A Kingdom Beneath Black Water: 2

They escaped the empire. Now they have to find out who taught it how to hunt beneath the sea.Pirate captain Marius Calder has followed Tarezh into waters no human chart can map, carrying a damaged ship, stolen Veressan evidence, and one dangerous certainty: someone from Tarezh's world helped the empire turn living bodies into navigational technology.For Marius, reaching Neralis means entering a civilization where his ship, his rank, and most of his hard-earned competence grant him little authority. For Tarezh, returning home means facing the institutions he once trusted-and discovering how much changed while he was a prisoner.Their investigation leads through hidden undersea settlements, damaged ancient systems, political rivalries, and evidence of a conspiracy reaching across the boundary between surface and sea. But the deeper Tarezh goes, the more the old infrastructure responds to him-and the more his body begins to change.Every new ability makes him more valuable to people who need what he can do. Every new danger makes Marius want to protect the man he loves. Neither can afford to let love, duty, or fear become another form of ownership.Above them, Veressan warships are closing in. Below, old grievances are being sharpened into weapons. And if Marius and Tarezh cannot expose who is manipulating both worlds, the next confrontation may ignite a war neither side knows how to stop.A Kingdom Beneath Black Water is Book Two of The Saltwrought Sea Trilogy, an adult M/M dark nautical romantasy of monster romance, pirates, undersea political intrigue, body transformation, ocean horror, found family, and escalating war.