22. Milo
Milo
We were going to get Miki’s coat back. I was absolutely sure of it.
Rowan was less sure, but he couldn’t feel the guidance of the goddess like I could.
Rowan had worries that we would already be too late, that the coat would have been moved or sold and they would no longer have it, but I knew my goddess wouldn’t have pulled me to Miki if I wasn’t able to help her.
If we were going to be successful, though, we were going to need help.
Panak wouldn’t leave Miki’s side, and Miki wouldn’t go back to the people who had hurt her and stolen from her.
They also had cute baby Sila to watch over.
We were all in agreement that the family needed to stay here, where it was safe.
I also acknowledged that facing the poachers on our own was too risky. We needed backup, and I knew just where to get it.
The sky promised us hope, rainbow lights guiding our way as the boat carried us over pitch-black waters. This was going to work.
The moment we’d stepped out of Panak and Miki’s home, I felt the familiar pull I’d dreaded most of my life. The call to return to the colony, the call of my duties.
I knew what it meant, though. It wasn’t that I had to go back and take up the role formerly assigned to me. It was the goddess telling me where to go next. The closer we got to the colony, the stronger I felt the pull.
“Slow down,” I told Rowan, and he listened immediately.
Once he pulled the boat to a full stop and killed the motor, I yanked him against me, claiming his lips furiously.
Saving Miki was my mission, but Rowan was still and always would be my purpose.
Once Miki had her coat returned, and we’d taken care of the nasty poachers, then we’d get the goddess’s blessing and we’d be able to start our own family. I just knew it.
“I wish you could come with me,” I whispered against his lips.
“So do I,” he responded. “Be safe, please, Milo.”
I nodded. “I will. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
His eyes looked so sad as I stepped away from him. Maybe one day there’d be a way for me to take him to the colony. As it was, he wouldn’t be able to hold his breath for long enough to get there.
I pulled my coat on, giving him one last long glance, before sliding off the boat and into the icy dark waters.
Darker and darker. Colder and colder.
The further I got from the surface, the more my heart reached for Rowan, even if my soul pulled me back toward the colony. I needed to do this quickly, so I could get back to him.
When the waters were at their darkest, and my seal’s eyes could hardly see, tiny lights sparkled in the distance, signaling home.
More appeared as I approached, and from this distance, it felt like swimming above the stars.
The comb jellies were strong and happy. The colony cared well for them, and their population flourished enough to light up our home.
There was a smaller population of biofluorescent snailfish visible once I got closer. Greens, oranges, and iridescent blues.
The entrance to the colony was concealed behind overgrown reeds and seaweed. I made my way through the long passage, dark once more until I neared the surface.
The walls glowed a soft blue from strategically placed aurora stones. I shed my coat, slinging it over my shoulder.
“You’re in so much trouble, scion,” said the familiar and irritating voice of one of the stationed guardsmen.
“Shut up, Andrew,” I huffed as I walked past him. Andrew was a stupid name for a selkie, and I’d always thought so.
The passage opened up into a large open space, all lit by the huge glowing anemone in the center, pulsing gently with the goddess’s magic. Its many tentacles drifted through the open air as if carried by a current only it could feel. It provided all the light and oxygen we needed to live here.
The surrounding areas were communal, with family nests on the outskirts. Given the lateness of the hour, most were sleeping, but they’d have to wake up soon for what I had to say. The first thing I had to do, though, was seek out my grandmothe—
“MILO!” the woman herself screeched as a fish was thrown at my head.
“Aanaa,” I smiled.
“Don’t Aanaa me, you pesky brat.” Et’el bent to scoop up the fish, only so she could resume hitting me with it. “What are you thinking, not coming home for so long? I had no idea what happened to you. You better have been incapacitated to make your grandmother worry so much.”
“Ow, I’m fine, really. Goddess would have told you if I was in trouble.” It was the wrong thing to say, apparently, because she started hitting me harder, until the fish slipped out of her hands and she pulled her coat from her shoulders to hit me with that instead. Thankfully, it was much softer.
Raq smiled as he approached from behind her.
“Help me?” I called to him.
“Absolutely not. It’s me she’s been hitting since you’ve been gone; it’s your turn now.”
Fair enough, I supposed.
The whacking grew briefly more intense before Et’el tired out and fell onto me instead.
“You worried me,” she said, sounding less angry and more hurt.
“I know. I’m so sorry for that. But I was following the goddess, and she led me to something. Well, two somethings. One is incredible and the other I need your help with.”
“Better be a mate with the amount of trouble you’ve caused.”
I smiled widely.
Her silver eyes widened. “Truly?”
I nodded. “His name is Rowan, and he’s a human.”
Et’el’s nose scrunched. Both Raq’s and her voice raised simultaneously. “A human?”
Others were starting to wake up and cautiously approach now. I didn’t mind. I’d tell every single one of them proudly that Rowan was my mate. They’d need to know anyway, considering I lived with him now.
My grandmother knew I never wanted to take over as leader after her. She knew I’d prayed about it, and she’d told me that if the goddess allowed it, then she would as well. Maybe she never truly believed the day would come when the goddess released me, but it had now, and she had to honor that.
“Yes, a human. I’ve already started my nest, and the goddess will bless our bond, we just have something we need to do first.”
“What could you possibly have to do with a human?” Raq huffed.
“Well, this is where we need the colony’s help. There’s a selkie named Miki. Her coat was stolen by poachers. Those are the humans we’ve been warned about. The bad ones. The dangerous ones. We need to stop them.”
My grandmother’s face pulled into a frown. “Milo, we aren’t supposed to interact with humans.”
“I know that. But the goddess led me to Rowan, and then to Miki. She’s bonded with her human mate with the goddess’s blessing. They have a child, Aanaa. And Miki is sick. She can’t survive without her coat. Others will be in danger too unless the threat is stopped.”
Et’el looked to Raq, who had a troubled expression on his face as well. “Well, wake everyone up.”