feels vile, as if his attention is a physical thing that has gotten stuck to her skin—something slimy, something oily, that could seep into her very soul.

It takes every shred of her self-control not to shake off his hands.

Just take it, she manages hoarsely, holding up the sack between them.

Leilani, he breathes, crinkling his brow and cocking his head slightly. His fingertips brush over her collarbones, then slowly start to trace them as he tightens his grip, his thumbs making their way toward the hollow of her throat. "If you’d just stay with us, we wouldn’t have to come to collect our due payment. If you’d just agree to marry us, no more threats would be needed.

Why don’t you consider our offer? Hmm? His hands travel up as he brushes the sides of her neck with the backs of his fingers.

Leilani grows rigid under the sensual touches.

So deceptively soft.

She remembers their offer all too well.

Just, for starters, come live with us for a few days in our castle, Akamai now reminds her unnecessarily, "and allow us to show you… how kind we can be. He steps closer to her; her stomach twists. Don’t you want some kindness, Leilani? The island’s entire population shuns you. That must make you feel terribly lonely."

Leilani stares at his chest, studying the shiny buttons of his coat while keeping her expression in check. Lonely. Yes, she is lonely. But she will never admit that to the Twins.

Akamai leans in and his cheek brushes hers while his breath caresses her ear as he whispers: "Surely, a girl your age has certain… wants and needs. Don’t you?" he adds, moving so close his teeth graze the shell of her ear.

A shiver crawls down her spine and this time, she can’t suppress it—her breath hitches.

He pulls back and looks down at her, smiling as he cups the back of her head with his hand. I promise you, he says softly, I am gentler than my brother.

As Haku breathes out a chuckle, Leilani’s gaze sweeps to the side.

The other brother smirks at her.

Her heart pounding, she turns back to Akamai and wordlessly holds up the cotton sack filled with pearls again.

His eyes narrow briefly, but then he steps away from her and accepts it. He opens it nonchalantly, checking the contents, while the creaking of the floorboards pulls Leilani’s attention back to Haku. He’s looking around the restaurant, and Leilani can’t help but do the same, taking it all in:

The natural wooden tables, the wooden stools—although those have all been painted in various pastel colors, such as reds, blues, pinks, and purples; she can easily recall her and Han’s laughter as they dyed them—, the wreathes of cotton hibiscus flowers hanging on the walls, the framed paintings of colorful ocean creatures, the photographs of better times, the starfish sculpted from wood suspended from the ceiling on strings like a constellation, the large fish tank in the middle of it all.

Why do you still bother with this? Haku asks, frowning. The place is practically empty. It doesn’t earn you anything. Not, he continues, lazily striding over to her and leaning against the counter, "that you actually need to earn a thing. After all, your tears are priceless."

It is true—literally true.

It is one of the reasons she doubts anything she thinks she knows about herself is accurate; no normal person should have the gift she has.

The gift that turns her tears into pearls, the very currency used on the Crown Islands.

It is why the people here resent her. She could cry enough pearls for everyone to be able to pay the Twins—but the thing is, she doesn’t share her pearls with anyone.

For a reason, though. For their own good.

But they refuse to believe her and prefer to treat her like a traitor instead.

Haku lifts his hand and strokes Leilani’s cheek, as if brushing away a tear. She can still feel Akamai’s touch lingering on her skin, coating her with filth that may or may not be all in her mind—so when Haku’s finger runs down the side of her face like a velvety snake, she recoils from him before she can stop herself.

She immediately knows it’s a mistake.

Haku’s hand freezes mid-air. He stares at her.

His gaze darkens.

The sound of water sloshing and lapping against glass makes Leilani glance over her shoulder, and her pulse quickens when she finds the water in the tank starting to swirl and the fish shooting in each and every direction, desperate to outswim the sudden disturbance.

Control yourself, brother, Akamai says quietly.

Haku scowls and then he’s right in front of Leilani, bracing his hands against the counter, caging her between his arms. You, he hisses, "will become our Bride, no matter how long you keep pushing off the wedding."

She can’t speak. Her heart is racing.

The only reason they can’t force her to marry them, is because the Crown’s power will abandon the brothers, according to the stories, if she doesn’t give herself willingly. The old tales all claim the same; whenever his last, beloved wife died, the immortal King of the Ocean chose a new Bride, always a young mortal woman from one of the islands… but she had to choose to accept him in turn.

All the Twins really want to marry Leilani for is her pearls.

She won’t ever agree to it.

Yet, she suddenly isn’t so sure it will protect her from their other wants much longer—Leilani’s breath catches when Haku grabs her arm and yanks her closer, until their noses nearly touch and their breaths mingle.

Behind him, Akamai hangs back and watches, casually picking a pearl out of the sack and rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.

Water bubbles and spills, splashing onto the floor.

Leilani wants to turn and look, but Haku grabs her shoulders and then already spins her around so she’s