Chapter 5
Nina
“You’re not a seal shifter,” Elena said. We were sitting in her small, colorful house sipping iced tea. A giant orange cat jumped into my lap, purring loudly. I liked cats so I petted the soft fur. The moment my fingers sank into the animal's pelt, I felt better.
Delmar made a sound of disagreement. “I saw her change. She is most definitely a seal shifter.”
Elena held up a hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t use that word correctly. She is a selkie.”
Delmar’s frown turned to a nod. “Oh, I see.”
“I don’t,” I said. “What’s a selkie?”
“A selkie is a type of seal shifter, but a little different,” Elena explained. “They have much more magic than the average shifter.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Let me demonstrate," Elena said and pointed to the bundle of purring orange fur. “Focus on Cheddar. Keep petting him and let your thoughts wander.”
As I looked down at the cat, he slit his eyes open. A distinct request for cooked chicken filtered through my head. “Uh, chicken?"
Elena chuckled. “He’s been asking for chicken all day. No more chicken for you, Cheddar. You had some this morning.”
This time, I was sure the words floating into my head definitely came from the cat because they weren’t polite.
“I don’t think I should say what he’s thinking,” I said.
Elena gave the cat a fond look. “Don’t worry, I can always hear Cheddar. He can be a rude kitty sometimes. He’s constantly reminding me that I’m becoming a grumpy old lady.”
“You’re not that old!” I said, glaring down at the cat. I could have sworn Cheddar rolled his eyes at me, then jumped down off my lap and sauntered off.
“That’s kind of you,” Elena said. “Cheddar thinks I should get out more. He’s probably right.”
“You should hang out with the Senagers,” I said.
“Senager?” she asked.
“They think of themselves as senior teenagers,” I explained. “Senagers.”
Both Elena and Delmar chuckled.
“What do Senagers do?” Elena asked, looking interested.
“They get together once a month to try new activities. Last month was archery. I think this month is making mosaics. I can give you their email.”
“That’s cute,” he said. “How do you know about this group?”
“One of their activities was an introductory class to sword fighting,” I said. “I helped the instructor teach that class. They were all enthusiastic and fun.”
Elena asked me a few more questions about the Senagers before giving me a gentle, inquiring look. “Are you ready to talk about it?”
I let out a sigh and nodded. “Yeah. Can you undo the curse?”
“It’s not a curse, it’s a spell,” Elena explained. “And I’m afraid I can’t change you back.”
My shoulders slumped. I wasn’t surprised. If she could fix this, she would’ve said it sooner.
“What else can we do?” Delmar asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I felt a tentacle pat one of my hands. I grasped it and warm, gentle suckers massaged my palm. It was weird how quickly I’d gotten used to Delmar’s friendly appendages.
Elena moved the plate of cookies out of reach of one of the tentacles and gave it a warning little flick with her finger. “Those aren’t for you.”
“Sorry about that,” Delmar said, and the appendage disappeared under Delmar’s shirt. Now I understood why the article of clothing was so much bigger than it needed to be.
Elena gave him a nod, then answered his question. “The best advice I can give you is to talk to the closest selkie colony.”
“Colony?” I asked.
“Shifters who like to organize themselves have different names for their groups,” Delmar explained. “Wolf shifters have packs, nagas have slithers, and selkies have colonies.”
“Where’s the closest colony?” I asked.
“Not too far up the coast,” Delmar said, but something about his expression told me it wasn’t going to be as easy as driving north.
“What aren’t you saying?” I asked.
“Selkies aren’t like wolf shifter packs,” he said. “They tend to be closed off. They don’t like to talk to outsiders.”
“But I’m one of them,” I said. “Or at least I am right now.”
“That should help, but they might not like a kraken coming into their town,” he said.
“Their town?”
“The closest colony controls a small coastal town,” he explained. “It allows them a lot of freedom to shift, but it also makes them distrustful of outsiders. It might take a little while to get them to talk to us.”
“I don’t care how long it takes,” I said. “They need to help me!”
Delmar nodded. “We should take my boat.”
“Why? We can pack up my car,” I said. I wasn’t surprised to find out that Delmar didn’t have a car, but he seemed fine driving here.
“This isn’t an average cute tourist town,” he said. “It’s unlikely that they’ll have any hotels or inns. If we take the boat, we can stay there while trying to talk to them.”
“That makes sense,” I said. I felt hopeful and motivated. “Can we leave today?”
He nodded. “Do you want to pack some stuff for the trip?”
“Yes, good idea. We'll go to my place, then back to your boat.” I stood up and smiled down at Elena. “Thank you so much for talking to us.”
“I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.
" She stood up and came around the table with her arms out.
As she hugged me, she whispered in my ear.
“I want you to keep your mind open. Remember, this was a spell, not a curse.
Curses are meant to cause pain and misery, this simply changed you.
Give your selkie a chance. You might want her to be permanent. "
I pulled away, trying hard to keep my smile. “Maybe,” I said, even though I was determined to get back to my old self.
Isn’t that what everyone would want?
Delmar
I couldn’t ignore Nina’s tension. Every time I asked, she said she was fine, but it was clear that she was struggling.
Sailing north meant going against the prevailing winds and currents. I had no choice but to fire up the motor. As I navigated up the coast, Nina sat huddled in the cabin. Every time I checked on her, she was in the same place, looking pale and upset.
Giving up on her telling me naturally, I shut down the engine and dropped the anchor.
“What’s wrong?” Nina asked, emerging from the cabin. “Why did we stop moving?”
I stepped in front of her and opened my arms. “What’s going on? You were handling everything so well this morning and then we got back to the boat, and you withdrew and now look physically ill. Please talk to me.”
She paused for half a second, then walked into my arms. All my tentacles emerged and wrapped around her as well. For a moment, I was worried that would be too much, but she snuggled against me with a sigh of relief.
“Are you scared of meeting the colony?” I asked.
“Yes, but that’s not the issue,” she said. “Something inside me keeps pushing me to go in the water.”
As a born shifter, the idea of having instincts from my animal half was natural to me, but I could see how it would be scary for a human who’d never experienced that before.
“You don’t have to listen to your seal,” I said. “She can’t make you do anything.”
“But she’s so loud!” Nina wailed. “It started when we left this morning to visit Elena. The longer we were away from the ocean, the worse it got. I thought I’d feel better after we were on the boat, but she won’t let it go.”
“I could find a cove or beach for us to go swimming,” I suggested. “There’s a couple of secluded ones nearby. After your seal swims around, you’ll both feel a lot better.”
She hugged me tighter and let out a little sob. “You don’t understand. I don’t know how to swim!”