 
# Water Rites

## J.R. Pearse Nelson
_A heart-felt nod to all the stories of the deep that have ever taken my breath away._

_Who knows what's down there, anyway?_
Copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

* * *

Cover art by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design

www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk

* * *

Sign up for J.R.'s reader mailing list today and be among the first to hear about J.R.'s new books and series. Sign up at: http://jrpearsenelson.com/go/mailing-list/

### Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Author's Note

Excerpt from Crestfallen

About the Author

# Prologue

The waves sparkled as Lorelei's head broke the surface of the bay, the droplets in her eyelashes twinkling in the soon-to-set sunlight. She spotted a fish leaping high, but it disappeared again, quick as a flash. She looked for Mama, and at first she didn't see her. When her round, smooth head appeared to Lorelei's left, the small girl let out a sound, half-squeal, half-bark, and swam for her.

Mama's dark brown eyes seemed to laugh before she dove under, daring Lorelei to give chase.

Lorelei dove, too, keeping up with her mother – barely. She might be small, but she'd taken to the waters with all the alacrity of her ancestors. She slipped through the waves with ease, a crab bumping her tail as it fought for purchase in the tumbling surf off Orcas Island. She whipped her tail faster and shot ahead, catching her mother in time to bump her flank, then rise for a gasping breath of air.

A loud horn ripped through the air – too close – far too close.

Mama's firm grip wrenched Lorelei under, and out of the ship's deadly path. The craft stirred the water and shoved them further below. Lorelei's lungs burned; she hadn't had time to take a deep breath.

When they surfaced again, Mama held Lorelei to her. They were human again, their sealskins tied to them in the careful knots Lorelei already knew at the age of five.

The small girl's back pressed to her mother's front, as the wake of the ship rocked them. Even through her desperate gasps for air, Lorelei could make out her mother's sobs.

She held Lorelei all the way to the steep, rocky shore. The tree line loomed just above, dense with shadow in the deepening dusk. For some reason, Lorelei felt sad, like she'd just lost something too precious to be put into words. They climbed the ladder to the dock, silent, and took the forty-seven stairs to the landing above.

Lorelei felt her mother's eyes on her and lost her count of the stairs. Counting was her favorite thing to do, and she glared at Mama. But when she saw the look there, the look that said Mama was still one step away from tears, Lorelei dropped her eyes back to the weathered wood and continued to climb.

Mama cried often.

Those days weren't fun.

Usually their swims were the most fun, except for counting. But today Mama had turned a swimming day into a crying day.

Inside, Mama handed her a towel warm from the dryer and unknotted her sealskin. When she took it, Lorelei felt lost for a moment, a piece of her carved away, leaving just a hole where her seal-self should have been. She'd grown accustomed to this feeling, though, and she let it pass.

"Hot chocolate?" Mama asked, knowing the answer.

"Please." Lorelei smiled, and went to her room to get dressed.

She skipped back to the kitchen a few minutes later. She had to remind Mama about the marshmallows before the hot chocolate cooled off. Melted marshmallows were the best.

"Did you see that boat?" That was Daddy talking. Lorelei skipped faster. Daddy was home!

"Yes. I saw it," Mama said.

"Too close, Mel. I don't like these chances you're taking."

"It's what I am. You know that—"

Lorelei realized they were fighting just before she came in. When her mother stopped talking, she wondered what they were mad about. They'd both been mad recently. It was boring. Once, Lorelei's dad had told her that when she was mad, she should count to ten before she said anything she might regret. That was good advice. Counting was much more interesting than fighting, and she usually forgot she was mad and wanted to yell. Dad seemed to think that was good.

Lorelei scooted her chair out from the table, the loud scraping noise making her mother cringe. Her parents were still trying not to look at each other. Cups of hot chocolate sat steaming on the counter.

"Mom?" Lorelei asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Can you add the marshmallows?"

"Melty marshmallows coming right up," she said with forced lightness.

"Thanks."

Dad smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. Lorelei knew he'd like to talk to Mom without her hearing. But she wasn't going to budge until after hot chocolate.

Mama brought Lorelei's cup to her, but the other two sat on the counter, lonely, while Mom and Dad went to their room to talk.

The distance didn't completely muffle their argument.

So Lorelei counted.

One.

Two.

Three little marshmallows.

Four.

Five.

Six...dunk the little marshmallows.

Seven.

Eight...how many little marshmallows?

Nine.

And that was it. So Lorelei counted again.

# Chapter One

The dampness of the Washington coast in January did not agree with Lorelei's hair. That was today's excuse for being late. The hair.

She took the stairs two at a time, grabbing her backpack from the hook before she'd even reached the ground floor. As she whipped it around to put it on, it came into contact with something firm. Something that gave a loud grunt.

"Dad! Crap. I'm sorry. Late!" Lorelei tried to spin around him, but he blocked the exit. She blew her hair out of her face – again, the blasted stuff – and gave him the look.

"Don't give me that look. Breakfast. It's on the table now, and I don't want to hear another word."

"No time for breakfast. I have math class."

"You can't do math on an empty stomach."

"Rubbish. I can do math any time. See – four times seventy-six is...wait, let me think..." Lorelei thought for a second as Dad's eyes narrowed. She might be sixteen, but sometimes he still asserted his single-parent control over her every move. Like periodically he woke up and thought, I wonder how I can notice (i.e. torture) my daughter today?

He pointed to the dining room.

"Three hundred and four!" Lorelei exclaimed. Then, in a more sedate tone, "Dad, I'll be seventeen in less than two weeks. I think I know how to feed myself." Lying, of course. She had no plan for feeding herself.

His finger did not move. "Eat breakfast. Now." He didn't say it loud. He said it in that dangerously un-loud way.

"Was that right? Yep, think it was right." Lorelei trudged to her seat. He hadn't been home to make her eat well the last three days, so she hadn't seen this spot much this week. She'd been heating stuff up and eating in front of the TV. So there, Dad.

He'd fixed eggs and bagels with cream cheese, his favorite breakfast. Strawberries on the side; those were for her, and she popped one in her mouth right away. Okay, a nice breakfast wasn't so bad.

He sat across from her and read the news on his iPad while they ate. Lorelei wished she had an iPad, but then she'd be even later. Instead she hummed and scarfed her food, knowing she must leave for school or she was in serious trouble. She had to quit sleeping late and worrying about her hair. It could be a disaster, as long as she got a good grade in AP calculus.

"See you later?" she said to Dad as she took her plate into the kitchen for a quick rinse.

"I'll be at the clinic until seven. Order a pizza, okay? There's cash in the jar." His dark eyes met hers as she swept back through, and this time the smile did reach his eyes. "Have a good day, honey."

"You too, Dad."

Hustling, Lorelei almost tripped over her boots that refused to go on correctly. Forcing herself to take a breath, she shoved her foot in, shoved the laces into the boot to deal with later, and clicked the unlock button on the remote to her silver Jetta.

She slid into the driver's seat and backed up onto their small private road. School was three miles away, along nothing but windy country roads.

Stupid hair.

Lorelei didn't drive fast. She wasn't going to risk an accident or ticket just to shave off a few seconds. She turned on a song, and as she came around a bend and popped out of the trees, she caught sight of the pink and orange glow that marked sunrise. She whistled. The dawn was still so new that it didn't offer any appreciable light, just the brilliant colors.

And then it was gone. She made a turn into greater Anacortes, Washington and left the sunrise behind her. Her belly tightened at the thought of math class, which was starting right now, as the houses grew denser along her route. Almost there.

This neighborhood was decades old, but the houses were nice two-stories with deep front porches and large, neat yards. Theirs was a decent, boring town. A good place, really.

Finally, the cluster of school buildings appeared up the road.

Lorelei turned into a parking space and ran. This was the second time she was late this week. What if Mr. Richards dropped her from his class? It was AP, so he could drop her if he didn't think she'd perform.

Crap.

Lorelei's toe caught on the curb, and too late she remembered she hadn't even fastened her boots in her rush to get out the door. The impact sent her tumbling and ripped her shoe off, so it bounced along the curb and back into the parking lot.

Double crap.

With a twisted ankle and her scraped palms burning – not to mention a distinct roaring in her ears and the deep blush due to sheer embarrassment – Lorelei moved, a bit less swiftly, to Mr. Richards' room. The stairs were tough, but so was she.

She cracked the door open and attempted to sidle to her seat without drawing notice, but it was not to be.

"Ms. Dorian. That's the second time this week. I'll see you in detention this afternoon."

And, triple crap.

Ah well, at least he wasn't dropping her from the class. Lorelei took her seat, surveying the damage to her palms and finding it wasn't that bad. There wasn't much blood.

"What are you smiling about? You look like hell," Shea Carlson, the rudest girl on the planet, whispered harshly from the next row.

"I made it." Lorelei shot her a big grin. "In time for differential equations, right?"

She snickered. "You're always _way_ too excited about math, hon."

"You missed the intro...probably going to be hard to keep up today," said a voice to their left.

Shea glared at Vardon Caster, just long enough to let him know he was beneath her, and not invited to chat. He was a loner, and as far as Lorelei knew, no one had really talked to him much since third grade or so.

Lorelei didn't care about school-kid politics. She cared about her AP Calculus grade. "Seriously?" She sank lower in her seat. "I missed the intro?"

"Yes, Ms. Dorian, you missed the intro. Maybe some poor soul will take pity on you, though you do not deserve it, and bring you up to speed. By Monday." Mr. Richards chimed into their conversation, drawing the attention of the whole class.

Lorelei was already the youngest student here – one of just two juniors in this advanced math class. The other being Vardon.

Stupid tardiness wasn't doing her any favors. She frowned. Much of her plan for next year revolved around getting a great grade in calculus. She would do whatever it took to catch up.

"I might have to drop swim team," Lorelei declared at lunch.

Six pairs of eyes, four of them teammates, swiveled her direction. "Are you kidding?" Haeley Schneider, Lorelei's best friend, cried. "You can't quit swim!"

A general shaking of heads around the table seemed to agree with Haeley. But Lorelei couldn't let them make this call for her.

Haeley tried again, more gently this time. "Lori, you've been working to be captain of the swim team forever. And just before senior year, you're going to _quit_? Why?"

She was right, of course. Lorelei had set her sights on leading the swim team starting freshman year. She was the best swimmer the team had ever seen, and they made state for the first time ever after she joined. It was considered almost a sure thing.

But was swimming distracting her from greater goals?

"Swimming senior year would be wonderful...but where does it lead?"

"Why does it have to lead somewhere?" asked another close friend and teammate, Emily.

"If I'm going to sacrifice time on homework – and possibly sacrifice qualifying to go to my dream school – it has to lead somewhere."

"You're too serious," Emily grumbled. "Here, have this chocolate chip cookie." She shoved Lorelei half of her cookie. "You need chocolate to treat your incredibly uptight brain."

Lorelei was sure a need for chocolate had nothing to do with her over-achiever nature, but she took Em up on it.

"You're not quitting swim," Haeley stated.

Lorelei was done with the argument. She'd also noticed they had an audience.

Vardon Caster had stopped behind Haeley, who peered up at him and then turned a questioning look back on Lorelei.

"Uh...hi, Vardon." Lorelei hadn't spoken to Vardon outside of class since, once again, about the third grade. He didn't go out of his way to talk to people, and she had no idea what he would want with her.

"Hi, Lorelei. Can I talk to you?"

She looked around, kind of mystified. "Sure."

She followed Vardon until they stood a fair distance from her admittedly gossipy friends. Did he not think asking to speak with her privately would breed gossip? They were probably up to it right now.

Vardon was tall. He looked taller outside of class.

"If you want, I could help you get caught up on what you missed this morning," he finally said.

It clicked into place. "Thanks. I appreciate it. I totally screwed up being late today, and Mr. Richards is right, I don't deserve the help."

"Sure you do." Vardon's eyes lit up with intensity, and Lorelei felt self-conscious all of a sudden. "You're brilliant at math."

She grinned. "Do you compliment all the girls on their math skills?" she joked.

He shook his head. "I don't really talk to girls, actually. Not much." He didn't seem sad about it. Just thoughtful.

"You should change that." Lorelei wasn't sure why she said it. She thought maybe he was sad, and maybe he didn't need to feel quite so alone.

He smiled, complete with dimples she hadn't assumed existed. And changed the subject. "So...the math help."

"I have detention this afternoon, but I'm free later. I'd rather get caught up today, if possible."

"So you can be back at the top of the class on Monday?"

She shrugged. She didn't have to answer; he already knew it was true. The whole class did.

"Okay. I have to work at the bookstore for a few hours tonight. How's eight?"

Lorelei had forgotten his family owned the bookstore downtown. Maybe because it didn't exactly cater to her generation...or her dad's, for that matter. She nodded and told him her address as he typed it into his iPhone.

"See you then." He smiled again and walked off.

Lorelei turned to see all of her friends with their eyes fastened on her exchange with Vardon. Oh, no. Had they just made plans for eight o'clock on a Friday night? Lorelei's stomach sank. Her friends would call this a date no matter what she said.

# Chapter Two

At ten to eight, Lorelei answered the door, flustered. It was the pizza guy.

"Hello, Lorelei," Dean said. He was a couple of years older than her, and Lorelei suddenly felt self-conscious. She'd seen him a bunch of times at the pizza place, since Haeley's folks owned it, and they hung out there a lot. But they'd never had a conversation. He'd always ignored her, rightly, as part of Haeley's high-school crowd.

"Hi...Dean, isn't it?" Lorelei wasn't sure why she pretended not to know his name. He hadn't ever looked at her like he was doing now. It was weird.

He nodded and gave her a little wave, and she was suddenly sure she wasn't the only one feeling self-conscious. What in the world? After a final glance over his shoulder, Dean returned to his car. Lorelei was glad Haeley wasn't working tonight – it was possible Dean was on some wicked drugs. She made a mental note to steer clear of him, and shut the door.

While she was happy to see the food, she sighed when she realized she'd have to repeat the awkwardness in a few minutes with Vardon when he arrived for their absolutely-not-a-date study session.

She had no reason to be nervous. She'd known Vardon since first grade, when she'd moved with her father to Anacortes, from tiny Orcas Island.

And this was absolutely not a date, no matter how Haeley and Em had pestered her as soon as she returned to the lunch table. _Have you noticed how tall he is? If he wasn't so quiet and weird, he'd be super cute, Lori._

Lorelei rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed in her life was a cute boy.

She set the pepperoni and mushroom pizza on the dining room table, next to her calculus textbook and pencils and such.

The doorbell rang as soon as she'd grabbed a plate and a slice.

She left her steaming pizza to answer the door, pulling it open with a smile plastered in place. _Greeting committee. Hello, person I never expected to have in my house._

"Hi," she said lamely.

"Hi," he answered stiffly. He held up his textbook. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. My pizza just got here, but I can eat while we work."

He sniffed the air, and stopped in his tracks, two steps inside the front door, his shoulders hunched uncomfortably.

Maybe he didn't like mushrooms.

He recovered and followed her to the dining room table.

"You want some?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Lorelei fled for the kitchen to grab another plate and a couple of cans of soda. This was too weird. But she needed the help with homework. Mr. Richards had been watching her in detention today. She knew if she screwed up again, it wasn't just her place at the top of the class she was risking. She could still get kicked out. And then she wouldn't be able to complete AP calculus until senior year.

When she returned to the living room, Lorelei caught Vardon snapping a picture.

"Something interesting?" she asked from behind his shoulder.

He jumped, obviously feeling guilty.

She tilted her head to the side. She was nervous, but what was going on with Vardon? Selfies in her living room? Did he have it that bad?

She pointed to the plates, reminding herself of her father. Who...should be home by now.

Lorelei and Vardon sat across from each other, and Lorelei discovered he was not, in fact, concerned about the mushrooms. He inhaled three slices of pizza seemingly without a breath, before taking his plate to the kitchen and cracking his calculus book.

Lorelei finished up, too, and heard the front door open while she was in the kitchen adding their plates to the dishwasher. Dad was talking to someone as he came in. An answering giggle sent a trickle of alarm through Lorelei. Who had her father brought home?

They met in the dining room. Peter Dorian's eyes lit on Vardon as soon as he came through the door. "Lorelei, you know you aren't supposed to have boys over when I'm not here."

"Wow, Dad...I didn't even think of it that way." Lorelei gestured to the textbooks while checking out the blond, forty-something woman who had just entered her home. Dad didn't date, so what was this? "We were just about to study."

Dad still wore a scowl. He reached out a hand to shake Vardon's.

Lorelei must have been mistaken, but she could have sworn Vardon flinched as though he expected her father to hit him. The thought was funny. Dad wouldn't hit anyone, at least not in any circumstance Lorelei could imagine. Then they shook, and the tense moment passed.

Lorelei extended her hand to her dad's guest. "I'm Lorelei."

"Yes, I've heard so much about you." The blond had a firm, but cold, handshake. "I'm Amy – I just started working at the veterinary clinic with your dad."

"My car broke down," Dad explained. "I'll need you to take me over there in the morning, honey."

"Okay. I can take you on the way to swim practice." Lorelei caught Vardon fidgeting. "Now, do you think I can get to studying?"

"Sure. We'll be in the kitchen." Dad gave Vardon a long stare before he left the room.

How humiliating. The typical fatherly reaction was ridiculous in this situation.

"Sorry about that."

"No," Vardon said, watching Dad's retreating back. "Don't worry about it. Let's start with chapter ten."

Vardon tried for silence as he entered through the sliding glass door abutting the breakfast nook. He needed some time to think before...

"Vardon? Is that you?"

No such luck. "Yeah, Mom. I'm home."

"How'd it go?" Mom popped around the corner holding a yogurt, and wagged her eyebrows at him.

"Just studying, Mom." He shuffled into the kitchen. "Good. It was good."

"What's the matter?"

"It's just...I thought she was one of us. Now I'm just confused."

"She's not a selkie?"

"I could swear she was." He was seriously blowing it. Mom had been so excited when he said he met a selkie girl at school. It was important to her that he know his own kind, but the selkie community was spread thinly across the globe. The San Juan Islands had a decently sized community of about thirty selkies, many of them _ancient_.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Her dad, actually. He does not smell selkie at all. I don't think he's human, either. But more like human than selkie."

Mom frowned. "Maybe the girl is mixed blood. That would be a shame."

Vardon frowned back. "Lorelei is great – no matter what she is. Don't talk like that."

Mom shrugged. Their family had remained pure despite the dispersion of their people over time. But they couldn't continue to do so if other selkies mixed blood with humans.

Yeah, yeah.

What mattered to Vardon was knowing another seal shifter, one his own age. He had a good friend among the selkies, another guy his age, Rory, who came to visit with his parents sometimes, and there were a few other local selkies in their twenties, one of them female. Most selkies were older. Other than that local community, it was swimming with the family, often all three generations of them. Swimming with Mom and Dad and the grandparents was fine, had always been fine...but it grated on him these days. Every time they were in the sea he wanted to swim off on his own. That wasn't allowed, of course. So he'd taken to stealing out at night with his skin, down the steep sand of the beach and into the surf.

He'd do it tonight, after Mom went to bed. He had to. Only the sea could strip the visions of Lorelei from his mind so he could sleep.

Lorelei.

Math whiz, swim team star, sweet but spitfire Lorelei.

She had to be his girl.

He grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and spun a chair around to sit backwards while he ate it.

Rolling her eyes, Mom sat with exaggerated elegance in a chair close by.

"Look at this." Vardon pulled out his cell and opened the photos. The picture he'd taken in Lorelei's living room stared back at him. A seascape complete with mermaids, seaweed tangled in their flowing hair, and an underwater castle that shone in the darkness of the underwater world. The colors in the painting almost seemed to move, as if in the drifting tides. He handed the phone to Mom.

She stared long and hard, and when she turned startled eyes on him, he leaned forward to hear what she'd say...too far forward. He almost crashed to the ground, but caught himself at the last second, shoving his heels back so the chair rested on all four legs again.

Mom hadn't stopped staring. No eye roll at his clumsiness.

"This painting. You saw it at the girl's house?"

"Her name is Lorelei. And yes. That's the living room mantle, at the bottom of the picture."

"Vardon, you can't see this girl again. At least not until I figure out what's going on."

He stilled. "What is it?"

She looked at the picture again. "Vardon...this is _Finfolkaheem_. The finfolk are not to be trifled with. You must let me find out what this girl is. I would not restrict you without cause."

She spoke so formally that Vardon knew any argument was lost. She wouldn't change her mind.

"What are finfolk?"

"They're a dark sort – sorcerers. Physically similar to modern culture's take on mermaids, but they can shift; they can take your shape, or mine, or even our seal shapes. Our people have never mingled. Any they find they take away. Forever."

"Where?"

"It is said they have a mystical island, where they keep their human – and other – spouses, to work for them." She met his eyes again, pulling her gaze from the allure of the painting. "But they can spell you to breathe underwater, too, and take you to their ancestral home, on the ocean floor. Finfolkaheem."

He was silent.

"We stay away from the finfolk, Vardon."

He still didn't answer. He finished his yogurt without looking at her.

"If you disobey me, I will know."

Maybe. Maybe not.

# Chapter Three

Lorelei thrashed awake in the deep of night, her sheets tangled around her sweaty limbs, despite the January chill.

The dream stayed with her.

The lulling rock of the sea, a seal bobbing its head at her before it dove, a sparkling fish flipping out of the water, the blaring horn of a ship, strong hands and stronger waves, the cold of the water on her fragile, human flesh...Mama holding her.

This same dream had been haunting her nights for weeks. Lorelei rubbed her eyes and checked the clock. It was only three, but she was determined to stay awake now, so as not to slip back into the dream. It wasn't a nightmare, but it pulled at her heart enough that she didn't want to be there. She'd dreamed it enough times now that she could see the picture in her mind, almost as clear as if she'd lived it.

Swimming with seals shouldn't make her sad. It was the part at the end. The part with her mother never failed to leave her heartsick.

Mama had left Dad when Lorelei was six. She'd never seen her again. She didn't even know where her mother lived. And she'd never understood why.

Dad didn't talk about it, besides to say it wasn't her fault. Mama loved her, but she wasn't built to be a mom, and other nonsense evasions. Lorelei had stopped asking about her years ago. But she still thought of her every day...and wondered.

Now this sea dream insisted on waking these feelings every single night.

Lorelei went down to the kitchen to make herself some tea, the long hours of early morning stretching out in front of her. Up at three in the morning on a Saturday? What was she thinking?

As she set the water to boil, she noticed a purse on the countertop and did a double take.

Oh, gross.

She crept to the front door and opened it, cringing at the squeaky hinge that marked her movements. Sure enough, Amy's car was still in the driveway.

Gross!

Dad had an overnight guest.

If she were in bed, she'd put the pillow over her face and scream into it. As it was, she bit a knuckle and let out a rather startling moan of disbelief.

Ew, ew, ew.

Not okay.

Feeling queasy, Lorelei went back to fixing her tea. She paced to the living room and flipped on the gas fireplace. Then she grabbed a thick fleece throw off the back of the couch, cuddling in.

Grandma's painting drew her eye, the firelight making the colors seem to undulate, as if she were truly looking at an underwater scene. The glowing castle surrounded by a rainbow of seaweed. The eerie mermaids with their floating, glistening hair and fierce eyes that seemed to watch her now.

Dad's mom had been a great painter. She was also mentally unstable, and abandoned the family when Dad was small. Lorelei and her father had that in common.

Of course, it made Dad assume he knew what she felt over her mother leaving. He'd never listened, or wanted to know, how she truly felt. He didn't want to know how much she missed her mother. Just the smell of her, her warmth, the sounds of her breathing, her steady heartbeat. Her laugh. Lorelei barely remembered her mother's laugh.

But she couldn't sit here all morning, going over what had gone wrong in her life. She finished her tea and padded over to the dining room table to retrieve her calculus book. Time for studying. She'd be back at the top of the class in no time.

A note from Dad rested on top of her book, like this was exactly where he expected her to come first thing.

> _Lorelei,_
> 
> _I have a guest over. Sorry I didn't have a chance to warn you ahead of time. I don't need a ride to the clinic after all. Have a good morning._
> 
> _Love you,_
> 
> _Dad_

Okay. Most awkward note ever. But at least he'd tried.

All motivation to study having fled, Lorelei shut off the fire and retreated up the stairs, closing her door softly behind her and flipping the lock. She put her hands over her mouth, the urge to scream almost too much to ignore. She vaulted into her bed and beneath the covers, where she finally let out some version of that animalistic scream. Not the powerful one she wanted to, but she wasn't about to wake the two of them up.

All these years, and Dad had never had a woman stay overnight.

Is this how it was going to be now? Tiptoeing around so as not to wake up her dad's _girlfriend_?

Knowing all hope of leaving the house was off for hours yet, Lorelei pictured her grandmother's painting and drifted off to sleep counting mermaids.

Lorelei was the first patron in the library later that morning. When she'd gotten up again, Amy's car was gone, and so was her dad. She had to get out of there. Besides, she had studying to occupy her before swim practice later this morning. It was practically a weekend tradition.

Davey, the elderly man who opened the place on Saturday mornings, gave her a smile. "Good morning, Lorelei. Fancy seeing you here on a Saturday."

She returned the smile and held up her bulging backpack. "Calculus."

Lorelei took a seat at her favorite table, by a window that looked out on a tree-filled park next door, and heaved her textbook out of her bag. Notepad in hand, she started to work through the example problems, testing the theory Vardon had provided last night.

The problems absorbed all of her attention, and a half an hour later, Lorelei stretched her fingers and looked at her worksheet. Not bad. She almost had this stuff.

Thanks to Vardon.

He'd been polite last night, but after Dad came through he seemed to be thinking of something else. Lorelei wished she could go back and apologize for the strange meeting between them. Why they wouldn't get along was beyond her, unless it was some macho thing. And that wasn't necessary. She wasn't dating Vardon. He had just been helping her study.

Would she date him if she had the chance?

She doubted it would come up after last night, and that was too bad. And if she felt that way, then probably...yes. She'd probably date Vardon if he asked.

Her friends would freak out.

Lorelei didn't really date. She'd never met a guy who seemed worth her time, which was filled with a hectic mishmash of sports, friends and...well, math.

As if thinking of him had brought him here, Lorelei raised her head to realize Vardon was walking right toward her, beside a serious looking woman with long, wavy brown hair.

"Hi, Lorelei."

"Hi. You come to the library on Saturdays, too?" Or was he here because she was here? The woman was looking at her oddly, like she was trying to place her. But Lorelei didn't think they knew each other.

"I needed to return some books. This is my mom, Crystal."

Lorelei rose from her seat and offered Crystal Caster a hand. His mother. Great. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Caster."

"And you, Lorelei. I heard you were helping Vardon study last night."

"He was helping me, actually."

"Teaching is the best way to learn."

Lorelei gave her an uncertain smile, restraining the impulse to shuffle her feet like an awkward kid. Mrs. Caster's words were harmless, but there was a tension in her posture that set Lorelei on edge. "Yes, I guess that's true."

Mrs. Caster stepped closer, and took a long breath...smelling her? Lorelei took a step back.

"Tell me of your family. I know of none other here that is like us."

"Mom—" Vardon tried to break in, but his mom held up a hand and he shut his mouth, reduced to glaring behind her back while Lorelei dealt with the mysterious question.

"I'm Lorelei Dorian. My dad is the veterinarian at the Burrows Bay Veterinary Clinic." Lorelei stopped talking. Is that what she wanted to know?

"A veterinarian named Dorian. Thank you."

Was she going to check in on Dad? "Why do you care? Did you track me down at the library to ask who my dad is?"

Lorelei remembered how strange Vardon had acted after he met Dad last night. She pinned him with a glare. "Did you run home and tell your mother something about my family? What?"

Mrs. Caster moved between Lorelei and her son. "My dear, you almost act as if you don't know what I'm talking about. Show some respect for an elder selkie."

Lorelei didn't bother to step back this time. Was this woman unstable? She tried to meet Vardon's eyes, but he wouldn't return the favor.

"I'm going now," Lorelei stated firmly, expecting an argument.

"Yes. Run to your father. Tell him I know your family is here, without leave of the Council, and I will be in touch. Soon."

"What Council? What in the world are you talking about?" Lorelei couldn't help the questions once they finally burst forth – none of what this woman said made any sense. Vardon hadn't seemed like the descendant of a crazy, but maybe her judgment had just been off because she'd known him for so long.

Something changed in Crystal Caster's eyes. She realized something; maybe the truth of what Lorelei had said.

"They've hidden it from you? It isn't possible." Her eyes bored into Lorelei. "A selkie without her skin?"

More obscure questions. It was enough to drive Lorelei up the wall. "What is a selkie?"

"Oh, you will know. I doubt anything can stop you from discovering the truth now."

"Mother," Vardon said, putting one hand on her elbow, as if to guide her away. "No. You can't."

Mrs. Caster shook him off, her expression resolute as she regarded Lorelei. "A seal shifter. You are of the sea, my girl. I can smell it all over you."

# Chapter Four

Of the sea.

_Of the sea, of the sea, of the sea._

The words churned all through Lorelei, ringing in her ears as she drove the three miles between the library and her father's clinic. That woman, Vardon's mother, would probably drive straight there to confront him.

Lorelei wasn't sure if she was going to the veterinary clinic to warn her father, or to confront him herself. She didn't know what to think.

Maybe Crystal Caster was, in fact, delusional. Maybe she was full of complete nonsense.

Grandmother's painting popped into Lorelei's mind. All of the colorful mermaids, their hair buoyant, free, drifting...

Nothing of seals.

Nothing except for the dream that had been haunting Lorelei for weeks.

_A lazy evening in the ocean, belly full of fish, trying to spot Mama. The seal bobbing its head at her before it dove. Her mirthful chuckle, inhuman, just before she gave chase._

Lorelei shook off the images from the dream – she couldn't afford to think about this right now.

Dad would be Dad. He'd know what to do.

What Mrs. Caster had said couldn't be right.

Why had Vardon just stood there and let her say those things? Why had he looked so afraid, and why hadn't he dismissed the ridiculous ideas his mother had spouted?

Lorelei pulled into the parking lot of the veterinary clinic, relieved to see it wasn't full of cars. Dad might even have a second to talk to her.

The woman at the desk, Melissa, greeted her. "Hi, Lorelei! It's a slow Saturday. What are you doing here?"

"I'm on the way back from the library. I need to talk to Dad, when he's available."

"He's in an appointment now, but I'll get you when he's out."

"Cages to clean?"

"Sure!" Melissa welcomed the help with the least favorite of the clinic chores. Lorelei usually logged a few hours a week at the clinic, doing odd jobs and cleaning. It was decent money for college – better than she could make flipping burgers at the downtown Dairy Queen – and if she had a busy week, she just didn't show up, and no one cared.

She got right to work, relieved to have something to do with her hands while she waited to talk with Dad. There were three cages in need of cleaning from overnight guests, and she was through two of them when her father spoke up from the doorway.

"Lori. I thought you had swim practice."

"Oh, no!" Lorelei's shout made a cat in the cage on the end yowl. She spoke a few soft curses under her breath. "I forgot."

"How did you end up here?"

"Can we go in your office?"

"Sure." He led the way, hanging up his lab coat on the hook behind the door before settling into the leather chair behind his desk.

Lorelei took the seat across from him and bit her lip. She didn't have a clue how to start this conversation.

"Lori, I'm sorry about this morning. If I'd had a moment to talk to you about it ahead of time, that would have been a much better approach. It was kind of sudden, you know, this thing with Amy—"

"Oh, that is not why I'm here. But thanks." Lorelei avoided his eyes. She wasn't ready to handle this topic yet.

"Okay." He grimaced, like he'd expected even that exchange to go smoother and he wasn't quite sure what to say to her. "What's going on?"

