Chapter 34
Kiora
KITTY HUNG HER HEAD in shame over the shifting mishap. Poor girl, she was trying so hard to make sure Troy liked her and now this.
Troy found me a change of clothes, gave Kitty one more ear scratch, then left to give me some privacy so I could shift without the pressure of being watched. All that did was make Kitty want him even more. And it made me want him more, too.
These last two weeks he had done everything possible to remind me he was still here. Every day he’d bring coffee, flowers, food, or some gift. Nothing over the top, like the Mimmy and Kitty key chain when he had noticed Mom gave me the key to the house, but I didn’t have a proper key ring.
After a few calming breaths and a reminder that no one was watching, so Kitty and I were free to mess up, we tried to shift again. This time, it felt like Kitty gently let go of our skin.
It didn’t hurt this time, probably because the sealskin had already come into existence, and it now lay on the floor under my left boob. Hopefully, it would always appear under me when I shifted. It would be easier to protect it than if it landed on top of me while I was getting attacked.
I scrambled up, grabbed the bag for the sealskin, and strapped it to my leg. Only after that did I bother getting dressed in Troy’s faded... Beach Boys shirt? Wow. I hadn’t seen that one coming.
It fell to mid-thigh, and if it were just the two of us, I wouldn’t have minded it, but Mom and Dylan might show up at any moment, so I put a pair of oversized sweatpants on.
Not a sexy look. Not at all.
When I emerged from the cabin, Troy waited for me outside, uncertainty in those eyes that saw too much peering into my very soul. He’d been looking at me like that for the past two weeks, and it always led to him asking the same question, or a variation of it.
“Are you okay with everything?” he asked, then added, “Getting the sealskin, I mean. It puts you in a vulnerable position.”
I wanted to say I felt great, because I did. I felt more complete now, like the final piece of me had fallen into place, but he was right about the vulnerability. The idea of having this thing that could fall into the wrong hands and doom me, erase everything I was today and become fully enslaved to someone? That part was my worst nightmare. Even Kitty, as excited as she was about getting the sealskin, agreed.
“I’ll feel better if Lucius is behind bars,” I said instead of voicing all my fears.
“He’s coming to the states soon,” Troy said.
My blood chilled. “When?”
“His flight is in eight days. I think he’s going to Erie, Pennsylvania this time.” Troy’s hands fisted at his sides, but he forced them to relax.
“Are you sure?” Fear. Cold, bone-chilling fear sliced through me at the thought that the monster was coming.
“Come on, I’ll show you what I found.” Troy gestured for me to follow.
Before, he would’ve taken my hand or held my waist. Now, Troy kept me at arm’s length. It was so odd the way he paid so much attention to me while also keeping his distance. I wasn’t sure what to think about it. Was he still interested in me?
Maybe it would be better if he wasn’t. Then, if I got kidnapped, he wouldn’t have to suffer.
After we returned to the deck, Troy pulled out his laptop and opened it for me, showing a map with glowing red dots concentrated on the northern city in Pennsylvania.
Troy hovered the cursor over one dot to let the information about it open. “Fiona Nyx 21 y.o. Witch. Last seen 08/14 on the corner of Peach and Kuntz.” He moved to the next dot. “Thorn Sephor. 37 y.o. A water sprite. Last seen 8/12 on the corner of State and 6th.” And the next dot. “Callidora Grey. 15 y.o. Werewolf. Last seen 8/15 on the corner of French and E12th.”
On and on it went. Twenty-two names in total. Men, women, children. All different ages and species. All of them had vanished over the course of one week. And if what Troy was saying was true, then all of them would be transported and sold to the highest bidder.
“That’s a lot of people,” I whispered, remembering that awful day when I had almost become one of them.
“There’s probably more that haven’t been reported. From what I gathered, there’s usually about thirty in total every two months.”
And it’s been going on for years, if not decades. The number of victims must be in the thousands by now.
Kitty growled. She saw us in every one of those names. She saw other selkies in them, too. Our mom.
“What can I do to help?” I asked because I needed to do something about it. Sitting here doing nothing wasn’t cutting it.
Troy opened his mouth, then closed it, thought about it for a second, and tried again. “He wants you out of the way.”
“So, I can be bait. Good.”
“No.” Troy’s eyes widened in horror. “That’s not at all what I mean. You, of all people, should stay away from him. He would rather kidnap and sell you because why miss out on the money, right? But if he can’t, then he’d rather kill you than let you get away again.”
Kitty growled again, and this time, the sound vibrated through my chest. She wanted blood. She wanted justice.
The last six years hadn’t been easy. Constantly on the move, looking over our shoulder, preparing for the inevitable fight following us. Well, I was done running.
“Kiora,” Troy said cautiously. “You can’t put yourself in a vulnerable position like that. You have a sealskin now. Do you know what happens to half selkies who lose their skin? Some of them never recover their memories.”
My life hadn’t been that great to hold on to those memories. Well, except the last few weeks, especially the time I spent with Troy. I never wanted to forget that.
Alright, maybe I needed to slow down and think more rationally. We knew what Lucius was all about, so maybe we didn’t have to use me as bait.
“What’s the plan on catching him?” I asked.
Troy let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t have one yet. What we need is to have Lucius and the victims in the same place, so we can prove his involvement. Otherwise, we’re just going to catch the small fry again.” Troy clicked a few things on his laptop, and the entire map lit up with hundreds of red lights. “That’s all the missing persons I believe were grabbed by the same people, and that’s just the last six years. If we get Lucius, he might have a record of where they all went. If we know who bought them, then we can get them out.”
Just dots. They all were just dots, but behind each dot was a person, a history, a laugh that got stifled, a life turned into a lie.
“You’ve been tracking them for six years?” I asked.
“I was looking for you.”
He hadn’t even known me six years ago, but he knew my parents. He was doing all this for them, not for me.
My eyes followed the clusters of dots from city to city. So many people. So many lives. Did they have anyone who would go through all this trouble to find them? Someone had to do the hard work for their sake.
“It’s terrifying. Having the sealskin, I mean.” I waved at the monitor. “I could become one of them, and no one would know where to find me. I feel like Selkies need a built-in tracker just so someone always knows where to find them, in case they get kidnapped.”
Troy cringed, and it looked like a very guilty cringe. “I might’ve put a couple of trackers on you.” He waved at the bulge under my pant leg where I had the sealskin bag strapped to me. “After the way Eirlys vanished, and what it did to Dylan, I didn’t want to take any chances. Not that we’re anything like them. I mean, they were married and we’re...” He trailed off because really, what were we?
Had it just been a fling? It should’ve been, but it didn’t feel like it. Troy acted like he wanted more, but he also wasn’t asking for more. So, did he actually want it?
“Kiora!” Mom’s shout cut my thoughts and any questions I might’ve asked. She was already scrambling onboard. “Did you seriously get your sealskin? How was it? Isn’t it amazing to swim like that?”
“It was great. I feel whole now,” I admitted instead of voicing all the fears. Mom didn’t have to worry about me. Not yet.