Page 63 of Selkie AU: Beyond the Storm

The fog didn’t seem as thick as it was when we arrived, allowing us to see just enough to stop us from crashing into anything as Rowan steered us away from the sinking base.

“We’re out,” I projected to Kova. “Thank you so much for your help.”

He didn’t respond right away, and I thought maybe he hadn’t been able to hear me until his voice filled my mind, faint from the increasing distance between us. “Stay out of our territory, Milo. We aren’t friends. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

I smiled. He wasn’t as scary as he wanted to be, and the goddess clearly trusted him, so I did as well. I wasn’t sure how or when, but I hoped our paths would cross again someday, and maybe next time, we could be something closer to friends.

32

Rowan

The child was missing. Et’el had brought him onto the boat, and he’d definitely been with us when we’d left the base, but he wasn’t anymore. No one had seen him in quite some time, and we couldn’t figure out when he’d escaped or how. We were hours from the base now, and though we’d tried to search for him, it wasn’t possible to know how long ago he might have jumped off the boat.

Milo wasn’t happy about it, but Et’el said if the boy was meant to be with us, the goddess would have alerted them before he slipped away.

“There has to be something else we can do,” he said, stomping his foot.

“There isn’t, Milo, unless you want us all to go back into Aarlinuk territory to search for a boy who may not even be there any longer,” Et’el said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Listen to your guidance, child. Does the goddess want you to go back?”

Milo stomped his foot again.

“Does she?” Et’el pushed. “Answer me, brat. Which direction does she want us to go?”

His bottom lip pushed out in a pout.

“With words, Milo.”

Milo mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?”

“The colony,” he huffed.

“Then trust her, won’t you?”

Milo crossed his arms, stomping away from his grandmother and coming to me instead. I opened my arms for him, and he settled into them with a sigh.

It had been a veryverylong night. I knew Milo was tired, just as we all were, but I didn’t get us moving again until Milo sighed and nodded his approval as he admitted defeat.

It was only a couple of hours back to the colony, but it took us a little longer to get there with the stop we made along the way, at a rocky shore of the mainland, far from any human population so the foxes and bear shifter could get off. The shifter’s name was Siku, and he honestly seemed like a pretty chill guy despite his huge stature. The selkies were a little cautious of him and kept their distance, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Then we were back in selkie waters, and I caught sight of another boat ahead of us. Two figures waved as we approached.

It was Miki and Panak, along with baby Sila. Milo had still been sulking, but he perked up immediately when he noticedthem, and quickly scrambled to fetch the rescued coats. This was what it all had been for. He dived in the water before I could stop him, though now we were far enough from that awful place that I trusted he would be safe.

A few moments later, he was splashing up out of the water and onto Panak’s boat. Everyone watched with rapt attention as Miki reached into the pile of coats Milo held. Then she sobbed, raspy and broken, but audible. She had her voice back.

She dropped to her knees and cried, and Panak fell along with her, holding Sila in one arm and Miki in the other as she clung to her coat with shaking fingers. My tired eyes heated. We’d saved many people today from an unknown and likely terrible fate, butthiswas what we had set out to do. Miki had the stolen piece of her returned, and now she had a future with her husband and child. She had her voice and her life back.

I wanted that for her, but without Milo, I didn’t think I would have been brave enough to even attempt getting it for her. He was so brave. So fearless and selfless. Sogood. It shouldn’t have surprised me that he was a prince. He was a natural leader, and he’d do whatever he had to for his people. I was so very proud of him.

Miki pulled her coat over her shoulders, letting it swallow her as her seal took her place, and together with Milo, she dived into the water. A moment later, another selkie shifted and followed, then another, and another, until all of them were diving off the boat to swim together. Until it was just me left on this boat, and Panak and Sila on his.

The selkies swam, and they played, as if they hadn’t been up the entire night fighting a war.

I wished I could be with them, but I was grateful just to be able to experience this.

Miki and Milo returned to Panak’s boat, though they stared at him expectantly rather than climbing back up. I could see thecaution in the fisherman’s face as he held his son closer, then he pulled Sila’s coat around him until a fluffy baby harp seal pup was in his arms.