"Dad, do you know the Casters?" she asked.

He thought for a second. "The ones who own the book store? Not really. Should I?"

"I go to school with Vardon Caster. He's kind of...a dork." Lorelei felt bad about using the term – she was impressed by original personalities and didn't much care what everyone else thought – but it summed up the outcast scenario she was trying to explain. "He was the one helping me study last night."

"Lorelei, what's going on? Did that boy do something?"

"No! Nothing like that. He and his mom were at the library earlier, and she was saying all sorts of weird stuff."

Dad clenched his hands together in a motion of impatience Lorelei was used to, and then smoothed them into a steeple. "Like what?"

"She said I'm like them...whatever that means. That I'm 'of the sea.' She mentioned the term selkie a couple of times. I meant to look it up, but she freaked me out, and I just wanted to talk to you..." Lorelei caught her father's expression, and her words faded into a silence that deepened as they stared at each other.

After the longest time, when Lorelei's brain insisted on inserting all sorts of random, heinous alternatives, she finally said, "What? Dad, what is it?"

He swallowed. "I'm so sorry, Lori."

She frowned. That was no answer. Her brain registered the thought as her limbs seemed to go numb with dread. "Just tell me."

"Your mother is a selkie. You are a selkie."

Lorelei finally met his eyes. The fury boiled over. "I don't understand what that means!"

"Your mother shifts into a seal. That's where she went. She lives with another of her kind, someone who can live as she wants to live."

"Aahhh!" Lorelei yelled. "Don't talk about her! I don't know what's true, but I can't take this right now."

"That's fair," her father said, his tone encouraging calm.

Lorelei made a connection. "Grandma and Grandpa Shaye? Are they this selkie thing – is it passed down like that?"

He nodded. He rose from his chair and came around the desk, leaning against it.

She was a seal shifter?

No. Ridiculous.

But the dreams; swimming with Mama in bodies that resisted the cold, until they shifted back into humans.

No. It couldn't be.

"It can't be. Right?"

"No, Lorelei. I don't know why Mrs. Caster told you this...but she wasn't lying to you."

"She said she could smell it."

"I didn't know there were any others in Anacortes. I never would have stayed here."

Lorelei shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Honey, I have one more appointment, and then we can go home. We can talk more there."

"She's coming here. Crystal Caster. I'd bet she's here now, waiting out there to talk to you."

His eyes glinted, the touch of malice not lost on his daughter. "How would you like to go out there, and if she's there, send her in to see me."

She did as he asked. She couldn't think much at the moment. A large part of her knew she was in public, and if she considered all of the information she'd received today, she risked breaking down right here.

Instead, she walked to the waiting room.

And there stood Crystal Caster.

She was facing a display of premium dog food, and Lorelei took the opportunity to evaluate her more thoroughly than had been possible in the library. She wore three-inch heels and black nylons, with a long charcoal gray skirt and red top. Her brown hair was long, falling to the middle of her back. She stood with a regal elegance. It reminded Lorelei of someone, but she couldn't place the similarity.

Lorelei cleared her throat.

Crystal Caster turned. She didn't do it fast, but moved serenely, like she had all the time in the world.

Her eyes were cold, even when she smiled. "Lorelei. You came straight here, did you?"

"My father will see you now." The words were stupidly formal, but Lorelei enjoyed saying them.

Mrs. Caster sauntered into the hall of the veterinary clinic.

Lorelei had no way of knowing what would be said. She knew from her minutes-long conversation with her father that he knew far more than he'd ever told her. But she wasn't about to learn it in the presence of that harpy.

Then there was Vardon.

She might never speak to him again.

Lorelei got into her car. Her hands were shaking, and she took a moment to count to ten, pulling in what started as gaspy breaths and ended as deep, serene breaths. And, ten.

She started the car, hands no longer shaking, and drove to the school despite the time. Practice would be over within twenty minutes; she'd barely have her suit on by then.

Add coach to the list of people she needed to explain herself to this week. If her luck didn't change soon, there was going to be no one left on her side.

# Chapter Five

Vardon paced the foyer at his house, waiting for his mother to _finally_ get back after ruining his life.

He'd been so embarrassed when she insisted on going to the veterinary clinic and confronting Mr. Dorian, of all things. He hadn't done anything to them. Vardon had just smelled him; that was it. An accidental meeting due to his daughter being Vardon's classmate. He didn't get why Mom was so worried about it.

Now Lorelei was probably never going to speak to him again.

He'd stayed in the car when his mom went into the clinic to talk to Mr. Dorian. Lorelei had stalked out a couple of minutes later and gotten into a silver Jetta. It was a couple of minutes before she whipped out of her parking place and lit off down the road toward town.

He wondered where she'd gone. Was she okay?

His mother hadn't spoken a word when she returned, but she'd dropped him at home and left again. Her eyes held that glint they got when she was determined to get her way.

When Mom's key clicked into the lock, Vardon turned his glare on the door, bracing his feet wide apart in an alpha stance.

She whistled when she saw him, and turned her back to close and lock the door. When she spun to face him again, spite lit her eyes and her teeth were bared.

"What is it you want, _son_?"

_This_. Confrontation. Yes. This was exactly what he wanted. "Why couldn't you just leave her alone?" he ground out between clenched teeth.

"There's plenty you don't understand about our world, Vardon. Plenty I've protected you from. That makes you lucky. Don't blame me—"

"And don't try to sell me that pity party, Mom!" he growled. "You always do that, as soon as I disagree with you. Like I'm the most ungrateful son to ever walk the earth."

She softened, but the worry and the anger still played around her eyes. "Vardon," she sighed. "You know that isn't true. We're a lucky family. Truly blessed." She met his eyes, her gaze fierce and unflinching. "I am _blessed_ to have you, Vardon."

He ducked his head. "I still don't understand why I can't see Lorelei."

She came closer, placing her hand on his arm, a light touch. "You were right about her. She's selkie. In part."

"Am I supposed to be comforted?"

Mom chuckled. "Oh, no. It isn't comforting. It's scary as hell. She's part selkie, and she's part finfolk. What it means I don't know, but it can't be anything good."

_She_. Mom meant that she, Lorelei, couldn't be any good.

His stare hardened, and his mom caught it. She was excellent with body language. He guessed it was so with all shifters.

"I finally met a girl who is like me—"

"No! Not like you. She isn't like you, Vardon. That's what I'm trying to say. I don't know what Lorelei is, or what she can do, but she isn't limited to seal-shifting. Her people are _magicians_."

Something clicked. "Her father. Is her father a magician?" That's why she'd been so determined to see him right away. To see what they were dealing with firsthand.

Because she was always taking care of him. Even when he turned only anger back on her.

Could she be right about Lorelei?

Mom walked to the window, staring out into the afternoon squall that had sprung up out of the sound. Rain that hadn't been falling ten minutes ago was now battering the shingles in a funky, almost musical rhythm.

"I don't know about her father. He is definitely finfolk, but he does not seem like one of them should seem. Why does he run a veterinary practice? It's as if he's hell bent on living like a human."

So she didn't have all the answers after all.

Vardon backed down, hunching his shoulders to show the fight had gone out of him.

He didn't think she was right about Lorelei. As far as he knew, Lorelei was sweet – she had a mouth on her, and maybe she was more self-confident than any teenager had a right to be...but she wasn't a magician. And she wasn't evil.

And what Mom didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Lorelei sat on the edge of the beach, where sand met grass still wet with this afternoon's storm. She didn't even mind the cold and wet. She just wanted to stare out at the waves for a while, to lose herself in their endless pattern.

Saturday evening was fading away into night. Tomorrow she'd wake to a new life, one full of mysteries she'd never asked for. Strange tales and even stranger friends.

Vardon was one of them. He was a selkie, like her.

Sort of like her. She was only a half-selkie. He might have two selkie parents, must have, if his mother was so worried about her.

Lorelei lifted one arm up over her head, giving the muscles a good stretch. Her body ached from the laps coach had demanded. He'd been frustrated, and no wonder. Their performance in the next two matches determined their ranking in state.

She was important to the team, both in freestyle and the relay. She had to keep her head in the game.

Did she even care about swimming?

Lorelei dropped her head into her hands, a shaking sob ripping loose. This wasn't her life. It wasn't fair!

But then she stilled, a needle of shame working its way in. She had no right to pity herself. At least she finally understood more about why her mom had left. It did nothing to abate the hollow feeling when she thought about her, but maybe over time it would.

Lorelei lifted her gaze to the horizon, to the sun dipping beyond the sea, the shining ripple of waves. Of course she cared about swimming.

For the first time, she wondered about her sealskin. Her heart caught in her throat. She could almost remember, the softness of her seal fur, her mother tying the knots that held her skin in place as she shifted from human to seal...it faded the second she tried to force it. She'd cast it off as fantasy for so long, now she couldn't accept it was anything but.

She'd stayed away from home all day, doing more calculus problems at the pizza place where Haeley worked. But even her bestie's cheesy bread couldn't lift the pall that had drifted in at her father's admission.

"Are you okay?" Haeley had asked, her hazel eyes flashing with concern. "That Vardon guy didn't do anything weird, did he?"

Lorelei had kept herself from wincing at the mention of Vardon. She couldn't share this with Haeley, even though she usually shared _everything_ with Haeley.

"I had a fight with Dad," she said.

"Sorry, hon. I fight with my dad just about every day, so you don't want my advice on that one." Haeley had grinned and sauntered off to take more pizza orders. That Dean guy came through the door after a delivery, but he didn't even seem to notice she was alive. Whatever. Just one more sign she should never have left her room this morning.

When Lorelei did return to her house, she found it empty. She wasn't going to wait around. Dad was probably out with Amy. Who cared that he'd just blasted what she thought was her life into fragments she couldn't recognize?

So, she walked to the beach in the fading light of the worst day of her life.

How could he keep something like this from her? They were close. Decently close anyway. But he didn't even trust her with a revelation about her _nature_. She wasn't human, and he'd kept that to himself. She'd lived like she was a normal girl. Without her skin, maybe she was just a normal girl.

He may have planned to never return it. To take this secret to the grave. A part of her wished he hadn't been forced to tell her. Now how was she supposed to handle this?

And the person who could help her understand had left long ago, without a word since.

_Mama. Why did you leave me to face this alone?_

The waves didn't hold any answers.

# Chapter Six

The shoreline was bright. Lit up with too many homes. Too many people, folk not of the sea.

Clay shifted, choosing a human form, and walked out of the waves, the sand rough on the soles of his new feet. He acclimated slowly; a human's vision and hearing weren't what the finfolks' was, and he felt the sudden constraint of his senses. He anticipated it this time, having used a human form before, and the limitations didn't scare him like they had the first time. He retained access to his magic, and that was enough to satisfy him. He conjured human clothing. He wasn't sure if the resulting dark pants and long-sleeve shirt were a _good_ representation of human attire, but nudity wasn't going to work.

The beach was dark enough to shield him from view, but he could see enough to step around the rocks and toward the beach grass swaying in the cold night wind.

He wasn't supposed to pass the beach, but he couldn't listen to his parents' orders anymore. If they had their way, he'd rot before he could find a mate and claim his place as a son of the royal line.

He had to understand these people, because his most likely mate lived among them. The daughter of a family that rivaled his in strength, until a couple of generations ago when the unfortunate human mixing had occurred.

But this girl...her dreams called to him. Such a love for the sea and waves. She yearned for the water. Every night, he felt her yearning, felt her mind awakening to what she was.

He would show her. Soon she would understand just how special she was to their people; how special she could be to him.

There, perched on the low dune. There she was. She stared out at the waves, but it was too dim to see her expression.

He moved closer, hearing and ignoring his mother's voice in his mind, telling him to turn, to return to the sea where he belonged and leave this hopeless girl.

No. He wouldn't leave yet. Instead, he drifted closer, until he could see her knit brow and her fiery eyes. She was angry.

It hit him like a fist to the gut. He'd seen her in this same place many times, and finally last night at her house when he'd stunned the fellow delivering food and taken his shape to talk to her. Every time he saw Lorelei Dorian she seemed more beautiful. With every instance he knew his time of watching was nearing its end. He must meet her eventually.

His hands started to shake just thinking about it. How would he talk to her? Last night had been proof – he couldn't. He knew nothing of her life here, this life she wasn't supposed to have. He knew only the sea, the drifting currents and rich abundance that was Finfolkaheem.

He quelled his disquiet with several deep breaths, never taking his eyes from Lorelei.

Did they know how she would call to him, when they gave her that name? A name for a siren from legend. From the old time and into the new time. She would help him remake their people for this new age.

Lorelei glanced at him, surprised to see him there.

He looked away quickly, hoping she hadn't realized he was staring at her.

She considered him for a long, silent moment. She tilted her head to the side with a curious expression that made his heart pound, drowning out everything else with its rapid-fire beat. "Do I know you?"

Clay swallowed, his plan to avoid her wrecked because of his own stupid need to be close. She stared harder when he took his time answering, and he finally said, "No. I don't think so."

"Strange," she said softly. "I could swear I know you, but I don't know how."

He smiled, unsure how the expression looked on this face he'd chosen. He suddenly realized she knew him by this face now, and he'd be beholden to using it again and again. He could have chosen more carefully. For a shapeshifter he was proving himself to be a royal screw-up.

"Um...are you okay?" Lorelei asked, her eyes still on him. So he must be acting weird. But he wasn't sure how, and trying not to act weird when he didn't know the social rules wasn't a great option. So...he'd have to settle for her thinking him strange. And possibly ugly.

Not a great start to gaining a bride and a helpmate for castle and crown.

"I'm fine," he answered. "My name is Clay."

She stuck out her hand, so it hovered between them. He looked at it and heard her say, "Lorelei." After a long moment that got more and more awkward, she dropped her hand and gave a mirthless laugh. "Yep, nice to meet you, too. Now, if you don't mind, I'll get back to my ocean-side brooding."

After a final long look at him, she turned her gaze carefully back to the water. "Bye, Clay."

He took the hint and retreated, his blood beating in his veins. His skin felt hot, flushed. Embarrassment.

He laughed to himself as he rounded a bend on the beach and stepped back into the waves, out of sight. He hadn't felt embarrassed since he was a little child.

She had such an effect on him.

It was scary.

It was wonderful.

Lorelei watched Clay's retreating back, still stuck on the idea that she knew him. It grated on her; she wasn't even sure if it was his face, which made it stranger. And to top it off, he was weird. Again, in a way she couldn't quite place. He'd seemed confused by the simplest of human gestures, like he'd never seen a handshake before. She wasn't sure how he'd landed on her favorite beach since she'd never seen him there, and it was fairly private. Oh well, maybe he was an alien. He'd fit in well around here.

Lorelei glared morosely at the night sea, wishing she could see the swell and dip of the waves. Watching the waves always made her feel more steady. But tonight, only the white crests stood out against the deep blue sky.

She took a deep breath. And then another. As she started to slip back into dwelling on the selkie thing and everything it might mean for her life, she made a decision. The only one available to her.

There was just one way to learn more. She had to go home and face the music.

Lorelei stood, stretching and jumping up and down a couple of times to get her blood circulating. She'd been doing the dune-huddle-to-protect-the-core. It was January, after all.

The air had grown frigid while she sat there worrying. Lorelei let the cold spur her into a jog. All out running was too dangerous on this trail at night. She knew it well, but not _that_ well. If she sprained an ankle mid-season, coach would really kill her.

Luckily she arrived back at home in first-rate form. The jog had woken her up and even given her a second-wind surge.

Dad's car was in the driveway, and Lorelei breathed a sigh of relief to see no sign of Amy tonight. Dad might be taking this seriously after all.

As soon as she cracked the door she smelled brownies. A good sign. Dad baked when he wanted her to stick around and talk. It was something they'd often done together, before Lorelei started in on the swimming, got more obsessed with math and college prep, and hanging out with her friends. Lorelei felt a momentary pang of regret and a little guilt. She'd kind of abandoned Dad recently.

But that feeling was only momentary. Dad was on the phone in the kitchen. Lorelei tried to steal a brownie, but they were too hot from the oven. Her mouth watered. It was late, and she'd skipped dinner.

Dad caught her eye, and gestured to the table. Her place was set, but his had already been cleared. He'd put a cover over her plate.

A roast beef sandwich, chips and a pickle greeted her, and she sat down to eat with a grateful sigh. "Thanks, Dad," she mouthed.

"Okay, that's good then," he said into the phone, turning from her. "We'll see you tomorrow. Drive safe."

He clicked the phone off with an audible beep and placed it on the receiver.

"Who will we see tomorrow?"

"Your grandmother."

Lorelei almost dropped her sandwich. "Grandma Shaye? But you guys don't get along at all. Why is she coming? It isn't Christmas or my birthday." Grandma Shaye was her mom's mom, and they'd spent as little time as possible in the same room for as long as Lorelei could remember.

He didn't answer, and Lorelei would have slapped a hand to her forehead if she had a free hand, but hers were busy reassembling her meal. Dad made a mean sandwich, but you had to watch the suckers. He really piled it on.

And now she was just distracting herself from the obvious truth. "She's coming to talk about me."

"To talk _with you_ , honey." Dad sounded exasperated already, and they hadn't gotten to any details yet. Probably best Grandma Shaye was coming.

"She'll be here tomorrow?"

"Mid-morning." He finally met her eyes, and she saw why he'd been avoiding doing so. He looked...wrecked. As wrecked as she'd felt out there on the beach.

She set aside her sandwich, her stomach suddenly resisting after only a few bites.

"What did you want for me, Dad?" she asked softly. "Why did you hide it?"

"I only wanted the best for you, Lori. The best of everything. I wanted you to have a chance at a normal life—"

She sucked in a breath, and he cut himself off there. "I'm sorry. But your mother...she was never capable of setting the sea aside. She couldn't stand the constraints of a life in human society."

Lorelei grimaced. "A little too much honesty. I still don't want to talk about Mom."

"You'll have to consider it eventually. I always knew that day would come."

"So you didn't plan to hide it from me forever?"

His eyes widened. "Oh. No, Lorelei. I wanted you to grow without that pressure. I wanted you to experience life, life here with me, before you fell too deeply in love with the sea."

That was a beautiful way of putting it. Despite her anger, her heart melted at his words.

But that didn't stop her. She held his eyes. "I need my skin."

"I know."

At least he didn't deny it. Lorelei held out her hand, feeling selfish but righteous. "So where is it, Dad?"

He produced it from a satchel on one of the kitchen chairs. He'd had it there, ready to give to her. Better late than never.

She reached for it with shaking hands, the folded pelt that was her heritage, her lost history, and her connection to her absent mother.

Dad handed it to her, his hand lingering over hers as if he handed her a great burden and not the gift that this piece of herself was.

A zing of static whipped up her arm when she touched it. Lorelei sighed, pulling the soft gray skin against her body.

Her seal skin, her connection to the selkie within, which stirred when she touched the pelt. Stirred and threatened to cut loose the bonds of humanity and _swim_.

"Lorelei – I know I'm not your favorite person today, but please, be sensible. Don't go out again tonight. Wait for morning. Wait to talk to Grandma Shaye. It'll be safer."

She could hear him speaking, but the words buzzed in her ears, hollow and meaningless. She had to swim. Had to.

"Lorelei! Go upstairs to bed. Take it with you, but you can't leave the house. Do you hear me?" Dad pulling out the parental stops broke through her daze. "Yes. Upstairs."

She moved that direction, and he grabbed her arms, stilling her for a kiss on the cheek. "Sleep well, honey. Grandma will be here in the morning, and you can start to learn more about your selkie side."

Lorelei heard him, but didn't hear him, her selkie skin close and warm and soft. She wanted nothing more than to be with it, and try to remember. He was right about that.

Upstairs, she flipped off the light and stretched out on her bed, placing her sealskin, lost and now finally returned to her, over her body like a blanket.

The warmth didn't surprise her, but the tears did. She thought she'd cried herself out on the beach. But the tears came, slow and sure. She'd gained something at the last moment tonight, but she'd lost something today, too. The life she'd thought was hers was gone now, washed away like the drifting sands with a powerful storm, leaving a landscape she didn't recognize, and couldn't fathom. Not tonight.

She cried, and waited for sleep to claim her.

# Chapter Seven

Vardon knew he was risking Lorelei's wrath going to her house tonight. He just hoped he could talk to her for a minute – without the old man around – to clear up what had happened. She would have to listen to him. He wasn't going to let her wait until calculus class on Monday, when she'd likely pull the ultra focused thing she did and ignore him completely. It had worked for years, and she was probably planning on going right back to it. But he wasn't having it.

She needed him now, whether she knew it or not. She would need someone to just be on her side as she figured out the selkie thing. Someone who could understand, who could help her come to grips with such a huge change, help her see it was a good thing, something to be proud of, not something to be scared of.

He frowned when he stood outside her house. One of the lights was on upstairs, and he knew it was her bedroom instantly. He was about to force his eyes away, but she turned out the light. At least now he knew where she was.

Every way he could think to approach her without going through her dad was incredibly cliché.

Oh, well. Cliché it was.

Vardon hunted around at his feet for a few seconds, and came up with a few pebbles. He had a decent arm – piece of cake, right?

No. Not a piece of cake.

The first pebble pinged off the shutter next to her window, and rang against a piece of yard art as it dropped. _Nice, Vardon. A highly suspicious sound right off. Freaking amateur._

The second pebble struck the window, but with a light _ting_ that she may have heard, but he couldn't guarantee it.

He stared at the third pebble in his hand and glared back at the window. _Check it out already._

But Lorelei didn't appear at the window.

He hurled the third pebble, and with a _snap!_ , it struck the window and fell harmlessly to the ground.

He held his breath.

And there she was. She didn't turn on the light, but he could see a shadow within. She was probably watching him, trying to decide if she wanted to talk to him.

He gave a wave, and pointed to his left, down the sidewalk. He walked off that way to show his intention. Now it was up to her, to show or not to show.

He decided to give her ten minutes.

It only took her three.

When she joined him on the sidewalk, she had her arms wrapped around herself. She looked small, and sad. She'd been crying. But she pinned him with a glare.

"Vardon." She made a show of looking around. "What are you doing out here? I haven't taken enough punishment today?"

"I...I just wanted to see how you were, Lorelei."

Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to go back to her house. It was then that he saw the pelt. She'd tied it in a rough knot around her waist, under her coat.

"He gave it back to you? That's good. That's really good, Lorelei."

She looked down at it and shivered. What would it feel like to be separated from your sealskin for ten years – most of your childhood – and then feel its embrace again? He'd never been parted from his for a day. He couldn't imagine being without his sealskin.

"Sorry to be in your face, but I had to apologize. I shouldn't have said anything to my mom. I can't believe what she put you through today."

Lorelei's eyes changed, like she was trying to decide if he was being honest or not. His heart cracked like a windshield washed on a hot day. She'd finally noticed him, and he'd gone and screwed it up a day later. _Bonehead_.

"My grandmother is coming tomorrow. The selkie one."

"I'm here if you have questions, too. You know, a perspective that isn't separated by two generations from yours." He tried a smile, but she didn't return it. "I'm sorry about everything. I didn't know what your father was when I told my mother," he repeated his apology.

Her eyes slowly lifted to meet his. "My father? _What_ my father is?"

Oh, shit.

"Wait, he told you, right? Please tell me he told you everything."

"I can shift into a seal! An animal! I'm a were-something!" Lorelei was almost yelling now, on the sidewalk at night.

Vardon hushed her with an insistent finger over his lips and wide eyes. It wouldn't do to spill their secret to the whole neighborhood. She quieted, frowning at him.

"There's more?" Lorelei sounded resigned now, like she'd almost been anticipating another blow.

He nodded, afraid to speak the words.

"You're going to tell me."

"He should tell you." Vardon nodded toward her house. "I didn't keep it from you."

"No, my dad did. And he'll keep it up if you don't tell me what you know."

"I could smell him. It's not like I tried to ruin your life."

She looked away. "I know. Just tell me, okay?"

"He's finfolk. Kind of like a merman. But the finfolk are not nice. They're sorcerers and shape-changers, and always have an agenda, from what I hear."

He wasn't going to come out and say that they were pretty much evil. But they were, as far as his mom thought anyway.

"What?" Lorelei asked in a very small voice. Then she turned and fled, without another word.

The painting. Mermaids swimming around a shining undersea castle. The most beautiful place imaginable.

But it wasn't imagination, was it?

The grandmother that Dad never spoke of wasn't a delusional artist. _She was a mermaid_.

Dad was going to answer her questions now. She should have pushed him harder earlier, but he'd produced the skin and she'd needed time to regroup.

Dad never even went near the water, except to see her swim meets. How could he possibly be a merman, or finfolk, or whatever Vardon had said.

She touched the sealskin, its presence calming her.

Inside, she went to the family room beyond the kitchen, and sure enough, Dad was reading a tome about some science topic or another. He looked up when she came in, his brown eyes warm in an intelligent, handsome face topped by hair that had started to go gray.

A sorcerer? Her dad?

No. Way.

"Lorelei. Are you okay? You look—"

The words poured out in a torrent, like a dam breaking. "Oh, don't even start. Vardon just told me _your_ part of the secret. Turns out I'm not much of a human at all, am I?"

His face went gray, and his mouth moved like a fish out of water.

"After what happened earlier, didn't you consider coming clean?" Lorelei shoved her hands into her hair, pulling painfully. She was beyond angry now that Vardon's truth was confirmed by her father's mouth all agape. Earlier Dad had talked to her like he was confiding, but he'd held back something he should have revealed. He wasn't human, either. "Why would you keep another big secret from me?"

"It was just for one night. I thought we had a night of peace without their _meddling_ ," he growled.

Lorelei bristled. "It wasn't meddling. Vardon came to tell me he was sorry he hurt me. But it was _you_ who hurt me, Dad! Secrets like that are going to come out. Don't be angry at the messenger."

He huffed an angry breath, and sat straighter, watching her. "I don't know if you can handle this conversation tonight, Lori, but if you truly want to know, I'll tell you."

"Uh, yeah. I want to know. If not I'd have run off with Vardon for the beach instead of coming back in here." Lorelei's fingers dropped to touch the sealskin still wrapped around her waist. The jolt when her skin connected with it made her eyes widen and her breath hitch.

_Swim, swim, swim._

"No, Lorelei." Dad looked defeated.

Good.

"Tell me, Dad." Lorelei forced herself to focus on him.

"My mother was finfolk – a finwife, as they call them. Yes, that's true." He frowned, and silence reigned.

"Is that it?"

He glowered. "I went through my rebellious phase as a youth, same as any teenager, but I'm not evil, if that's what he's told you. I am _not_ my mother."

"So...she was evil?"

Dad closed his eyes and breathed through his nose, a sure sign he was trying to calm himself instead of yelling at her. She let him take his time, because she didn't like the yelling much more than he did.

When he finally opened his eyes, he didn't look at her. "No part of my mother was human. She never cared for me as a human mother would have. She gave me nothing but genes that I can't anticipate and don't know what to do with. My father is no help; he was seduced, drawn in by her beauty and magnetism. They are beautiful, the finfolk. Practically irresistible. Did he tell you that?"

Lorelei grew uncomfortable with watching him while he refused to make eye contact, and stared out the window into the night instead.

She couldn't deal with any more excuses tonight. She walked stiffly from the room.

Upstairs, wrapped around her sealskin, Lorelei cried herself to sleep.

# Chapter Eight

Lorelei's sleep was without dreams for what seemed like the first time in weeks. In the morning, she lay in bed for a time, listening to the first storm in days raging outside. It had been oddly temperate for January, but now the weather mirrored the riot of emotions Lorelei couldn't ignore. Had yesterday really happened? And how was she supposed to go about her normal life?

Grandma Shaye would be here today. Lorelei would finally get some sort of explanation about what all of this meant. Dad couldn't tell her. He wasn't a selkie; he was this other thing. While she could wrap her mind around what it might mean to have a seal-shifter for a mom – the dreams were proving useful there, because Lorelei could almost remember shifting and swimming with Mom – she couldn't find room yet to consider what turned out to be the stranger part of her heritage. She couldn't accept her father's part in it. He'd always protected her, and now she was hurt.

A vision of the undersea painting inserted itself. Beauty beyond compare. A fearsome beauty, it seemed to her now.

She finally shook off the melancholy and went downstairs. All was silent, but Dad was in the kitchen, drinking his coffee over the Sunday paper.

"Morning," Lorelei said, her voice sounding oddly hollow in her ears.

"Good morning," he said softly. He didn't hold her eyes for long, and she wasn't sure what to say, either.

But she'd slept late, and Grandma Shaye would be here any time, thank goodness. So Lorelei busied herself making buttermilk pancakes and a colorful fruit salad.

Dad rose from the breakfast table and took off, leaving her alone. She heard the shower kick on upstairs a minute later.

Lorelei stared out the window, streaked sideways with rain. She craved a walk outdoors and the smell of the sea, but the thought of the stormy beach made her shaky with need. _Swim, swim, swim_ , the drumbeat picked up where it had left off last night.

So...calculus.

Lorelei pulled out her book, the pancake batter ready to go on and her fruit salad chilling in the fridge. A few normal seeming minutes passed, and as she worked through the problems, she breathed easier, felt more herself.

Before long, she forgot to feel strange. She even caught herself humming a happy little tune.

And the doorbell rang.

Lorelei jumped up and ran for it, everything flooding back through the dam of focus she'd built. She would not cry, she would not cry, she would not cry.

She yanked the door open to find Grandma Shaye leaning into the stoop. "Oh, thank goodness, kiddo! It's coming down out here!" She hustled inside, taking off her dark, dripping coat and shoving her short gray hair out of her face. "Sorry about that! Not the most graceful entrance."

She paused to take Lorelei in, and clucked her tongue.

"Good morning, Grandma. Thanks for coming." Now that she was here, Lorelei had no idea how to handle this conversation.

"Lorelei, I've been waiting for this day for ten years. Of course I came." She huffed an exasperated breath as she looked at the dripping coat she was holding. "Let me tidy up for a second, sweetheart."

Lorelei grinned. "Meet me in the kitchen. I'm making pancakes." She whistled her way to the kitchen and turned on the stove. Grandma Shaye was always fun to be around; the house felt lighter as soon as she arrived.

Dad came back downstairs as Grandma Shaye disappeared into the bathroom. "She's here already?"

Lorelei rolled her eyes. "Yep. She's here. And...does that mean you're outta here?"

"I thought I'd head into the clinic and check on things."

Lorelei pinned him with a stare. "You know that after she explains things, you're going to have to do more explaining yourself."

"There's little reason to worry you. You've shown no aptitude related to your finfolk ancestry. I have little ability myself—"

"I don't even know what abilities you're talking about. So, later. Okay?"

Dad smiled. "You're a strong girl, Lorelei."

"My Dad raised me that way."

He left, and she knew she'd have to work even harder to crack that shell. For some reason, Dad really didn't want to tell her anything about the finfolk. Did he realize what that would make her think? It backed up what Vardon had told her, his mom's opinion of them. Where did that leave her? She had that blood running through her veins whether he wanted to talk about it or not.

She'd flipped half the pancakes when Grandma Shaye sauntered in. "Smells delicious, kiddo. Please tell me your father brewed coffee."

But she didn't really need to ask. She knew where it was, and that's straight where she headed, helping herself to a mug.

"Pancakes?" Lorelei asked.

"Yes, please."

It seemed Grandma was in no more rush to talk through breakfast than Lorelei, so they had a quiet, companionable meal.

Lorelei moved their plates to the sink, and when she turned back, Grandma Shaye was watching her.

"First off – are you okay, Lorelei? I know yesterday was quite a shock. If you just need me to be here, we can wait until tomorrow or the next day to talk."

"I think the talking will help. I...can't seem to adjust to this. It's a lot."

