Floating Alone

by Zenina Masters

  He pulled up near the entryway where a small gathering of press was waiting. Irdan got out and opened her door for her.

  Marina kept her knees together, moved to the edge of the seat, pivoted and let Irdan help her out. He assisted her into a steady posture and closed the door before turning to face the press. “Here we go, your first time as a fey. Enjoy it and hold onto me if you need to.”

  She gripped his arm as the first flash went off. They walked through the short line, and she kept her meet-the-public face on the whole time until they were inside the observatory.

  It was a common enough place to hold a fundraiser, and holding them was its own fundraiser. The fee was astronomical.

  Irdan produced an invitation at the door, and then, they were swept into the gathering of magic, money and philanthropy.

  She was speaking with a few of the local researchers when one of them reached a conclusion. “You are Dr. Wake. Dr. Marina Wake.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Yes.”

  “You look... different.” The indigenous-species researcher stared at the markings.

  “Ah, that. Well, when you have a little magic in your blood and start dating another fey, things happen.” She smiled.

  “Well, you look amazing. How is the rescue centre?”

  His question made her light up and she spoke eagerly about the birth, the two expectant mothers and the releasing of the bachelors scheduled for the following day.

  When she came out of her enthusiastic conversation, she had gathered a crowd of worshipful onlookers.

  Irdan walked over from his conversation with Maweel. “Dearest, I think I have someone for you to meet.”

  She smiled at him and a few of her admirers asked for her card. She shrugged. “I apologize; I didn’t bring any. This was kind of sprung on me. Just look for the Wake Manatee Rescue.”

  They nodded with fatuous smiles.

  She blinked and turned toward Irdan. “Lead away.”

  He looked at her admirers and sighed, “We will also have to deal with this complication.”

  Marina wasn’t sure what he meant, but he took her by the hand and pulled her to the side of the room where all of the money was clustered together.

  “Marina, I would like to introduce you to Senator Imilia Nafore and Leforth Nafore. My parents.”

  The senator stared at her. “She doesn’t know how to work a glamour? I thought the court’s option was bad, but this one lacks control.”

  Her husband was a little less direct. He extended his hand, and his brows lifted at the contact. “Immy, you might want to shake her hand, and it will be a little clearer for you.”

  Imilia extended her hand, and her eyes widened on point of contact.

  “Pleased to meet you, Senator. Apparently, I am the creature of your nightmares.”

  “You are... you were...” She didn’t seem to know where to go.

  “I am Dr. Marina Wake of the Wake Manatee Rescue. I have been seeing your son for a few days, but we have met on several occasions at events like this. He finally made a move, and I said yes.”

  “You don’t quite have a grasp of your new circumstance, correct?”

  Marina smiled. “That is correct. It is my first day with a new suit, so to speak. Yesterday, I was a curvy brunette, and today, I am what you see in front of you.”

  Imilia blinked. “And you are a siren.”

  Irdan coughed. “I haven’t explained that to her yet, but it seems to simply hold folk in thrall, not drive them mad with lust.”

  Marina’s eyes widened, and she let go of the senator’s hand. “What has happened now?”

  “Another adaptation. Perhaps we are out a day early.” Irdan wrapped his arm around her waist.

  “When did you to start your... uh... relationship?” Leforth smiled at the awkwardness of the situation.

  “Well, we were at the Crossroads yesterday and things were cemented this morning, so to speak. The change occurred this afternoon in front of witnesses.” She made a face.

  The senator’s eyes widened. “What change?”

  Irdan nudged Marina with his hip. “Perhaps we could make an appointment to have coffee or lunch tomorrow?”

  She frowned. “I have the release in the morning. I suppose anytime after that is fine.”

  “Release?”

  She leaned forward and smiled at Leforth. “I am releasing two healed bull manatee back into the waterways tomorrow morning. They are eager to get back to the ladies who are receptive right now.”

  Imilia smiled hopefully. “Their mates?”

  “For this season, yes. The males literally come and go. The manatees are solitary animals. They are curious, socially motivated but don’t depend on a herd dynamic.”

  Imilia smiled, “So they are ready to return to their waters as soon as they are released.”

  “Yup.”

  While the conversation turned to her favourite topic, Irdan kept his hand around her waist and his father smiled whenever he noted the gesture.

  It was a peculiar evening, and their group was there until the majority of the crowd had dispersed.

  Maweel had joined their group at some time in the evening, and they were standing and laughing as they shared tales of the everglades.

  When Marina swayed against Irdan and a wave of exhaustion was overcoming her, she looked up at him in confusion before she passed out in his arms.

  * * * *

  Irdan caught her and felt the surge of power that was building in her body again. There was another change coming.

  His mother looked at her. “She is glowing.”

  Irdan nodded. “Yes, the balancing is bringing her all the wild magic in the area. She’s becoming a true elemental.”

  Leforth smiled. “Well, it will be a good thing considering her love of wildlife. As a fey elemental, she will have a right to her territory. With her power, it will extend well into the human preserves.”

