Free Sins Against the Sea by Nina Mason

some kind. Either that, or he wasn’t strictly speaking English.
    “Hello?”
    Silence.
    Even though her gut told her to run away as fast as her legs would carry her, compassion kept her standing there. The man in the cave might be injured. She should at least have a look in case he needed medical attention.
    Fighting her flight instinct, Corey picked her way up the rocks toward the cave. At the entrance, she stopped and shone the flashlight beam inside. Her heart was pounding so hard in her ears she could hardly hear herself think. Moving the beam around, she saw nothing apart from rocks, driftwood, and seaweed.
    A moan, low and miserable, echoed eerily. Cringing, she took a cautious step inside, flashlight patrolling, eyes burning into the shadows. Whoever was in here obviously needed help.
    “Hello? Are you hurt?”
    Her voice reverberated disconcertingly. She heard movement. Rustling. Mucking. There was definitely someone—or something—in here. She took another step, then another, holding her breath. She would bolt, she told herself, at the first sign of a threat. She'd fly down to the beach screaming her head off for help—even if the only source of help available was Lachlan MacInnes.
    She heard the moan again, so full of pain. Her heart wrenched in sympathy. The man was definitely hurt. Maybe she could help him down to the beach and signal the coastguard. She moved deeper into the cave. It was dank, beyond creepy, and smelled like the Long Beach docks. Her breath caught when she saw something move. Steadying the beam and her nerves, she slunk toward whatever had moved.
    “Where are you?” Her voice, though low, resounded disconcertingly. “Say something so I can find you.”
    Nothing.
    She flashed the beam around. Something shimmered in the light from what looked to be a long, low jetty of mud. She crept toward it. The glimmer brightened, and became…eyes. Glowing, animal-like eyes, blinking into the light. Holding her breath, she shone the beam down what had to be the length of his body. His torso was bare and looked human. Her heart twisted when she saw he was completely coated in oil.
    “Oh dear,” she said softly, offering him a trembling smile. “Are you badly hurt?”
    He started pushing away from her, but awkwardly, as though he was having trouble moving. She fixed the light on his legs, concerned they might be injured or trapped. She did not expect what she saw. Something else, maybe, but not that. Her jaw dropped. The blood drained from her face. She blinked and looked again, seeing the same impossible thing as before.
    He had no legs. Only a tail. A fish’s tail with scales and a pronged caudal fin.
    She staggered backward, gasping, stumbling, falling. She landed hard on wet sand. The flashlight dropped from her hand, thumping as it hit the sodden floor of the cave. She just sat there as the damp seeped into the seat of her slacks, too stupefied to think. Fear and disbelief threatened to strangle her. She tried to cry out for help, but couldn’t push the words out her throat.
    This can’t be real. Mermen don’t exist. Yet, here one is, big as life.
    Even though the flashlight was down, the beam was still on. Still on him, bathing him in light. She looked into his eyes, which were wide with confusion and fear. Her heart was pounding in her chest and ears. What should she do? Scream, run, or…attempt to communicate?
    “Can you talk?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
    As he nodded, his long hair, heavy with oil, barely moved.
    “Do you…have a name?”
    He nodded again. “Kew-in.”
    “Mine is Corey,” she told him, tapping her chest. “Cordelia, actually, but everybody calls me Corey.”
    Her mom, whose name was Aerwyna, had given her the name and she’d always hated it. The merman just stared at her, blinking, seemingly as astonished to see her as she was to see him.
    “Where are you hurt?”
    He shook his head. “ Ha mee cheen .”
    She blinked at him and shook her head.