"Of course it is! No one should have to discover something like this, and least of all at your age. You stay so busy with school, _math_ ," she used her teasing tone, since it had long been a joke between them just how important math was to Lorelei, "and swimming, you hardly leave space to consider all of the changes you're going through and what you're preparing for. And now this."

It was as if Grandma Shaye had read her mind. "Yes. And now I'm freaking out because what does this all mean for that future I had planned?"

"Don't worry about that yet, honey. Processing something like this takes time." She rose and refilled her coffee. Turning, she leaned a hip against the counter and breathed in the steam rising from her mug. "Ask away, Lorelei."

So many questions.

"Why was this hidden from me?"

"Ergh. Starting off with the big guns, huh?" She took a deep breath and looked Lorelei straight in the eye. "If you were full selkie, that could never have happened. But you are half selkie...and a small part something else. Your father has spoken to you about this, yes?"

Lorelei nodded, her stomach tightening as the dreaded and anticipated answers started rolling in.

"When your mother decided she had to go, your father would not let you go with her. And neither would the selkie Council, the body that guides us, allow a child with finfolk blood to live among us."

"So that's where my mother is? Living among the selkies?" Lorelei sat down hard, suddenly light-headed. Her mother was off living another life with her mythical race while she was here, pretending to be a normal human?

"Are we moving to your mom, or do you want an answer to the first question?"

Lorelei clenched her hands together. It was a very Dad-like gesture. Did she seriously make him this impatient all the time? "Go on."

"Without a selkie to teach you, we thought it better to secure your skin until you were ready to learn on your own with a mentor."

We thought it better.

We.

"So, it wasn't just Dad making the decision?"

"No, he asked our advice. He had no ill intent, Lorelei. Your father does not have a malicious bone in his body. Very unlike his mother's kind."

When relief flooded her, Lorelei realized how horrified she'd been by this betrayal on her father's part. But if they made the decision together, because it was truly what was best in the situation, how could she blame them? She'd only been six when her mother left, hardly old enough to make such a weighty decision for herself.

Lorelei felt almost giddy with the realization that she didn't have to stay mad at her dad. It was silly, but she always felt awful when they didn't understand each other. Now, if she could get him to tell her about the finfolk...

"Other questions?" Grandma Shaye said over her coffee cup.

"My mother."

"She is living on a small isle off the coast of England."

"Alone?"

Grandma cleared her throat. "Not alone. She has taken a selkie husband. About seven years ago now, I think. She's never borne another child."

Lorelei gulped back the tears. Later. Later she would cry over this new knowledge. Her mother was out there, she'd just chosen a different life. She'd known it, of course, but knowing where she was, who she was living with...it made it too real. A part of her had always been able to imagine she was somehow just gone, and that had been easier to live with than the idea that she'd chosen to go.

"She's happy?" Lorelei squeaked around the tightness in her throat.

"Yes, Lorelei." She reached across the table and gripped Lorelei's hand in hers. "I am so proud that you would ask about her happiness. You are growing up fast."

"I'm nearly grown. I'll be seventeen in a little more than a week."

"I know it. I'm staying through your birthday, you know." Grandma Shaye grinned, and Lorelei knew it was because she loved annoying her father. Whenever she stayed, it was in the guest room on the opposite side of the house from the rest of the bedrooms, and Dad was suddenly needed at the clinic more than usual.

"Did he tell you he's dating?" Lorelei asked smugly.

"What? Who is she?" Grandma scooted up on a bar stool and waited for the details, a mischievous sparkle in her eye.

"A woman who works for him. She manages the office and does the bookkeeping and stuff."

"Huh." Grandma got a far off look in her eye, but then she seemed to shake off whatever had distracted her. "I wish your father well, Lorelei. The way he's taken care of you, I do wish him well."

Lorelei was silent for a moment as she tried to figure out how to ask her next question. "Grandma, I think I'm ready to hear more about the selkies now. I don't even know what to ask, really."

"Just stop me if you have a question. We have days to sort through all of this, okay?"

When Lorelei nodded, Grandma Shaye started in, turning her nearly empty coffee cup in her hands. "Selkies are not humans. One of our shapes is quite similar to humanity. But we are not just shapeshifting humans. Selkies have their own history, their own homelands, their own legends, stretching back far beyond memory.

"Our people are the roan selkies, originally of what is now the Scotland coast. In the histories, we can count eight families that roamed the oceans as recently as a few centuries ago. We were never a numerous species, but we are far fewer now. Fifty years ago, the remaining five families formed the Council."

"Okay, that's all well and good, but I don't really care about history."

At Grandma Shaye's glare, Lorelei rushed to clarify. "Right now, I don't care so much about history. Tomorrow, okay? Peace, Grandma! You're supposed to answer my questions."

Her answering eye roll was not a _no_ , so Lorelei started in. "What exactly does it mean that we can shift into seals?"

"That isn't even the correct way of looking at it," Grandma huffed. "This is why you need a mentor, and a mentor you shall have." She stood up and rinsed her mug, adding it to the dishwasher.

"It isn't that you can shift into a seal. You are a seal, as much as you are this form, Lorelei."

# Chapter Nine

Lorelei's head spun. Too much information. She felt like she was in a story.

"Maybe it isn't a welcome thought...and honestly, it is not as true for you as for our full-blooded kin. You are part human. As I said, I am not."

"That is just so weird! Why have you been pretending to be human all these years?"

"I didn't! I just didn't tell you certain things that would have outted me." She glared out the window, and Lorelei saw her father's car returning. "It isn't as though we've been able to spend much time together, kiddo."

"Was that part of the conversation when you _secured_ my seal skin?"

Lorelei asked the question, but at the same moment, another part of her brain worked something out.

Vardon.

Vardon was not human.

Weird, weird, weird.

"Yes," Grandma answered sadly. "We agreed that we'd see you infrequently, until you were grown enough to handle the truth."

"And when, exactly, was that supposed to be?"

"I've been waiting two years for your father to make that call, but it was absolutely his to make."

Lorelei frowned, not liking that answer one bit. "A part of me still thinks he never meant to tell me. He would just let me think I was normal."

"I don't know how that would be possible. Even if he hid your skin, your finfolk side has to emerge eventually. They get their powers at the transition from adolescence to adulthood."

"Grandma," she said excitedly. "Do you know about the finfolk? I couldn't get Dad to tell me anything."

"Give that some more time, kiddo. If he hasn't told you anything by your birthday, I'll fill you in on what I know."

"So you're really staying until my birthday?"

"I wouldn't miss it, Lorelei." She took her granddaughter into her arms.

The front door opened, and then shut, as Dad came in.

"Glad you two are still here," he said as he walked into the kitchen.

"It's good to see you," Grandma told him, sincerely, and yet still with that hint of teasing she managed to interject just about everywhere.

"Thank you for coming, Edeline. Did you talk?"

"She told me that she was in on the decision to hide away my seal skin. That it wasn't just you."

He was silent for a moment, his eyes on Grandma Shaye. "That's a fair assessment."

Dad was being weird. He'd barely made eye contact with her so far today, and he seemed so stiff.

He'd better get over it. Lorelei felt tense enough without every exchange with her dad being nerve-wracking, too. She'd talk to him about it when she could catch him alone.

But that didn't happen for the rest of the day. Sunday morning melted into Sunday afternoon as the wind lashed the branches of trees against the windows and turned their small yard into a series of bogs that stood between them and the sea.

"If I wasn't so old, I'd take you swimming now, my girl." Grandma Shaye had been beating Lorelei at cards for nearly an hour when she made this statement.

They both looked out at the rain, a sideways-driven deluge, and burst out laughing.

"This is not the best day to try out my seal skin." It felt so odd to say, but she was growing used to it. Grandma Shaye was helping. She might not be human, exactly, but she was a caring person who loved Lorelei.

Vardon wasn't human, but he just wanted to help her, now that she knew she was part selkie, and despite the other part of her heritage. Despite his mother's warnings.

Maybe she could get used to this. Maybe things wouldn't be so different after all.

_The sea shifted around her, myriad colors of seaweed undulating and swaying in the drifting currents. In the distance, something glowed._

_Lorelei swam toward it, the need to reach it overwhelming. Something waited for her there._

_Someone waited._

_As she swam, she realized she was being followed, but she couldn't tell what was following. The light ahead called to her, and all around, the dim undersea world threatened. Whatever it was, it was dangerous._

_Out of nowhere, a figure rose up in her path, so Lorelei had to whip herself around to avoid a collision. Her tail sparkled, blue and green and silver scales flashing in the light of the brilliant, undersea castle in the distance._

_She was surrounded, and the fear rose up in her. She had to reach the castle. She had to reach it before it was too late._

_The finfolk formed a loose circle around her. So beautiful. So angry._

_She heard their voices in her mind, a clamor of voices all ordering her away. According to them, she could not enter Finfolkaheem._

_Where the fear had been, Lorelei's rage grew, sharp and bright like a wildfire._

_She would enter. It was her birthright._

# Chapter Ten

Monday morning, Lorelei popped out of bed as soon as her alarm sounded, took a quick shower, tamed the mane, and took off for school. She was not going to think about the strange shift her dreams had taken last night. The source of that one was pretty obvious, creepy as it had been.

Dad wasn't there to force breakfast on her. She still hadn't had a chance to talk to him alone.

Grandma Shaye wasn't up yet.

Even the streets on the drive to school seemed eerily still. The rain had cleared up, but heavy clouds blocked all sight of the sky. The sun would be rising soon, but no one in Anacortes would see it.

She was early, but it felt like there should be more cars joining her lonely Jetta on the winding roads into town. She saw not a bird, not a cat...the morning did feel eerie. But it was just another Monday morning. That sense of the world holding its breath was personal, not global.

The school parking lot was also mostly empty when Lorelei pulled up. She sat in the Jetta for a few moments, collecting heat, before she braved the cold January morning. And as she sat there, she watched Vardon pull into the lot, switch off his car, and go straight inside.

Early for math.

Both of them.

Lorelei hurried after him. "Vardon! Hey," she said as he turned.

"You're early?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's stating the obvious."

He cleared his throat. "Look, Lorelei—"

"Don't worry, Vardon. I learned a lot yesterday. And I don't blame you. If it hadn't happened, I still wouldn't know. The idea of this big secret lurking out there ready to strike is more horrifying than the reality."

"I'm still sorry, Lorelei. Mostly because I don't want you to hate me."

Lorelei shrugged. "I don't. It's going to be good to have a selkie friend."

Vardon looked around, though they were the only two standing just outside the doors. Probably because it was January, and it was freaking cold outside. "Let's keep that to ourselves." He opened the door for her, and they went inside.

Calculus was upstairs, and they both took the flight of stairs two at a time, in a spontaneous race. Vardon won, because his legs were _much_ longer. Lorelei scowled and stuck out her tongue at him.

He quirked an eyebrow in response, and Lorelei was left to wonder what the heck he was thinking as he sauntered down the hall ahead of her to the classroom. He had a confident, laid back walk that Lorelei liked. He wasn't cocky, but he was sure of himself. Maybe she caught a hint of animal grace.

They were the first two in the classroom, and both unzipped their backpacks and pulled out textbooks as soon as they were seated. "Problems?" Lorelei challenged.

They quizzed each other for a few minutes, and other students began trickling in. Lorelei didn't want to stop talking to Vardon. He was a lot smarter than she'd realized. And she still couldn't accept the fact that he wasn't human.

Mr. Richards grinned at her when he walked in. "Early, Miss Dorian?"

"I could hardly sleep for fear of being late to your class again, Mr. Richards."

"Good. Now let's get started." He turned to one of the white boards and began writing equations, and Lorelei turned to a fresh page of notes and began jotting them down.

Lorelei focused on math, the distraction a welcome relief after her weekend of revelations. Unfortunately, she didn't enjoy her other subjects to quite the degree that she loved math...and they didn't distract her nearly so well.

Everywhere she looked, she saw reminders that she wasn't actually a human girl. There were human girls everywhere. Some of them were wearing heels, which she'd never understood. Many of them had obviously spent a significant amount of time in front of the mirror this morning, with their hair straightened and blow-dried, and far too much makeup caked on. These girls were nothing like her, so how had she thought she was one of them for so long?

Drearier thoughts skipped through her mind. Why was she even at school? Did selkies usually go to school? What about the finfolk? She didn't even know how often they surfaced. They lived at the bottom of the sea, in a glorious castle.

"Lorelei, please answer the question." Mrs. Albeer, the French teacher, broke through her thoughts.

"Huh?" Lorelei gulped. She'd been spacing off for a couple of minutes now, unable to focus on French. A couple of classmates snickered, and she shot glares at them. She bet they hadn't been told their mother was a seal this weekend. Jerks.

"I've asked you the conjugation of the verb avoir."

Double gulp. She hadn't gotten to any French homework this weekend. And irregular French verbs weren't exactly something she wanted to guess at. Not today, anyway. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. I don't know it."

"When I ask you tomorrow, you will have the answer, correct?"

It wasn't a question. Lorelei just nodded and sighed with relief, and a little bit of terror over adding French homework tonight, as Mrs. Albeer moved on with her inquisition.

Lorelei's stomach sank at the pile of homework facing her after swim practice tonight. She had way more than she could actually get done.

Vardon caught her elbow as she stepped out of French class. Just one more period before lunch time. This day seemed to be going nowhere.

"We're leaving," Vardon whispered into her ear, his closeness sending a tingle down her neck and making her hair stand on end.

"Leaving?"

"I'm assuming you brought your sealskin?"

"It's in my car. I couldn't leave it home."

"Come on. We can talk while we drive."

"Where are we going?"

"The beach, of course."

"You're kidnapping me. I'm supposed to be at school."

"Like you want to be here today? You were looking pretty glum back there." He steered her through the front doors, moving confidently enough that no one bothered to ask where they were headed. No one really noticed them at all.

"Grab your skin and come on."

She didn't argue. Her stomach clenched uncomfortably as she tried to figure out how this was supposed to go. They were driving to the beach...for a swim?

She'd hoped her first swim would be with Vardon. The idea of turning into a seal to swim with Grandma Shaye made her feel like a barely weaned pup. That was kid stuff.

Swimming with another teenage selkie? Now that was tempting.

So she grabbed her sealskin, which was wrapped up in the trunk, and got in Vardon's car, an ancient Chevy sedan. He'd already started it, but the heat was nowhere near ready, and Lorelei blew on her hands to warm them.

"Ready?"

"Ready for what, exactly?" she squeaked.

"I'm really not supposed to, but I want to take you out. You haven't shifted and been in the sea yet, have you?"

_No. I was waiting for you._ Lorelei just shook her head.

"I'm not going to make you, but if you'll go with me—"

She waved him off. "Let's do it. No time like the present."

"It's going to be weird."

"Can you handle it if I freak out on you?" Lorelei grinned. Now that the decision was made, adrenaline was kicking in. The sealskin she held seemed to buzz in her hands. It was ready to be part of her, ready to take her into another world. The sea.

_Of the sea, of the sea, of the sea._

Yes. It was true. Her bones said it, and so did the humming energy of the skin. She was of the sea.

She slapped a hand on Vardon's arm. "Wait a second! Are you going to have to see me naked?"

He cracked up. "Well, do you know how to tie the seal skin in place?"

Lorelei groaned and closed her eyes. Oh, this was not good.

But she wanted to. It terrified her, but it also compelled her. Her heart raced with excitement.

Eek, what was happening to her?

"Don't worry. It isn't like that. I promise I'll try really hard not to look."

She rolled her eyes, noticing he hadn't made guarantees. She should say no, but that would be the end of this little adventure. And she still wanted her first swim to be with Vardon and not with her grandmother. That meant that eventually they'd be right back here in this situation. Why not get the awkwardness over with? After all, she was about to change shape in front of him.

Lorelei giggled. She might just be going insane. But at least this part of the insanity felt good.

"You'll be a gentleman?" She glared at him.

"I will."

"I know your mother now, and I'll tattle if you're not."

He chortled.

They pulled off on a road Lorelei had never taken. "Do you live down here?"

"Yep. Right across from a very private beach."

"That's convenient."

"No, that's planning. Selkies don't live far from the shore. It's not comfortable."

The wind swept a scattering of pinecones across the road in front of them. "It is _cold_. Are you sure this is the time for this?"

"Once you shift, you won't even notice the cold." He tapped a rhythm on the steering wheel, obviously getting excited. He pointed out a two-story house on her side of the car, with cedar shake weathered gray. "That's our place."

It was cute. Orderly. It looked exactly like she'd expect his maddening mother's house to look. She gave it a glare, wishing she was confident enough to glare at Crystal Caster in exactly the same fashion. But that was a battle for another day, thankfully.

"Am I really going to do this?" Lorelei asked as the road curved down to a tiny parking lot. He parked the car and turned to face her as she started to shake, freaking out already.

"If it's too soon, you can say so. We'll stop any time you want. This is your swim, okay? I do this almost every day, I'm not worried about me."

"Okay." Where the heck did he come from, and why did he care so much about her? Or was he just that nice of a guy?

Like he could read it on her face, he answered her thought. "I've never had a selkie my age to swim with – at least not one here in Anacortes. I've always wanted a friend to share this with. So...sorry, but you're kinda stuck with me, if you'll have me anyway."

If she'd have him. He was so adorable. Lorelei felt terrible for never noticing him before. These were the thoughts that raced through her mind as she stared at him, trying to avoid thoughts of getting naked with him. And thoughts of him getting naked with her. Thoughts of what he looked like naked.

Far too many thoughts.

Oh, my. How was she going to do this?

# Chapter Eleven

Lorelei's eyes were wide, and she'd been staring at him for too long. "Lorelei? Are you okay?"

She gulped, and nodded slowly, but she had a panicked look he couldn't ignore.

"Is it the naked thing?"

"Yeah. Of course it's the naked thing!"

"Just think of me like a doctor, or a practitioner of—"

"Oh, jeez. Not helping your case. You are in no way a doctor, bonehead."

"I've seen you swim before. In a _bathing suit_. That's very little clothes, right there." This whole conversation sounded so wrong, it was all he could do to keep from laughing. He was only succeeding most of the time.

She rolled her eyes. "The swim will be worth it, right?"

"What do you think?"

She paused, and he could guess what she felt. The underlying connection with the skin called to her. The sea called. She had no idea how this would feel, what to expect, but she knew she had to go through with it. She needed to understand this part of herself. She shouldn't wait any longer.

"Let's do it." Her eyes widened with shock. "Not do it. Let's go for a swim. As seals. Not naked people. Seals."

Vardon laughed, and the sound seemed to loosen something in Lorelei, because she joined him a second later.

They got out of the car, Lorelei reverently holding her sealskin. Vardon went behind the car and stripped, tying on his skin, which stretched over his head and to his heels. He tied the five ritual knots at his neck, chest, middle, groin and thighs.

It only took him a minute to complete his, but his hands were shaking when he went to Lorelei. She'd stripped, too, and wrapped her skin around herself from the back. It was big compared with her slender frame. He started at her neck, trying to ignore her deep blush. Her eyes were on his face, and he wished he knew what she was thinking.

Tying on Lorelei's skin was every bit as awkward as they'd both worried. It was pretty apparent that neither of them had any experience with the opposite sex. Of course he wanted to see Lorelei naked, but he kept his word and tried really hard not to look.

"You need to learn these knots, so you can do this yourself. It's not traditional to have someone else tie your skin. Has your grandmother talked to you about this?" Words to fill the silence. Words were good.

"No, we haven't gotten into a lot of detail."

"She's going to be angry that we did this," Vardon pointed out.

"I don't know. She just wants me to be happy."

Now the chest. He pulled the skin taut to gather enough to form the knot that would rest just above her breasts. As soon as he thought about her breasts, he glanced up at her face to find her eyes on his.

He laughed nervously. "Awkward. I'm sorry. We'll be done in a minute."

The knot at her waist was easy enough. Then came the groin.

His body's response to her nudity was distracting him. He tried to still his shaking hands, which were now shaking from both cold and nerves, and _just get it done_.

There. Finally.

The one at the thighs wasn't quite so difficult.

As he finished tying her skin, his cold fingers brushed her arm, and all he wanted to do was pull her to him, feel her warm body against his.

Now Lorelei was shaking.

"Cold, right?" Vardon asked. He wanted to shift. They had to get closer to the water first. "Let's go." He pointed the way, and took Lorelei's hand when she was slow to start toward the rocky trail.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"So...you're okay enough to be honest about not being totally okay?" He grinned at her.

"Precisely that okay, yes." She grinned back, the smile sending a shock wave straight to Vardon's center. She was brave, and strong.

He was proud of her, in a way he had no right to be.

The path was short, luckily, because it was really cold, probably around forty degrees.

"What happens next? Do I just plop into the water or something?"

The laugh exploded from Vardon, surprising even him. " _Plop_?"

Lorelei grimaced. "Yeah, that doesn't sound graceful at all. Let's not plop, okay?"

"This might take a little focus. Do you feel anything yet? Any different?"

Lorelei gripped his hand, her icy fingers like a vice as her wide eyes clung to his.

Lorelei hadn't thought much about how this would feel, and at the moment she seriously regretted it.

She clenched her jaw and tried to focus on Vardon's face, as her whole world began to tilt and melt. Her legs felt...slippery, unreal, and definitely not strong enough to support her.

"Here we go, Lorelei. Don't worry, it will be okay. Follow me. You hear? Follow me."

He kept urging her with his voice, but it was all she could do to listen and comprehend his words.

Right in front of her, Vardon began to change, his face drifted, morphing, and then they were both in the waves, and Lorelei shut her eyes for fear of seeing more. The water welcomed her, and her soul sang with the _wanting_. This was it. Everything she'd been waiting for, even when she hadn't understood she was waiting.

It didn't hurt, or not much. Maybe that was the frigid water affecting her brain. How could she feel anything at this temperature? But somewhere in the next moments it didn't feel so cold at all, and Lorelei opened her eyes.

The world didn't look the same from this perspective. But she knew she was she. Lorelei. A girl.

Not a human girl, but a seal-girl.

Lorelei wanted to laugh. It was ridiculous, and incredible.

With her first breaths as a seal, or at least the first that she could remember clearly, something in her was forever changed. The human world seemed far away and unimportant.

Suddenly, she remembered Vardon and spun in the water to find him, the movement reminding her of some other time, long ago, looking for Mama.

And there he was, a gray seal with whitish spots on his snout and neck. But she knew him by his eyes. This was so strange.

Vardon gave her time, moving in a wide circle around her as she adjusted to the way her body felt in the water. Her limbs were shorter and her bulk much greater, yet this form was made for the sea.

After a minute, Vardon pinned her with another glance, then dove beneath the surface of the waves.

Lorelei followed, heart racing. She breathed deep and dove. The water closed over her head, and this body dove so hard, she had to veer at the last second, avoiding Vardon by inches. Now she was below him. Wow, she could really move.

She swooped above the rocky ocean bed, out into the sea.

Vardon flew through the water, dodging and weaving, slamming against her side as he beckoned her to play.

She wanted to laugh, and it came out as bubbles. She returned to the surface, amazed at how long that breath had lasted.

Vardon's eyes peeked out of the water at her, full of regret that reminded her of a dog that didn't get its walk. She wished they could talk in this form, but obviously that wasn't to be.

With another great breath she dove, finding the bottom again and swimming along it, with Vardon teasing at her flank, urging her on.

A rough, tearing sensation lit up her other side as her body came in contact with the rock, grinding along it for a few feet until she realized her mistake and lifted off the ocean floor. _Ouch!_

Lorelei turned, closing herself around the wound. Ow, ow, ow. She couldn't tell how bad it was. If she was human...

And the world tilted, too fast to comprehend. This time it hurt, the pain a lightning flash as her body reshaped itself. What in the world was happening? Human shaped again, she was tied into a skin that now threatened to drag her under. Lorelei's eyes went wide, and ignoring her wound, she used all her strength to rise toward the surface.

Vardon let out a bark that echoed oddly in the water to her now-human ears, and swam up under her. She put her arms around him and he swam, breaking the surface so she could breathe and then diving just below it toward the shore, carrying her along with him.

Her leg hurt, the pain slicing through the cold as she clung to Vardon. Almost there.

Vardon changed. Lorelei could feel his body ripple as he shifted. She cried out, trying to retain her hold on him and slipping back as he grew legs and swiftly stood, a confident boy once again.

He turned and reached for her hand, and Lorelei gave it. Averting her eyes from his nudity, she hobbled up the shore on her one good leg as blood dripped to the ground to pool at her left ankle.

The skin gave a violent shiver, and Vardon gasped. He stood back, his arm raised to shield his eyes as Lorelei felt herself enveloped by the brightest light she'd ever known. It faded just as quickly as it had come, a flash of brilliance. A change.

And then the skin was just a skin again.

"Vardon?" she cried. "What the hell was that?"

"Your seal bond. Happened to me when I was eight, the first time I bled on my skin. It's a rite of passage, of sorts. You're _way_ old for it." His eyes glittered with amusement as he tugged her hand so she'd follow him. "Let's get that cut checked out."

"Why did I turn back so suddenly?"

"Did you think about being human?"

"Yeah, I scraped along the bottom, and I thought I'd be able to tell what the damage was if I was human."

"That's what did it. You decide when you shift. You can only shift to a seal with your skin, but the skin isn't all that's required. You have to make the decision to call the change, and it's the same to shift back. I really should have told you that before we went in the water. Sorry." He ruffled his hair with the hand that wasn't intertwined with hers.

Now that she was human again, and wet, the January chill seeped bone deep in no time. Nudity or not, Lorelei needed little encouragement to scoot around to the other side of the car and change into her clothes. Most of them, anyway.

Removing the sealskin, she found that the wound on her thigh wasn't as bad as she'd worried. But it wasn't going to feel so hot at swim practice tonight.

"Do you have a towel or something? I can't put on my jeans with my leg still bleeding."

"Crap, I didn't plan this well at all. Home is right down the road, though. Here, wrap this around you and we'll stop by to bandage you up." He tossed her his jacket, and between that and her jeans she cobbled enough to shield her most sensitive bits from his view and huddled into the passenger seat. Now that she was still, her thigh burned.

The thought of running into Crystal Caster would have sent her into a panic if the thought of returning to school half naked and bleeding didn't already have her there.

"Will your parents be home?"

"Nope, bookstore, remember? Owning a small business means being home very little."

Okay, so now instead of being nervous about seeing his mother again, she could work herself up about going into Vardon's home alone with him, still half-naked.

Lorelei counted her blessings this way: this wasn't the worst day of her life. It was, however, a contender for the strangest.

# Chapter Twelve

Clay watched Lorelei and the seal scum leave the beach. They clung to one another, and his temper flared, sharp and bright. Lorelei was limping, obviously hurt. Not that he needed the sight to tell him that. Her blood was all over the bay, driving him mad with need for her. He could smell her in the water, and if any others of his kind were near, they would smell it, too. She was almost of age.

He should be helping her, should be the one pacing at her side, supporting her and comforting her. Hell, he could heal the wound and save her the suffering.

That she would be here with the selkie was unthinkable. He had felt her, not on her beach but miles away, and had followed to see if she was finally being brave enough to enter the sea.

That she should enter as a seal, and not as one of them, cut him deep. She was finfolk, not seal scum.

In time, she would see that she belonged with their kind. That she belonged with him.

Who had loved her like Clay had, watching from a distance and waiting for the time to be ripe?

Ritual was important to their kind. You could not claim a husband or a bride until the age of seventeen. He was so close, so close to claiming the prize of his chosen bride.

She was his.

She had come with the selkie. She had even left with the selkie.

The selkie would pay.

Taking Lorelei home had not been in the plan. He'd told her his parents wouldn't be there, but he didn't really know that. Their schedules were uncertain, and they were always relieving each other and taking care of other family business during bookstore hours. It was unlikely they'd cross paths, but he wasn't going to tell Lorelei about the uncertainty. She was already feeling skittish, and who could blame her.

"Do you regret it?" he asked her, as they pulled into his driveway. She was shivering.

"No. Had to happen sometime. I wish I hadn't scraped bottom, but in my seal body I swim _fast_."

"I know, right? Makes the human body feel clumsy and slow, that's for sure."

"I don't know about the clumsy part. I felt pretty clumsy as a seal, and it's not a feeling I'm used to."

Enough chatter. "Can you make it inside?"

She shot him a contemptuous look. "Yes, I think I can manage," she answered dryly.

He led the way, walking slowly so she could keep up. She'd scooped up all of her clothes, and he really should have helped her, but now that she'd said she didn't need help, he didn't want to force it. That was usually the way to get his head bitten off as a sexist.

When he cracked the door, he saw the Caster living space with new eyes. The foyer opened to a large great room, with lots of big windows to take in the trees and the sea. The entire space was done in neutral, soft tones, which took nothing away from the vibrancy of nature right outside their doorstep.

Unlike Lorelei's place, the Caster house was furnished in modern, sleek lines. Nothing was stuffed, much less overstuffed. Lori's place was cozier, but his family had the bookstore for cozy. They didn't spend a lot of relaxation time at home. Not indoors, anyway.

Lorelei crept in the door, like she was expecting one of his parents to jump out of the shadows. He beckoned her in and down the long hall to his room.

Which he hadn't picked up at all. Awesome. He shoved the door open and swiftly kicked his dirty clothes into a rough pile, clearing a path for her.

"You're not as neat as I would have thought," Lorelei laughed from the doorway.

He shrugged. "Utilitarian. I basically sleep and dress here."

"It'd be more utilitarian if you could find things," she joked.

Another shrug. "Let's get that bandaged and get back to school. We've missed sixth."

"Ah, well. History is in the past." Lorelei sat gingerly on the edge of his unmade bed, and Vardon had to focus on something else. Lorelei looked too good in here, too much at home. It was making his thoughts go places they really shouldn't.

"Physics for me," he said, smoothly, he hoped.

"Crap, that's probably not good."

"I'll come up with some excuse. Now give me a second to get a bandage."

He grabbed what he needed and then gave himself a hard stare in the bathroom mirror. _Vardon, you will not screw this up._

Lorelei was looking around his room none too shyly. She grinned from her spot at the edge of his bed. "Hurry up, you."

"Here we go." He came closer, trying to see the wound. "You're going to have to lean..." he trailed off. The way she needed to lean was going to place her stretched out across his pillow, in a position he could not possibly ignore.

Just. Keep. Breathing.

She bent away from him, and lifted her thigh so he could get to the wound. "Well...this is awkward."

"Uh, yeah. You might say that." He bandaged her swiftly and rose before he could make a mess of things.

"All done?" she asked, a hint of disappointment he was probably imagining in her tone. She stood and tested it with a few steps. "Yep, that'll suffice. Now, can I have a second to change?"

He ducked out of the room and took a deep breath, and then another. She was too comfortable here, too comfortable in her own skin, despite how a revelation like the one she'd had a few days ago must shake a person. Even in his space, she was one hundred percent herself.

He wasn't that strong. If it had been him, he never would have shown his face at school today. And that's why he'd rescued her – or that's how he'd thought of it before he asked her.

This morning, he kept catching this forlorn look, like she was lost in her own life. He had to show her that being a selkie wasn't such a bad thing.

She seemed over it now. She was running her hand through her hair as she came out of his room. "Do you have a brush I could use?"

He led the way again and stood in the doorway while she brushed her long coppery hair.

"We're staring silently now?" She stopped all motion and locked eyes with him in the mirror, her smile slowly turning to a deep, comical frown.

He chuckled. "Come on. We gotta go."

Outside, she sauntered to his car like someone who did not have a hurt leg, which was good. Better if no one noticed the injury, at least until she had to explain it at swim.

Now, how much hope was there that no one had noticed their tandem disappearance?

