Ivory Carpenter is a privileged anti-fraud vlogger who buys a supposedly "fake" mermaid for twenty thousand dollars of content—and posts it to the world. The next morning the mermaid shows up in her backyard pool, pleading: "Please delete the video." Ivory deletes it, but the internet explodes. The seller, Merrik "BigMako" Fang, isn't a joke—he's a broker in a market Ivory never believed existed. The mermaid, Lan Xun, is tender, brilliant, and shockingly talented at gem appraisal. Ivory wants to protect him; her brother Graydon Price wants him gone; an old crush, Ian Barbieri, reappears with secrets of his own. As Ivory's company goes public and Lan Xun trains to be human—and to be a partner—old scams, trafficking rings, family pride, and a love that crosses species all collide. Can a scandal-hungry internet, a ruthless industry, and a protective brother be survived by a girl who only wanted a viral video—and the mermaid who refuses to be sold?
24 Chapters
