Page 2 of Selkie AU: Beyond the Storm

That’s what I would do. I slowed, letting the boat be carried by the wind and pushed by the sea for a moment before the motor roared again. Turning me around, not toward the low-lit houses. Not toward safety and warmth. I faced the open sea. Dark. Hungry. A mirror of the ugliness that resided inside me.

It didn’t scare me. I realized it probably should have. But the decision felt easy. Peaceful.Right.

My eyes closed as the wind drove the first droplets of water against my skin. So small, fast and cold, they felt like tiny shards and still they didn’t really hurt me. I’d been numb for so long that the sensation and knowledge of what else would come almost felt exhilarating. My heart thrummed to life in my chest for the first time in years.

If I had any regrets, it was only for the fish I’d caught today in my buckets. Even so, they probably wouldn’t be wasted, likely to become food for something bigger when their bodies returned to the sea. So would I. At least then I’d serve a purpose.

Darker. Colder. Water filled my boat from the sky and sea, ready to swallow me whole.

I was ready.

2

Milo

Shit. This was bad.

Scouting close to human territory always had its dangers. Being seen by them being the obvious. They had no idea we existed, and it was in everyone’s best interests to keep it that way. Being perceived by them wasn’t the only danger, though.

While I was rather fond of the inventions and weird trinkets that often found their way to the sea floor, a lot of them posed dangers too. Dangers that I perhaps didn’t take as seriously as I should and had now got myself into asituationbecause of it.

Pain sliced up the base of my tail as I pulled. Red seeped into dark waters.Shit. I was stuck.

I’d just wanted the bottle. Dark green and glass. So pretty. It would have made some beautiful jewelry, but it was buried beneath a human net and I’d somehow managed to tangle myself in it as I tried to retrieve it.

Raq’s teeth dug into the rope, trying to help me get free. He didn’t like coming here. It was too close to human territory for one. But it was alsotechnicallyAarlinuk territory. Wereallyshouldn’t have been here.

He pulled again, and pain shot up my spine. “Stop, that hurts!” I mentally projected at him, and he halted immediately. Teeth weren’t going to get us out of this. I needed fingers.

Even in seal form, Raq had a way of giving me a disapproving glare as I shed the top half of my coat. He followed a moment later, flippers and fur peeling back to reveal skin, arms, and hands.

Dark gray fingers and claws yanked at the ropes, but any way I tugged just seemed to make the knot tighter rather than looser.

“Let me try,” Raq projected back, and I gave a final tug before letting go and allowing him an attempt.

Time was limited. We couldn’t hold our breath as long when we were half shifted like this, and the rope was far too heavy for me to attempt getting to the surface with it, even if Raq helped.

He pulled, and I snarled, precious air escaping from my lips in a silent groan of pain.

“Milo, I swear to the goddess once we get you out of here, I’m going to kick your ass all the way back to Aanaa.”

The threat of violence was second to the threat my grandmother posed if she found out about this. She might have been small and ancient, but the goddess chose her to be our leader for a reason, and she was stronger than she had any right to be.

I’d worry about that later, though. She wouldn’t even have a grandson to cuss out if I didn’t get out of here.

“Shit, how did you manage to get it so knotted up?”Raq scolded.

Because it was me, and I got myself intosituationswithout even trying.

“The bottle. Maybe if you break it, you can use it to cut the rope?”

With a small pang of regret for the loss of what I could have done with it, I suggested the only thing I could think of, and Raq looked around until he located where I’d dropped it when the rope had tightened around me.

He smacked it against the rocky floor until it cracked and broke. Again. Until he managed to get a sharp shard. This would work. This would be okay.

Danger. My body tensed. So did Raq’s. A simultaneous chill running up our spines as instinct clawed at our souls. The goddess didn’t speak to us, not with words. But her guidance pulled at our instincts like magic. Sometimes it was subtle, more of a nudge. This instinct hit with a force that made me nauseous.Escape.

It was dark this far beneath the surface. It was dark at all hours of the day this time of year. But the way the darkness seemed to amplify suddenly had my body chill from more than just the frigid waters. A shadow passed over us. Another. Larger.