"Where were you? I'm fairly certain I've told you I hate history, and I need you to distract me," Haeley complained as Lorelei caught up with her where she stood with Emily in the hall outside of art class.

Lorelei shook her head. "Sorry, I wasn't feeling well."

"Yeah, right. Half the school saw you leaving campus with Vardon. You could at least be honest about it." Haeley made to walk off, but then shot another look at Lorelei over her shoulder. "I expect a full accounting of details tonight over pizza."

Emily shot her a back-up unbelieving glance. Then she wagged her eyebrows and grinned. "Vardon and Lorelei sitting in a—"

"No way. Don't start that."

Lorelei followed Haeley and Emily into class, her stomach sinking. How was she going to explain the complete lack of sharable details? She could say that nothing happened, but from Haeley's look, that would get her as far as a good smack. She could make up something that Haeley expected to have happened, but the idea of lying about her and Vardon made Lorelei queasy.

And these were the thoughts she got to deal with for the rest of the day.

Changing for swim, Emily caught sight of the bandage. "What's that?"

"Oh, a stupid scratch. Can you help me take the bandage off?"

Suddenly both Emily and Haeley were looking at her butt as the bandage came off. "This is not that bad. Why does it have a huge bandage?"

What the heck? Lorelei wished for a mirror, but the school didn't have full-lengths. It had certainly felt bad when she did it, and she'd bled a bunch. But as she ran a hand softly over the patch of rough, scabby skin, she agreed. Not that bad.

Score one for Lorelei, she probably wasn't going to have to explain this to coach at all.

"It was hard to do myself. I had to use a large one." The lie rolled off Lorelei's tongue far too easily. But she couldn't exactly tell her friends she'd been in the sea earlier, as a seal.

After practice, coach called her over.

His eyes were steely hard, an expression she wasn't used to from him.

"You've been distracted the last couple of days. Time to get over it, Lorelei."

She grimaced. "Coach, I'm handling it. I'll try to leave it outside."

"You have a lot going for you. But remember that even kids who have a lot going for them can screw it up big time, even in high school. Don't lose yourself, Lori." The last part was said in a quieter tone, one that told her that Coach had argued with himself over saying it. He gave her another hard look, shook his head, and turned away.

Lorelei's eyes stung with tears that she blinked back. All of the other girls had gone to the locker room, and she moved that direction, slowly. They'd all know Coach had confronted her about something, and they would all be guessing about what that was.

But it wasn't her fault! Lorelei glared at the wall. She hadn't _decided_ to find out she was a selkie right at the end of swim season.

News about what she was trumped swim, though, no matter how Coach put it. Swim was just less important now, and she still needed to figure out where that left her. What was important?

Lorelei straightened as she opened the locker room door, friendly expression in place. She could handle this.

Emily was the only one in the locker portion of the room, and Lorelei sighed with relief.

"You okay?" Emily asked, her sharp brown eyes on Lorelei's.

"Yeah. He's mad that I've been distracted."

"Because Lorelei and Vardon, sitting in a tree..." Emily trailed off, thankfully, and grinned.

Lorelei spun the lock on her locker and laughed. "Something like that."

The pizza parlor wasn't busy on a Monday night. They settled into the biggest booth, where there was room to sprawl, and Haeley put in an order for a pizza and some cinnamon breadsticks. The _yummiest_ after swim practice, as they'd all agreed at the beginning of their freshman year.

Lorelei glanced up at the sports memorabilia on the walls, at the picture of their final meet last year and the first-place ribbon she wore. Was Coach right? Was she blowing everything she'd worked for with her freakout over the selkie revelation?

Could she do better?

She'd have to. Yes, she was now a selkie, and she'd even enjoyed her first swim in that long-lost form today. However, she was still Lorelei, and she'd been a girl with big dreams long before she found out her ancestors were straight out of legend.

Math.

Swimming.

If she screwed either of them up, she'd regret it. Coach was right to warn her, even if it had been embarrassing and made her feel lonelier than ever.

Dean sauntered in, carrying a red pizza delivery bag. Lorelei couldn't detect any sign he was on drugs, like he'd seemed to be the other night. He seemed like any idiotically cocky young guy, with that swagger and half-smile.

He caught her watching him, and the smile grew. He winked at her, and the table of girls erupted into giggles as he walked into the kitchen portion of the establishment.

"Jeez, Lori, what was that?" Jenna, another of the girls from swim team, exclaimed with an elbow in Lorelei's arm.

Lorelei rubbed the spot and frowned. "What do you mean? I actually think the guy's kinda strange, that's why I was watching him." She rolled her eyes.

When her gaze slid across Haeley's, she stopped cold. Haeley wasn't laughing. Her eyes were narrowed, and she looked mad.

"Coach is right about one thing," Haeley said coldly. "You're definitely acting weird. Something's going on with you."

Lorelei met her accusation with a firm stare, since it wouldn't do to let on that Haeley could be right. How could she do this now? Couldn't she see that Lorelei needed at least one part of her life to be steady sailing at this point in time? So why did her glare feel competitive, and not friendly at all?

"Whatever, Haeley. You're being dramatic, as usual," Emily inserted. Just then Haeley's dad walked over with their order, and conversation ceased as the girls all put on their innocent eyes for the three-second exchange.

Haeley started again, her eyes on Lorelei. "But about Dean, he's pretty cute, isn't he?" Like the question was just for her. What, exactly, was her problem tonight?

"Way too old," Jenna said, reaching for a steaming slice of pepperoni.

"Yeah, and I think he might be on drugs," Lorelei added. "He acted strange when he delivered my pizza the other night."

"He probably just recognized you from hanging out here," Haeley rejoined.

Lorelei dropped it and grabbed a slice of pizza, but she could feel the strain with Haeley for the rest of the night. It grated on her nerves – just one more way her life was completely out of whack, and out of her control.

# Chapter Thirteen

"Hand me that box – no, that one to the left," Dad ordered, his tone gruff, in work-mode.

Vardon grabbed the box and delivered it to where Dad crouched, stocking the travel section below the full-color world maps on the east wall of the store.

"Help me with this," Dad said.

Vardon complied, stooping next to Dad and – he didn't have anything else to do. He'd already hit the calculus text hard enough his neck was sore.

He'd figured out a quicker, more intuitive way to solve problems in one area. Lorelei would freak out when he showed her tomorrow.

He couldn't wait to make her smile. She wasn't smiling enough right now.

Soon. He had to give her time. Soon she would adjust to the selkie half, and she'd be Lorelei again.

The finfolk question was another matter – he didn't know what it meant or what to expect. Maybe it meant nothing. Maybe she had little enough finfolk blood that it would never be an issue. And as always, when his mind started to play with the fringes of her finfolk ancestry, he shut it down.

"Vardon, how are you?" Dad asked. "You've been quiet the last few days."

Vardon shot him a look that dared him to plead ignorance over what exactly had happened.

"What is it about this girl? Why are you so concerned about her?"

"Dad, she just found out what she is. They kept it from her, parted her from her skin when she was small...I can't stand it. I'm angry for her."

"And that's it? That's why you'd ignore your mother's wishes and go behind her back to see the girl?"

"Her name is Lorelei. And how do you know I've seen her?"

"Because you're too quiet. It isn't like you."

"I don't think it's fair, what Mom asked."

"She's worried for you, Vardon. Pay attention. She has good reason."

Vardon said nothing. He certainly wasn't going to do as his mother required and quit seeing Lorelei.

Mom hadn't said anything about Lorelei tonight. She didn't know, yet, that Vardon was disobeying. She'd never find out if he could help it.

Dad left after they finished stocking the few boxes that had arrived today, and Vardon spent the rest of his shift updating the eBay store to reflect the new stock.

He locked up three minutes early and walked the half block to his old Chevy. He thought about Lorelei in the passenger seat earlier today and smiled.

A slender strip of moon drew his eye as he started the car; it was a clear night. This town wasn't big, so it took only a minute to leave the cluster of buildings that was downtown behind. The road wound through a thick patch of evergreens before it would open back up to the seaside. Vardon reached for the dial on the stereo as he took a curve he'd driven a hundred times.

A shadow slanted wrongly across the road, and too late Vardon recognized a human shape. A tall man, dark blonde hair, just standing in the road and watching him come. The figure lifted a hand toward his car.

Vardon gripped the wheel and pulled hard to the left, his tires screeching as the car shuddered wildly. His bearing was off, like it didn't matter what he did with the wheel, the car was headed where it was headed, and then the only sound was the whirring of the engine as the car left the road.

The second before impact lasted an age. Cars don't fly; he had to crash sometime.

A crunch of metal met his ears as his body whipped forward and then back, his teeth jamming together. The car was still moving, turning, until it rested on the passenger side. Vardon hung against the seatbelt, his ribs screaming and a warm, sickly feeling of fluid spreading along his side. Blood.

And that's the last he knew.

Lorelei jolted awake after just an hour of sleep. Instantly, she felt the connection with her skin, which she'd placed inside the bench at the foot of her bed. She smiled and rolled over, but she couldn't get back to sleep. Her brain was nagging her with something just out of reach. Finally, she got out of bed and went downstairs to break the monotony.

A soft light glowed from the living room. Grandma Shaye's gray hair was visible over the back of the couch.

Had she fallen asleep there?

But as Lorelei came around the sofa, Grandma jumped a mile high. "Ah! Lorelei! Don't sneak up like that. I'm old. I don't want to drop dead of a heart attack!"

Lorelei cocked her head to the side and put her hands on her hips. "You look just fine to me. But what are you doing out here so late?"

"Just thinking." She was staring at the mermaid painting – finfolk painting – above the mantle, a frown highlighting her otherwise almost nonexistent wrinkles.

"Do you miss Grandpa?" Lorelei picked up one of the pillows that were strewn across the sofa and snuggled in under it, hugging it to her chest.

"Sure I do. I wasn't thinking about him, though. I was thinking about you."

"Great. Everyone seems so concerned, but no one has any answers for me, do they?"

"What do you mean? I thought you seemed off when you came in earlier. You know that you can talk to me, right?"

"I just don't think it'll help," Lorelei answered morosely.

Grandma Shaye put a warm hand on her arm. "You think you're so original? I was a girl your age once."

"A girl who was part selkie and part finfolk, and didn't even know it until nearly the age of seventeen?"

"You can be such a brat sometimes, Lori. No. I didn't have exactly your issues. But I had issues, believe me." She laughed. "Tell me what happened."

"Haeley is mad at me, and so is my coach, because I can't talk about all of this selkie stuff, which is completely outside of my control. It just feels so unfair. Nobody gets it."

"You said that already. What happened with Haeley?"

"She's mad because I didn't tell her what happened with Vardon." She must still be sleepy. Why had she fessed up to something happening with Vardon?

Sure enough, Grandma caught on. "Vardon? Isn't he the selkie boy? So what did happen with him?" She paused for a second, her gaze frozen on Lorelei's face. "No! You didn't! Did you swim with him?"

"How can you tell? Is it stamped on my forehead?"

"How did you tie the skin? You can't have remembered the knots after all these years."

Lorelei just stared back, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Lori! That's just—" Grandma Shaye's mouth worked like a she was having trouble chewing something. "Unseemly," she finished lamely.

"Yes, it was. But it was also exactly what I needed."

Grandma Shaye watched her carefully. "Please tell me you didn't—"

"Ew! No!" Lorelei covered her face with the pillow. "We absolutely did not do anything but swim."

"Okay then."

"It's just...finding this all out so late...I didn't want my first time in the ocean as a seal to be as a child, under your wing. Can you understand that?"

Grandma Shaye reached for her hand. "Yes, of course. I understand. Tomorrow, I'll show you the knots so that you don't have to depend on anyone for this. You are so nearly grown..."

"Grandma? Are you okay?" Lorelei asked. Grandma Shaye had gone grayish pale as her words faded out.

She shook herself and met Lorelei's eyes. "I'm fine. Lorelei, I need to apologize. I am so sorry that we had to keep your nature from you. I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to grow up with this knowledge—"

Lorelei held up one hand. "Thanks, Grandma, but I think I'm going to be okay. And I can understand...it wasn't easy for you when Mom left."

"And your father and I have never gotten on well. I admire him, though. He's a good father to you."

Lorelei swallowed. "You seem to be getting along okay now."

"Yes, it seems we do. It might be different if your grandfather were here. Men." She laughed. "Always having to strut about and prove dominance."

"Is that true among the selkies?" Lorelei asked. "I mean...are selkie males particularly macho or just like any other guys?"

She shook her head. "There's as wide a range of selkie males as human males. I know nothing to condemn your friend Vardon."

Lorelei nodded. The lump in her throat was surprising. And alarming. She shouldn't feel like this about Vardon. She barely knew him.

It was better that way. The last thing she could afford right now was another distraction.

# Chapter Fourteen

Lorelei was out of bed before her alarm chimed in the morning. She was practically itching with energy. The skin called to her, but she left it where it was. She couldn't risk another trip out with Vardon. She had to focus on school and swimming.

That turned out to be no problem at all. Vardon didn't show up. Lorelei stared at his empty seat, disbelieving and a little hurt, though she had no right to be.

"Your boyfriend didn't show?" Shea snarked, a half-smile curling up one side of her evil mouth.

"Not my boyfriend."

" _So_ your boyfriend." Shea shrugged, her look turning even meaner, if that was possible. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm not the one caught sneaking around with a total dork."

"Shea, just shut it. We were _not_ sneaking around. Give me a break."

"Like you deserve one?"

What. A. Bitch.

Lorelei ignored her and flipped to the current chapter in her ginormous calculus text. She did not need a girl like Shea telling her what was what. Laughable.

But she wasn't laughing. And the day just dragged on from there.

Haeley wasn't speaking to her. It wasn't the first time in their long friendship that Haeley had been mad at her, and even avoided her. This time felt different.

Lorelei dodged the usual table at lunch. She took her meal down to the locker room and stared at the swim posters as she ate.

Why did swimming feel so different now? She couldn't have both?

When she was in the water, everything in her told her she was wearing the wrong shape. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And so her focus was split by this connection to the seal part no matter what she tried. Could she train herself to ignore that and get back to her job on the swim team, or was she doing all of her friends a disservice?

Morose, she set aside the last half of her sandwich.

Tonight was the last practice before her first swim meet as a selkie. She _had_ to figure this out. Today.

Determined, Lorelei shoved all thoughts of the drama that had haunted her in recent days to the background. She participated in her classes, caught up with Emily and Jenna in the locker room before practice, and by the time practice rolled around, she felt more herself than she had in days.

The pool was another matter, but Lorelei ignored the odd, aching sense of loss from being in the water without her sealskin. She forced herself to go through the motions, to engage this clumsy human body in the movements her muscles knew. It didn't feel right. But she couldn't give up yet.

At home, Amy's car was parked in the driveway. Lorelei put both hands on the steering wheel, trying to calm the internal alarms triggered by this sudden girlfriend. To steel herself for the almost stranger to be here, in the house, when all Lorelei needed was a little touch of normalcy.

She gathered herself and went inside, hoping they'd at least made dinner.

"Lorelei, is that you?" Dad called from the kitchen.

She wanted to say who else would it be, but with Amy there, she settled for, "Yeah. It's me."

"We're in the kitchen. Amy is making spaghetti."

_Yum_ , her belly rumbled.

_Betrayer_ , she told her belly as she slowly approached the domestic display awaiting her in the kitchen.

Sure enough, there was Amy, flitting around the kitchen outfitted in a frilly red and white apron, of all things.

The spaghetti did smell delicious, though. And Dad was watching her.

"Hi, Dad," she dropped a kiss on his cheek, which smelled of an unfamiliar cologne, and stretched a hand to greet Amy. "Hi, Amy. Nice to see you again."

"Thanks, Lorelei. I'm told you're usually at the clinic more, so I was expecting to see you there. But I guess you're busy with swimming right now?"

"Yeah, there's a big meet tomorrow." Lorelei's belly lurched at the reminder.

Amy turned back to the stove, and Lorelei retrieved her calculus book from her backpack.

"Calculus again? We'll be eating in about fifteen minutes," Dad said.

"Any fifteen minutes is a good fifteen minutes," she answered. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Quiz tomorrow." They both knew that wasn't the reason she was digging into calculus right now. The real reason was to avoid whatever this scene in the kitchen was.

He let her alone, and she focused as well as she could on the material they'd be quizzed on tomorrow.

Dinner was awkward. Beyond awkward.

Amy was trying way too hard, with all of the giggling and perfect table manners. It was annoying, and the last thing Lorelei really wanted to put up with at the moment.

Was Dad actually into this person? It defied logic.

Grandma Shaye came in late. "Smells delicious! Don't tell me you made this, Peter."

"Amy cooked," Dad answered.

Was that pride in his voice? Ew.

One taste proved the pudding. It was delicious. But Lorelei still didn't want this woman in her house. She took another bite, swallowing around the lump in her throat.

Grandma Shaye joined them. She shot Lorelei a glance that made her sit up straight and put a friendly expression in place. Grandma nodded and took her seat.

"Peter tells me you're staying here until Lorelei's birthday," Amy said to Grandma.

Lorelei gripped her napkin, hard. Amy couldn't know why Grandma Shaye was here. Dad wouldn't have done that.

"Yes, it had been a while since we spent good, quality time together. My husband will be glad to see me home next week."

"Where are you from?" And just like that, Amy engaged Grandma Shaye in an easy conversation about home, the seasons, and family...how did they do that? How could Grandma act like this wasn't weird, sitting here with her ex-son-in-law, the granddaughter who barely knew her, and a complete stranger who was trying to encroach on their happyish home.

Lorelei didn't even notice her frown was back until Dad glared at her just the way Grandma Shaye had a bit ago. She smiled falsely, feeling like a mannequin dressed up formally amidst a western-themed hoedown.

_Ah!_ She didn't have time for this. Lorelei finished her plate in a hurry, but Dad's glare was back, so she sat tight and waited for someone else to hurry up and finish their meal so she could _go_.

Finally, Dad and Amy pushed aside their plates at nearly the same moment. They were so in sync. Yuck.

"Amy and I are going to take a drive. I'm guessing you're back to homework?" Dad caught Lorelei's eyes, but his look was distracted. He was thinking about Amy.

He was also weaseling his way out of a serious conversation with her for yet another day. How long did she have to wait before he told her more about the finfolk?

"Of course. What else do I have to think about?" She tried to keep her tone light, but she heard the sullen thread there. He didn't seem to. Amy was whispering something in his ear.

Grandma threaded her arm through Lorelei's. "I was going to talk you into a game of rummy. Now you can tell I'm missing Grandpa, wanting to play his game."

"Well, I think I have time for a couple of hands. You're not going to keep me through like a thousand points or anything, are you? Strict bedtime over here."

As Lorelei and Grandma Shaye cleared the dishes from the table, Dad and Amy walked out, the front door clicking closed behind them. Lorelei waited another ten seconds before bursting out, "What _was_ that?"

"That was dinner, sweetie. How nice of Amy to cook for Peter's whole family, don't you think?" She hummed a tune as she began to rinse the dishes and place them neatly into the dishwasher.

"I can't take kindness right now, Grandma! I am having a crisis over here! Has anyone noticed?"

"Your dad just doesn't know how to handle you right now. Can you blame him? And Amy is nice, so quit worrying about her."

Lorelei dropped a fork and scooped it up, dropping a glass in the process. It shattered. Just her luck. She went for the broom. "He's never dated before. Why now? Just to avoid me?"

"That's taking too much credit, Lori. It's not about you. She's interested in him, and he's interested in her...it's this whole dance."

"Thanks for the run down," Lorelei shot back sarcastically. "Their timing _stinks_."

Grandma Shaye wiped her hands on a dishtowel, and then pulled Lorelei in for a hug. "I know. Forgive him, Lorelei. It's for the best."

Lorelei didn't know what was best. Her sealskin called to her from upstairs. She yearned to be something other, to join the waves in their dance, and leave this human one behind.

Later, after several hands of rummy and a solid hour of calculus, Lorelei hauled open the bench at the foot of her bed and retrieved her sealskin. The energy hummed between her fingers and the skin, and she grinned, alert with excitement.

She stole downstairs, and flipped open the lock on the kitchen window, just in case she got locked out. She moved swiftly and silently to the sliding glass back door, holding her breath. She wouldn't put it past Grandma Shaye to be waiting in the dark down here to catch her going out. But she had to go for a swim. She needed the release, and the solace of the sea.

It appeared Grandma was sleeping, not sneaking, because Lorelei made it off the property and down to the beach path without delay. It was a clear and cold night. At a curve in the path, a hundred feet from the beach, she stopped in the darkness and fumbled with her clothes and her skin. The knots weren't easy, especially in just the starlight, but she managed. She'd watched Vardon carefully yesterday.

Too bad she hadn't called him. She didn't want to get his mother on the line...but that was just an excuse. He hadn't been at school today, which possibly meant he was avoiding her, and she wasn't going to risk the rejection.

So...a swim on her own.

Lorelei finished the knots and stuffed her clothes under the shelter of the bushes.

At the water's edge, she stopped, watching the waves sparkle and shine in the darkness. She took one step into the water, and then another, and felt her sealskin convulse as the shift began. She slipped into the waves and finished the change, the coolness of the water pleasant to her seal body. It was dark tonight, far darker underwater than she'd expected. But it didn't matter. She could smell everything, and her ears easily attuned to movement in the water around her.

Again, she wished for Vardon. She refused to be afraid – this was her element, and she would not fear the sea. What did she have to fear? She had to keep her nose alert for the stink of shark, and other than that, she was at the top of the food chain.

But loneliness...she wasn't out here to eat, she was out to play, and there was no one to play with.

Where had Vardon been today? The question teased at her.

A new smell sifted through the water to her nostrils, and Lorelei jerked back. The scent was strange, threatening...yet she wanted to know what it belonged to. Craved it.

Vardon! She saw his shape, the coloring of his muzzle, and smelled a hint of him through whatever other smell that was. Whatever it was, he was exuding it. He swam close, turning at the last moment so his flank rubbed against hers.

A greeting? Something about the motion disturbed her, drove her toward shore.

He nipped at her cheek, and she turned back into the waves. She lashed at him with her tail, shoving and pivoting downward, far under the swell of the waves.

He made a sound that reverberated through the water between them, and followed.

He pressed close, his entire form sliding along hers suggestively.

She bared her teeth at him and veered sharply. Whatever! Now she was definitely going back to the shore. She didn't know what had gotten under his skin, but he was being a jerk.

He made that sound again and steered his larger form in front of her, attempting to shove her out into deeper water.

But Lorelei had taken enough of his nonsense. She swerved past him, and swam with all her heart toward shore, the distance disappearing in a snap.

Once in shallow water, she pictured her human form, and focused on that image. Her form shifted and melted, reassembling in her human shape. She held her sealskin close and jogged up the small strip of sandy beach toward the trail.

Vardon hadn't followed her to the shore, and she was glad. She didn't want to talk to him right now. Tomorrow, they would have words.

He should not have touched her. He should have held back – she could not know how close he was staying to her, and if she suspected...

But she had not; he could tell. She had thought he was her seal, and she had been willing to swim then.

The anger burned through Clay, and he tried to siphon it off with the thought of Lorelei's sweet form sliding against his. Her seal form, sure, which was not preferable. But soon enough she would be his, and she would feel no need for that inferior shape. She was finfolk, and she would join them.

Today, he should have stayed away. This was no time to risk what he'd spent months building. And now, it would be a challenge to resist touching his Lorelei again, to resist taking her too soon—

_Prince Clay. Where have you been?_ One of his grandfather's warriors met him just inside the golden, glowing walls of Finfolkaheem, in a courtyard lined with intricate patterns of inlaid stone and ancient coral, his voice unwelcome in Clay's mind. Who did Oberon the warrior think he was?

Stiffly, Clay pulled back the tendrils of thoughts that led to Lorelei, he closed them inside one part of his mind, while he engaged telepathically with this lesser finfolk.

_Where I swim is no concern of yours, warrior._ Clay's rebuke to the man was clear in his mental speech, his choice of phrase.

_King Cleophus wishes a word. He sent for you hours ago._ That the warrior would rejoin with his own rebuke made Clay grit his teeth.

_And I wish to hear where you have been._

Grandfather. Clay shut his eyes for a moment, steeling himself, and turned in the water to face his royal kin.

_As a prince of the people, you have responsibilities. You have been away too often recently._ King Cleophus considered him, and Clay thought he saw concern in those seemingly all-knowing eyes. Concern for him, or concern for the strength of the kingdom? Clay wasn't sure which he'd prefer.

Clay shot Oberon a cold look, and the warrior smirked at him before swimming away, out of the courtyard and out of their conversation. They each reflexively ended the telepathic link, leaving only the two of them, the king and the kingdom's youngest prince.

_You have need of me, my King?_

King Cleophus narrowed his eyes. _Do not oversell your respect for me, young one. I know of your mistrust._

_It is not mistrust of you, grandfather._ Clay shook his head, trying to put into words all he felt about the state of their undersea kingdom. _Up above, the humans build and build. We see the waste of it. They will lay waste to the entire ocean before they let up._

_And we have always – always – stayed out of all that occurs above the waves._

Clay frowned. _Not always. Do not lie to me. I know of the Knights._

Grandfather's eyes flashed. _What they did was sacrilege. They were tried and put to death for their dealings with human politics._ He made a sweeping motion, brushing it off just as they all did.

How could they not see? How could they not understand that the pace of change above the waves was leaving less and less of the world for the finfolk. It had been too long since his grandfather came into his power. Too much had changed among the humans.

_You will stay out of their world, Clay, so that I can keep you in ours._ The king's choice to use his given name did not escape him; he was speaking as grandfather, not as king.

A slow ache bit into him. Family or not, he could make no promises.

# Chapter Fifteen

Lorelei rose early, an unfamiliar anger burning somewhere in her stomach. She hauled out her calculus text and reviewed the material that would be covered in this morning's quiz. At least calculus was first thing. And then she'd have that pressure off, and she could deal with Vardon and his asshole-ish behavior last night. What had that been about? He'd never acted on sexual impulse around her, even when she was naked in just a sealskin. It had felt completely unlike him. Is that why he'd stayed away from school yesterday? Had their swim on Monday somehow driven him to this...this strange suggestive possessiveness he'd displayed last night?

To top it off, there was a swim meet tonight. By then she hoped to have shoved these distractions to the background.

She couldn't see Vardon again. He'd acted too strangely last night. If that's what spending a few hours with him did, she didn't want to date him.

Lorelei drifted downstairs deep in thought.

"Yoo-hoo," Grandma Shaye waved a hand in front of Lorelei's eyes as she stood fiddling with a bag of tea at the counter. "You're not going in for that quiz on an empty stomach."

She pulled a plate out of the fridge. Bacon and scrambled eggs went in the microwave to heat. Grandma smiled. "I was up early again...or late. Or splitting the difference."

Lorelei gave a half-hearted smile.

"Are you alright this morning, Lori? You're pale in a way I would venture has nothing to do with math."

Lorelei shrugged, but couldn't find any contrary words. "Thanks for breakfast, Grandma." She took a deep breath, because at the moment she felt like crying, but she wasn't going to. "Have I told you it's really nice to have you here?"

Grandma Shaye's eyes softened. "I know. It's nice to see so much of you, too. It's been so wonderful that I'm wishing your grandfather and your father got along better. Then we could do this more often."

"What is the trouble between them?"

"Your father is so silent with you, about everything that matters. I wish it weren't so, Lorelei, but I also know he has his reasons."

"What we are."

"What are you?" she said mockingly.

"Finfolk. You know what I mean." Lorelei wasn't willing to joke about it right now. "Where is Dad?"

"At the clinic. He said good luck on your quiz."

He hadn't said any such thing, but Lorelei was grateful to Grandma Shaye for trying.

She kept the radio off on the way to school. Silence was welcome.

She took her seat in calculus, and stared at Vardon's once-again-empty chair.

Shea caught her at it. "You scared him off for good, I think."

Lorelei ignored her. Mr. Richards began handing out the tests. As he came by, Lorelei whispered. "Is Vardon excused?"

His look said it was none of her business. "It's all worked out." He moved on down the aisle.

He definitely must be sick if his absence for a quiz was excused.

But then how had he been out last night, in the waves with her, acting like a macho lunatic?

Maybe this was his parents' way to keep them separated, except that they didn't know he'd snuck out last night.

A lead lump in her belly told her something was off.

She should go check on him. She could go to his house and knock at the front door. Even if he was sick, his parents probably went to the bookstore to work. So he would come to the door, and she would get her answers.

Except she couldn't leave campus. Swim meet tonight, and if she skipped a class they wouldn't allow her to compete. And then Coach would have more reason to murder her.

Lorelei did okay on the quiz, at least from what she could remember of her answers, compared with the ones Mr. Richards went over with them afterward. She had to do better if she wanted this to translate into the kinds of scores she needed for an Ivy League school. And she did. That's what she'd always wanted.

A sick feeling crept from her belly up her throat as she left the classroom. She sent Vardon a text, not sure what reply she was looking for. His absence was just one more thing unsettling her. She had no idea how she was going to make it through the day before the swim meet. All of these expectations weighed on her like a sixteen-story building piled directly on her sixteen-year-old shoulders. She was going to let someone down, eventually, and she had no idea which ball would be better to drop.

She couldn't drop being a selkie. That was her new reality. The sooner she got used to it, the sooner she could sort out her probably typical teenage angsty-angst.

The day went faster than expected. At lunch Lorelei rejoined her usual crew, and they didn't bother mentioning her absence the last couple of days. Who knew what they thought about Vardon....and who cared? Vardon could apparently go for an uninvited swim one night and blow off school the next day without a care in the world. Maybe selkies didn't need to graduate at all.

Well, she needed to. She had always envisioned a certain kind of life, and this was not going to change her.

She dutifully attended all of her classes, but her focus wavered between the material and the churn of her thoughts.

In art she stared out the window, until Emily gave her a tap on the shoulder and the raised eyebrows.

So she drew. Her charcoal moved across the expanse of white paper almost as though it had a mind of its own. The sky, meeting the sea. Clouds and waves and _movement_.

Emily gasped. "That's really good, Lori."

"Felt good, too," Lorelei said, staring at the charcoal drawing that had just emerged from her unsuspecting hand. Her mind flashed to the painting in the living room, the amazingly vibrant paint, the feeling of movement...was this a finfolk gift?

She pressed the charcoal down on the table until it cracked. She stared at the pieces. Lifting one, she smeared it across the page, blocking out the drawing that had surprised her. She blackened the page, until her fingers were covered with charcoal.

"Class is over, Lori," Emily said softly, eying the easel in front of her. "Come on, hon."

Lorelei followed her.

Time to eat.

Then to stretch and warm up.

Then to swim.

With everything scheduled for her, the minutes flew.

The meet was the last of the regular season. Next week was regionals. Depending on their performance tonight, regionals could be the last meet of the season. If they did well, they might rank in state and take the competition to Olympia. All of this had been very exciting for Lorelei two weeks ago. Now...today? She couldn't care less.

But she took her place.

At the hiss of a whistle she dove, she swam her human-shaped heart out. She won.

It felt good, and the adrenaline helped to block all thought of the last few days. The moment was what mattered.

Another whistle, another win.

Just like that, she was done with her regular season. All she could do now was wait to see the results of her hard work, the whole team's hard work.

The adrenaline faded. Lorelei felt like her body was on autopilot, but this autopilot was a pretty decent model. Coach looked happy. Her teammates looked happy, even Haeley, for the moment.

"We're all going for pizza," Haeley told her as they walked out of the locker room. "You coming?"

"She can't. I'm taking her out to celebrate," Dad spoke from behind Lorelei's shoulder. Relief flooded her – she couldn't pretend everything was normal much longer.

"Hey, thanks Dad. Did Grandma Shaye come?"

