33. Death by Boat
“Remember where we were?” he growled, referring to our time in the reading room.
“Up against a wall?” I was bracing myself on his butt, trying not to laugh.
Instead of dropping me to the floor or tossing me on the bed, he slid me from his shoulder and down his body, his hands on my butt, holding me a foot off the floor.
Mouth on my neck, he walked us over to my bed and turned, falling backward to keep me on top. Such a gentleman. I straddled him, grinding down just a little. On a groan, he unhooked the straps of my overalls and relieved me of my top.
Rolling us over, he climbed off the bed and then yanked off my overalls, taking my shoes and socks with them. His gaze lazily roamed. “I’ve been dreaming of you all day.” He quickly undressed and then pounced.
At turns laughing and moaning, we couldn’t get enough of each other. Eventually exhaustion rather than satiation had us both passing out, still twined together.
I woke alone after the sun had risen, but only just. No messages waiting. No one knocking on my door. Flicking my fingers, I opened the shutters to soft pink light. With any luck, the rest of the world would forget all about me and I could get the walls painted. First, though, I needed something to wash off all the death of the last couple of days.
I put on a pair of swim leggings, a long-sleeve rash guard, and water shoes before jogging down the stairs and out the back door.
“Good morning, guys!” I climbed up on top of the railing and dove into the ocean, instantly feeling stronger and more myself. I swam under the deck, looking for Cecil. I was just about to give up and assume he was away from home when a tentacle shot up from a rock, coiling around my ankle and tugging.
Cecil’s color changed as he uncoiled himself, dancing in the water beside me. I put out my arm and he wrapped himself around me, all but one tentacle that he used to point deeper under the deck. I swam where he indicated and found his friend was still here. Ah, young octopus love.
I shall name you Poppy, as she was a beautiful poppy red right now. She undulated in the current, her tentacles recoiling underneath her. In that movement, I saw the eggs she was protecting.
Cecil!I was so excited. We’d soon have baby octopuses floating under my dock. Well, not too soon. As I recalled, they took six months to hatch. Then I remembered another important octopus reproduction fact. You two are still getting along okay, right? His tentacle wrapped around my hand and squeezed.
No going crazy or dying on me, all right? You two are the exceptions to the rule. You’re both going to live long lives, okay? Dad, are you listening? Cecil and Poppy are special.
They both seemed completely fine, but now I was terrified I’d say good morning and he wouldn’t be there to slap the water. He uncoiled himself and danced beside me again, as though trying to reassure me I didn’t need to worry. I’m holding you both to that.
Something knocked into my shoulder and I turned to see Wilbur racing away. I’m a strong, fast swimmer, but I’m not a seal. He disappeared and I was left spinning, trying to find him before he sneaked up on me again.
When the pressure in my head got painful, I surfaced and took a breath. Dad’s DNA meant I could stay under without drowning, but the longer I went without air, the bigger the headache.
Something bumped my hip, the little sneak, and I dove down to give chase. He was teasing me, letting me get tantalizingly close and then racing off. I’d been so distracted, worrying about how long I’d have Cecil in my life, that it took too long to realize I’d swum too far out.
Surfacing, I got swamped by a wave, the wake of a fishing boat. Damn it. What the hell was wrong with me? Exhausted, muscles trembling, I looked for the gallery and couldn’t see it. Another huge wave dragged me down and spun me around. When I finally surfaced again, I wasn’t sure which direction to go, and I felt a flutter of fear in my chest.
I’d barely gone ten strokes when I was nudged again. This time, however, it wasn’t Wilbur. It was a dolphin, who circled me once before sidling up beside me. I wrapped my hands around his dorsal fin and let him tow me back to shore, with two more dolphins who seemed to be serving as guards. A last big wave brought me home, the dolphins circling until I’d climbed the rope Declan had installed for me. At the top, giving me a hand over was Emrys, Wilbur in his other form, that of a slight, pale fae man with translucent hair.
“Mistress, are you well?” He waited, unconcerned with his nakedness.
“Yeah. The nice dolphin gave me a ride back. What was that, though? Why were you leading me so far away from the shore?”
He’d already begun shaking his head. “Never would I put your safety in jeopardy, Mistress. That wasn’t me. That was Ash, who has always been a good and loyal soldier to your father.” He lowered his head. “He is being stripped of his seal skin as we speak. Your father is furious that he would try to harm you.”
I dropped onto a bench, my muscles quivering. “Does my father know we have a sorcerer and her demon targeting us again?”
Emrys—which is how I thought of Wilbur in this form—hissed at the word demon and then nodded. “He has been informed.”
“Does Ash interact with humans around here, or is he primarily in the ocean or in Faerie?” I was getting a sneaking suspicion as to why Ash was suddenly trying to kill me, to make me afraid of my safe place.
“Both. He recently found a mate and has been granted permission to live in this realm.”
“Please let my father know that he could have been spelled or even possessed to behave as he did. Though I believe possession leaves the possessed dead. If he’s still alive, it’s possible my cousin spelled him.” I paused, considering. “I wouldn’t have thought our magic strong enough to spell the fae, though.”
“Your father is listening to your words through me. He asks that you spell me as an experiment.” He stood braced and ready.
