Wild Blue Under

The underwater kingdom is his as soon as he claims his queen... Rod Tritone has the looks and charm to snag any queen he wants for his Mer kingdom, but unfortunately, it's not up to him. As fate would have it, the one woman destined to rule with him is terrified of water... She lives in land-locked Kansas and has no idea she's a princess... Valerie Dumere thinks Rod is gorgeous and irresistible--but why does he keep insisting she has another side to herself that only he can show her? Somehow, Rod has to prove to her who she really is. But when she finds out the truth, will she ever forgive him?PRAISE FOR JUDI FENNELL:"A delightful, quirky blend of humor, adventure, and passion." Star-Crossed Romance"Judi Fennell is a bright star on the horizon of romance." Judi McCoy, author of Hounding the Pavement"A new romance star is born...and her name is Judi Fennell." Jill Barnett, New York Times bestselling author"Bubbly fun in this sparkling 'under the sea'tale." Virginia Kantria, USA Today bestselling author"Fennell's under-the-sea suspense will enchant you with its wit, humor and sexiness. In Over Her Headis a great debut book and I'm glad to hear there are more to come." Caridad Pineiro, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of South Beach Chicas Catch Their Man"A fantastic debut novel, Judi Fennell has put the 'beach'back in beach read!" Virginia Farmer, award-winning author of A Blast to the Past"Holy mackerel! In Over Her Headis a fantastically fun romantic catch--Judi Fennell has one heck of an imagination!" Michelle Rowen, author of Bitten & Smitten"A wondrous undersea adventure--molten moments, waves of sensuality, ripples of emotion, and depths of fun. Not to be missed!" LA Banks, The Vampire Huntress Legends series" In Over Her Headis a heartwarming, action-packed story of two people--one human and the other of the seaworthy body--joined together in an adventure." Armchair Interviews

<p><strong>Excerpt from Chapter 1 </strong></p><p>"So you're really going to give up your tail and leave the sea? On purpose? First your brother, now you… What is wrong with this family?"</p><p>If Rod Tritone heard that question one more time, he was going to strangle Chumley Masticar's thin, whitestriped neck. The fish didn't know when to quit. </p><p>It wasn't as if he wanted to do this, but when The Council decreed something, it had to be done. Gods knew, when he became the High Councilman, he'd demand the same obedience.</p><p>"Yes, Chum, I'm going. Right after I grab my bag."<br>Rod kicked his tail for a burst of speed to outswim the fish and headed to his lair in the hills of Atlantis. The one thing he had to remember to pack was the gods' oil that would ensure his tail returned when he did. </p><p>"Lose it and lose the tail forever," his father, the current High Councilman, had said. As if that was an option.<br>"Do you want company?" The suckerless remora wriggled his long body for all it was worth to catch up, and Rod didn't have the heart not to let him. "Reel said he'd put<br>in a saltwater tank so I could visit. Not that I'd be thrilled being in a cage, but still, it would be nice to see where he and his wife live. Check out the Human world without worrying about someone wanting to eat me or anything."</p><p>Humans ate remora? Rod couldn't imagine why. Unless it was to shut them up. <br>Rod swerved around the magma well whose emissions refracted through seawater and off the gold-covered walls of the cavern city, turning the darkness into light. He skimmed above the coral topiaries, nodding to the parrotfish who kept Atlantis so beautiful. He'd traveled the world's oceans from Bimini to the South Pacific, from the icy waters of the north to the crystal blue glacial waters of the south, but nothing compared to the beauty of the Mer capital.</p><p>"Sorry, Chum, but this is a solo mission. Simple recovery."<br>One that involved him getting legs, traveling to the middle of the landmass, and retrieving a Human. Of all things to pull him off his Trench Survey for. <br>"Oh. Right. Gotcha." Chum glided beneath a ray who had emerged from a sand pond inside a circle of stonefaced statues. Without a sucker on his head, the remora wouldn't have much luck sticking to the ray for a meal. </p><p>Poor guy. Always trying to relive his glory days.<br>"So," Chum said, returning to Rod's side, "tell me why The Council thinks this Human is the answer to The Prophecy. I mean, how old is she? I thought only the royal family lived forever. That Prophecy is almost two millennia old, and The Oracles haven't come up with an answer yet. I don't get it."</p><p>"Well, first of all, she's not Human. Not completely."<br>Rod veered up to the top of the Commerce Building for one last look at the city before venturing into the shark's nest that was land.</p><p>One day, this would all be his. The rule of the seas, the unlimited wealth of the diamond Vault, the history of his people. All of it his to protect and serve. Just like his father. And his grandfather. And generations before him.</p><p>The responsibility settled on him like an anchor. Rod sucked in a pint of seawater, shook off the feeling, and headed toward home. "Before he died, Lance Dumere admitted to an affair with a Human that resulted in a child."</p><p>Chum puckered his lips and tried to whistle. He'd never been successful before, and this time wasn't any different.</p><p>"Once Lance came clean," Rod continued as they reached the ornamental gates to his neighborhood, "The Council started its own search. The Members didn't want to start a panic, but they couldn't leave a landed Mer out there for Humans to discover."