There was always something different about her.
Not loud enough to draw attention.
Not obvious enough to explain.
Just... different.
Like the quiet pressure of a tide pulling beneath calm waters.
Marissa Lockman knew how to keep her head down. She'd mastered it, really - sitting through lessons meant for minds older than hers, smiling politely when people called her a genius like it was a compliment and not a sentence. She learned early on that being "gifted" meant being lonely. Understanding people, didn't mean they understood her back.
Especially when she could feel what they felt-every flicker of joy, every sharp sting of fear, every lie dressed up as kindness.
She thought that was her greatest secret.
She was wrong.
Because the real secret was buried far deeper-beneath waves, beneath history, beneath everything she thought she knew about herself.
And it's rising.
A world waits for her now. A world she never knew she belonged to.
A world where the rules are different, and the truth has currents of its own.
And the deeper she goes, the harder it is to breathe.
But turning back isn't an option.
Not anymore.
Because something is stirring in the dark,
and it knows her name.
But as Marissa delves deeper into her mission, she faces betrayal, heartbreak, and the ultimate test of her courage.
Will she rise above the tides and fulfill her destiny, or will the secrets of the ocean consume her?