Enchanting Arana: Sci-Fi Fairytale Fusions, #2

By Leann Ryans and V.T. Bonds

A Paranormal Romance retelling of The Little Mermaid

Sci-fi Fairytale Fusions (2)

 

Once Upon a Time…

Deep in an ocean far, far away, Arana falls in love with the man she rescues from certain doom.

Convinced of his love, she makes a bargain with Ursuli to rid herself of her weaknesses.

Betrayal cuts deep, but daggers slice deeper, and tragedy clouds her morals.

Will this little Mermaid survive the Reaper's price?

 

From two International Bestselling authors comes an exciting blend of traditional tales with the wonders of science fiction, taking the stories you love and twisting them to fit brand new worlds. Although darkness lurks within the pages of our Sci-Fi Fairytale Fusions, each one boasts a Happily Ever After for our hero and his mate. These steamy romances feature the ABO dynamic, thrilling action, and intense situations.

Are you ready to find your next alien addiction?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leann Ryans and V.T. Bonds
• Release date: Sep 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393307860

Leann Ryans

I'm a wife and mother of four who's been an avid reader since I could pick up a book. It wasn't unusual for me to read a book a day, ignoring the real world as I was sucked into the pages of a great story. I grew up on sci-fi and fantasy books before discovering the world of romance. PNR has always been my go-to, and omegaverse is my addiction of choice. I love writing books featuring heroes who are a bit rough around the edges but aren't overly cruel. My heroines aren't always the take charge type, but neither are all women. They are comfortable in their femininity. If you're looking for a story that has dark themes without leaving you wanting to punch the hero in the face, mine might just be for you.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Arana

Wait, what?

Arana stared in wide-eyed shock, trying hard to not show the anger festering in her chest. She looked between her mother and sister, ignoring the cheers and congratulations floating around the room, unable to smooth the crease in her brow. When the crowd of family members swimming forward to congratulate the lucky couple lessened and the bulk of merfolk left the dining hall, Arana forced her tail to propel her toward the two females who should be her staunchest supporters, not her biggest frustrations. She softened the mini fins trailing down her spine, hoping to appear calm when in fact she wanted nothing more than to scream and scratch the smug smile off her oldest sister’s face.

Mother?

Ah, Arana. How nice of you to finally get off your tail and come congratulate your sister and her fiancé.

Always the thinnest female with the most extravagant shells adorning her bosom, Arana’s mother held her shoulders back and her head high, her regal bearing almost more pompous than the carvings on the lofty ceiling and curved walls of the oppressively large room. Gritting her teeth, Arana swallowed the pain of her mother’s underhanded jab at her rounded figure and fought the urge to hunch her shoulders to appear smaller.

Mother, isn’t it a little soon for their union? Can’t it wait another week?

A carefully plucked eyebrow rose and emerald irises hardened before Hystina opened her mouth. Arana knew her response before any sound emitted from her mother’s throat, but the slice to her self-worth came sharp all the same.

Of course not. Brenda’s wedding has been decided and takes precedent over any other events. She’s worked hard to earn Kyler’s attention, so you will not make a scene or mope about like a spoiled child. This is a time for celebration.

Arana’s control broke.

But next Friday is my graduation from finishing school!

Arana, stop. Your whining will get you nowhere. It’s nice that you’ve finished school but your sister’s wedding is far more important. Congratulate your sister, then leave if you can’t show more enthusiasm for her.

Sucking in the urge to sob, shaking because she hated how unfair her life was, Arana dutifully turned to Brenda and her soon-to-be mate and wished them a happy union day. She twirled toward the ornate doorway and flicked her tail, not fleeing the scene, but desperate to find some privacy. She’d poured her heart into school, learning everything she could about etiquette and hoping to finally please her parents, only for them to snub her yet again when she reached the peak.

For a while, she’d been the youngest in the family. If she thought about it, she could remember a time when everyone doted on her. When she always had a warm body to cuddle up against, or a group of merfolk to swim with, but then her parents had surprised everyone with one last child.

Arana held no malice toward Gillian, but his current appearance in the common hall as she tried to avoid everyone on her way to her room made it difficult to answer his hello politely. At seven years old, Gillian shone with the best qualities of their parents—golden hair, shimmery red scales, and orange fins along his back—but he lacked the horrible disdain the rest of her family seemed to feel toward her. He didn’t deserve to be mistreated just because Arana was hurting.

Waving at him across the hall, Arana turned and aimed for her room, needing some space to cool down. She ignored the buzz of voices as news spread among her home’s occupants, excitement over the couple’s announcement making the rounds to those not privy to the original group.

No doubt Brenda meant Arana’s invitation to the gathering as a slight. She’d known how excited Arana was to swim across the theater and accept the diploma she’d worked so long for.

Scrunching her nose and closing her fists at her sides, Arana undulated her spine, pouring on more speed so she could reach her room faster. She grabbed the doorframe and swung herself inside, letting the ends of her tail brush the other side of the entryway before reaching out and flicking the door closed.

It didn’t help.