</p><p>"So now they've found her and want you to go after her?"<br>"That's it in a conch shell." Rod swam over the marble-domed roof of his lair and opened the weathered oak door, grimacing as it shuddered on its hinges. Seawater had a corrosive effect on the hinges after a while, no matter what they were made of. He had hoped to be living in the High Councilman quarters before they needed to be replaced.</p><p>"So how's she supposed to fulfill The Prophecy? She's a Hybrid, for Apollo's sake." Chum swam in behind him, wending through a natural fissure in the lava statue in the foyer that Rod's sister, Mariana, had sculpted.</p><p>A flick of Rod's tail propelled him to the sofa, which a sea cucumber colony had overtaken, and where his sister, Angel, had dropped off a watertight package containing a duffel bag and clothing for his trip. Angel was the repository of all things Human these days. "Since she's Dumere's long-lost offspring, The Council feels she's the 'that which was lost' part of The Prophecy. By bringing her back, they're hoping to prevent the world—'that which is known'—from being lost."</p><p>"Huh?"<br>Pretty much his reaction when his father, Fisher, had explained it. He'd figured it to be another of the many tests the gods had put to him throughout his life to prepare him for his title. Although as far as Rod was concerned, The Prophecy was more the drunken ramblings of one of the gods after too much ouzo and ambrosia than any great revelation. No test the gods devised would include sending The Heir onto land without a valid reason.</p><p>Saving the planet was a valid reason.<br>Rod flipped open a pirate's chest that held the diamond decanter containing the gods' oil, as well as the packet of paperwork The Council had included to convince Lance's daughter. "The polar regions are melting, Chum. The Council hopes to mitigate that damage by fulfilling The Prophecy."<br>"So what's she going to do? Give the ice caps the cold shoulder to keep them stable?" Chum laughed at his own joke.</p><p>The short seaquake that hit the Mer capital proved the gods didn't find it a laughing matter. The Humans on Bermuda—the island directly above Atlantis—probably didn't think so either.</p><p>Rod sure as Hades didn't. As soon as he finished this mission, he could get back to the business at fin by finally claiming the throne—the job he'd been born to do—and figuring out some way to work on his Trench Survey.</p><p>Cataloging the offshoot of the world's deepest ocean trench, one Humans had yet to discover, was his chance to be known as someone other than the lucky Son of a Mer who'd inherited the oldest throne on Earth simply by virtue of his birthright. A way to become the Mer he could be if he weren't The Heir.</p><p>And a way to erase the collective memory of that damn dare to Reel so long ago. Rod had broken the biggest rule of their world with it by risking Humans learning about Mers, thereby setting the pattern for the rest of his and Reel's lives.</p><p>"But what happens if something goes wrong? What if you don't get your tail back? Or fall in love with her and opt to stay on land like Reel did? Isn't Drake next in line? Do they really want that idiot running the show?" </p><p>Chum helped himself to a piece of the calamari Rod's mother had sent over.<br>Opt to stay on land? Fall in love with her? As if that would happen. The High Councilman couldn't dilute the bloodline of future generations, and this woman was a Hybrid. </p><p>No, losing Reel from their world was more than enough of an incentive for him. Add in everything he'd had to do since the fallout from that dare—studying, learning, memorizing, following every rule, statute, dictate, edict, and proclamation the gods had set down—and he wasn't about to blow it now.</p><p>One failure in his life was enough.</p><p>"So you're really going to give up your tail and leave the sea? On purpose? First your brother, now you… What is wrong with this family?"</p><p>If Rod Tritone heard that question one more time, he was going to strangle Chumley Masticar's thin, whitestriped neck. The fish didn't know when to quit. </p><p>It wasn't as if he wanted to do this, but when The Council decreed something, it had to be done. Gods knew, when he became the High Councilman, he'd demand the same obedience.</p><p>"Yes, Chum, I'm going. Right after I grab my bag."<br>Rod kicked his tail for a burst of speed to outswim the fish and headed to his lair in the hills of Atlantis. The one thing he had to remember to pack was the gods' oil that would ensure his tail returned when he did. </p><p>"Lose it and lose the tail forever," his father, the current High Councilman, had said. As if that was an option.<br>"Do you want company?" The suckerless remora wriggled his long body for all it was worth to catch up, and Rod didn't have the heart not to let him. "Reel said he'd put<br>in a saltwater tank so I could visit. Not that I'd be thrilled being in a cage, but still, it would be nice to see where he and his wife live. Check out the Human world without worrying about someone wanting to eat me or anything."</p><p>Humans ate remora? Rod couldn't imagine why. Unless it was to shut them up. <br>Rod swerved around the magma well whose emissions refracted through seawater and off the gold-covered walls of the cavern city, turning the darkness into light. He skimmed above the coral topiaries, nodding to the parrotfish who kept Atlantis so beautiful. He'd traveled the world's oceans from Bimini to the South Pacific, from the icy waters of the north to the crystal blue glacial waters of the south, but nothing compared to the beauty of the Mer capital.