A scrap of parchment with a mysterious sigil... A message in a forgotten language... A mermaid paradise of waterfalls and dreams... And Ben Harper's life is about to get complicated-again. 1593 Scarred by fires inside and out, barred by his heritage from any kind of grace, half-fae Silence Carew longs for the comfort of a human soul. His life is one of unending anger and despair, until the day the voices in his head offer a monstrous solution. If he can find the nerve, and the Mermaid Stair, the reward he seeks can be bought with the blood of his mother's people, the nymphs and mermaids of England. 2013 When the ageless lord of the River Thames is jolted out of retirement by news of horrific death among his nymphs, he calls on the king of Faerie for aid. Already alerted by disturbing visions, Oberon's principal gentlemen, Ben Harper and acerbic, shape-changing Raven, find themselves once again in service-this time on the trail of a monster. With only Ben's gift of finding and faerie music as a guide, vague clues lead them on a terrible chase through London's many-layered history to a mythic confrontation on the banks of a vanished river. Only the gods know what will come of it all!