  “She is going to need help establishing her territory, Aunty.” Maweel smiled.

  Imilia looked at her son’s unconscious mate. “I will see what I can do.”

  Irdan glanced around. “I am going to take her home.”

  Maweel sighed and handed him the fob. “Take your car. I don’t think she even knows where you live yet.”

  Irdan took the fob with his fingers and gave his mother and father a polite nod. “Let me know about lunch tomorrow.”

  He nodded to the host of the event as he carried his mate out of the dregs of the fundraiser. He had already donated a few thousand to the cause, so he left without guilt.

  A few of the humans were shocked at the image of him carrying a glowing fey in his arms, but he keyed the fob and opened the car doors at his approach. He tucked Marina in, put on her seatbelt and got around to the driver’s side. He drove home, parked and carried Marina to the water.

  He dismissed their clothing as he walked into the surf and carried her in and under the waves.

  Her body jerked at the touch of the water, and her eyes opened wide as she pushed free of him. He watched her glowing skin swim into deeper water before she started to thrash and twist.

  Her fourth form was breathtaking and every inch the sea goddess. Grey skin, emerald scales and twenty feet of scaled tail propelled her through the water. He shifted to his beast form and followed her as she cruised through the water.

  She glanced at him with glowing yellow eyes, her ears were now fins that extended through her hair. She smiled and touched his head.

  He felt the electric touch of her through the heavy hide of his scales.

  She turned toward the open water and then looked back at the shoreline. Her fins changed direction, and she frowned. In a moment, she was streaking toward what she heard, and he could hear the engines thrumming through the water a moment later.

  Marina moved so fast that he was barely able to track her, but the jet skis that went flying through the air gave a good indicato
r to her location.

  Irdan swam behind her and fished the screaming, drunk teens out of the water while Marina checked on the manatee and calf that the three idiots had been harassing.

  He used magic to hold them to his sides as he cruised to what passed for the shore.

  He shifted to his fey form with swim trunks, and he admonished the blubbering teens. “Which one of you has a phone?”

  One of them held out the phone, and sure enough, there was footage of them harassing the manatee. He forwarded the footage to his own phone and tossed the phone back. He did the same with the other two while they were too stunned to disagree.

  “Now, what you did was harass an endangered species, and one of the fey elementals has now moved into this area and is enforcing the law. You have already lost your jet skis; consider yourselves lucky she didn’t come after you.”

  The boys were shaking. “What are you?”

  Irdan laughed. “I am her fiancé.”

  Chapter Eight

  Marina came out of the kayak after riding escort with her camera on her head. “Well, the gentlemen are away and in good health. They both seemed to have a destination in mind, but I took them as far as I could.”

  Toby looked a little disappointed that she wasn’t coming out of the water with a tail again.

  She pulled the kayak up and set it and her paddle down.

  Irdan was back in his t-shirt and jeans, and he was wearing a watch and had a cell phone in his pocket. “Well, you have time to shower. How is the video coming along?”

  “Ready for the website. I cropped the bits of me out of it and blurred the hull of the boat, but it gets the point across that the manatees are being released into a hostile environment, despite human law.”

  “You are already talking like a fey.”

  She went up on her toes and kissed him. “I am talking like me. I have never been human or shifter or fey. I am a weird mix of the magic of all of them and a little bit more.”

  She pulled the camera off her head and turned it off. “I have to remember that it is in place.”

  He laughed. “Off to your office. You can change, and we can meet my parents for lunch.”

  She made a face but dropped the camera off and uploaded the morning’s footage before she grabbed a shower and slipped into the dress she had brought for the occasion. It was a maxi dress that Irdan had worked over, and it was surprisingly fashionable for something that just skimmed her curves.

  Her underwear was her own.

  Being in and out of the water, the shower had been a necessity, as had the small wardrobe.

  She was also wearing a set of low-heeled sandals that still made her taller than she was used to. Her balance was off just enough to make her grateful for Irdan’s assistance.

  Marina sat at her desk and looked up in surprise as Herman came through the door.

  “Marina! What did he do to you?”

  She propped her hand on her chin and asked, “Who did what?”

  Her father was circling the desk, taking in the changes. “When he asked for my permission, I had no idea that this would be the result.”

  “He asked for your permission?” Marina’s lips twitched, but he didn’t see or notice the warning.

  “Of course. I am your father. He needed blood permission to take you to the Crossroads.”

  She got to her feet. “Well, that is interesting news. You can go now, Herman. If you come here again, I will break you in two.”

  He looked uncertain. “You can’t do that.”

  She had been working on the edits of the jet skiers’ footage. She turned the monitor so he could see the image of herself lashing at the skis with tail and back. “This is what I look like in the open water, Herman. You might want to take yourself off for a while until after I cool down.”

  He was staring at the image when Irdan came in.

  Her lover smiled brightly. “Ready?”

