Chapter 13
Mira
I WOKE UP WITH BED hair. Again.
My hair was cursed, but the curse masqueraded as a blessing. Any time I wanted to style my hair, it always stayed for the longest time. Curling my hair kept it curled all day without any products needed. But it also stayed all day if I simply slept funny.
Showering helped a little, but only a little. It still stuck up on the right side because I always slept on the right side. Whenever I turned onto my left, I’d hear my own heart beat, and it kept me up.
Oh, well. I would just do what I always did when this happened. Armed with a brush, I arranged my hair in a way that would hide the funky part. That meant almost everything in the front got combed from the left side to the right.
As I stood there in front of the mirror, I listened to the sounds of the small town waking up. The air was so nice I kept it open all night. There was a vase with sweet pea flowers on the small table under the window, and the flowers seemed to like the sun, so we all benefited.
My phone buzzed with a text message. I picked it up off the table, then just stood there with by back to the wall as I read and reread it.
Troy: Good morning. Are you up for the boat trip? The water should be perfect today.
I wanted to go, but a part of me wondered if he would text that woman from last night and invite her if I said no.
He wasn’t mine. Hell, I had been on a date, too, last night, so it’s not like I had any right to judge. Yes, there was mutual attraction, and that kiss had blown me away, but it didn’t mean anything. We barely knew each other. I shouldn’t get so jealous.
I must’ve stood there for at least fifteen minutes before I heard voices outside, and they were moving in my direction.
“Like I said, her parents are looking for her. It’s very important I find her and deliver her to them,” a stranger said.
“Of course, I understand,” Azar answered, and it sounded like he was right under my windows. “Do you have a photo?”
I used that moment to peer out the window, Azar was checking the flowers he already pampered last night. Still, he pretended to pull off dry leaves and a few bugs. The man standing next to him, pulling a photo out of his pocket could’ve passed for a human if it weren’t for the circles going up his arms. He was a kraken.
“Oh, yes, she stopped in our town,” Azar said after he inspected the photo. “She didn’t stay long, though. If I’m not mistaken, she went south. I remember because we talked about the tropical flowers that grow there, and she said she will try to make time to see them. I do hope you find her. A young mermaid like that shouldn’t be out on her own. There’s no telling what might happen to her.”
“Can you tell me when she left?” the kraken shifter asked.
Azar hummed like he was trying to remember. “Yesterday, I think. Maybe two days ago? My memory isn’t the most reliable. I got punched in the head too many times when I was younger.” He laughed at himself like it was the funniest joke in existence.
My pulse sped up, and suddenly, I wished I was already on that boat with Troy. A kraken, though? Would any supernatural stoop to doing business with traffickers specializing in supernaturals?
I did my own research into the dark side, kept up with any news I could find, and it all sounded awful. Right after I ran away, one of their many heads got chopped off, probably the one who would’ve had me. After that, two more branches popped up to fill in the gap, as it that was needed.
Since then, there’d been two more raids, the last one being only a month ago, that took out more traffickers. None of those raids got to the top, though. No one even knew who was in charge.
As soon as the kraken waked away, I texted Troy, telling him I would very much like to go on that boat ride. Not that being on the water would save me from a kraken shifter, but he would have a harder time finding me that way. I definitely couldn’t stay at this B&B any longer.
A knock on the door made me jump. I suppressed a yelp, though, and remained quiet, listening to who might be on the other side.
“It’s me, Azar,” the dragon’s weary voice called to me.
I opened the door and let him in. He didn’t need to ask me if I heard or what I thought about the kraken. The look on my face must’ve answered that already.
“He had your photo from when you were much younger. Somewhere in your mid-teens, I’m guessing,” Azar said quietly.
“My truck isn’t ready.” If I had my truck, I’d hop in and drive as far as I could get, but the damn thing was so smashed up.
“Now, I don’t know if someone else would tell him the truth, but the folks in our town always help each other. If they know you’re hiding from that man, they’ll help you hide.”
It was so tempting to accept the offer of help, but I didn’t even know these people. Could I trust them with my secrets? With my safety? If my own father had tried to sell me to traffickers, why wouldn’t a stranger?
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
Now, how could I sneak out of the B&B and get to Troy’s boat without anyone noticing me? A hoodie and sunglasses would look too suspicious. I’d already changed my casual appearance as much as I could, but it clearly wasn’t enough.
I opened my bag and looked at the contents, trying to figure out what to do, how to hide who I was. Oh. I had a magically enhanced sun hat. It made people appear so normal that they became virtually invisible.
As I put it on, my figure filled out, making me a size sixteen or so. That would be right about average. My hair shortened to about a foot. My boobs grew to a double D. Well, that was nice to see. And most importantly, I looked older, somewhere in my late thirties.
The mirror still showed my face, but it had no depth to it, like a painting that sat in the sun and lost most of its color. That should do it. Hopefully.
“Never mind. You look like you have it under control.” Azad gave me an approving nod. “But still, if you need a safe place to stay, Whynotians always protect our own.”
“Thank you,” I said and left the room along with my belongings.
If I got a chance to come back for my things, I’d do it, but if I didn’t, I had all the most important things in my purse, including the phone number of that technomage who had crafted my Mira White identity. I might give him a call again.