</p><p>"Sorry, Chum, but this is a solo mission. Simple recovery."<br>One that involved him getting legs, traveling to the middle of the landmass, and retrieving a Human. Of all things to pull him off his Trench Survey for. <br>"Oh. Right. Gotcha." Chum glided beneath a ray who had emerged from a sand pond inside a circle of stonefaced statues. Without a sucker on his head, the remora wouldn't have much luck sticking to the ray for a meal. </p><p>Poor guy. Always trying to relive his glory days.<br>"So," Chum said, returning to Rod's side, "tell me why The Council thinks this Human is the answer to The Prophecy. I mean, how old is she? I thought only the royal family lived forever. That Prophecy is almost two millennia old, and The Oracles haven't come up with an answer yet. I don't get it."</p><p>"Well, first of all, she's not Human. Not completely."<br>Rod veered up to the top of the Commerce Building for one last look at the city before venturing into the shark's nest that was land.</p><p>One day, this would all be his. The rule of the seas, the unlimited wealth of the diamond Vault, the history of his people. All of it his to protect and serve. Just like his father. And his grandfather. And generations before him.</p><p>The responsibility settled on him like an anchor. Rod sucked in a pint of seawater, shook off the feeling, and headed toward home. "Before he died, Lance Dumere admitted to an affair with a Human that resulted in a child."</p><p>Chum puckered his lips and tried to whistle. He'd never been successful before, and this time wasn't any different.</p><p>"Once Lance came clean," Rod continued as they reached the ornamental gates to his neighborhood, "The Council started its own search. The Members didn't want to start a panic, but they couldn't leave a landed Mer out there for Humans to discover."</p><p>"So now they've found her and want you to go after her?"<br>"That's it in a conch shell." Rod swam over the marble-domed roof of his lair and opened the weathered oak door, grimacing as it shuddered on its hinges. Seawater had a corrosive effect on the hinges after a while, no matter what they were made of. He had hoped to be living in the High Councilman quarters before they needed to be replaced.</p><p>"So how's she supposed to fulfill The Prophecy? She's a Hybrid, for Apollo's sake." Chum swam in behind him, wending through a natural fissure in the lava statue in the foyer that Rod's sister, Mariana, had sculpted.</p><p>A flick of Rod's tail propelled him to the sofa, which a sea cucumber colony had overtaken, and where his sister, Angel, had dropped off a watertight package containing a duffel bag and clothing for his trip. Angel was the repository of all things Human these days. "Since she's Dumere's long-lost offspring, The Council feels she's the 'that which was lost' part of The Prophecy. By bringing her back, they're hoping to prevent the world—'that which is known'—from being lost."</p><p>"Huh?"<br>Pretty much his reaction when his father, Fisher, had explained it. He'd figured it to be another of the many tests the gods had put to him throughout his life to prepare him for his title. Although as far as Rod was concerned, The Prophecy was more the drunken ramblings of one of the gods after too much ouzo and ambrosia than any great revelation. No test the gods devised would include sending The Heir onto land without a valid reason.</p><p>Saving the planet was a valid reason.<br>Rod flipped open a pirate's chest that held the diamond decanter containing the gods' oil, as well as the packet of paperwork The Council had included to convince Lance's daughter. "The polar regions are melting, Chum. The Council hopes to mitigate that damage by fulfilling The Prophecy."<br>"So what's she going to do? Give the ice caps the cold shoulder to keep them stable?" Chum laughed at his own joke.</p><p>The short seaquake that hit the Mer capital proved the gods didn't find it a laughing matter. The Humans on Bermuda—the island directly above Atlantis—probably didn't think so either.</p><p>Rod sure as Hades didn't. As soon as he finished this mission, he could get back to the business at fin by finally claiming the throne—the job he'd been born to do—and figuring out some way to work on his Trench Survey.</p><p>Cataloging the offshoot of the world's deepest ocean trench, one Humans had yet to discover, was his chance to be known as someone other than the lucky Son of a Mer who'd inherited the oldest throne on Earth simply by virtue of his birthright. A way to become the Mer he could be if he weren't The Heir.</p><p>And a way to erase the collective memory of that damn dare to Reel so long ago. Rod had broken the biggest rule of their world with it by risking Humans learning about Mers, thereby setting the pattern for the rest of his and Reel's lives.</p><p>"But what happens if something goes wrong? What if you don't get your tail back? Or fall in love with her and opt to stay on land like Reel did? Isn't Drake next in line? Do they really want that idiot running the show?" </p><p>Chum helped himself to a piece of the calamari Rod's mother had sent over.<br>Opt to stay on land? Fall in love with her? As if that would happen. The High Councilman couldn't dilute the bloodline of future generations, and this woman was a Hybrid. </p><p>No, losing Reel from their world was more than enough of an incentive for him. Add in everything he'd had to do since the fallout from that dare—studying, learning, memorizing, following every rule, statute, dictate, edict, and proclamation the gods had set down—and he wasn't about to blow it now.</p><p>One failure in his life was enough.</p>