  Herman’s fist struck him in the ribs, and the second hit smacked into his jaw. Herman was still a manatee shifter, so he put a lot of power into that strike.

  “How dare you do that to her?”

  Irdan just turned his head with the impact and stared at Herman. “I only spurred the first change.”

  “He’s right, Herman. The wild magic in the area rushed in the moment that nature, magic, shifter, animal and fey had been mixed together. I am now the result. The hair is totally Irdan’s fault, but I will get used to covering it with a glamour of my own.”

  She took the memory cards, turned off her computer and locked everything up. “If you don’t mind, I am having lunch with my soon-to-be in-laws. They hate me, too, Herman, so you are not alone there.”

  She nodded to Irdan and pushed her father out of her office. She locked it, and to her surprise, she set a charm on it to notify her if anyone cracked into it.

  Her father was still looking at her with an appalled expression. She shrugged and headed out the door with Irdan; her small purse-backpack carried all of her devices, and she was ready to face Imilia again.

  Toby and the other two members of her crew were busy clearing up the brush in the yard, and Maweel was with a survey crew taking measurements.

  When they were settled in the car, she asked him, “What are they doing?”

  “Making measurements for a manatee wellness centre. You will be able to attract your pick of students, research fellows and other researchers. Not to mention, interns who just want to work with the manatee.”

  She rubbed her forehead. “I just wanted to keep doing what we are doing.”

  “You obviously have a working system, but controlled expansion would not be a bad idea.”

  She scowled as he drove, reaching into her pack and pulling out a notebook and pencil. She designed her dream facility and explained it. “The entire thing needs to be modular, like I have it now. They do better with natural water and vegetation, so having a food-growth area is good, as well as a lock system to fill and drain the tanks.”

  Irdan’s lips twisted. “You have locks?”

  “Yeah, we were distracted by the female in labour before I could finish the tour.”

  “Oh, right. Things kind of took off from there.”

  She laughed. “You could say that.”

  They drove out to the string of islands connected by small bridges until they turned off and waited at a dock.

  She should have been more surprised, but when a barge rose up from the water, they left the car and stepped on it.

  “This is the least weird thing that has happened in the last few days.”

  Irdan sighed. “I wished this had gone a little more smoothly.”

  “Me too.” She chuckled. “Do you think there is a way to create a charm, a spell or something to physically restrict the speed in the water in a certain area?”

  Irdan blinked. “I don’t see why not. You might want to contact the Mage Guild.”

  “I will think about it. My gut is telling me that there is something I can do.”

  “If the magic is pulling you, it probably has its reasons.”

  She chuckled. “This is weird. I have spent my life balancing between three natures, and now, I have two more added to the mix. Add to that your parents, my father and floating on a barge in the middle of the ocean.”

  “My mother is abrupt, but she is happy that I am courting a mate.”

  “And your father is happy about the situation. They have a weird power dynamic.”

  “According to legend, she petitioned for his hand. It happened far before I was born, so it is down to myth and legend.”

  “Why are so many politicians fey?”

  “They have name recognition because they have been around so long, and they have seen all the faces that humans can put on and know them by sight. They have literally seen it all before.”

  She smiled at the weird logic and looked at the island that they were approaching.

  The home
on the largest hill was expansive and spoke to every creature comfort.

  “I thought we were meeting them somewhere neutral.”

  “My mom thought we could speak frankly at the family home.”

  “That makes sense. Did you send her yesterday’s footage?”

  “I did. She said she has done some research. You may get an explanation for your latest form.”

  She chuckled. “That would be nice.”

  They stepped onto the island’s dock and walked up the winding steps to the front door. Imilia was dressed more casually in a brilliant caftan that mimicked the pattern of a butterfly.

  “Come in, come in. Marina, you are looking well today.”

  Marina smiled. “I had a good night’s sleep, and now, I finally know where your son lives.”

  Imilia linked arms with her and pulled her away from Irdan. “You know, when he told us the seers had ordered him to seek out a manatee, I thought he was mad. I can understand now that they were correct. He needed you. You don’t just look for the future; you take care of the present. It is a lovely change.”

  The senator chatted on cheerfully as she hauled Marina through the house. They ended up in a library, and a huge and old tome was lying on a bookstand opened to a brightly colourful page.

  “I have researched your condition and found this particular mention of a convergence.” Imilia pointed out the script that was written in a language older than the civilization they were in.

  “What does it say? I don’t read squiggle.” She wriggled her fingers at the pages. To her shock, they rearranged into clear and precise English.

  Imilia smiled. “That is due to what has happened here. You are a convergence of magic. You are a beast-born—yes, I know about that—to a shifter, balanced with a fey and that has left an opening for wild magic to step in. The splice of power is what made you possible. The last marine convergence was over three thousand years ago.” Imilia tapped the page. “This was her.”

  The creature on the page was not just a mermaid on steroids; she was part shark, part human, with webbed hands, claws, gills and glowing blue eyes. Her hair was waves of smoke-silver silk that ran down her back.