Merodak, young man in an unfamiliar city, wants to buy a gift for his mercurial uncle. He buys a matched set of an incubus and succubus from a mysterious pet shop. Unfortunately, his uncle is far crueler than he ever dreamed.
Meanwhile, Razanti is an incubus who's dodged the infamous Incubus Registry for years. He's on a mission to rescue any captured incubi and keep them safe.
Family secrets are brought to light in this dark fantasy novella, set in a bizarre Elvish city with shops that can disappear and reappear, and trees that walk at will.
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Excerpt:
The next tank brought Merodak up short. He'd never seen a mermaid before, hadn't even believed them to exist, but there she was. She pressed her breasts up against the glass tank, and shimmied her long tail. Mermaids weren't very big, he realized. She was only a little longer than his arm. She had gills on her throat, but her hair was a huge wafting delight of greenish-blue.
"A temptation to the hot blooded, that one," said the elf gruffly. "Baraban won't want her. They're useless except to look at. Always in heat, but mermen are rare, so you've got to give them toys. Don't breed mermaids, my boy: they lay a thousand eggs, and if they're fertilized, that's a thousand merthings to rehome."
"Oh," said Merodak. "Do they, uh, talk?"
"Don't be silly, they're animals," said the elf.
Merodak turned around, towards the pond. He saw another girl, first only her eyes under a fringe of hair.
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She lifted her head out of the water. "I talk," she said.
"You shouldn't unless spoken to," said the elf, sighing in a patronizing way. "And keep yourself submerged when men are here. My apologies. That is a selkie, and she is my—servant. She is not to talk to guests."
A selkie! And glaring fiercely at the elf too. Merodak wondered if the shop keeper had stolen her pelt away, and wondered where it was. It was illegal to steal a selkie's pelt, of course, but that didn't mean it never happened.
"I'm sorry," said Merodak, "I don't think I'm finding the right gift—"
"There are more treasures in my shop," said the elf brightly. "Come to the next room."
COLLAPSE 
