Laerka is Southern Gothic tale of rescue involving a group of teenagers and a Russian crime ring that sells girls to night clubs in Savannah, Georgia. One particular victim, Laerka, is a Danish girl who transforms into a mermaid when in water. The Russian crime boss who masterminds the trafficking changes into a "Vodyanoy" dragon when he hunts girls for the illegal skin trade. Savannah native, sixteen-year-old Stella Delaney finds Vodyanoy's first victim floating face down in the marsh. Can she save Learka from this fate? Is she in danger, herself? Could Laerka be a crook, herself? She and the traffickers share the same prison tattoo so who in this forbidding landscape can be trusted?