Page 46 of Kraken the Seal

He waved his tentacles in the water, similar to the way that kelp beds swayed. We played among his appendages, our joy absolute and in the moment.

No past or present. No anxiety or worry. We existed in the “now” and that now was full of happiness and companionship.

There was so much that I could learn from my seal about serenity.

I felt her amusement, and her answer to a happy life was to swim more and eat fish. I'd have to remember to tell Delmar about that later.

Determined to keep my seal happy, I let her have my body for as long as she wanted control. It wasn't until she was exhausted that she rolled onto her back on the surface of the water and gave up our body to my human side.

I went from being comfortably warm in the frigid water to freezing. My teeth started chattering, and I struggled to make it to the boat.

Delmar appeared in his kraken form and lifted me into the stern of the boat before shifting to his human body and climbing up after me.

My legs didn't want to work so I sat in a cold, wet heap until his appendages scooped me up and rushed me into the cabin. He sat on the end of the bed with me cradled in his lap and wrapped me in several towels.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“She tired us out,” I said, snuggling contentedly against him. “She didn't leave me. I hurt her feelings, but I won't ever do that again. I want her to stay.”

“I'm glad,” Delmar said, the heat of his body and his appendages wrapped tightly around me helped warm me back up. “She's fun and cute. Just like you.”

Both my seal and I glowed at his description.

We sat there, cuddling for a while until I was warmed up. I was exhausted from the anxiety attack and then playing in the water for so long.

“I know it's still early, but I want to brush my teeth and go to bed,” I said.

Delmar nodded, and his appendages lifted me up and set me on my feet. I headed to the sink and opened the cabinet with the toothpaste and brushes.

“If you want to keep your seal, we could leave tomorrow,” he said.

I shook my head. “I still want to know what Norris knows. Now I'm scared this spell can be reversed. I need to make sure that no one can take away my seal.”

Delmar nodded. “Good point. Then we stay and put up with annoying selkies until we find out.”

I felt aharrumphfrom my seal. “My seal agrees with you, they are so annoying!”

Delmar laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll be gone soon and never have to come back again.”

Chapter 16

Delmar

Tourists made the selkie town entirely different. When Nina and I left the boat midmorning in search of coffee, there were people everywhere! All the shops were open, there were cart vendors set up at street corners selling food, and there was even an old Model A giving rides around the town.

I had to fight the urge to line up for a ride in the antique car. Especially after the driver hit the horn and it made the classicawoogasound, I almost gave in.

“I can't believe this is the same town,” Nina said as we paused at a crosswalk, waiting for a light to change.

The coffee shop was only a few blocks away, but it was going to take a while to make it through the crowd.

Mayor Norris appeared in front of us. “Nina, I'm so glad I found you. I need to show you something.”

Her grip on my hand tightened. “I'm glad to see you too. This is day three. It's time to tell me what you know.”

We both expected him to argue that this was only day two, but he nodded instead, his smile never wavering.

“We’ll talk about it at my house at the end of the day,” Norris declared cheerfully. “Come this way!”