Chapter 9
Nina
I woke up before Delmar again, but this time I was prepared. I knew how to make coffee. He'd explained that he tried not to use electricity if he could help it, so he made coffee on the gas stove with a percolator.
I prepped it the way he'd shown me, put it on the stove to heat, and set the timer on my phone.
It wasn't as fast as a drip machine, but the novelty was fun.
If it became annoying, I'd talk to Delmar about how we could switch to a drip machine.
If this boat was going to be our new home, then maybe I could pay for some upgrades so he didn't have to be so careful about using electric items.
Or maybe we could buy a bigger boat. One with a real shower. Using a hose on the deck to get the saltwater out of my hair hadn't been easy.
Even better, we could live part-time at my place and part-time here! That would be the best of both worlds.
I was so focused on planning our future that I didn't notice the folded piece of paper taped to the round window in the cabin door until it fluttered.
Startled by the movement, I turned and stared at the window until I figured out what I was looking at. Opening the door, I looked around. There were people gathering on the pier with steaming mugs of coffee to stare down at us again, but no one on the dock or boat.
I pulled the note off and shut the door. Unfolding the paper revealed a handwritten note with a time and place, but nothing else.
“There’s brief and then there’s asshole,” I muttered. “I hope they don’t expect me to go alone. I should send Delmar first. That would make them nervous and teach them to write a demanding note like this one.”
“Nina?”
I looked up to find Delmar in front of the bed wearing only board shorts and looking sleepy and adorable. He was rubbing his fingers through his hair and stifling a yawn.
Holding up the piece of paper, I waved it a little. “We have a time and place.”
He ambled forward and took the message, looking at both the front and back of the paper. “I guess they didn’t want to confuse us with too many details.”
I rolled my eyes as the timer on my phone went off. “Coffee!” I declared and moved to the stove.
“My love for you is eternal,” he said, joining me at the kitchenette.
I grinned. “Or for as long as the coffee lasts?”
“I'd love you for at least a half hour after the coffee was gone,” he said, pulling mugs out of a cabinet. I poured coffee into both of them, and soon we were sitting at the tiny kitchen table sipping coffee. I debated about making some toast, but my stomach was in knots.
“At least the meeting is soon,” I said. “We don't have to hang out here for days waiting for them.”
“We might have an answer and leave before noon,” he said, looking cheerful. “There's an adorable town we can visit on the way home.”
I appreciated the way he was trying to make this seem like a fun weekend trip we'd decided to take instead of a search for magical help. It didn't do anything to untie the knot in my belly, but it made me feel like we were in a partnership. I wasn't in this alone.
We were fated mates. I'd never face anything alone ever again.
A few days ago, I would've scoffed if someone told me I'd meet the love of my life and dream about settling into a home together, or boat, I guess. Now I couldn't imagine life without Delmar. It was crazy how quickly someone could adapt.
My anxiety got worse. “I don't trust these people.”
Delmar nodded. “Same. Who makes women go through their men to be heard? My mom would slap anyone who said she wasn't allowed to talk for herself.”
The image of a lady kraken letting her tentacles loose on these men made me grin. It almost made me want to be a kraken.
“We need to have a strategy," I said.
“Strategy? For what?”
“To deal with Mayor Norris, or whoever shows up to talk to us,” I explained. “I'm sure they won't mess with us physically because you're a big scary kraken.”
He puffed up. “That's right!”
I grinned. “Except there are a lot of ways to manipulate or coerce people that don't have anything to do with physical force. That's why we need a strategy. Tell me everything you know about selkie history, culture, and religion.”
“That won't be much,” he said. “Their magic makes it easier for them to sense danger.
It also helps them predict the weather. All sea shifters have an affinity for currents and water, but they are especially good at judging those things even in their human form.
They don't mix with other groups, not even seal or walrus shifters. Because of that, no one knows much about them.”
“That's not much to base a strategy on,” I said. “I guess we'll just have to figure everything out as we go along.”
He tried to hide it, but Delmar looked almost as apprehensive as I felt.
“I'll put on a fresh pair of shorts and a shirt,” he said. “I want to look my best.”
“Nothing too fancy,” I teased.