“Emrys, I’d never hurt you. The vast majority of spells don’t cause pain. I understand my father orders it, but are you okay with this? I won’t do it otherwise.”
Solemnly, he nodded, looking like he was facing a firing squad.
“Father, if you can hear me, this isn’t a perfect experiment. Wicches are all different. We have different strengths and gifts. My magic is even more different, as I also possess fae gifts. If Ash’s betrayal was orchestrated by Calliope, her magic would be run through with demon power. Does Ash smell of sulfur? I have a half-demon, half-wicche friend who says that if demons are involved, sulfur will be present.”
Emrys kept his head bowed. “Your father is having Ash checked, though he still asks that you spell me.”
I flicked my fingers, and he waited.
“Look at yourself,” I said.
He lifted his hand in wonder. His pale skin was now the speckled gray and brown of his seal skin.
“Have you altered my skin or my own perception of it?”
“Your skin. And you might notice you’re no longer standing on the deck.”
His focus quickly moved from his arm to the deck he hovered six inches above. “I see. Your father asks—and I second—can you undo what your spell has done?”
I flicked my fingers and he was as he had been.
“I’d be more inclined to believe Calliope and her demon poisoned Ash than he suddenly chose, all on his own, to try to hurt me.” I really didn’t want some poor selkie being punished for freaking Cal’s actions.
“Your father understands your concern and commends your empathy. He assures you he will investigate before Ash is punished, if he is indeed punished.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Emrys nodded, donned his sealskin, and leapt over the railing, diving into the ocean.
Sopping wet and still shaky, I did a quick drying spell so I didn’t track seawater everywhere, and then went in to shower properly. Once I was cleaned, my hair conditioned and beginning to dry, I crawled onto my bed and pulled a blanket over me.
The ocean had always been my happy and safe place. When the nightmares and visions were too much, when the haters got to me, or the obsessives wouldn’t leave me alone, I had the water and all the wonderful creatures in it. Now Calliope was trying to take that away from me.
Curled up and shivering, I called Declan.
“Good morning. Hey, it’s almost nine. Hopefully that means you slept well,” he said.
A let out a breath. Just hearing his deep voice helped me feel not so alone. “I woke up early, but I was feeling pretty good.”
“What’s the matter? You sound funny.”
“I’m okay now. I was just feeling a little shaky and wanted to hear your voice.”
“I’m on my way,”
“No, Declan. I’m fine. You have a crew there and work to do. Really, I’m okay.”
I heard a tire squeal, a honk, and then road sounds. “Can you unlock the back door? I’m coming around the side now.”
Flicking my fingers, I unlocked it a moment before it opened and was relocked. Then I heard heavy steps pounding up the stairs.
“You didn’t need to drive over. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I watched him round the bed and sit down before kicking off his boots and rolling in behind me, his powerful arm pulling me in tight against him.
“I had a nice jog. Now tell me what happened.”
I rolled over, put my head on his chest, and told him.
“How far out had he led you?”
“I don’t know. I have excellent eyesight. Not as good as yours, but still. I couldn’t see the gallery.” I let out a sigh. “I wasn’t panicking. It was more of a What the fuck did I just do? I mean, what was the worst that could happen? My arms were too tired to swim, so maybe I sink and walk back with a headache? I don’t know. It was more that Wilbur, someone I loved and trusted, had tried to hurt me. Goddess, it was my childhood all over again.”
“And the real Wilbur—”
“Emrys,” I corrected.
“Right. Emrys says it was this Ash selkie who was actually leading you into boating lanes.”
I flinched.
He hugged me even tighter. “I think that was the endgame. As you said, other than being tired, it was more of a mean prank. Once you introduce humans in boats with large engines and propellers, it rises to attempted murder.”
“I watch the fishing boats go in and out of the harbor every day, right where I was treading water. One had passed right before I went up for air and still that hadn’t occurred to me.”
“You were too busy worrying about Cecil and Wilbur.”
That was true.
“So, can you do me a favor and start wearing your dad’s earrings?”
I thought about it a moment and then nodded. The earrings had been given to me by my Aunt Sylvia when I graduated from high school. I’d only found out recently at her wake that they’d actually been a gift from my father, one my mother had refused to give me. Sylvia didn’t agree with Mom’s decision and gave them to me herself.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t told me or anyone other than my Uncle John, her husband, where the earrings had come from. Consequently, the cousins—especially Sylvia’s daughters Serena and Calliope—hated me even more. Why did I receive a gift far nicer and more expensive than anyone else? It went along with their contention that I had been given preferential treatment since birth.
The earrings were stunning, with a large, lustrous pearl in the middle and triangular fiery blue-green opals surrounding it, like petals on a flower. I’d only ever worn them once, at Sylvia’s wake, when Calliope tried to kill Gran. That was also the night Emrys introduced himself and told me that if I ever wanted my father’s attention, I need only touch the pearl and he’d be listening.
It was hard to explain, even to myself, why I didn’t start wearing them every day after that. I had told Declan I was afraid of being eavesdropped on, which was true, but I really just wasn’t ready. After wondering who my father was all my life, suddenly he was a thought away and I hadn’t been prepared for that.
It was time, though.