Prologue
The sea had always known her name long before she ever did.
It whispered to her in dreams, in the hush between waves and moonlight, in the quiet ache that bloomed in her chest whenever she stood too close to water. Valeria believed it was longing—until the night the tide rose without command, the air trembled with ancient magic, and a wizard prince fell to his knees before her. Only then would she learn the truth written in blood and prophecy alike: she was born of betrayal, shaped by the sea’s forbidden song, and fated to love the one man who could destroy her world. Because some hearts are not meant to choose between love and ruin—
they are meant to cause both.