“How about the black ones with the blue trim?” he asked with a grin. “If I pair them with my keep the sea plastic free shirt, it'll give the perfect balance of casual professionalism."
“Excellent,” I said with a chuckle. “But wear your nicest flip-flops.”
He went to one of the bench seats and pulled it up to start rummaging through the clothing stored there. “I'll pull out a new pair for this.”
I glanced at my phone, all my good humor vanishing. “It's time.”
The meeting place turned out to be a small cafe with exposed red brick walls and potted ivy climbing around a front window.
We arrived a few minutes before the assigned meeting time.
We walked in to find the place empty except for a young woman behind the counter and a gray-haired man wearing a suit sitting at the back.
I walked up to the counter, ignoring the man, and ordered a latte. The woman looked nervous the entire time, but not because Delmar was standing behind me. Her eyes kept sliding over to where the man was sitting, as if she was scared of him.
This had to be Mayor Norris, and I already didn't like him.
“I'll bring it to your table,” she said after Delmar had ordered. I tried to pay, but she shook her head and rushed further down to an espresso machine to start making our order.
Right, there was no putting it off any longer. It was only a few steps to get to the table, and I sat down without speaking. Probably an egregious act of rudeness around here, but I didn't care at the moment.
I studied the man as Delmar squeezed into the chair next to me. Mayor Norris had dark brown eyes, a classic square jaw, and a Roman nose. I guessed he was in his mid-sixties but fit for his age.
Then he smiled and reminded me of someone who sold used cars for a living. I didn't like the concept of him before, and that smile made me mentally recoil.
My seal didn't like him either. That made me appreciate her.
“I’m Mayor Norris,” he said finally. He must've realized I wasn't going to talk first. “I welcome you to my colony. Your, uh, friend can stay for now, but normally we don’t allow outsiders to remain within the town's borders overnight.”
His words were oddly formal, and the smile didn’t reach his eyes. My seal did a mental ewww.
“Hello,” I said, giving him my best business smile. “I’m Nina and this is my mate, Delmar.”
Norris flinched slightly at the word mate but didn’t say anything. He still refused to look at Delmar. That annoyed me so I pressed the issue.
“He’ll be staying here for as long as I’m here,” I said.
The mayor’s smile disappeared for a moment but then reappeared. “We’ll see. When Dale found me yesterday, he said you believe you were turned into a selkie by a spell. Are you trying to claim you weren’t born a selkie?”
“I was human before the spell,” I said, and looked at Delmar. He put the box with the necklace inside on the table between us. For the first time, Norris looked at Delmar, but only glanced at him, as if the kraken wasn't worth acknowledging.
The moment Delmar let go of the box, Norris snatched it up and opened it. I expected to see confusion or surprise on his face.
His smile didn't shift. “Interesting,” he said, then closed the box and put it back on the table between us.
“Interesting?” I pressed, working hard to keep my irritation from showing. “Please elaborate.”
He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn't think I would ever see one of those. Honestly, a lot of us thought they were nothing but a legend.”
“So you know what it is?” Delmar asked. I looked over at him, but he was staring hard at Norris.
Norris kept his eyes on me, and his smile finally reached his eyes. His real smile wasn't kind. “Yes. I know. There were only four of them made.”
“Made to do what?” I demanded.
“That's a good question,” he said. He was enjoying this. He liked that he had something we wanted.
“Tell us what it is,” Delmar demanded. “Who made it and how can it be undone?”
Norris's smile vanished, and he scowled at Delmar. “Don’t talk to me. You have no place here, sea monster.” Norris picked up the box and opened his jacket as if he was going to put it in an inside pocket.
Delmar snapped out a tentacle and snatched it from him.
He pressed it into my hands, and I tucked it away in my purse.
After a moment of stunned silence, Norris's face went red.
“Don't ever do that again, monster!” he snarled. “Your kind is an abomination on this earth.”
“Don’t think I won’t drag you out to sea and show you my real self,” Delmar growled.
Norris smirked. “How is that going to help Nina?”
I put a hand on Delmar’s thigh and squeezed. Both of his hands were resting on the table, curled into tight fists. One of his appendages slipped out from under his hoodie and covered my hand.
“Don't talk to him like that,” I said and pushed my chair back to stand up. “Come on, Delmar. We're leaving.”