"She was here for a minute, now she's back at the car. Let's get going."

"Later, guys," Lorelei waved to the other members of the team. "Thanks, Dad," she whispered.

He put an arm around her shoulder, hugging her against his side. "You did really well, Lorelei. I know it can't have been easy to focus with so much going on."

"I didn't feel focused at all."

"Doesn't matter," he told her. "You looked it. You did great."

"Thanks, Dad. Listen...you said something about celebrating, but I have something I have to do."

"What's that?"

"Check on Vardon. He hasn't been at school the past two days. He missed our calc quiz this morning."

"I'm sure he's worked it out with the school."

"It just feels fishy with everything going on. Monday..." She could not talk to her dad about Monday. He'd blow a gasket.

"I know you're friends. And he's the only selkie you know who is near your age. I guess it's normal for you to want to be friends with him."

Dad was saying friends about every other word, which gave it away as his major worry. That she was going from friends to more than friends.

"I like him, Dad. And I'm worried about him."

He was silent for a moment, his eyes on hers. "Okay, so go check on him. If Crystal Caster gets on you about it, you let me know." His eyes narrowed dangerously.

For the first time since calculus, when she saw Vardon's empty chair, Lorelei felt a spark of energy flicker and take hold, livening her limbs and quickening her stride.

"Be home by ten, Lorelei!" her father called as she yanked open the door of her Jetta and hopped in.

No problem. That was almost three hours from now. She was only going to check on him. She'd probably be home by eight, because nothing was wrong. It was just her paranoia after far too many revelations in recent days. And her confusion and annoyance over his behavior last night. What the heck was going on with Vardon? She was about to find out.

She parked her car outside Vardon's house and rushed to the door. If she delayed, she'd talk herself out of it.

Her first knock went unanswered, but at the second knock, the door swung open. Lorelei looked up, and up, to find a man who looked like an older version of Vardon, except much taller. They shared many features – the nose, the strong jaw. And the eyes, but the father's were hard.

"Yes?" he queried, his stern eyes on her face. Then they widened, and he said, "Oh. You're Lorelei."

"Yeah. Is Vardon here?" Lorelei was finding it hard to meet his eyes through that glare.

"No. He's in the hospital. A car accident."

"What? When was this?"

"Two nights ago—"

"Is he okay?" Lorelei cut him off, her heart lurching in her chest.

"Banged up, but he's okay. Awake and alert and everything. His mother is down there right now." He shoved a hand through his wavy dark hair. "Look, you should go. If Crystal sees you here, she's not going to be happy."

"I'm going. Tell Vardon I'm thinking about him, okay?" She walked back to her car, his eyes boring holes through her shoulder blades. Why did she get the feeling they blamed her for the accident?

Add it to the list of things to worry about. Actually, scratch that. She wasn't going to worry. She hadn't done anything wrong in any of this. She had a certain nature. It had been kept from her, and she'd been a good little girl while trying to figure out what in the world it meant for the life she wanted.

She had nothing to feel bad about, and nothing to worry about.

Lorelei backtracked into the tiny city center, to the small, two-floor hospital. She parked the Jetta in visitor's parking, and rushed inside. She slowed down respectfully at the doors, and waited patiently for the nurse at the reception station to end her phone call.

"Can I help you, hon?" another nurse asked, hanging her pink sweater over the back of her chair and taking her seat.

"Uh...yeah. Thanks. Vardon Caster. I'm looking for Vardon Caster, I was told he was here?"

"Are you family?"

"No," she said, heart sinking. "I'm a friend from school."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the nurse said. "I can't tell you his room number. You'll have to ask the family." She turned her attention to the blinking switchboard.

"Okay. Thank you." Lorelei moved toward the door, wanting to hug herself.

Crystal Caster appeared on the other side of the two sets of automatic double doors, coming back from the parking lot. Crap. Lorelei was in no shape for this confrontation. If only the shadow of the pillar next to the door would swallow her up, she wouldn't have to face the wrath of Vardon's mom.

Lorelei clung to the wall, hoping Crystal wouldn't notice her. Somehow, she got lucky. Crystal was on the phone. As she walked by, Lorelei made out a snatch of the conversation. "No, that isn't what I mean at all! I have no proof that the girl is involved, but her presence here – her father's presence here – can it be tolerated?"

Pretty obvious who Crystal was fed up with. Lorelei narrowed her eyes. The woman was not going to succeed in driving the Dorians from Anacortes.

Taking a chance at Crystal's distraction, Lorelei moved out of the shadows, and followed her to the stairs. She sidled up silently, staying a flight below Crystal, and waited for her to leave the stairwell for the upstairs hall. She jogged to catch up, and crept from the stairwell as a door whooshed shut farther down the hall.

The hospital wasn't exactly bustling at this hour, and Lorelei managed to avoid notice as she inched down the hall. She stopped outside the door she'd seen close, and heard the low hum of Crystal Caster's voice. So, this was Vardon's room. Now to wait out his mom and see for herself how Vardon was faring.

It took a while. Lorelei was about to step away to grab a brownie or something from the vending machine downstairs, when Vardon's door opened and she stilled, her pulse suddenly pounding as she hoped against hope that Crystal wouldn't notice her.

She didn't. She walked toward the stairwell, and into it. Lorelei waited another couple of minutes, sure that Crystal would be back as soon as Lorelei had moved toward Vardon's room. But she didn't return.

Lorelei looked around as she walked to Vardon's door, but neither the nurse on duty at the station nor the janitor mopping up seemed to notice her presence. She turned the knob and stepped inside, holding her breath.

His eyes were closed. One arm was bandaged from shoulder to hand, with just his fingers poking out. His chest was also bandaged, and a purplish blue bruise radiated out from his cheekbone. The bandages moved as he breathed steadily, and Lorelei reminded herself to breathe, too.

He opened his eyes and spotted her. "Lorelei? Hey." He went to sit up, the idiot, and then leaned back again, the air rushing from his lungs.

"Don't move!" she warned him. "Hi. What happened to you?"

"Car accident."

"The most likely cause of death for an Anacortes teen." She said the words before she thought them through, and the silence grew between them as he stared at her.

"A human teen, maybe. I'll heal up quick enough."

"Oh, is that the case?"

"No one told you yet? Yeah, we heal faster than humans, and we can heal from worse injuries. It's a perk." He tore his eyes from hers and looked toward the window. "I don't know what happened. It's not like the roads were slick. I wasn't driving fast."

"So...how long are you going to be in here?"

"I'm getting checked out tomorrow, but I won't be going back to school for another week or so."

"You missed a calc quiz."

"Uh, yeah. Not so worried about that."

"How did you get out of here last night? This doesn't make any sense," Lorelei grumped, frowning.

"Last night? What are you talking about?" He grimaced as he shifted in bed. "I was here all night."

"No, I went for a swim and you met me in the waves."

"I wish." He grinned, but then he sobered. "Are you serious? Look at me. I didn't go anywhere last night."

If it hadn't been Vardon... "Then who was that in the water with me?" Lorelei stood up fast, knocking over the slight plastic chair as she did.

"Lorelei...what made you think it was me?"

"He looked like you. It was definitely a him. I was honestly pissed at you, because you acted all needy, like you wanted—" She cut herself off. Oh, so gross. She'd only let that seal close because she thought it was Vardon. She was so lucky she'd gotten out of there when she had. She paled at the thought.

"What? Did he try something?" Vardon's voice was low. Dangerously low.

"He tried. I took off. Like I said, I was pissed. I got around him and lit for shore, shifted, and went home. He didn't follow me."

"I am so sorry." He reached for her hand with his good one, and she gripped his fingers. It hadn't been him. Relief flooded her, a warmth replacing the chill that had filled her all day. "I would never hurt you, Lorelei."

The way he said her name. She loved the way he said her name. Like she was precious.

"I didn't think you would." She drew a shaky breath, her fingers still entwined with his. "I'm so glad it wasn't you."

He was silent for a moment. Then he squeezed her fingers. "But who was it?"

She shook her head.

"Can you do something for me?" he asked quietly.

She looked him in the eye, hoping she could say yes but not willing to promise anything.

"Don't go out alone until I'm out of here, okay? I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to you."

She nodded. That she could do.

# Chapter Sixteen

Vardon was awake far too early, listening to the creak of the food cart start way down the hall. It would be a bit before the orderly could get to him with breakfast, which made his stomach rumble unhappily.

He stared at the window, wishing he could open the blinds. But he was stuck in this damn bed.

Stuck in here when things were happening outside.

What Lorelei had told him last night had haunted him every minute since. He couldn't afford to be out of commission.

She'd seen his seal form. Sure, it had been dark, but she'd seemed pretty sure it had been him. He couldn't believe she'd thought him capable of what she'd described, but he was ridiculously grateful she'd been ready to protect herself, even against someone she thought she knew. Because if anything happened to Lorelei, he would be crushed.

He felt the weight of it in his chest, and it worried him. It had been all well and good to imagine getting close to Lorelei, but this feeling wasn't all good. It was beauty, mixed up with horror in some sort of callous blender. Now that he really cared for her, he couldn't help but worry for her, especially after what she'd said last night.

Who had attacked her in the water?

His mind flashed to a tall figure, standing in the low light in the middle of the two-lane road. In a flash, he recalled swerving to avoid the man in the road.

He cut off the memory before the impact, breathing hard. Sweat broke out on his skin. Oh, shit. Now he remembered.

Shaking, he reached for the cell phone on the small table next to his hospital bed. He let it ring four times, but hung up before the voicemail. His parents weren't home. He tried the bookstore, but it kept ringing there, too.

He stared back at the window. He wanted to see what was going on outside. He frowned and lifted his bandaged arm slightly. Wincing, he lowered it again.

"What can it hurt?" he said bravely to the empty room. He swiveled in the bed, lifting the arm again but bearing the pain until he could swing his legs over the side. He gave himself a moment and made a Plan B in case the worst happened and he tumbled to the floor. He stuffed the cell in his bandages and went for it, rising unsteadily to his feet.

Damn it. That hurt.

He shuffled forward until he reached the window, a satisfied grin stretching his bruised face uncomfortably. He lifted his good hand and adjusted the shades to an angle that would suffice from his bed.

He heard the door and started to turn, but he moved too fast and lost his balance, one leg slipping out from under him. Double shit.

"Vardon!" Mom's hand grasped his elbow before he actually fell. " _What_ do you think you are doing?"

"I just wanted to open the window."

"Get back in bed." She steered him that direction, her frown only lifting when he was safely ensconced under the blankets. He rolled his eyes, making sure she saw it.

"Now." She took a deep breath as she settled into the plastic chair next to his bed. "How are you this morning?"

"Better, I think. Listen, Mom. I'm glad you're here. I tried you at home and at the store."

Her eyes narrowed as she took in his words, like she was trying to diagnose the problem before he could tell her. She leaned forward. "What is it?"

"Lorelei visited last night."

"What? Your father told me she came to the house, but I didn't think she'd be brave enough to show up here."

"Why?" he asked, the anger seeping into his tone despite his good intentions. "Because you don't like her, so you think she'll stay away from me?"

She didn't answer for a moment, just watched his face with those narrowed eyes, like she was waiting for him to take back the challenge. "Yes. That's what I expect. I also expect that _my son_ will obey and heed my wishes. Am I clear?"

"You're making yourself clear, but I'm not inclined to listen." Yes, he was feeling stubborn. And after what Lorelei had told him, he wasn't going to lie to his mother about seeing her anymore. He needed Mom's help to understand what was happening here. He had to make her understand.

"I can't believe you'd speak to me this way."

"I'm just trying to be honest. I like Lorelei, and she likes me. You haven't given her half a chance." He shifted and bit his lip to keep from moaning from the pain. She was right, he shouldn't have gotten out of bed just now. But at least he understood the extent of his mobility now. It was nonexistent.

"Don't push yourself, Vardon." Mom's tone had softened, and she put her head in her hands, a gesture that meant she was trying to regain calm before speaking again.

"Lorelei said she saw me in the water the other night. After the accident."

Mom met his eyes, dropping her hands to her lap. "In the water? As a seal? How does she know your seal shape, Vardon?" Her voice was panicked now, and he knew he had to fess up fast.

"I took her in the water on Monday. Her first swim as a seal."

"You _what?_ " Mom screeched. "After I specifically forbade you from seeing the girl, you swam with her?"

He didn't answer, just met her eyes and waited for her next move.

"It's only been a handful of days since you started running around with this girl, and look at you, Vardon."

"That's not fair. The accident had nothing to do with Lorelei," he protested.

"Didn't it? I went up there the day after, to where you went off the road. The smell of finfolk is all over the place. So tell me again that it has nothing to do with Lorelei."

That put a horrible spin on what he'd meant to tell her, about the man in the road. "Are you saying...her father?"

"No. It wasn't him. But the Dorians are the only reason the finfolk would have for being here, in Anacortes."

He tried to shrug and winced again. "That's not her fault."

Mom threw up her hands, exasperated. "Sounds like you have all the answers, and you're going to do what you're going to do." She set her jaw, gave him a withering glare, and left the room.

She would come around. He wasn't changing his mind.

It was rare for Lorelei to crave the weekend. She'd always liked school, but by Friday morning, she'd had enough. She lay in bed long after the alarm, wishing she could just skip today. That wasn't her style, though.

She pushed it as long as she could, and then hurried to shower and dress. She didn't see anyone as she left, and no one forced her to eat breakfast, so she should be on time.

Lorelei eyed the turnoff to Vardon's house as she drove by, wondering how he was doing now that he was home. She'd find out tonight. She'd promised she would bring his school work.

The parking lot was almost full, and she wove around to the back to park.

There, at the entrance by the gym, Haeley stood on tiptoe in a lip-lock with...Dean? The pizza guy? Ew, he was way old for her.

Lorelei watched for a moment, but this was no casual peck. They seemed to know each other pretty well. And there was his truck, at the curb. Was he dropping her off?

A knot the size of an apple unsettled Lorelei's stomach as she turned down the row to park.

She got out, but by then Dean had pulled away from the curb. He didn't spot her, and Haeley must have gone inside.

Lorelei considered her toes as she walked to the entrance, taking her time. She didn't want to talk to Haeley just now.

With all that had been happening, Lorelei had assumed that Haeley was upset because Lorelei couldn't tell her everything. But it turned out Haeley was keeping secrets of her own. Lorelei just hoped things between Haeley and way-too-old Dean weren't as serious as they'd looked.

Were they best friends, or weren't they? A person filled their best friend in on certain details about life...especially if they were having sex with the detail. Right?

Haeley was long gone by the time Lorelei got inside, and she managed to avoid her for the whole school day. Until practice. Otherwise known as the moment of truth. Should she tell Haeley she saw her outside with Dean? Lorelei struggled with herself.

"Hello? Earth to Lorelei Dorian!" Emily waved a hand in front of Lorelei's face and she and Haeley both giggled.

"What? Oh." Lorelei put one hand to her temple. They both stared as the awkward silence drew on. Screw it; she wasn't going to talk to Haeley. She couldn't handle the confrontation right now, there was just too much on her mind.

"Are you feeling okay? You've seemed all spaced out today," Emily said.

"No, I'm not feeling that great."

"Maybe Coach will send you home."

"Not likely," Lorelei answered. "I'd have to be hospitalized for Coach to excuse me from practice."

They both giggled, and Lorelei joined them half-heartedly.

"What's all this?" Haeley asked, gesturing to the extra bag with Vardon's school stuff.

"Vardon missed school the past few days. I'm taking him some make-up work later."

"Oh, are you now?" Haeley drawled. "What is going on with you two? You've been totally silent on the subject."

Seriously? Haeley was going to call her out _today_ for being silent about a guy?

"Yeah, there's not much to tell," she answered. It was close to true. There wasn't much she could tell.

Haeley narrowed her eyes, but she let it drop.

Practice wasn't terrible. She was once again accustomed to being in the pool as a human, without feeling like she was missing a huge, important piece of herself.

She went straight to Vardon's after practice.

Vardon's car was the only one in the driveway. A soft, misting rain fell, coating everything in tiny droplets that danced in the porch lights. The night was cool, but the cloud cover had prevented it from getting too cold. A good night for a walk.

A good night for a swim.

Lorelei huffed out an annoyed breath. She should be able to swim if she darn well pleased. But she couldn't. Not while some creep was out there, with her on his radar.

She grabbed her bag, and the extra bag with Vardon's work, and set off through the mist. Eyes skyward, she let it fall on her face for a moment, chilling her out.

She wiped the small drops of rain from her face as she rang the bell.

It took a minute for someone to answer, but she could hear movement, so she tried for patience.

When Vardon finally opened the door, he had a huge grin in place beneath that terrible purplish bruise, which had started to fade to green at the edges.

"I don't think I'd be smiling if I were you."

"I'm happy you came. And I have a favor to ask."

She tilted her head and considered him, returning the smile. "Oh, yeah? Bringing your work isn't enough?"

"I really appreciate it. But no one's been home since lunchtime – Mom has to cover my usual Friday shift at the store," he said over his shoulder as he hobbled back to the couch. It was painful to watch; it must be awful to endure. "I'm going a little crazy with boredom and starvation, but all the good stuff is on high shelves."

Lorelei laughed. "You want me to get you a snack? That's easy." She hung her coat on a spare peg in the entry and headed toward the kitchen. "Which shelves?"

"To the left of the window. I think there are some cookies in there."

There were. Lorelei was too short and grabbed a chair to stand on. There were also Cheetos, which she grabbed. And the fridge held a few Sprites.

Her arms full of snack goods, she returned to the living room post haste.

"Yes! Victory!" Vardon pumped his good fist in the air as she tossed him the Cheetos, and then grimaced.

Lorelei opened one of the sodas for him and passed it along. "Hey, thanks. I can always use a good snack after practice."

He guffawed, digging into the Cheetos. "This doesn't qualify as a _good_ snack, but I hear you."

She kicked off her shoes and sat back in a chair, pulling her legs up under her and cracking her own Sprite. She picked up a cookie, a little surprised at how comfortable she felt with him.

He gestured toward the bags she'd brought. "My study stuff?"

"Only half of it, the other bag is mine."

"Did you plan on studying?"

"I didn't know what you'd want to do."

"Well, I say there's the weekend for studying. It's Friday, and I'm bored. Want to play XBox?"

She grinned. "I'm no good at vids, since I spend my days in the real world...but sure. Sounds fun."

"You'll have to do set-up, because I'm—"

"Outta commission. Got it. Where's the dealio?"

He pointed to a small cabinet at the bottom of a bookshelf. She opened it and found a mess of wires. She glared over her shoulder at him. "I'm guessing you're the only one who gets in here?"

He half-shrugged, leaving the bad arm out of it, and kept devouring Cheetos.

Despite his injury, Vardon proceeded to beat her repeatedly at the racing game of his choice. She finally flung the controller after a particularly egregious loss, and turned to face him. "I should probably go."

"Yeah, before my parents come home."

"So they still don't like me?"

"Does your dad like me any better?" he asked with one brow raised.

"It's not fair. Neither of us did anything."

"It's because of what we _are_ not what we did. And you're right. Not fair."

"Because you're selkie, and I'm this strange mixey thing?"

He looked her firmly in the eyes. "You're not strange, Lorelei."

She blinked at him. "Oh, yeah? Point to the next person who is one-quarter human, one-quarter evil mermaid, and half seal-shifter."

"Evil mermaid?"

She waved him off.

"That's what you're calling the finfolk?"

Another blink, since that was pretty obvious. She changed the subject. "Are you back to school on Monday?"

"Yeah. The doctor was shocked when he examined me before release. I couldn't get it pushed out any further." He stretched his good arm behind his head, grinning at her. "Come back tomorrow, okay? I'm getting really bored, and beating you at vids was fun."

She shoved his good shoulder lightly. "Are we risking parental contact if I come tomorrow?"

"They should be at the store until four or so. Lorelei," he grabbed her hand, and kissed her fingers. "I'll risk it."

The look he gave her was new, she thought, her mind clouded with the oddest combination of eagerness and shyness. And she liked it.

# Chapter Seventeen

Lorelei had hardly been seen at the vet clinic since she'd found out about the selkie, finfolk stuff. In an odd turn for a Saturday morning, she wasn't in any mood for the library, and the clinic was sure to be quiet this early in the day.

Surprisingly, there was another car in the parking lot, even at seven on a Saturday. Amy's car.

Lorelei rested her head on her steering wheel. Seriously? Was drama following her for some reason? Improving her karma was becoming a _must_.

But she was here now, and she wasn't going to be scared off from her dad's business. She'd just stay out of Amy's way and then skedaddle before she had to talk to her, like a mysterious cage-cleaning fairy.

Her key unlocked the front door, but the strip across the jamb gave a _briiiiiiiiing_ as she entered. So much for being quiet.

Sure enough, Amy popped her head out of the office area not two seconds later, her eyebrows gathered up into this surprised but sweet expression. "Lorelei?" she queried. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh...hi, Amy. I clean the cages and do other odd chores most weeks here...I haven't been in much lately, though. Thought I'd make up a little time."

"Okay, well, nice to see you." She gave a questioning look that made Lorelei feel it wasn't such a pleasant thing after all. "Let me know if you need anything."

Need anything? She'd been working here since she could lift a broom. It was her dad's place, after all. Unable to swallow her ire at the comment, Lorelei said. "Okay. Just so I know what questions you might have answers to...what is your job here exactly?"

Amy smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm keeping the books, Lorelei. Your dad was trying to talk to you about it over dinner the other night...but I can tell you don't like me much, so you weren't listening."

Whoa. Petulant.

Lorelei backed up to the wall, and leaned there. Apparently it was time to have this little girl talk. So much for a quiet Saturday morning. "It isn't that I don't like you."

"You've barely said two words to me, and you leave the room as soon as I enter." Amy pinned her with a look that said she wasn't getting out of this...confrontation, or whatever it was.

"I'm sorry if it feels that way. I just have a lot going on—"

"Typical thing for a teen to think, but you should be more considerate of your father." Amy leaned on the desk, gathering her lecturing mojo like a true non-parent. "He doesn't date much, does he?"

Lorelei wasn't about to answer that. But Dad wasn't going to like it if she and Amy didn't get along. For all she knew, the woman wouldn't be around long at all. Best to be civil since Dad actually seemed to like this person. For some reason.

"I'll try to be more open, Amy. Sorry if I've made you feel unwelcome."

She smiled softly. "Thanks for the apology, Lorelei." She stood from the reception desk, moving far too close like she was about to wrap Lorelei in an embrace. "I know we can get along."

She did, in fact, lean in for that embrace. Chilled, Lorelei let herself be hugged.

"Hey!" Amy said, a new light in her eyes. "I just invited your dad to take the ferry out to Orcas Island next weekend. You should come with us!"

That's where they'd lived when she was small, with Mom. The idea of going there with this woman was repulsive. "Uh...I'll talk to him about it." Surely not. She was absolutely not going to be alone with the two of them for a day trip while they made eyes at each other and Amy tried to prove how step-mommish she could be. No! But she kept smiling. "I'm going to get to those cages now...swim practice in less than two hours."

"You sure do keep busy."

Lorelei nodded, and took off for the back. Gosh that had been awkward.

She did what little needed to be done around the clinic, and Amy left her in peace while she worked. In the middle of the whacky whirlwind of the last couple of weeks, Dad's new girlfriend was getting oddly attached. Fast. She could only hope her father had more sense than Amy. A girlfriend was the last complication he needed right now.

Correction, it was the last complication _Lorelei_ needed right now. She could only handle so many at once.

With coach still happy after her success at the meet, practice was fun. A good distraction, and the physical exertion left her feeling more centered than she had in a while. If she couldn't swim in the sea, she could at least get in the pool and enjoy it.

Back in her car, she grinned as she set out for Vardon's. Today she'd make him study before he beat her at video games.

But as she pulled up outside his house, she almost kept driving. His mom was home. Maybe she should come back later?

She grimaced. All of this sneakiness was really not like her, and it made her uncomfortable. Isn't that the reason parents freaked out over their kids dating? The secrecy and the potential for major mistakes, all while hiding your actual activities from the parents, denying them the opportunity to save you from yourself?

"Damn it."

Lorelei parked, and for the second time today she steeled herself for a coming confrontation. With a deep breath that her lungs didn't want to give up, she headed for the door.

Crystal exited at the same moment Lorelei stepped up the porch steps. At least Vardon wouldn't have to see this.

"You," was all Vardon's mom could find to say when she saw Lorelei there.

"Yeah...Vardon promised he'd study today if I stopped by again." Did that sound kiss-ass, or what?

To her surprise, Crystal laughed. Then she raked her fingers through her hair and gave Lorelei her full consideration for the first time ever.

"He told me you visited the hospital."

"I would have gone earlier, but I didn't know he'd been in an accident."

"Two weeks ago you didn't even know each other. Why would you have visited him?" She didn't say it with suspicion, but the question still made Lorelei uncomfortable. How in the world could she answer?

"I can't really answer that for myself...so..." She shrugged. "We've actually known each other for years, though, you know."

"Sure, you've been classmates. But few of your class have ever tried to know Vardon."

The accusation there was clear. Another shrug was Lorelei's only answer.

Crystal sighed.

"How's he doing?"

"Recovering. Too quickly, in my opinion. He's ridiculously cocky, just like any teen male, and just like his father...Now I have to worry about him reinjuring himself."

"I won't let him do anything stupid while I'm here."

Crystal tilted her head to the side, a sardonic expression taking over. "Stupid like taking you in the ocean for the first time?"

Lorelei's blood turned to ice. "He told you about that?"

Crystal smiled at Lorelei's expression. "Yeah. He told me. He seems to think you're in some sort of danger. But I can't kick the suspicion that you are the danger."

"A danger to Vardon? How?"

She didn't answer directly. After a long pause, she said, "I'm inclined to believe that you really don't know. Has your father spoken to you about the finfolk?"

Lorelei shook her head. "Very little."

"Talk to him, Lorelei. I don't think we need any more surprises." And with a final firm look, she swept down the steps and clicked the hand-held fob to open her car door.

Well...that hadn't gone as badly as Lorelei had expected. No yelling. No threats. And no order off the premises.

Lorelei gave a quick knock at the door, but then pushed it open to avoid Vardon having to get up.

"Hey, stranger!" he declared from the couch. His bandages were off, and he wore a t-shirt that read _WICKED STRANGE_. "Come back for another beating?" He held up the game controller nestled in his lap.

"Looks like you've been playing plenty of games. You're out of the bandages already?"

"Super fast selkie healing. I'm nearly right as rain."

"You just cracked your ribs and broke your arm five days ago."

"Do you see why I couldn't go to school in that cast? I'd show up on Monday without it and wig people out."

Huh. Now that was a useful ability. She set down the bags she was carrying. "Time for calculus."

"Uh...I have no brain for calculus today."

"Who cares? Time to work." Lorelei took off her jacket and dropped it on a chair, then promptly sat on it. She waved off the controller he tried to pass her again, opening her school bag.

"You never rest, do you?"

"Of course I do. Healthy sleep, each and every night. Except for the dreams, of course." She hadn't meant to say that, and the mention gave her this odd sense of vulnerability, like he could see the dreams that haunted her sleep. But he didn't notice her discomfort, since he was trying to evade calculus.

"One game, and then the studying."

She set her mouth in a firm line.

He threw his head back dramatically, and gave her a look from beneath his lowered eyelids that made her skin feel warm and her heartbeat accelerate.

Yes, studying. Studying was good. Studying was safe.

She cracked her book, and waited for him to follow suit, which he did with deliberate slowness. He let out a loud breath. "Fine. You're cruel, but fine."

"You're not going to think it's cruel when you're able to catch right up," she said cheerily.

"Yeah, that's tomorrow. I care more about today."

"You're such a grump."

He closed his eyes and twisted his face – which she realized she'd come to know well – into a scowl. Then he popped his eyes open and grinned at her. "Did it work?"

"Nope. Still studying. Maybe it'll make you feel better to know that your mom let me in on the condition that I was here to help you study...?"

He sat a little straighter. "Let's get to it. If I still have a good grade in calc after this, she'll have you to thank and then she won't bug us."

Lorelei laughed. She scooted her chair closer to where he sat on the couch, and filled him in on what they'd learned last week.

If she was lucky for once, maybe it would be as simple as that, and the awkwardness with Crystal Caster was in the past.

"Lorelei, is that you?" Grandma Shaye called from the kitchen as Lorelei hung up her coat in the entry on Sunday evening. She'd been studying at the library all afternoon, trying to convince herself she was still the same girl who consistently placed at the top of her classes. She'd never had to force herself to focus before. It was throwing her off.

"Yeah, it's me. Hope I'm who you're waiting for, because whatever you're making smells wonderful!"

"I'm getting a start on tonight's chicken and dumplings. Want to help with the salad?"

Lorelei joined her grandmother in the kitchen. In a few short days, Grandma Shaye had turned it into her domain. Odd how natural it felt to have her here, when she'd never stayed longer than a day in the past. Would she and Dad continue to get along after the initial crisis of introducing Lorelei to her heritage?

Lorelei took stock of the available veggies, and was about to set to chopping when Grandma shook her head.

"It's early yet...I'm hoping we'll have time for a swim before dinner, so I'm not adding the dumplings until we're back. You can make the salad then."

Lorelei spun to grin at her. "Seriously? A swim sounds wonderful."

"I've been meaning to go out with you, but you have the most complicated schedule of any teenager, ever."

"That can't be true."

"I think it's true." Grandma finished mixing the dumpling dough, and stuck it in the fridge to wait. She smiled at her granddaughter. "Let's go while we have our chance."

They each retrieved their skins and met again at the foot of the stairs. In companionable silence, they started down the trail to the beach.

Despite her age, Grandma Shaye's figure was trim and fit, as Lorelei couldn't help but see when they paused at the last bend in the trail to drop their clothes and tie their sealskins. She wondered what her mother looked like now. She could remember being held in those arms...barely. It had been too long for the details to remain.

Lorelei let the sadness that crept up tinge her view...for a moment. Then she shook it off. If her mother couldn't handle a relationship with her, she would survive.

Grandma Shaye smelled the air, and then turned and looked back up the trail toward the house. "Huh," she said. "I swear I just smelled your father."

Lorelei laughed. "Does he smell that bad? I can't tell what you mean."

"You've lived with his scent, and to a certain extent you carry it, so I'm not surprised you can't tell."

"But he's not here now."

"I know," she said, puzzled. "I must have imagined it."

Lorelei's heart was thudding in her chest as she followed Grandma Shaye to the edge of the rocky shoreline.

A raft of sea-kelp floated a few feet offshore, bobbing in the water.

Lorelei gave herself over to the change, holding her seal shape in mind, and felt her form begin to morph. The liquidity was unsettling, but before she had time to ponder it that phase had passed, and she slipped into the water as a seal. The water rippled near her as Grandma Shaye did the same.

Not a moment had passed before a yelp next to her made her turn to see what had happened to Grandma Shaye. Had she slipped or something?

The deep gray seal next to her held nose aloft, out of the water, and then gave that yelp again.

Lorelei dove for deeper water, unable to tell what message Grandma Shaye meant her to take from that.

And as soon as she had, a big shape knocked into her left side, shoving her away from the floating kelp.

Ouch! Grandma!

With a braying noise Lorelei didn't like at all, Grandma swam back to shore, and Lorelei watched as the shift took her over.

"Lorelei!" she shouted as soon as her human voice was capable. "Get out of there!"

Lorelei surged for the rocks, picturing her human shape at the same time. She shifted still in deep water and swam the last yards in her human shape, the waves pummeling her as she reached the shore.

"What? What is it?"

"That was not kelp." Grandma Shaye pointed.

Lorelei turned back toward the water and realized the floating raft of kelp had disappeared. Where had it gone? "What was it?"