Three of her sisters’ side-eyed her, not bothering to give her more than two seconds of attention before they returned to their pruning. Arana’s stomach tightened, their long, bright hair making her dark locks seem dull.

It was ridiculous that in a palace so large her mother forced her to share a room with others, but only Brenda and Gillian were special enough to have their own space. She could already imagine the squabble to come over who would take Brenda’s old room when she joined her mate.

Not wanting word of her upset to travel to her mother or Brenda’s ears, Arana swallowed her scream and swam to the corner. In the smallest alcove, she ran her fingers along the mound of kelp she’d gathered for her bed, proud of how securely she’d woven the thick strands together to cover the living pocket of algae she laid her body on during slumber hours. It was the only thing she could really call hers, even if she was limited as to when she could enjoy it.

Now was not an appropriate time to slide inside her haven, but she wanted to. Glancing between her sisters and her bed, she sighed and moved to her shelf in the wall. If she slipped inside her mock nest during daytime hours, Brenda would no doubt target it again. Last time she’d done so, Arana had been without a proper sleeping space for a week, since Brenda had hidden lyse—parasitic creatures that burrowed under scales—in Arana’s bed of algae and shown their mother. Hystina had destroyed Arana’s nest and forced her to sleep on bare rock, claiming she was stopping the spread from infecting the rest of the house, even though Arana luckily hadn’t been infested with the things.

Rearranging the trinkets she’d gathered over the years, Arana smoothed her fingers over the bright shells and petals and busied her hands while trying to stop her mind from replaying the last few minutes over and over again.

She’d been looking forward to her graduation for months. Years even. It would be the biggest milestone of her life thus far. Her greatest achievement. The one thing she had over the others who’d been too lazy to continue when father didn’t require them to.

It should mean freedom. She should be happy and excited about graduating, not feel disappointed and sad that she’d wasted so much time. Now, with Brenda stealing the limelight, which Arana truly did not care about, Arana was left with a bitter taste in her mouth.

She didn’t want attention for the sake of attention. She didn’t want praise where she hadn’t earned it.

All she wanted was to feel like she belonged. Like she was cared about. Like she was loved.

It sucked to be a stranger in her own home.

Maybe she’d go for a swim later.

Chapter 2

Ursuli

He’s still bleeding.

He can’t be. I found everything and stopped it.

There’s still blood pooling below him.

Crimson sparkled in the overhead light, the color one of the most vibrant things he’d ever seen. He paused and watched as it grew, wasting precious seconds as his mind drifted back to the blood coating his friend’s back.

Master Sergeant?

Shit. Where the fuck is it coming from? Roll him.

The chest beneath his hands stopped rising as his assistant helped lift the patient onto his side. She peeled the shirt off the man’s flesh, smearing the pool of blood and diverting his attention once again. Only the fresh surge from the man’s back drew his eyes to the knife wound he’d missed amidst the other injuries the man suffered.

Smoke poured from his hands to wrap around the still torso and fill the hole, seeping inside to seal the broken vessels, but he already knew it was too late. The heart had stopped and there was more blood on the table than in the body.

He looked down into the flat yellow eyes of his friend Blaide, the blood soaked into his gray fur turning it black. His tail hung limp over the edge of the gurney.

Master Sergeant, we need you over here!

The shout pulled his head to the left, but he was stuck in slow motion. He could see the soldier on the gurney behind the medic, legs mangled beyond repair, even for someone with his talents. There was another further down the line of gurneys, screaming as he clutched the stump where he once had an arm. All around him the cries of men surprised by the enemy resounded, claimed by the beast called war.

The assistant in front of him asked him what to do, but the words stuck in his throat when he looked back and the assistant had become another beloved member of his unit. A broken wing hung limply behind Quasim as the stump next to it spurted blood, the flesh of Quasim’s cheek hanging open and revealing the skull beneath.

Another medic called out for him. He was the only one who could fix such extreme injuries. They all needed him. Men were dying around him as he stared at Quasim, but he was frozen in place, his body ignoring the screams from his brain to move.

To speak.

To do something.

But he’d failed.

Ursuli jerked upright on his cot, the screams fading into the calls of birds flying over the ocean beyond the opening of his cave. Sunlight glared into his eyes, forcing him to raise an arm to block it as his chest heaved.

The nightmares never left him for long. He’d thought he was finally getting past them after a week without waking from sleep in a cold sweat, but the last few nights had proven him wrong. Blaide’s visit had brought them back, intensifying the dread each night as the newer versions featured his closest friends as the dead and dying, their wounds more graphic with each replay.

Shoving his dark hair back from his face, he swung his legs over the edge of his bed, the cold stone beneath his feet anchoring him in the present. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he snarled when the trembling in his limbs prohibited him from rising, his legs too weak to support him as adrenaline seeped away.

Ursuli’s lower half disappeared into smoke with the flick of a thought, but he still struggled to lift himself from the cot. Even in his incorporeal form, he needed enough mass beneath his torso to move. He couldn’t fly like many assumed,