"Finfolk. Lorelei...that was one of your father's kind."

# Chapter Eighteen

She had seemed so alone when he'd watched her over the months. She always came to the beach alone. She sat by herself and considered the sea.

She was going to be his family.

He was going to give her the family she needed.

So what was this? More of her seal kin?

They could not have Lorelei. She was meant for him, and him alone.

Never had he felt such ill will toward another. Violence burned in his blood. He wanted to maim, and to kill. To end the selkies who thought they could claim Lorelei for themselves. They would not stand in his way.

Her seventeenth birthday was only a few days away.

Lorelei would be his.

Clay dove deep, his finfolk form longer than any human. He sped into the depths of the sea.

His nose warned him of the other before he saw him. The arrogant warrior Oberon, his pale hair afloat around his face as he stopped in the water, facing Clay. He made no motion of acknowledgement and Clay seethed with anger he would not speak of. He was a prince of their people, and Oberon a simple warrior.

_You follow me?_ Clay demanded, mind to mind.

The warrior shrugged. _I swim where I like. You are often away these days._

Clay met his impudent stare – he would not be cowed or questioned by Oberon.

Too close. This was far too close for another of the finfolk. Clay would have to take care in the coming days. If Oberon found Lorelei, he could cause trouble that Clay did not need, ignoble bloodline or no.

Oberon said no more, and Clay left him brooding. The worst he could do for Lorelei would be to try to force Oberon away. Then he'd know there was something in the San Juan Islands that drew Clay's interest.

When he had gained the requisite speed, Clay pictured Finfolkaheem, the golden paradise below the waves. For one like him, to wish to be there was to be there. In the distance stood the castle, and the people, that Clay would one day rule.

If he had a mate.

Finfolk did not rule alone. It was always a mated pair that rose up from the best lineage. Without a mate, one could not rule the finfolk.

He would be the alpha among his people. He would show them the way into a new age. With Lorelei by his side, not even the seals would stand against them.

They could regain the ground stolen by humanity.

They could sink the wastrel ships that dared cross their waters.

They could sever and sink the pipelines the humans used to steal the blood of the planet.

They could lay waste to all the impurities that had been foisted on their homeland for the past century.

The finfolk needed him. They needed Lorelei. They needed the next generation of leaders.

And so it was that Clay returned to his seabed home, the golden Finfolkaheem, full of righteous anger. He could live with that, he was used to it. And he would only have to wait a few days longer to claim his bride.

"Peter?" Grandma called as she shoved the patio door open and crossed the threshold.

He came out of the kitchen. "I wondered where you two were – you've been busy in here." Dad stopped talking when he saw the look on Grandma's face.

"Peter, I'm so glad you're here. You have to come with me." Grandma Shaye pointed the way back to the beach.

Lorelei stepped back, about to join them, but Grandma Shaye stood in her path. "Not you, Lorelei. Go inside and work on dinner. We'll be back in a flash."

Her words were bright, but the underlying tone was rushed and full of fear. Lorelei could practically smell it. It was a tone she could not argue with.

Inside, Lorelei watched the beach trail from the kitchen window. She left only to retrieve a cutting board and the vegetables she'd set aside not twenty minutes ago for their salad. So much for a swim with Grandma Shaye. Lorelei was beginning to think she had no chance of a proper introduction to selkie life. There always seemed to be something in the way.

Like _one of her father's kind_.

That's what Grandma Shaye had said. She'd been scared. Terrified.

Lorelei shook her head in disbelief. What would the finfolk want with her?

Her father's dark head bobbed up the trail, and Lorelei realized her hands were shaking. She set down the knife, and rinsed them in the sink.

Dad looked angry...and exhilarated. His eyes and nostrils were stretched wide like he was still trying to capture the scent of finfolk.

Grandma Shaye walked behind him, her eyes downcast and a flush on her cheeks.

"I'll get to the bottom of it, Edeline. I promise you," Dad was saying as they came through the patio door.

"Was it one of them?" Lorelei squeaked.

"Yes," both adults said simultaneously. They glanced at each other and frowned.

Dad said, "A finfolk has followed us here. But what could they want? They've never come for me in my entire life."

"Maybe you're not who they're after." Grandma Shaye turned the pot of broth back on to heat.

Lorelei sputtered. "I repeat Dad's question: what could they want? I'm only one-quarter finfolk. I just found out about my selkie half...great freaking timing."

Dad took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "We'll figure it out."

She yanked her hand away. "And what am I supposed to do until then?"

"Stay calm, Lorelei. You're safe here."

"But not in the water. I'm not safe in the water."

She recalled the swim the other day, and Vardon swearing he hadn't been there.

Gulp.

"Dad, can finfolk change their looks so that they appear like someone familiar?"

He blanched. "Yes. It is a commonly used device among them, from what I know. Why?"

She couldn't say what she needed to without telling him she swam with Vardon the other day. Grandma shot her a look from where she was busying herself at the sink, likely thinking the same thing.

"A friend treated me really odd the other day, and then maintained they weren't there at all. It's not someone who'd usually lie to me—"

"Vardon. If it wasn't Vardon you'd have used a name," he pointed out.

"Yes."

"There are things I must show you now, Lorelei. You have to know what kind of resources this person has. You have to know how they may surface."

"Finally!"

Father and daughter exchanged glares.

"Oh, you two," Grandma Shaye whispered.

Lorelei giggled despite her worries, and Dad cracked a smile, too.

Then he spun in place and...disappeared. His clothes dropped into a loose pile on the ground.

Lorelei scooted them with her toe, assuring herself he was gone.

He reappeared at the top of the stairs while she was lifting his clothes to check for a trap door. "Hi, up here. I had to get more clothes. Left mine behind."

"That was so freaky. How have you kept that from me? I should know if you can blink out of the room, don't you think?"

"Yes, I'll stick with my seal form, thank you," Grandma Shaye said from the kitchen doorway.

"That's why I'm showing you."

Finally.

Lorelei's shoulders were practically at ear level she was so tense. "Creepy. One hundred percent creepy."

"That isn't all."

Lorelei wasn't sure she wanted to see more. And suddenly she had a wild craving for strawberries. She walked to the fridge and rummaged, but couldn't find any berries whatsoever. Heading to the front door, she shrugged into her coat and opened the door to go to the store.

"Lori?" Dad said, his voice oddly distant. "Lori!"

What had she been doing? She turned back to him. Grandma Shaye's expression was fierce behind his back. She turned back into the kitchen when she saw Lorelei's eyes on her.

"Dad? What happened?"

"What were you thinking about when you got your coat?"

Lorelei remembered with a smile. "Strawberries. I wanted strawberries." Her smile wilted. "Apparently bad enough to go out right now and get some."

He nodded.

"That was you?" A stone dropped into Lorelei's belly, making it churn and rumble. She needed to sit down. "Oh. Not good."

"I know. Finfolk possess a powerful control over illusion and the mind. I am half finfolk, and I just forced you to think about what I wanted you to think about. Imagine what one of them can do." He tilted his chin toward the sea.

The winter wind outside had nothing on the chill that crept through Lorelei at her father's words.

Grandma Shaye turned back to them, wiping tears from her eyes. "I've heard of this power. It is known as a terrible thing among the selkies. Over the centuries the finfolk have forced many of us to...to kill ourselves...walk off of cliffs and such. They do not share the seas kindly." She returned to the kitchen, and Lorelei watched her back as she filled the tea kettle and turned on the stove, her shoulders slumped.

Forced suicide? Lorelei shuddered, unable to comprehend the terror one would feel as they took that final step, unable to stop themselves.

Whoever the finfolk that was following her, they'd already shown one of these powers Dad had illustrated – the kelp raft had been an illusion, a finfolk lying in wait. For her, apparently. How long until it branched out to using this other power, and forced her to do what it wanted, whatever that was?

"There's more."

Like a fright-filled haunted house that just wouldn't end.

Dad jogged upstairs, and was back after a minute that Lorelei spent pondering her misfortune.

He carried a notebook, or a journal, holding it in front of him with a reverence that felt almost like fear. Yet there was a yearning. His eyes were warm as he passed it to his daughter.

It was heavy, and bound with a thick cord. Lorelei nudged the loose knot apart and opened it.

The windswept waves. A rocky shore. A cloud-studded sky.

A woman, in almost every drawing. Her hair moving with its own life, her essence a part of every scene.

Love.

These drawings held a love so intense that Lorelei almost felt ashamed observing it now. "This is Mom."

He nodded and lifted a hand like he would speak, but he couldn't force the words out. After a momentary struggle, he said, "This is the power I can bear least." He ruffled his hair with his right hand, the one that must have wielded the charcoal that seemed to live on these pages. Did he miss it?

"Your mother was always an incredible subject. So much life. So much beauty. And such conflict."

Lorelei could see it. The beauty and the conflict, the anxiety and depression that had ruled her mother. She glanced at the kitchen. Grandma Shaye's back was turned; she was working at the stove.

Lorelei closed the book and hugged it to her chest. "Can I keep this? Just for a while – I'll give it back."

"Sweetie, it's yours." He met her eyes, his gaze unyielding. "We made something beautiful together, your mother and I. With all the pain that we caused each other, there was also love. And we made you."

Ew. But she appreciated the sentiment. A normal girl might be crying tears of...who knew? This strange mixture of joy and apprehension – the knowledge she'd been left, abandoned, when her mother couldn't stand this life any longer. A normal girl would be crying over that, right?

Lorelei didn't have the tears. She felt the same fond yearning she'd seen on Dad's face as he came down the stairs. A wish that things could be different but the knowledge that it would never be so, all wound up with a surprising thread of forgiveness that Lorelei would not have felt capable of before now.

"Thanks, Dad." She started for the stairs, meaning to take the journal upstairs to her room.

"Lori...I wish I could say I was done. There's something else I must show you. You have to know what they're capable of."

She turned back to him, ice crawling through her veins. His tone told her this was the worst of what he'd shown her, but how could that be?

As she watched, one moment Dad stood before her, and the next it was Vardon. He wore the same jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt he'd worn the first night he came over to study.

Lorelei's eyes went wide. "Dad?"

"It's me."

He even sounded like Vardon.

_No, no, no._

"Can they take your shape, too?"

"Oh, yes. Or they could appear as Haeley, or as Grandma Shaye."

"Then how can I ever be sure...how can I trust anyone?"

He locked eyes with her.

She couldn't. That's what he was saying.

Her belly lurched, and she thought she might be sick. The pretender had already tried to be Vardon as a seal. What if it appeared next as Vardon the person?

Her head spun, like a wheel on a game show.

A code word. They needed a code word.

"Dad, if I ever ask you to confirm who you are, say 'Anacortes.' Make it the first word you speak and I'll know that you're...well...you."

"Tell Grandma Shaye, too. You can trust us, Lorelei – you have to. But whatever is going on among the finfolk, we have to be very careful, you and I. We are of their blood, but they've never placed demands on me before. I'm worried—"

"I know. I'm worried, too. I'll keep my eyes open, and try to stay out of trouble."

What else could she do?

# Chapter Nineteen

After dinner, where she'd gone over the code word and its purpose with Grandma Shaye, Lorelei grabbed her coat and went out into the evening gloom. She had to speak with Vardon tonight. Sending him a message wasn't going to cut it. She needed to see him.

It was selfish. She'd begun to depend on having him to talk to about all of this stuff. Now she could understand better why his mother didn't want Vardon talking to her. But she was going to talk to her friend. She had to hear his voice, see his smile. She had to convince herself that what she felt with him couldn't be faked or impersonated.

Every inch of the drive was familiar, but the shadows between the trees felt sinister, stretching and writhing in wait.

There were lots of lights on at Vardon's house and extra cars in the driveway. Oh, crap. Were they having a party or something? She needed to talk to Vardon, but she did not need to see Crystal or the tall dad, or any of their other possibly selkie friends.

She sat staring at the lit up house for long moments, gathering her resolve.

She walked up and rapped quickly on the front door before she lost her nerve. By the approaching shadow she thought the dad was going to answer. Sure enough, he pulled the door open still laughing over his shoulder at one of the people in the full room. A few pairs of eyes swiveled her direction as he realized who was standing there.

"Lorelei? I'm sorry, but Vardon is having a family dinner tonight."

"I need to speak with him before school tomorrow."

Crystal had peeked around the doorway from the family room, and sauntered over in time to hear her. "Whatever you need to say to Vardon, you can tell me. I'll pass on the message." She gave Lorelei a feral smile.

"It's important. It has to do with..." She met Crystal's eyes, her heart dropping at the animosity she saw there. What did this woman have against her? "My family."

Her husband wandered off, and Crystal stepped out on the porch with Lorelei, closing the door and closing off the noise of the crowd beyond.

"Have you learned something that concerns Vardon? Something about his accident?" She stood too close. Threateningly close.

"No. But we spotted a finfolk very close to our house today. My father is worried—"

"Oh, now he's worried? I ought to go back and give that man a piece of my mind!"

"Jeez. What did my dad do to you, Crystal? I don't get it. Why are you so angry with us?"

"Why am I angry?" She put her chin in her hand, pretending to think. "Could it be because he made the dangerous choice of hiding your nature from you, so that now you're coming of age without any control of your powers? Could it be that my son, and thus my entire family, has been drawn into it because he didn't bother to check with the local selkies and get to know us? We could have been family, Lorelei. I could have accepted you. But now you smell like the enemy."

"Mom!" Vardon came around from the back of the house wearing nothing but jeans in the cold winter night. Another young man stood in the yard, looking toward the sea, dressed similarly. They'd been swimming.

Lorelei bit her lip, trying not to sulk. She wanted to swim with Vardon. She watched him confront his mother, trying to ignore his partial nudity. Droplets of water still clung to his muscular shoulders, dripping from his hair.

"What's going on? Don't speak to Lorelei like that."

He stopped next to her, and she could feel his warmth even though he was barely wearing any clothes. She wanted to move closer to him, but she wasn't going to, not in front of his mother who hated her no matter what she did.

"When the girl shows up at my house in the middle of sabbat, I will say what I like to her."

"Sabbat?" Lorelei whispered to Vardon. Crap, that sounded holy. She'd walked in on their holy day?

"Just let us talk for a few. I'll be back before dessert, I promise," Vardon told her, opening the front door for her and shutting it firmly once she'd gone back inside to her guests.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

"That on Sundays our house is selkie central? Not every Sunday, but we host often. Good location." He thrust his thumb toward the sea.

His friend had gone, and there was no one else around to hear their words. At least, no one that Lorelei could see. Damn shapeshifters.

She leaned in close to him, and his eyes grew wide as he watched her face. His warmth was seductive. How was he staying so warm in this chill?

Her arms went around his waist before her brain had authorized the motion, and she snugged up against him. A whispered curse emerged from her lips, and then she was on tiptoe, stretching toward his lips.

He dipped his head and met her kiss, and the rest of the world disappeared.

_Vardon, Vardon, Vardon_ , her heart beat out a steady rhythm in his name. His lips were on hers, warm and soft. He kissed her sweetly, with zero of the urgency that ripped through Lorelei at this intimate touch. Her fingers kneaded into his naked back, and his hands came up to her shoulders, gentle and chaste.

She angled her head, and shoved his soft lips apart with her tongue. Their tongues met and dueled, and a warmth spread through Lorelei from the inside out, her blood sparked in her veins, and her fingers could not get enough of the feel of his naked skin hot under her hands.

Whoa.

They both pulled back at the same moment, Lorelei's giggle joined by Vardon's quick laughter. "Did we really just do that?"

"Yeah, we did." Why did she feel shy now, when a moment ago she'd felt so confident? "Is that okay?"

"You must be joking. I've been thinking about kissing you...for a long time."

Oh, had he? Lorelei wondered how long a time he was talking about.

All of these distractions and she'd forgotten the reason for her visit.

"Vardon, I have to talk to you."

"We're talking." His fingers moved in slow circles on her shoulders, and she knew he was thinking about kissing her again, not about her words.

She frowned. "Grandma Shaye and I saw a finfolk today, hiding in the water. Dad's been showing me stuff, all the things they can do. Vardon it's creepier than a sixty-year-old woman ogling your hot body." She gestured to his defined abs to illustrate her point.

"That's a really gross comparison. I'm going to forget my new girlfriend just said that."

Lorelei gulped. "Girlfriend?"

"That's what I want. Is it what you want?" His eyes were dark; she couldn't see their expression.

"It is. So...seriously? Like at school and everything?"

"What, I'm not good enough for your friends?" He stepped back from her and took his body heat with him, leaving her shivering.

"Vardon...it's just a surprise, that's all. I wasn't even supposed to be here tonight."

"But you are here. You needed to talk and you came to me. And you kissed me."

"All true. Stuff is just so weird right now. Can we leave the girlfriend thing on the table for like, tomorrow? I have something I need to say to you."

His face was hard in the moonlight.

"Dad showed me a finfolk power – not only can they use illusion to appear as something inanimate, but they can precisely imitate the appearance and sound of a person."

"We knew this already. He took my seal shape to get to you, right?"

"Don't you find it even scarier that he could be the one talking to me right now, and I'd have trouble knowing it? That he could be the one who just kissed me—" She cut off the words, considering his face.

"It's me, Lorelei. It's me." He moved closer again, and she stepped into his welcoming warmth with a sigh.

She whispered in his ear to avoid any unseen ears that might be listening in. "I need to be able to tell the difference. So I came up with a code word. If I ever ask you to identify yourself, say 'Anacortes' and I'll know it's you."

"Good thinking. But what if I said 'Lorelei is my girlfriend.'"

She socked him in the shoulder. "I'm serious."

"So am I. Dead serious."

She didn't like his choice of words.

Vardon pulled into the school parking lot the next morning humming to himself. Humming. Dipshit.

Life was not half-bad. Yes, he'd been in a terrible accident last week and spent time in a hospital and then way too much time recuperating under his mother's thumb at home.

But Lorelei. She made it all worth it.

His girlfriend.

She might not be ready to say it yet, but she had kissed him. He'd reminded himself _repeatedly_ of that fact last night, when it had been way too difficult to get to sleep.

Everything was turning around.

Rory had given him a talking to last night after Lorelei left. He seemed to take Mom's word for fact and believed Lorelei was trouble before he even met her. He was probably just jealous that he hadn't found a selkie girl first. Vardon had told him as much, but Rory had just scowled and said it wasn't the selkie in Lorelei that he was worried about.

Vardon shoved all that to the back of his mind. _What_ she was didn't matter. He knew _who_ Lorelei was, and that's all he cared about.

More than a few pairs of eyes turned his direction as he walked through the halls and up the stairs to calculus. He wondered how much they'd heard. Did they think he was another dumbass who'd run his car off the road through sheer negligence? Great.

Lorelei was the only one in the classroom. He watched her from the doorway, poring over notes they'd made together on Saturday.

He kissed her cheek as he sank into the chair next to her.

"Ooh, what did I just walk in on?" Shea said sarcastically from the doorway. "Dorks."

Lorelei rolled her eyes. Vardon just laughed, and took out his book.

Lorelei gave him a questioning look. He met her eyes, unabashed.

She blushed. "Quit it. I have to concentrate on math."

"You're cute when you're concentrating."

She stuck her tongue out at him and stubbornly returned to perusing her notes.

He took the hint and didn't bother her for the entire class. He was nothing but a gentleman. Reserved, with complete focus on the maths. On the outside, at least. Internally, he was going over every touch from last night, replaying them in his mind, and it was a show of will that had him pretending his mind was on chapter eighteen.

After class, Vardon took her hand as they walked out. She let him, lacing her fingers through his for maximum skin contact. Yeah, she was definitely his girl.

He grinned at her.

Shea whistled behind them, her brows raised. "The dorks are dating, people."

Two of the senior jocks from the English class next door broke into cackles and strode off the other direction, no doubt to the locker room for weight training.

Lorelei tugged him toward the stairs. "Don't listen to them. Idiots." She shook it off and snuck a look at his face. "So we're really doing this, huh?"

"We really are." The grin wouldn't let up. "No worries, Lorelei. No one even cares that much."

"Yeah, right. We haven't done this in front of my friends yet." She held up their interlocked hands. "Just wait. They have an obnoxious amount of words between them. We're gonna hear it."

"Whatever. I'll take it if it means I get to do this." He stopped her at the landing in the middle of the flight of stairs, his hand moving around to the back of her neck, under her hair, where he could swear the skin sizzled at the contact with hers. And then he was kissing her. No shy kiss like last night's had started. He made it count.

When they broke contact, a catcall brought him back to reality. But Lorelei's eyes were warm as they jogged down the rest of the stairs. Warm in a way that left him thinking of her all through his next class.

So much for concentration on his first day back at school. He couldn't focus on anything but Lorelei.

# Chapter Twenty

Lorelei gripped her sealskin to her chest, still in the warmth of her Jetta, parked at the beach by Vardon's house.

Yesterday afternoon, as they stalled in the foyer before her swim practice, he'd secured her promise that she'd swim with him this morning. He would keep his nose alert for any sign of finfolk. She still hadn't told her dad she was going. It wasn't a good sign. She only avoiding telling him stuff that he'd get mad about or tell her not to do.

She knew the danger.

She also knew that the last thirty-six hours she'd come alive.

Vardon had done that, with a simple kiss.

Sure, she was still thinking a lot about how rocked her world was by the selkie and finfolk revelations. But now she had something else to focus on. Something she felt every time she closed her eyes. Vardon, close enough to kiss. The feel of his skin against hers, the faint crackling of energy between them that she would swear was not just in her mind.

She opened her eyes and went to open the car door, hoping he'd be along in just a minute – and that's when she saw him.

Clay. Isn't that what he'd said his name was? She'd forgotten about him until now.

He stared, facing her directly, with his back to the ocean.

Lorelei took her hand off the door handle.

Could he see her in here? She clutched the skin to her, and locked her doors for good measure.

What a creep. Why was he watching her? Why did he keep randomly appearing?

Oh, holy crapbuckets.

Was this the shapeshifter? Was this the finfolk, trying to show her a human face?

Her eyes on his tall figure, with its blonde hair and hands behind its back, she remembered their first conversation, on the beach by her house, the day she'd found out she was a selkie. He'd been odd then, and she'd totally brushed it off.

Fear wormed through her veins, making her want to shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

She needed to get out of the car. She had to meet this man. She had to. Right now.

Lorelei gripped the door handle, fighting herself for some reason.

Move faster. She had to move faster. She had to go to him. She needed him.

A sharp knock on her window, and Lorelei turned to see Vardon, staring at her with a question in his eyes.

"Vardon!" Lorelei unlocked the door and opened it for him.

"Are you ready to swim?"

"I just saw him – did you see him?"

"What? Who?"

He wasn't there anymore. Clay had gone, in the few seconds since Vardon had knocked and distracted her. Mother of all mothers. What the hell had just happened?

"I think he tried to make me go to him. Vardon, if you hadn't come—"

"Shh." He crouched to reach her and she spilled into his arms. "It's okay."

"No...it's not. I...how do I know what's safe, Vardon?"

"Maybe your dad was right. Until we know more, we shouldn't swim together. And you shouldn't be near the sea alone at all."

She nodded. "That won't be hard, because I'm freaking shaking right now. It's so creepy! What do they want?"

"I don't know." He pulled her close, hugging her to him. When she pulled back, she stopped with her face next to his, her hair shielding them.

His hands on her chin, tilting her face for a kiss, his lips on hers, and the fire they made there.

Had that really just happened? In Vardon's arms she could almost pretend it hadn't.

And if they weren't swimming, she could stand to pretend a little longer...

The _ting,_ _ting, ting_ of freezing rain beat out an ominous pattern on the roof over the locker room as Lorelei stripped down before swim practice. "That's just great."

Emily snickered. "Maybe we'll get stuck here and you can start your birthday at school!"

"You're way too peppy about that prospect," Lorelei told her as she donned her suit.

Haeley came in, late and flushed and looking like she had secrets she wasn't telling.

Lorelei dodged her eyes. She wasn't going to start the conversation. Not now. She already had far too many distractions, without taking on whatever her _best friend_ was up to these days.

Like Vardon. Lorelei had realized she was typical of a teenage girl – an uncomfortable position for her – in the distraction caused by a cute boy turned boyfriend.

They'd arrived at school together this morning. No one mentioned it today or looked askance. Just that fast, their romance was incorporated into the social one-mind of the school. It was a little disappointing, actually.

The kiss as he left for his shift at the bookstore was not disappointing. She wouldn't have time to see him tonight, and tomorrow was her birthday. Dad would definitely feed her breakfast, so early morning wouldn't work like it had today.

"Hello...earth to Lorelei," Emily said in a singsong voice. "You are truly out of it, girl."

"Uh...what?" She tried to soften her complete lack of attention with a smile.

"What are we doing for your birthday?"

"A swim meet!"

"After, silly."

Haeley would have normally offered up the pizza place by now, but she was off in her own world, already changed and heading to the shower before the pool.

"It'll be late. Let's go to Seattle on Saturday, catch a movie there – you down?"

"Yeah. I'll pass the message on to that one." Emily cocked her head toward the shower, indicating Haeley's exit.

"Do you know what's going on with her?"

A funny half-smile, quickly wiped away. "All she'll talk to me about is what's up with _you_."

"Jeez, haven't these been a fun few weeks for you?"

"Yeah, you guys are always sweet to keep up with. But seriously...unlike Haeley, I don't need to know everything. I'm here if you need to talk, okay? Please tell me if you need someone."

Lorelei's throat tightened. "Thanks. Just...thanks."

"Of course." She slammed her locker shut. "Now we need to hit the showers or Coach is going to strain something."

Lorelei giggled.

Practice was not good. Tomorrow's meet would determine their placement in the state-level competition. So when she blew her second entry of the day, diving too soon off the mark – something she'd gotten over as a freshman – coach's face got so red Lorelei thought he was going to blow a gasket. Haeley was fuming and trying not to look at her, and Emily gave her the oh-jeepers face.

"Sorry! That's the last time, I swear!"

"It better be, Lorelei," Coach shouted. "I'll take you off relay tomorrow if I see any more of that." He looked like he wanted to say more, but it was time for the next swim.

_Focus, Lorelei. Focus._

The careful drive through freezing rain, after the soul-killing swim practice, was suitably topped off by the sight of Amy's car in the driveway when Lorelei finally got home.

It was freaking cold, and she was tired of pausing with her head on the darn steering wheel every time the count of cars in a driveway was too much for her. Get a grip, Lorelei.

The pellets of rain hit her jacket with tiny tugs as she picked a path to the door, trying to steer clear of any ice. Inside she took her time removing her outer layers, which also gave her a chance to place each of the people currently in her house.

Grandma Shaye was in the family room; she could hear her dealing solitaire.

Dad and Amy were in the kitchen. It smelled like some sort of roast meat. Big thanks for small blessings. Lorelei was starving.

Remembering Amy's words last Saturday, Lorelei took a detour through the family room to say hi to Grandma Shaye, and then went into the kitchen to greet her dad and his girlfriend.

Still with the yuck at that term and her dad in the same thought.

"Hi, Lorelei!" Dad beamed from the stove. All the sharing and caring a couple of days ago had lifted the weight right off his shoulders. Unfortunately, hers felt heavier than ever.

Amy was leaning against the countertop, a cutting board with veggies and a big knife spread out behind her.

"Hi, Dad." She went to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, taking stock of the roast – yes it was! – he was basting. She turned. "Hi, Amy."

She could have sworn a flicker of scorn moved across Amy's face before she schooled her expression. Scorn at the kiss?

"Hello, Lorelei. We weren't sure whether to expect you, night before your birthday and all."

Dad didn't say anything. Lorelei bit off a sharp retort about being scolded by a woman her father had been seeing for all of a couple of weeks. Not worth it.

"Would you like any help?"

"Nah, sweetie. Dinner in forty-five, okay?"

Amy turned back to the vegetables she'd been chopping.

What was this chick's problem?

But Lorelei was in no shape to judge. She was probably overreacting anyway. Too much had happened in the last few days. With so little to recognize in her life, she was having trouble counting on her reactions.

After tomorrow's meet – after state, if they ranked in state – when swim was over, Lorelei needed a break. She was picturing long weekend mornings in bed, lazy swims at sea with her boyfriend.

Lost in the daydream, Lorelei reclined on her bed. Almost instantly, reality began to stutter in that way it always did when her body needed to sleep, but she was fighting it. And then she fought no more.

# Chapter Twenty-One

_The water flowed, rippling the fronds of her tail. The silken caress of the waves teased her, carried her back to the place she'd lost. She could not return. She did not know how._

_She could see it in the distance, a low grassy dune, the beach mostly rock, human houses dotting the hillside. She knew this place._

_Melancholy gripped her, and she turned her back, speeding away from the home that haunted her memories._

_She'd spent so many hours on that beach. Now where did she belong?_

_And so she swam. Swimming, she forgot her worries, she flowed with the water, a part of all this..._

_A small grayish green fish with yellow rings about its eyes watched her as the waves moved far above them. Another joined it, and the pair swam off, toward a golden glow in the distance._

_Ah._

_Finfolkaheem._

_She felt a presence at her side. Excited, she turned to take him in, but seeing him she stopped._

_Large eyes watched her from a beautiful, alien face. His hair was long, and he had no facial hair_ – _no body hair at all it appeared, for his chest was bare, and his belly above the tail. These parts were a man's, but the rest of him resembled a great fish._

_She had not expected him._

_He was the hated, selfish one. The one who could not wait for what he considered his._

_She did not need him, and though she saw his beauty, she no longer wanted him, either._

_Lashing her own tail at him she dodged his grasp and sped away, following the small fish drawn to Finfolkaheem's golden glow._

_She would find her answers. She had traveled far for them._

An icy hand over her mouth brought Lorelei instantly out of the vivid dream. She blinked and tried to turn her head, but it didn't want to oblige. She tried to reach up with her arm, but found she couldn't lift it. The play of the light on the ceiling told her she was still in her bedroom, and it was the middle of the night. Had she fallen asleep before dinner? How long had she been out – _and why the hell did someone have a hand over her mouth?_

"Whaa?" she struggled to say behind the hand.

The figure standing over her was slight, too small to be a man. Who was it?

"Another dose should do..." said a whispered voice, just before Lorelei felt the prick in her right arm. The cold hand was still over her mouth, smelling of antiseptic and crazy, but in a few more moments its owner seemed to decide that was overkill.

It turned out she was right. Lorelei couldn't have squeaked loud as a mouse.

She struggled to hear any sounds outside of this bedroom. What had happened to Dad? To Grandma Shaye?

The light shifted as the intruder stood back to appreciate their handiwork.

Amy, a satisfied smile in place. She still held the needle.

_Oh no._ She had to warn Dad.

...and it all faded out.

Vardon glared at Lorelei's empty chair in calculus. Where was she?

Shea was snickering at him, and too late he realized the whole class was watching him. Even Mr. Richards.

"Uh...what?"

Mr. Richards shook his head and repeated his question.

Vardon ignored the empty chair and turned his attention to class. It was her birthday...maybe she was just going to be late to school. But with the meet tonight, that didn't make any sense. She had to attend all of her classes or they wouldn't let her compete. So where was she?

After calculus, he swung by Lorelei's next class, hoping to see her and put the worry to rest.

Except she wasn't there.

"Vardon?" Emily Thomson, a thin girl with big brown eyes he'd often seen with Lorelei, came up to him. "Where's Lorelei?"

"She wasn't in calculus."

Emily's eyes went wide. "On a meet day? Coach is going to kill her if she can't swim tonight."

Vardon shrugged. He wasn't that concerned about the swim meet. His mind kept jumping to all of the odd things happening to Lorelei lately. The swim with a seal who turned out not to be him, the finfolk involved in his accident, and another spotted – or smelled – near Lorelei's house.

He sent her a text. And another a few minutes later, just before class started.

He wanted to believe her absence was innocent, unrelated to recent events.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It kept haunting him.

When she didn't show for third period and she still hadn't texted him back, he picked up the phone. He'd never called Lorelei's house, and now he did so with an expression of distaste he couldn't wipe off his face...if her dad answered and he had to talk to Mr. Dorian, and there was no reason for his concern, he was gonna kick himself right in the ass.

It rang.

And rang.

When Vardon was about to hang up, someone snatched up the receiver. "Hello?" a female voice gasped into the phone. She'd apparently run to catch it.

"Hi...is this Lorelei's grandma?"

"Why, yes, and who is this?"

"It's Vardon. Um...a friend of Lorelei's."

"I know who you are, son." She laughed, and Vardon wondered what Lorelei had chosen to share with her grandmother.

"Okay. Where's Lorelei today?"

A momentary pause. "At school."

"No," he said, stomach sinking. "She's not here. I've been worried all morning, but I just thought—"

"Now, now. Let's dot our i's before deciding she's in trouble. You say she didn't show at all today? Her dad left early for work, and I slept late. I'm trucking up to her room, son, so just hang on a minute."

He heard her taking the stairs. She seemed to be moving pretty fast for an old lady. But this old lady was a selkie, of course.

"No, she's not in her room." No panic was evident in her tone, but Vardon couldn't decide if she was hiding it for his benefit. "I'm going to call Peter. Can you check with friends at school and make sure she's not there?"

"She's not here. I already saw another of her friends."

"Can I reach you at this number?"

"I can check messages after my next class. Mrs..."

"Shaye. You can call me Mrs. Shaye, Vardon. We'll find her. Don't you worry."

But she was taking mom tone with him, telling him not to worry. How could he not worry?

After his next class he found a message from Mrs. Shaye. Mr. Dorian also thought she was at school.

That's it. Vardon didn't have a swim meet keeping him on campus all day. Screw it.

He drove to the veterinary clinic.

The front room was chaos, with a number of dogs and cats waiting their turn. The harried tech at the front desk looked askance at him, probably because he hadn't brought an animal, but since he had her attention...

"I need to see Mr. Dorian."

She looked around the waiting room and giggled. "Yeah, so do they."

"But it's personal. He needs to know that we can't find Lorelei."

"Oh! Are you the new boyfriend who's been keeping Lori so busy?" She bent in closer, so their words were just between them. "The mother in law called earlier."

"And Mr. Dorian has no idea where Lorelei is?"

She gestured to the full waiting room. "We're a bit busy here. It's crazy; everyone and their dog has an issue today. The office manager didn't even bother to show. Guess that's what she thinks she can get away with, dating the boss."

Whoa. Walked in on some bitterness there. "Can I just see him for two minutes?"

She darted a gaze at the back hallway, and gestured him through into the "employees only" area.

He gave a sharp knock on an office door, and didn't wait before opening it.

Mr. Dorian was mid-bite into a sandwich, though he was still standing. His brows knit together when he saw Vardon standing in his doorway. "Yes?"

"Mr. Dorian. We can't find Lorelei. She didn't show for school, and there's a meet tonight. With everything—"

He'd gone pale. He ushered the tech out and shut the office door. "She's definitely not at school? I don't know where else she'd be."

A thought occurred to Vardon, one he was sure Mr. Dorian wasn't going to like.

"Your office person didn't show today...isn't that your girlfriend?"

"Yes. Well, we've been dating. She's out sick."

"But...is it weird that they're both missing today?"

Mr. Dorian gave him a vacant look, but then he seemed to take stock, thinking the question through. "Amy left in the middle of the night," he said quietly. Probably not something he would have confessed in present company, but he didn't seem to even realize he was speaking. "She left me a note and said she wasn't feeling well. There was a message here this morning that she wouldn't be in."

"And no one's seen Lorelei today."

"But her car isn't at home."

Vardon shrugged. Anyone could have moved her car.

"Amy isn't finfolk," Mr. Dorian said, as if answering some unspoken accusation.

"She doesn't have to be to carry out their plan," Vardon said quietly, not meeting Mr. Dorian's eyes.

"Mind control." He paused, and straightened. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Has anyone checked the beach? Lorelei goes there to be alone."

"Not on the day of a swim meet," Vardon reminded. "Why are you so sure they're not involved? Dragging your heels doesn't do Lorelei any favors." He felt like a dick. How blunt was too blunt? But right now they both needed to focus on finding Lorelei – and Vardon was certain the finfolk were involved.

"Because why would they be so interested in my daughter? They've never approached me in my life. Why Lorelei?"

A surprised look spread across Mr. Dorian's face.

"What? What did you just remember?"

"It's her seventeenth birthday. Could that be it?" His last question was spoken quietly, to himself.

Vardon's phone rang.

"Is it her?" Mr. Dorian asked.

"No. My mom."

He answered. "Hi, Mom."

"Why, pray tell, are you not at school?" she said dangerously.

He pursed his lips, pondering how to answer. Just how sure was she that he wasn't at school?

"I know you're not at school because I'm staring at your car in the parking lot of the veterinary clinic."

Sigh. "I had to tell Mr. Dorian that Lorelei didn't show for school. It doesn't make sense, there's a swim meet—"

"She's missing today?" his mother said, suddenly breathless. "Oh, god. It might be too late."

"What does that mean?" he yelled into the phone, his heart racing at her careless words.

A commotion out front was a sure sign that Crystal Caster had just forced her way inside...and yep, there she was opening the door, sliding her phone into her pocket. "We have to act now," she told Mr. Dorian.

He started to shake his head, and she thrust a furious finger into his face. "You brought this into our town, and you're going to be part of the solution."

"I don't even understand—"

"Finfolk come of age at seventeen. According to them, she's now an adult. They've been skulking around for the last few days, but tonight they act. Tonight they will try to get Lorelei to join them."

# Chapter Twenty-Two

Clay stood outside the Dorian residence, his business there done. He smiled, contemplating the position of the sun. Not long now. And everything was going according to his plan.

He stroked his long, pale fingers over the soft folds of the sealskin he carried. Lorelei's skin.

For this, she would follow him.

He hoped she would choose him regardless, but if he had to, he was prepared to bribe her away. Anything to gain her consent and finally craft the unbreakable union that would allow them to rule the seas, together.

A new scent registered on the breeze, and Clay turned slowly, wondering. He caught sight of the old woman, the one he held now in his thrall. Her eyes were blank, and she stood where he had told her to stand.

She would do as he commanded. They could not help it, the seals.

If she had stayed out of his way the other day, if she had just let him touch her, just let him be close to his soon-to-be bride, he may have let her go.

But this, too, was just a tool, a way to force Lorelei to his way of thinking.

Again the smell, the odor of another.

He knew this scent, and clenched his jaw.

Oberon.

What was the all-too-curious warrior doing here?

He could not hope to lurch in at the last minute and steal Clay's prize.

Clay had planned well for this moment, and now only he knew where Lorelei was – it would stay that way until the moon began to rise and she emerged to complete the ritual.

All would be ready for her. For them.

His plan was in motion now. There was nothing Oberon could do about it. Lorelei would soon be his.

_Moonlight spilled onto the crashing waves. They ate at the shoreline with the passing minutes, the rising tide echoing a deep longing she could no longer ignore._

_It was her choice. Finally. All she had to do was make it._

_She began to move._

_One step, and then another. Toward destiny, taking the first steps on her true path._

_Someone waited for her on the other side. She couldn't see them, but she knew they were there. She wanted to go to them._

_The rocks bit into the soles of her feet as she stepped nearer the waves, and nearer._

_The first wave to touch her, to drown her aching feet in its chill, soothing embrace, felt like it snapped some taut band in her chest._

_The roar of the wind could not drown out the rush of moving water._

_She smiled._

_It was time._

A faint ticking noise faded in and out as Lorelei's senses swam to the surface. She couldn't seem to open her eyes. She struggled for a minute, forcing herself awake when her body would like nothing better than to sink back under.

She remembered the needle.

Amy.

Her breath whistled between her dry lips. How long had she been out?

Where was she? The room smelled like cheap vanilla air freshener. She struggled again to open her eyes, and finally managed a peek from under lids that felt heavy as manhole covers.

The white room appeared washed out. White walls, white furniture, soft gauzy white curtains, white linens on the bed she found herself on.

Lorelei blinked.

It was definitely a private house. Amy's house?

She groaned, and then stilled as a footstep sounded outside the door.

A thrill of panic raced through her blood. She sat up suddenly, adrenaline giving her an assist.

But the door didn't open. After a long minute of staring at it, waiting for her attacker to return and knock her out again, she realized that a steaming plate of food sat waiting on a chest of drawers.

She must have woken right after the crazy witch brought her a meal. So...what? She was supposed to just sit here and munch away, waiting until Amy did whatever she planned to do to her?

No, thank you.

Lorelei ignored the plate, moving instead to the door. Her hand shook as she tried it, whether of nerves or residual effects of whatever drug Amy had used to knock her out, she didn't know. The door was locked, of course.

She bent her head to the cool wood surface, trying to hear _anything_ beyond the door.

There was nothing.

She bit her lip. _Think, Lorelei. Think._

Her phone.

She felt her pockets, but of course it wasn't there. And she didn't see a coat anywhere. Apparently she'd been grabbed in just her shirtsleeves, which complicated matters. It was freezing outside, and if she did get out of here, she didn't relish a walk from wherever Amy had taken her, in the cold.

Crap, she didn't even have shoes!

She was in a basement, as attested by the small windows high on the wall. She couldn't squeeze through there, and who knew if they even opened.

Lorelei gave the plate of still-hot pasta further contemplation. If Amy had wanted to poison her, she could have done it when she cooked at their house.

Lorelei picked up the plate, a weird combination of gratefulness and abject fear tying up her guts. She'd better take any advantage she could get.

Goodbye hunger.

# Chapter Twenty-Three

Vardon was out of places to check. Mom had ordered him back to school, but yeah, right. No way he could study after her outburst in Mr. Dorian's office.

_Tonight the finfolk will try to get Lorelei to join them._

The beach next to Lorelei's house was deserted, and there had been no answer at the door. Mr. Dorian had probably already reached Mrs. Shaye, and she was probably out searching, too.

Her friends were at school – most of them preparing to compete in one of the biggest swim meets of the year tonight.

His eyes were drawn to the waves. What was out there, under the surface, that he couldn't see? Could they have taken Lorelei to sea already? Maybe all of this was a gigantic distraction, and they were going to make her choose on their terms, their turf – on that crazy island his mom had mentioned, where they took seals and humans and forced them to serve the finfolk.

But his mom had been sure they could not take her by force. She had to choose to enter the sea tonight, under the light of the moon.

So now, for a couple more hours at least, she was somewhere nearby as they bided their time until the moon rose.

But they were running out of daylight. Sunset was in less than two hours.

What else could he do? Damn it.

Vardon whipped out his phone and dialed Rory.

"What's hanging, man?" his friend answered, sounding like he was chilling out somewhere instead of in school where he should be.

"Look, I know you haven't been sure about Lorelei, but I need you to set all that aside. I have a problem."

He could feel Rory's hackles go up, just at the mention of Lorelei. "What's going on? I told you that girl was trouble, man."

"She isn't the trouble. The finfolk are in town."

"Say what? Does Crystal know?"

"Yeah, she's probably already contacted your folks."

"Shit. I'm on my way. Where are you?"

A sound behind Vardon made him turn. A large figure loomed between him and the sun. What the hell?

The blow to his face was sudden and sure. Light exploded behind Vardon's eyes. He growled unintelligibly as he stumbled to his knees. The second blow caught him in the chin.

His phone dropped. Its cracked screen was the last thing he registered as the world faded to black.

Afternoon light was fading to a purplish hue outside – Lorelei's only connection to what was happening outside this infuriating basement bedroom.

How long did Amy plan to keep her here? Why had she been taken?

This was some birthday. Welcome to seventeen. Welcome to life as a near-adult, with all the complexity of three races worth of drama. Maybe it was better that she was locked in a basement. Maybe Amy was actually saving her from a worse fate.

Footsteps, moving down creaky stairs. Lorelei surged to the door, pounding on it. "Hello? Hello out there! Amy, I know it's you, I saw you last night with the needle! Let me out of here!"

There was no response save the continued slow descent on the stairs. For a full minute Lorelei listened to them groan as Amy walked slow as a ninety year old.

A hand scrabbled at the doorknob, and it finally gave, opening on a blank-eyed Amy.

Lorelei shoved past her, and she did not resist, but she did begin to speak.

"The finfolk welcome you to your majority on this seventeenth anniversary of your birth. They require your presence."

"What?" There was nothing of Amy in this shell of a person before her. And Lorelei finally put two and two together. Amy hadn't kidnapped her at all. The finfolk had used her, controlled her – the one human inside the house. She should have realized it before.

"You will join them on the beach. They await you at the foot of the trail. You will join them, or your grandmother will die."

Her heart lurched. "Grandma Shaye?" But Amy's eyes had dropped closed at the end of her pronouncement, and she crumpled to the concrete floor, unmoving.

Lorelei felt for a pulse and found one. It seemed strong; normal. But Amy did not stir.

She took a moment to shift Dad's poor girlfriend into a more comfortable position to sleep it off. She felt bad, now. It wasn't Amy's fault she was drawn into their drama. She'd just been a convenient target that no one would expect, a chink in her father's protectiveness. A good plan, from the finfolk end.

They had Grandma Shaye. Another who was in the right place to use against Lorelei.

A strange calm had come over her at Amy's stilted words.

She'd been on a collision course with this day her entire life. The revelations a couple of weeks ago had brought her closer.

If she hadn't had them...what would she think now?

The finfolk plan for her would be no different if she was none the wiser.

But she was the wiser. She understood at least some of their power. If only she could see how to use it against them.

The rising of the moon registered in Clay's blood.

It was time.

He knew Lorelei would come.

She would not let the old woman dive to her death.

The old seal, Lorelei's grandmother, was poised to do just that. She stood on a pillar of rock near the southernmost tip of the island, very close to the house where Lorelei had awaited the ritual. She had been easy to command, malleable, as her kind was. If he commanded it, the grandmother would plunge onto the rocks, forsaking her own life for nothing but Clay's agenda.

A whisper of guilt trickled through his mind.

But he would not let it take hold.

There was one day, one chance, to make Lorelei accept her future with his people.

She would make the choice tonight.

A dragging sound surprised him, and he spun to see what had issued it.

Anger surged, rising hot and fierce in his blood.

Oberon.

"What are you doing here?"

The bundle he was dragging moved. It thrashed and came unbound.

The seal – Lorelei's seal.

Clay frowned.

_Why are you here?_

_You think you need no one, but even princes need to count on someone. I will help you tonight, and you will offer me a position of great esteem when you are my king._

Clay said nothing. There was a note of untruth to Oberon's words, a hint of aggression behind the words Clay should want to hear.

The selkie shifted and moved to rise.

Oberon struck it twice in the face, and it groaned. One of its eyes was already swollen shut.

_Why do you not control it?_ Mind-to-mind speech with Oberon made him uncomfortable – what was he here for?

The warrior smiled. _I have it under my control._

Ah, well. Let him have his games. Clay held no love for the selkie male who was Lorelei's friend.

And no matter, for they were out of time. Clay seethed, but he did not let on. If Oberon wanted to watch, then so be it.

Here she came, walking proudly around the bend, her chin high and her eyes on him. His bride.

# Chapter Twenty-Four

The sun had just set a few minutes ago, its descent marked with oranges and pinks in the west. A sliver of moon rose silvery in the sky, clinging just above the southeast horizon.

Into the purple-hued light of dusk, Lorelei walked, adrenaline surging.

They were near Deception Pass – about five miles from home. The sky was clear, still too much on the side of day for the stars to stand out. It was bitterly cold as she stepped barefoot onto the rocky beach, where sharp shards of stone mixed with rough sand coughed up by the tide.

Whatever she had to say to this terror to get him to release Grandma Shaye, she'd say.

She did not look at her grandmother besides to assess where she stood. On an outcropping of rock that was separated from the beach by the incoming tide. She was still, perched high above the rocks, on an island that would keep growing smaller as the waves crashed in. If she fell—

Lorelei focused her attention on Clay. He held something bundled under one arm; she could not make out what it was as she approached. Another man stood nearby, and her gaze darted between them before she decided that Clay was the true threat. He stood with his back to the other man. At the other man's feet something moved, drawing her eye.

A person?

Dread was like lead to her limbs, but she had to move faster – had to get there in time. She started to stumble, but caught herself and lifted her chin. She would not show them weakness.

Grandma Shaye would not pay for her weakness.

With only a few spare yards separating her from her stalker, Lorelei stopped and held her ground, her eyes on the creature that had forced her into this precarious position.

"Lorelei...your birthday..."

"Vardon?" A moan whistled out from between her lips as she registered his voice and suddenly understood the crouched figure at the stranger's feet. They'd hurt him; one of his eyes was swollen shut.

Clay spoke, his voice barely loud enough with the wind on the beach, so she felt the bizarre need to lean in to catch what he was saying. She _did not_ give in to the urge, maintaining a healthy distance from the psychopath.

"Hear me, Lorelei Dorian, and hear me well. Today you gain your majority. Your people welcome you to the depths, where you belong, and by crossing the boundary from shore to sea, you acknowledge acceptance of this gift."

"Why have you brought them? Threatening me isn't exactly a birthday present." She was shocked at the coldness in her voice. He wouldn't possibly believe it, that she cared so little what happened to them.

"I do hope you don't take it as a threat. Call it...an incentive."

"So...what? I go out there, cross the boundary between shore and sea...and then you let both my grandmother and me go home?" Lorelei was resolutely ignoring Vardon's presence. She tried to calculate how she could help them both, but her grandmother was in peril at this moment, while it looked like Vardon had just been beaten up a little. She would bet he'd tell her not to give them the satisfaction, so she didn't ask after him at all.

"Your old home is not suited for one such as you. We welcome you to the sea."

Her blood ran cold. What the hell was he talking about? She wasn't Ariel, for Pete's sake.

The dreams...she recalled the dreams, of long hair floating on drifting currents, of a golden castle deep under the waves. Finfolkaheem.

"Finfolkaheem," she spoke the name out loud, her brain running away with her mouth.

The stranger gave a start at the single word. He turned a quizzical eye on Clay.

Clay ignored him. He gave no reaction to the word she'd spoken.

She couldn't help but notice exactly how much information Clay was not sharing. He didn't realize what he told her through omission.

It appeared from the stranger's reaction that she would not be accepted at Finfolkaheem. So why did Clay allude to taking her there?

His purpose mattered less to her than her grandmother's safety. But Grandma Shaye was going to be steamed if Lorelei didn't ask the correct questions and got herself into more trouble with an attempted rescue.

"If I must accept my nature, can't I live as I'm accustomed? My home is here." She tried to sound gracious, but her voice shook.

Clay did not respond.

"You haven't told her everything!" Vardon growled where the stranger held him on the ground. "He has your sealskin!"

Sure enough, she could see her soft gray skin bundled and tucked under Clay's arm. That's what he was holding. Was this another _incentive_?

A simmering rage boiled up in her belly. Clay would pay for this.

Still, she had to play nice with so much at risk, and she knew it.

Clay shot a look at the stranger, and he grinned, lifting Vardon by his shirt and pounding his fist into Vardon's face, two quick jabs that Lorelei felt she'd taken straight to the gut.

_Vardon...how do we get out of this?_

She looked seaward, to her answer.

The small island where Grandma Shaye stood was separated from the beach by a wide swath of crashing waves. But they wouldn't be deeper than just above the knee. Lorelei was already shivering, wearing too few clothes for the January evening. The shivers turned violent once she'd stepped into the ocean. Her teeth chattered. She tried to move fast. She could not stop. She had to reach Grandma Shaye, so she took the pain, her feet going numb by the time she'd gone a handful of steps.

The force of the waves knocked her around, but she tried to keep her steps as straight and confident as possible. Tried to feel her way without mistakes, without tripping and submerging her entire body, a fate she could not see past at the moment.

Clay held her sealskin, the bastard. Wearing it she'd have no difficulty with the waves – no difficulty escaping. If she could take it from him she would, but she knew from her father's little show that Clay and the stranger had tricks that she could not compete with.

She couldn't see Grandma Shaye anymore. She was almost to where she could climb out of the waves onto the rocks, but Grandma was on the other side, facing the wide-open water.

Lorelei glanced over her shoulder at the moon, which seemed to brighten as the last light of day slowly faded, the sky turning to indigo in the east.

Warmth flooded her – despite the chill of the waves and winter wind, Lorelei's skin was suddenly on fire. The sea called, a hundred chanting voices filled her mind. Lorelei shook her head to rid herself of them. She clenched her fists to her ears at the intensity of the intrusion; it became nearly as unbearable as her numbing limbs had been a minute ago. And as quickly as it had happened, when Lorelei's skull was about to burst with the pressure, it receded.

Now she felt no physical pain, no cold despite the conditions, but a sense of wonder, of anticipation as her senses seemed to expand. The calls, the connections, in her mind weren't speaking in words, but in images and feelings.

Overwhelmed, she let the waves buffet her as she tried to understand.

Was this what Clay had meant? Had she crossed the boundary between sand and sea?

Is this what a finfolk felt? Dad had never mentioned it...could this be how it felt to be in his head? An odd sadness mixed with the euphoria Lorelei wouldn't have admitted to. How could she feel exhilarated when Grandma Shaye was in danger, and everything was more complicated than anyone had bothered to tell her?

Grandma Shaye.

Lorelei looked at the rock surface in front of her, and her expression hardened. First things first.

She began to climb. As her body left the water, the impressions in her mind of _others_ did not diminish. Instead, they clamored for her attention. She struggled past the noise, climbing up the rock, watching her step in the gradually diminishing light.

Night had taken firm hold as she crossed the inlet to find Grandma Shaye. Would she be hypothermic? How could she not be at this point? She was just standing there, all mind mojo'ed, waiting for an order to jump into the sea.

She clambered on, somehow avoiding major injury amid a bazillion tiny scrapes and bruises she'd be happy to deal with tomorrow.

There, up ahead, she could finally see her.

Lorelei did not speak. She wasn't sure what her voice would do to the trance he'd placed her under, and she definitely didn't want Grandma Shaye to take the next step on her current trajectory. She had to get between her and the edge and pull her back.

She took careful steps, aware of just how many variables she was dealing with. The rock surface was wet from sea spray, slick. The moon was out, but its glow couldn't light up every crevice in the rock as the dusk deepened. Just how long had Grandma been out here, and what shape was she in, beneath the trance? Lorelei's nerves were on fire, every inch of her giving off alarms.

It felt too easy.

What was the catch?

She reached Grandma Shaye and rushed the last two steps, grabbing her arm and hauling her back from the edge.

"Grandma? Come on, step back with me now."

She didn't answer, didn't respond to Lorelei's touch. She was shaking all over, shivering violently. And Lorelei had nothing to offer but body heat. Luckily she seemed to have plenty of that at the moment. It was still as if her skin burned with fever, but she didn't feel sick. She felt strong, and wrapped her arms around the old woman, wishing her heat into her grandmother's frame. Grandma Shaye was strong, too. She'd get through this.

"Lorelei," Grandma snapped out of the trance and spoke around her granddaughter's fierce hug. "What in the world?"

Relief surged through her, and behind it, rage. "I can't believe they did this."

Grandma's teeth were chattering now, and Lorelei wished she could will her back home, into snuggly pajamas and fuzzy socks. This wasn't fair.

They'd have to go back through the water to reach the beach...except that in the distance she could see two standing figures, and one still on the ground.

Vardon. She couldn't make out any movement, and a new sort of fear filled the place that had recently been vacated by the settled panic over Grandma Shaye's tenuous position on the rocks. Yeah, a new shot of adrenaline was exactly what she needed.

"Where are we?" Grandma Shaye asked. Her voice was stronger now, more like herself. She shoved out of Lorelei's grip, facing her with eyes wide. "Lorelei, what's happening?"

"The finfolk. They're what's happening."

"Details. Now," she commanded.

"They had Amy kidnap me last night. They kidnapped you today and brought you out here ready to—"

"Oh, no! Did you do as they asked?" Grandma Shaye gripped her forearm painfully, demanding an answer. "Tell me you didn't do as they asked!"

"Of course I did! I wasn't going to let you leap into the sea without your skin. You could have died, selkie or no!"

Grandma Shaye straightened. "They forced you. They can't make you accept it."

Lorelei glanced again at the moon, its light drawing her attention, its graceful curve making her heart sing.

"They told me I'd accept it by stepping into the sea. I've done so." She gestured to the water separating them from the figures on the beach.

A sob wracked Grandma Shaye's form, so sudden it startled Lorelei to the edge of tears herself.

"Oh, Lorelei! You saved me, but I've lost you. You cannot accept both parts of your heritage. It has never been done."

New panic swelled in Lorelei's breast. Clay held her sealskin...

At the same time, she felt a voice fill her mind.

_My child. You know us not, but you have chosen well. Had we known of you, this would not be so painful. Stay there. I am coming to you._

A powerful voice; it had robbed her of her senses as she listened to its words.

"Someone's coming. I've been told to stay here," Lorelei stated, and it seemed her voice was not her own. She felt disconnected, her mind set adrift by possibilities she couldn't fathom.

Grandma Shaye cowered, a strange sound emerging from her, like a death knell.

The sea parted, waves moving in opposite directions from what nature commanded as a figure rose from the water and ascended the rock. He was finfolk – she knew it in her bones – but he'd grown legs like it was no big thing. He moved up the rock so easily he might have been floating. Huge, pale, and blonde, he pulled her attention like a magnet. She understood this was a humanized version of his true form, but that his beauty would draw her whatever form he wore.

He was power incarnate.

Grandma Shaye whimpered pitifully, and it was then that Lorelei realized her fear. She was nearly frozen, probably scared near to death already, and now Lorelei was just standing here as they were approached by a figure that could no doubt wipe them both from this rock with a single motion and scarcely a trace.

Lorlei pulled her grandmother close, shielding her against her side. Grandma Shaye stiffened against her, but stayed close. She watched the fin-ruler, as her brain stubbornly decided to call him, approach.

But deep inside, in that part of her that had begun to listen to the incessant chatter under the seas, to what was apparently some sort of telepathic communication among the finfolk, she knew that the exchange to come had nothing to do with Grandma Shaye.

The fin-ruler had eyes for her alone. Several other figures had come above the waves; they dotted the rock at the water's edge...guarding their king?

From the beach across the inlet, Lorelei could feel Clay's disappointment, his anger and surprise.

This was not how he'd planned for the night to go.

A new reason for relief.

Lorelei focused her attention on the fin-ruler. It was up to him what happened next; she knew it.

# Chapter Twenty-Five

These finfolk bastards didn't know what they were up against. His people would be here soon; Vardon knew it.

He crouched, ready to spring when given the chance. His muscles were coiled, his eyes peeled.

Lorelei had reached her grandmother; he knew from the conversation between the two finfolk males. She'd completed their ritual. He didn't want to think about that.

He could still make out the small figures of Lorelei and her grandmother atop the rock. And then, suddenly, another figure joined them. A man? It was hard to tell as the last afternoon light faded.

The one who held him let out a crow of laughter, and Clay – the one who'd been harassing Lorelei – whirled his direction.

"What are they doing here? Who led my grandfather here?"

"I knew you did not have his permission. Of course I told the King what you were up to," the hulking finfolk standing above Vardon stated.

Clay roared, enraged.

"You had no right to keep this from him. You know you could not take her back to Finfolkaheem without his permission, anyway."

"But as my bride, the bride of his grandson the prince, he'd have to accept her. He'd have to finally accept a new course for our people."

"You will not change the finfolk unilaterally."

"I would have, if you had not interfered. It is my destiny. When I am king, this power will be mine."

"But for now, this power belongs to your grandfather." The animosity between these two could be cut with a knife.

Huh. A coup among the finfolk? Vardon logged away every piece of this exchange for interpretation later, when he was safe among the selkies.

Maybe it was self-preservation instincts, because if he thought about it too much he'd freak out over the situation Lorelei had just gotten herself into.

That wasn't fair – she hadn't chosen this. She hadn't asked to be initiated among the finfolk.

Proving just what they were, she'd been forced.

But the selkies would not be able to overlook this.

His mother had been unwilling to accept her finfolk parentage before they held power over her...before she had their powers.

Now? She would be ostracized completely. The council would not stand for it.

Would they even let her live peaceably on land? Vardon didn't know. His people had reason to hate the finfolk. It had just been illustrated by their use of Lorelei's grandmother. The selkies would not ignore this.

And they would be here soon.

The fin-ruler stared down at her, his height nearly as imposing as his regal bearing. Now that he was closer, she could see the silver that streaked his blonde hair, and the shadowy wrinkles around his eyes. He appeared hearty and strong, but he was elderly.

Lorelei stood between him and Grandma Shaye. She was worried about Grandma; she wasn't behaving like her usual strong self. She was terrified, and possibly in shock.

She didn't dare take her eyes from the fin-ruler's face. She had no idea what to expect from him. Nothing she'd seen so far had prepared her for this.

"Lorelei Shaye Dorian. This is your name?"

She nodded, her voice unwilling.

"I am King Cleophus, ruler of Finfolkaheem."

Lorelei dipped her head, almost bowing...because that's what felt right at the moment. How should she address a king? He did not pause to give her a chance to embarrass herself.

"I can understand what my grandson sees in you. The boy wonders too often about humanity. And you smell good."

She shrank back, dismayed at that sentiment.

"This is not proper. I am disheartened to tell you that we cannot welcome you back to Finfolkaheem immediately, despite my grandson's designs on your hand."

"His...what?!" If her stomach sank further, it would drop onto the rocks. _Please, please, please let him not mean what I think he means!_

King Cleophus frowned. "He has not told you? It is why he holds your skin. If you marry him, you must cast that aside."

"He did not ask me for the skin. He stole it from me. He placed my grandmother here, in danger of dying, and filled me in on the whole 'you step from sand to sea and you accept your finfolk side' deal. And I had to do it. Here we are." Lorelei shrugged, like that summed it up.

King Cleophus glowered. "If what you say is true—"

"It's true."

He paused a moment, his head tilted slightly to one side, as if listening to something. Her life hung in the balance. Somehow she knew not to press him, so instead she looked at the moon, trying to draw strength from its powerful glow. The stars had begun to prick the deep indigo sky, and she was thankful for their light. Grandma had been out here too long, but at least the evening wasn't stormy.

Finally, King Cleophus continued, "—there is no taking back your choice to accept your finfolk powers. You feel them already, do you not?"

She nodded. "I do."

"The custom is that you are now eligible to be a finfolk bride. A finwife. However, one of your heritage...I would already be hesitant to allow you access to Finfolkaheem so soon. Now, I see a serious error has been made."

"A serious error?" she echoed. "Is that what you call kidnapping, drugging, and forcing a girl to make choices with lifelong ramifications?"

Curse her smart mouth; she should not be talking back to a king.

But he continued despite her outburst. "My daughter's son has never done something so foolhardy. He must answer for it. And if you are to join us in the homeland, you must be properly prepared...and vetted."

"What does that mean?"

"One who has been so long among humans...one who does not know what she is until the age of seventeen on the verge of her powers? Finfolkaheem has never accepted one such as you, Lorelei Dorian."

She thrust her chin up, some odd spark of arrogance taking over. "And if I'm not accepted, where does that leave me?"

He looked to the beach, and Lorelei followed his gaze, sucking in a surprised gulp of ice-cold air. A dozen selkies were slipping from the waves, their bodies morphing in the light of the moon. They grouped together in twos and threes and moved to surround the two finfolk holding Vardon on the beach. She could make out his father's tall figure and Crystal Caster's long, dark hair.

King Cleophus turned his stern eyes back to her face. "That may just be up to the seals, Lorelei Dorian."

"Sir...I need to take my grandmother home. I'm worried she may suffer serious—"

He held up a hand. "Yes, I see. But let me state this true. In three months' time we will address your suitability as a finwoman, and a finwife. Three months."

"I understand." She had to say something more. He did not have to be so gentle with them. He could have killed her and Grandma Shaye and dealt with his grandson's frustration. But, for some reason, he was giving her a chance. "Thank you for your generosity, King Cleophus."

He watched her for a moment, until she was about to jitter out of her skin. "Let us go now. I will send someone to teach you of our ways in a few days' time."

A rush of wind blew up, and Lorelei clutched Grandma Shaye to her side as they were both whipped like so much baggage right onto the beach with King Cleophus and three members of the guard that had waited throughout their conversation. They landed at the center of the group of selkies, lifting a knee-high wave of sand in their wake.

# Chapter Twenty-Six

The attacking seals fell back at King Cleophus' dramatic arrival. They clustered, clothed in only their sealskins and fuming, at the edge of the finfolk – too close to allow. Clay frowned. His grandfather should not let the seals treat his people with such disrespect.

King Cleophus spoke to the assembled selkies and finfolk. "The power of the finfolk rises in this daughter of our people." He gestured to Lorelei.

Clay wanted to touch her, to hold her, to tell her that everything he'd done had been to secure her future, a happy future with him, not the suffering another of the finfolk might foist on such a bride. To him she was precious.

"Lorelei Dorian has, on this night, under the rising moon on the seventeenth anniversary of her birth, chosen to accept her finfolk powers, and such have been given to her. She is anointed by the sea."

He looked past the selkies. "In three months' time, Lorelei Dorian will be eligible as a finwife." A roar rose up from the selkies; from Lorelei's selkie in particular, who was quickly hushed by the others who'd come to save his sorry skin.

"Until that time, no finfolk male shall force his will on her in any way, _lest his life be forfeit_."

What was this? Had his love already learned to bargain with the old man?

Lorelei had not looked at him. Her eyes were on the seals. Her grandmother had been taken into the middle of the seals; their protectiveness made him want to laugh. Lorelei stood between their group and the finfolk, as though the presence of one small woman could protect the seals if the finfolk were not in a forgiving mood. She had a lot to learn.

His grandfather turned to him. Lorelei's sealskin flew from his grasp, to King Cleophus' waiting hand.

Clay growled, his advantage lost.

Lorelei moved forward a step. Did she think he'd let her reclaim it? That she could be both seal and finfolk?

"Until that time, I shall keep this." King Cleophus held the skin gingerly, like you might the well-worn favorite blanket of a dog.

Lorelei shot Clay a narrow-eyed look. Indeed, it was his fault that her sealskin was no longer in her possession. A good thing, in his mind.

King Cleophus turned to him. "Do you believe that your lies have earned you a special proximity to this girl? They have not. She will decide if and when she gives her hand. And she'll do so with complete knowledge of what she chooses."

Lorelei's eyes shone at him, her rage carefully contained.

_My love. You will understand. Soon._

The others watched.

Clay simmered. How dare the king confront him here, in this mixed company of ragged naked seals and his own guard? They were family, and this dispute should wait for Finfolkaheem.

King Cleophus shook his head, and for the first time, the fear took Clay. His grandfather's next words confirmed what Clay had just digested from his body language.

"For the space of three moons, my grandson Clay is _exiled_. Finfolkaheem is closed to him."

Exile? _No!_

Lorelei would not look at the finfolk called Clay. He'd caused enough damage, and she would not feel bad for him that the finfolk king was banishing him for the tenure of Lorelei's own adjustment to the life she'd apparently _chosen_ tonight. It was too lenient a punishment and showed where the king's loyalty rested.

King Cleophus had her sealskin. She could feel it in his grip. How dare he take it?

The other selkies cast furtive glances that way, too. They were all disconcerted by a seal skin in the finfolk king's clutches. Yet none of them spoke; they grouped together, hackles up, like they expected to have to fight for their survival at any moment. Vardon and his dad stood front and center, along with the guy Vardon had been swimming with last Sunday. His friend, Rory. The look on his face was not friendly, though – and it seemed he held as much animosity for Lorelei as the other selkies.

Her stomach sank as she scanned the expressions of the surrounding selkies and saw the disdain on their faces, too. All except for Vardon. He was enraged, but not disgusted by her as all of the others were.

What was she going to do?

Right now she had to get Grandma Shaye home. The selkies were helping to keep her warm amidst their huddle, but she needed to end this standoff and get her indoors.

"What will you do with that?" Lorelei asked King Cleophus, pointing at her sealskin.

"We shall speak of it in three months' time." His tone didn't allow for contradiction. He was used to his orders being the last word.

Lorelei felt fingers dig into her arm, and turned to find her grandmother, her eyes wide and her body still shaking with the cold. "Let it be, Lorelei. It's not worth lives."

Those words rang in her mind, as her blood pumped hot with rage.

Not her life. King Cleophus would not kill her. Not now after this entire fiasco.

But if she disobeyed him, if she pushed him, would he hurt the selkies? Grandma Shaye seemed to think it was so.

Lorelei glanced at Vardon, but his eyes were on the finfolk king, his jaw clenched. He looked ready to spring, and just as she thought it, his eyes swiveled to Clay, and he was off.

Vardon shot toward Clay, growling, Rory on his heels. The stranger who'd held Vardon before the other seals arrived did nothing to help; in fact he stepped back. The two selkies were on top of Clay in a flash, fists pounding at any part of him they could reach.

And the next heartbeat it was over. Vardon cried out as his body was lifted above Clay, suspended in the air. Rory was also lifted, but Lorelei couldn't tear her eyes from Vardon. He thrashed in mid-air, no enemy to oppose, no flesh to connect with. Confusion and terror replaced anger in his expression.

Lorelei took a single step closer to King Cleophus. She didn't want to breach his personal bubble, but she had to get his attention. "Please. Let them go." She said it softly – she could not make demands of him, and she knew it.

King Cleophus said nothing; he'd not made a sound as he separated the selkies from his grandson.

With one flick of his hand, he cast the two men out to sea, flinging them through the air like a couple of pebbles from a slingshot. The surprise on Vardon's face might have been comical if the sight of him sailing through the air with so little effort on the finfolks' part didn't take the funny right out of everything. They'd stood no chance; they managed to get in a few punches but at what cost? Rory had his sealskin, but Vardon did not.

Vardon's parents surged for the sea. They'd find their son.

Two selkie women that Lorelei didn't know clung to Grandma Shaye at each elbow, shielding her from...her own granddaughter? "We'll take you home. Come on."

But they'd come by sea. None of the selkies had a car nearby.

King Cleophus turned to them, giving Grandma Shaye an appraising look. "I will return you to your home. They accompany you?"

Lorelei just nodded, fear constricting her throat. Oh, no. He wasn't going to do that whirling thing again, was he?

Yep, he did; a maelstrom surrounded them for a brief blip, and then they stood in Lorelei's living room.

She stumbled against one of the selkie women, but where the others groaned and clutched their bellies, she stood tall and faced King Cleophus. "Thank you."

"Yes. This was easily within my power." His eyes glittered as they passed over the three selkies and settled on Lorelei. "Now, we must go."

"What? I need to stay with Grandma Shaye."

The front door opened, and Dad walked in. "Lorelei? I've been looking everywhere for you." He stopped suddenly and stiffened as he recognized another finfolk in the room. A slight step back echoed the fear that crossed his expression; he understood exactly who it was that stood in his living room.

King Cleophus stepped forward. "Do not fear. This changes nothing for you."

"How can you say that?" Dad asked, not even trying to hide his anger. "Anything that affects Lorelei changes things for me, too."

Lorelei watched the exchange from under tired eyelids that just wanted to close, shutting out what remained of the birthday from hell.

The two selkie women helped Grandma Shaye to the other room, seating her at the table. One of them came back for a throw blanket, dashing by nervously, while the other put the teakettle on the stove.

"Your daughter accepted her powers today. She has accepted her place among our people, as custom dictates."

"How dare you? We knew nothing of your custom. She is my daughter, and I will not let you take her!"

Lorelei grimaced as Dad's hands turned to claws, talon-like, and he surged toward the powerful fin-ruler. He hadn't seen what King Cleophus did on the beach.

But surprisingly, the king didn't hold Dad back with his magic. Instead, he disappeared, a slight wind marking his departure, and reappeared with the maelstrom Lorelei had seen before, right next to the front door.

Lorelei didn't even make the decision, she felt her body move toward King Cleophus, and then she'd entered the maelstrom to stand with the king. At the center of the storm she turned back and watched her world disappear.

_Sorry, Dad._

# Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lorelei gasped as King Cleophus settled them on the same rock outcropping where Grandma Shaye had stood not two hours ago. True night had fallen, and the light from the sickle moon barely touched the inky blackness. The sea crashed around the base of the rocks, invisible in the darkness, the tide high.

"Your father may have the most trouble understanding."

Lorelei didn't want to talk about that. She wanted to know why she stood out here in the icy spray of the Pacific with a powerful being she could hardly comprehend. Actually, she didn't want to _know_ anything. She wanted to _feel_.

"Yes, I know child. That is why we are here." He reached for her hand, and she gave it, fear gnawing at her belly. "You must trust me. And you must know yourself. You must feel what it is to be finfolk."

Her heart raced. _Too fast, too fast._ Could she handle this?

"You will be grateful, when this is through. And then you will know what you need to know."

She gripped his hand hard, the skin there rough, though she didn't understand how that could be. This was a person who lived in the sea. How did you get callouses in the sea? Maybe it was illusion. Maybe it was just a show to make her feel comfortable. But if he meant her harm she would not be standing here now.

"If you had joined us properly, this would not be necessary. But I cannot leave you tonight without letting you experience what it is to be finfolk."

"You mean, we're...we're going in the ocean? Now?"

"I will take you in the sea, and you will use your finfolk shape."

She flashed to the mermaid dream, the glorious tail that whipped all the sea into froth in the wake of her movement.

Her eyes were drawn to the bundle of her sealskin.

"No, child. Your finfolk shape. It will not feel the same."

"How? How do I shift into a finfolk? I have no idea!"

"You'll know. In the water, you'll know."

She'd better figure it out fast, because it was bound to be bitterly cold.

The whirling storm that carried him began to swirl again, and Lorelei wanted to scream.

The frigid water surrounded her, and Lorelei thrashed in terror, feeling for the fin-ruler and not finding him. It was so dark here.

And then she realized that while she could tell the temperature of the water, the cold wasn't bothering her. She remembered the feeling of fire all along her skin as she'd crossed to the rock to save Grandma Shaye. Even in her human form, the cold didn't bother her as it had just a few hours ago.

The voices that had filled her mind, since the moment she stepped across the boundary of sand and sea today, rose up into a clamor she could not ignore. And they all said one thing: _shift._

Her form obeyed. A piercing pain beneath each ear lasted only a few heartbeats, and then she could breathe. That was the only discomfort. It seemed the shift was over – far easier than the selkie shift to her seal shape.

Her finfolk eyes adjusted to the meager light available, and her skin was sensitive, noting all manner of life that brushed up against her. A small, flitting fish felt _edible_ , while a tangle of seaweed she thrashed her new tail into felt _inedible_. She ignored these notions, though they kept occurring to her each second. The tail...if only she could see better. She ran a hand over the place where her skin connected with the foreign rib at the edge of her scales. She was smooth, slippery, the tail long and flexible.

She was breathing underwater.

Whale song reached her ears, the intricate strains lifting and dying in harmony, more complex than she'd ever known.

She was of the sea. A giggle escaped her lips in bubbles.

Serenity washed over her.

_You have done well_ , King Cleophus' voice spoke in her mind. _Now let us swim._

She could feel him speed up in the water ahead of her and did her best to follow. It was so much easier than she'd thought. She moved like lightning here, a quick flash to the left, a dash to the right. Lorelei giggled again, and felt for the king.

Focusing one part of her mind on his location, she kept close to him as she explored.

Swimming as finfolk was so smooth, so effortless. Temperatures changed repeatedly in the depths, telling her of channels and eddies that were hers to know. Even the coldest did not sway her from her path. She was not vulnerable to the cold. She felt powerful. And ready to know more.

She had no idea how much ground they'd covered until King Cleophus pulled up short ahead, thrashing his tail to change direction.

She spun and gave a great shove, following him to the surface.

Moonlight gave distinction to the shapes nearer the surface, and was bright enough to sting her eyes as her head broke through into the night of her former world.

Her former world?

Across the sound stood a great city. She recognized the skyline easily. It was Seattle. Why should its glow be unsettling? It held all of the wonders crafted by men's hands, above the sea.

Her heart raced with fear. Men should not have such power – such a desire to change the world.

Lorelei realized she was breathing air again, but she hadn't felt the ripping pain that had accompanied the shift to gills.

King Cleophus watched her, hovering next to her in the water. "Yes, you have done well. You should have pride in your first swim."

Her first swim? She did not correct the ruler of the finfolk. He still held her sealskin wrapped up under one arm. She did not want it back, not as she had earlier. The idea was revolting – to tie oneself into a new form? How powerless. How constraining.

King Cleophus chuckled. "I did not know you craved power so. A finfolk true, young Lorelei. You would do well among us, if that should come to pass."

She shook her head, a chill permeating all of her flesh, from the inside.

She hadn't expected to like it so, to love it – this form, the sea through these eyes, the waves and whales and weather.

What was she?

"It is time to return."

Lorelei stole another look at the human city, the lights stretching skyward, and the dark hills beyond.

And then the whirling rush of wind that meant they traveled, and the sudden warmth of her living room. She changed with little effort, before she could slip out of King Cleophus' grip and to the floor, mermaid-style. But she was nude. Before she could think it twice, the fin-ruler had taken care of it, and she wore loose pants and shirt of pure, snowy white.

She stepped out of the circle of the fin-ruler's arms, and looked around, but the room was empty...

Voices, in the family room. She had to see them, to tell them she was all right. Because she knew it – she would be all right.

She turned, but King Cleophus was not here; he'd gone as quickly as he came. Instead, her eyes caught on the painting above the mantle, and the finfolk seemed to shimmer, alive on the canvas.

"Dad? Grandma?" She tore her eyes from the painting and followed their voices, which died as she approached.

Grandma had been crying, and Dad looked grim, exhausted.

Why were they so sad?

The sight of Dad holding Grandma's hand and comforting her was unsettling. He was finfolk, too.

It seemed the other selkies had gone. No doubt it had been very uncomfortable to be here in a finfolk's home right after the scene on the beach.

"Lorelei..." He paused, looking at the strange clothes she wore, like she'd been at a spa, not in the ocean trying out her new tail.

"Hi...I'm—"

"Tired," he finished for her, choosing entirely the wrong word.

No, she was not tired, thank you very much.

"Understandably. You should go to bed. We all should."

"No, I'm not ready for sleep. I'm ready for words." She pinned him with a stare. How could he be so cowardly? Did he even know what it was to be finfolk? She suspected he did not; that he'd been unable to tell her about the ritual, or the glory of being in the sea as a finfolk, because he'd never explored his powers. He'd always hidden from them.

Grandma Shaye shook her head and started to rise. "I need sleep. No way I can handle anymore tonight, Lorelei."

"I just got back. There's so much to say."

"Is there? I see the excitement bubbling up in you, Lori, but I do not condone it. You may be infatuated with what they are, but they just about murdered me tonight. And now I need to go to bed."

"Please," Lorelei said, the peace she'd felt shattering and leaving her exposed. "That isn't fair. I didn't want to join them. I did it to save you!"

"I know it. And that just makes it worse." She turned her face and closed her eyes, her voice dropping to a whisper. "What am I going to say to your mother?"

Lorelei pretended she didn't hear that. Pretended it didn't splinter something else inside her, leaving her all full of shards, painful and dangerous.

Dad's eyes were on her. What did he see that he wasn't sharing?

"I'm making you some tea," Lorelei said. Where had their normal gone? How had so much changed in so few hours? She picked up the mug and patted Grandma Shaye's arm, and she flinched.

Lorelei found her way to the kitchen, her eyes clouded with tears.

Was Grandma Shaye frightened of her now?

She recalled what she'd said on the rock, upon first learning of what Lorelei had done to help her. _I've lost you._

A tear slipped down Lorelei's cheek, and she let it fall in silence. Unblinking, she straightened her spine and went to make the tea.

# Author's Note

Thank you for reading Water Rites! It means a lot to me that you spent your valuable time taking this journey with me, and I hope you enjoyed it.

This world has me enthralled. It came out of my love for the shore and the sea, particularly the cold waters off the Northwestern coast of the U.S. I spent time in the San Juan Islands as a child, and a lot of time on the Washington coast in general. My imagination craved a journey back there.

I've also been drawn to selkies...forever. If you follow my work you know this is just a continuation of an obsession with lore that always emerges in the stories I choose to write. And _evil mermaids_? Come on, as soon as I read about the finfolk I knew I would write about them. That they managed to worm their way into Lorelei's lineage as her character grew in my mind is a development I can't get over. My selkie girl sure seems destined to live between worlds, and that's something many of us can identify with. I can't wait to show you what's in store for Lorelei, Vardon, Clay and all the others. Crestfallen, book two in the Water Rites series, is available now.

If you'd like to keep up on my current releases, sign up to receive my reader mailing list.

I have one final request – if you enjoyed the ride with me in Water Rites, show a little love by leaving an honest review at Goodreads or at the retailer where you purchased the book. Reviews mean a lot to independent authors. Word of mouth is our best way to reach other readers who will enjoy our work. Thank you!!

# Excerpt from Crestfallen

### Water Rites, Book 2

"Prince Clay. Why am I not surprised to find you here?" Shona hauled herself from the waves onto the rocks where he sat.

He lifted his gaze slowly from the girl he'd been watching on the beach, pivoting to meet the finwoman. Shona was seated where the waves met the rocks. Mist rose from the water to mingle with the weather. A fine drizzle had been falling off and on through the night, but the clouds had thinned as dawn neared. He watched as Shona's silver and green fin split and morphed into legs in the space of a few heartbeats.

He'd thought he was alone on this rocky outcropping in the San Juan Islands. He came here every day to see if he could catch Lorelei on the beach near her home. Today he'd dared to come close, grateful for the dim light of predawn, but still shielding himself against her view with finfolk magic.

He had not expected Shona's intrusion today, but he had known she would come eventually. "I expected them to send you sooner. It has been weeks."

She rose and stood next to him. "If I find you have bothered the girl—"

"You needn't worry," he snarled. "I would not disobey a direct order from the king."

"On pain of death."

"I know it. Do you presume to remind me of my honor, Shona the Shameless?" He said it to get a rise out of her; the king would not be pleased.

"If you refer to me by that name again I will do my all to turn Lorelei against your proposal."

He ground his teeth together, knowing further harsh words wouldn't help him with Shona. King Cleophus had sent her to do a job, and that gave her a feeling of worth beyond her station. Not that he needed her help with Lorelei. He just needed time. When she realized all that being a finfolk meant, she was sure to choose their people, sure to choose him.

Fighting Shona would win him nothing. He swallowed his annoyance at being caught watching his future bride, and changed tack.

"Have you met her yet?" His eyes drifted back to Lorelei, across the small expanse of water. The sky was growing lighter, and he could see her face now, her fine features turned toward him with an openness that made his heart beat against his ribs. His love was looking their direction, watching the moon floating low behind him. He knew it was full without even looking at its round and glowing face, for he could feel its promise as all finfolk could. Could she feel him here, watching her as she watched the moon?

"For now I am observing. I will make contact today."

"Does it bother you? Meeting them this way?"

Shona was still. He asked only to unsettle her and didn't expect an answer. They were not close and such a personal question was not appropriate, especially given his current exile, and her assignment. The truth was, Shona unsettled him, to a degree. He could not read her as well as many of their kind; likely because she was raised among humans, like Lorelei. It was the reason King Cleophus had chosen Shona for Lorelei's mentor.

Clay had no power over the choice, but he approved. If anyone could convince Lorelei that she belonged among the finfolk, it was one who had chosen their way of life.

"No," Shona answered, finally, her eyes on Lorelei. "It does not bother me. It is time I met my family."

A soft glow illuminated the sky around the full moon; February mists at their finest.

Fine droplets clung to Lorelei's hair and coat, but she didn't move from where she stood on the beach near her home in Anacortes, Washington.

That full moon riding low over the cresting waves held her spellbound. The water below glowed with the moonlight, shimmering with untold secrets. She'd risen from bed drawn by the power of that moon, by the power of the sea and all it held in its wild depths.

She was early, and so she waited.

Did she really want to do this?

It had to happen sometime. She knew that.

She held one hand in front of her and pictured her father—called his image into being. And her hand changed. It was his hand. She knew if she looked in a mirror, she'd see his face, not her face.

A rock clicked as someone walked toward her, and Lorelei hurriedly changed back.

She'd been amusing herself with small shifts like this for days, ever since the fear wore off and the anger began to simmer like hot coals under everything she tried to do.

She turned, showing her own face again, to greet Vardon.

Her heart thumped against her ribs. That had been too close. She didn't know how she'd explain her experiments with shapeshifting to Vardon. She didn't want to have to.

He waved at her, the same Vardon he'd been two weeks ago.

Envy seethed, feeding the coals with whispers of how things could have been.

He carried his sealskin. Hers was in the depths of the ocean, with the people who had claimed her and forced her to accept them. She was supposed to be a selkie, but she couldn't be now.

"Hey," he said when he was finally close enough to touch. He smiled, but his eyes were serious. "Thanks for meeting me. How are you?"

Lorelei shrugged. There was no way she could honestly answer that question. "Your mother let you come?"

It was a mean thing to say; implying he was a child who had to ask permission. But her supposed boyfriend hadn't talked to her for nearly two weeks. What was she supposed to think?

"She doesn't know." He moved closer, like he would embrace her, and Lorelei turned from him to avoid the contact.

"She isn't going to let us see each other, Vardon."

"Does it even matter?" he asked, his voice soft, but cold. "Everything changed, didn't it? Two weeks ago you had to make a decision. You made the choice you had to make, and it screwed absolutely everything up."

"Especially us. I'm just...Vardon, I'm just angry all the time. I don't know what to do. I have about ten weeks to figure it out before the finfolk decide whether I'm even worthy of them. Until then, they have my sealskin and I'm adrift between freaking species."

He laughed harshly. "That's one way to put it." He reached out a hand tentatively and Lorelei steeled herself to accept his touch.

Why did this have to happen right after they got close? Why did she have to be punished for her existence? She wasn't a threat to anyone, and yet both the selkies and the finfolk were ready to make her an enemy. She just wanted her life back.

Except that wasn't one hundred percent true. She couldn't go back, and she knew it. Not after that swim when she'd first taken her finfolk form. Not after feeling the fluid slide between shapes, the allure of the depths...nothing would ever be the same, and life here on land didn't satisfy anymore.

Where did that leave her?

Stranded.

Vardon's hand was heavy on her arm, and she stepped closer to him. She remembered her racing heart, the catch in her breath, when she'd thought of Vardon before.

"Why did you wait two weeks?"

"Why didn't you call me?"

They both watched each other, and then Vardon cracked a grin. Lorelei followed suit, humor feeling awkward for the first time she could remember.

"I could probably do with more human contact," she said, trying to keep it light.

"Or...maybe you could do with a swim."

"Is that why you called?" Adrenaline shot into her veins. She knew it was a stupid decision, but she wouldn't turn him down. "You know I don't have my sealskin."

His eyes darkened under a scowl. "Of course I know. I was there when it was stolen," he growled.

She turned into him, finally welcoming the hug he'd been offering with body language throughout their exchange. He wrapped his arms around her, and her cheek rested against the hollow of his throat. His skin felt cool against hers, where she remembered it being so warm.

"Lorelei. I missed you."

An ache in her throat made speaking too difficult. She just nodded against his chest. As much as it hurt to be near him now that everything was different for them, she'd missed him, too.

"Do you want to try a swim?"

She pulled back so she could see his face. "What exactly are you suggesting? You want to see me as an evil mermaid?" She tried to laugh, but she saw the hurt in his eyes.

"I like that nickname a lot less now."

"It isn't flattering, is it?"

He finally chuckled, which was the reaction she was after, and she smiled back at him. "I know you don't have your sealskin, but what if you used your finfolk power to change into your seal shape? Have you thought about that?"

She tilted her head to one side. No. She hadn't thought of that. "Uh...the idea gives me an unsettled feeling that I probably shouldn't ignore. But I think I want to ignore it." Her smile turned into an all-out grin. Yes, it sounded creepy, but it also sounded like fun. She could use a distraction.

"So you want to give it a shot?"

"Yeah, let's try it. Don't freak out on me when I smell like finfolk, though."

"I'll try to keep my head, fins."

"Fins? Don't call me that, flippers."

"Ugh. Agreed. No sea-related nicknames. Flippers? That's terrible. I might have to call Mom that one of these days."

"Stealing my idea?"

"You have great ideas."

"Are we giving this a try, or what?"

"Let me change. You want to look out there or something?"

Lorelei obliged, turning so that he could strip and tie on his sealskin. She tried to find the moon, but it had slipped behind clouds so she could only make out a bit of its glow.

"Ready?" Vardon asked.

"Um...sort of?"

"You sound like you did that first time we swam together."

"It feels like a first again." Lorelei squinted out at the waves, her own feelings more of an untamable wilderness than the ocean would ever seem again. "And we just had all of those firsts. I'm waiting for things to settle and feel normal, but they never seem to get around to that."

"Well, I'm ready, so let's do this."

He grabbed her hand and made for where the water met rocks and sand.

Could she remember how to do this? She'd only made a full shift with King Cleophus, and then into her finfolk form. She'd been playing with small shifts, but she was far from certain that she could shift into her seal form.

Vardon's face began to morph before they were thigh-deep in the waves, and he dropped her hand and hurried into the water to complete the shift.

She followed, the water soothing her worries. No matter what happened, this was bound to be fun.

Chest deep, she pictured her seal form. She started with a visualization of the knots tying her skin...it felt odd now, somehow wrong, to be so divorced from one's shape that an implement like a pelt is needed...but today she didn't let that bother her. She recalled the shift, the feel of her seal shape, and that's where she landed within a few seconds.

Yes! Success!

She dove, her whiskers picking up the vibrations of a boat offshore, and a whale pod not too far off. The wilds and the humans, meeting again. Humans were everywhere, their touch even affecting the deepest and darkest places on the planet's surface.

Vardon swept past her, smacking her shoulder with one flipper as he passed. He gave a short bark that carried, muffled, through the water.

It didn't feel the same. Oh, how she wished that it did now that she remembered!

Would this day leave her missing her sealskin more than ever?

Vardon circled and returned, passing her again and heading into deeper waters.

Lorelei shoved her snout above water for a great gulp of air, and followed him under. The sun had risen, but it wasn't yet high enough to touch the underwater world that was theirs alone.

She could smell any number of small creatures to eat...and her belly rumbled because she hadn't bothered with breakfast before she left the house. But she hadn't yet graduated to harvesting crustaceans. She'd never tried it.

Another smell haunted her.

Finfolk.

There was the ever-present Clay, who never seemed to leave the ocean near her home, now that he was exiled for all he'd done – forcing Lorelei to complete the ritual that would welcome her finfolk powers. He'd wanted to make her his bride, apparently. Which was just strange. They'd never even had a real conversation, though he'd been stalking Lorelei for weeks—maybe months—before her birthday, when he'd forced her into the ritual that would change everything.

What could he possibly know about her that made him want to be her husband?

What did it even mean to be a finwife, as King Cleophus had put it two weeks ago, when he'd proclaimed that she had three months to prove herself finfolk and gain access to the golden undersea kingdom of Finfolkaheem?

But Clay's scent was not the only one. Another finfolk was nearby. From this one she sensed frustration, impatience. And it was directed at her.

King Cleophus had said he'd send someone to teach her the finfolk ropes...could this be the one?

If so, it appeared Lorelei had already managed to frustrate. And there was so much she needed to learn.

This Lorelei was not the same one who swam with him before. In his seal form, Vardon knew it. She smelled different; she'd come into her finfolk powers. It left him with a feeling of disquiet in his gut that he couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he swam.

Did it have to change everything?

His nose said yes. He couldn't ignore the scent of finfolk, both Lorelei and the others that roamed the bays and inlets near Fidalgo Island now that Lorelei had come of age.

He wished one of them were that King Cleophus, who had flung him out to sea on Lorelei's birthday like he was a flea being flung off the back of a dog. It had taken so little effort it was frightening. Or the one who'd pounded his face in when he'd been trying to find Lorelei, and then forced him to the beach for the confrontation. Both of those had some control over the stalker, Clay, who had changed everything with his intrusion.

There was no competing with the finfolk. Vardon understood that better now that he'd faced them himself. They were just too strong. Selkies could shift shapes and heal quickly, but they weren't sorcerers.

His parents had never questioned the animosity between selkie and finfolk, but because of Lorelei, he had.

The local selkies were still coming to terms with the finfolk so close to them. And it was Lorelei who brought them to the area, so her name bore the brunt of the scorn.

That was unfair. Lorelei hadn't caused the situation, but at this point what was she thinking? Did she already know it was fruitless to pretend? She sure wasn't saying much.

He'd hoped this swim would bring them closer again, but Lorelei was distracted, and so was he.

In deep water, flying through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Lorelei came to a sudden halt, stirring the water with her flippers as she hovered, uncertain, highlighted by the refracted light now making its way beneath the surface.

He circled round and nudged her, and she whirled and fled for home.

He stayed right at her flank, not knowing what drove her away from the strait, but not willing to leave her side. She swam near the surface, but not too near; she knew enough to be wary of boats.

He forgot how new she was at sea-life...she made it easy to forget; she was such a natural in the water. She'd barely had two weeks of knowing she was a selkie before the finfolk took that away and called her one of theirs.

As they neared the beach, he realized one of the finfolk was very close. Terror thrummed through him, and he quelled the natural instinct and focused on reclaiming his human shape.

He and Lorelei shifted simultaneously, but as he strode up the beach, he realized she wasn't by his side. He looked back and saw her swimming offshore.

She grinned sheepishly. "We didn't think this through. I lost my clothes in the shift. Pretty idiotic, right?"

"What, they just melted?"

"I don't know where they went when I shifted! What do I know about this? That was one of my favorite shirts, too." The smile died. It had never reached her eyes anyway. "Vardon...I need to stay. I think my finfolk mentor is here. She called me mind-to-mind..."

He shivered. Their mind powers were creepy beyond belief.

Hiding his disappointment, he quipped, "Hope she can show you how to dress again."

She rolled her eyes, and he felt an arrow straight to the heart.

His girl. She was so his girl.

"Call me tonight, okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I will. Um...have fun?"

"I'm sure it's going to be...interesting. I don't know about fun."

And with that, Vardon left for school, leaving Lorelei alone on the beach. No part of him wanted to, but no part of him wanted to meet a finfolk again in person, either. Especially as the one thing standing between Lorelei and all that she was supposed to learn.

The finfolk had stolen her. And he was powerless to stop it.

# About the Author

J.R. Pearse Nelson is a fantasy and romance writer from Oregon, USA. She lives with her husband and two daughters among the plentiful trees and clouds of the beautiful Willamette Valley. J.R. is always searching for the magic in our world. She weaves tales rooted in mythology, bringing legend to life in modern-day and fantasy settings. J.R. is the author of the _Water Rites_ fantasy series, the _Foulweather Twins_ fantasy series, and the _Of the Blood_ fantasy romance series.

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