I considered his assessment. Deep Dwellers hadn’t killed Lorelei, either. Instead, they’d left her sundered from her magic and vulnerable, an easy target. They’d offered her up to an ancient power like some kind of bartered trade good.
If the Deep Dwellers had been behind any of the strange altercations my other sisters had faced over the last year, they hadn’t been trying to kill them.
“They want to use me.” I looked out into the night. There were plenty of reasons to want come after me. The legends of immortality with the consumption of mermaid flesh. My power. And most importantly, my portal magic. My personal portal was hidden beneath the aquarium in Elliott Bay. I didn’t spend any time around it, didn’t want to risk leading anyone or anything to it. It was warded carefully and undetectable by anyone but me or my sisters.
I was certain the Deep Dwellers wanted my portal magic.
Keegan’s arms tightened around me. “They can’t have you.”
A few hours later, I stood on the docks facing Dr. Jones and her research team with news they wouldn’t want to hear.
“You’re not coming with us?” Dr. Jones looked genuinely disappointed, her lips pressed in a flat line.
“But the orcas,” Naima chimed in, “they’re not safe yet.”
I shook my head, truly regretting the need to mislead these people and letting that show on my face in place of the regret I hoped they’d perceive. “The main office is calling me back, saying I was only supposed to be consulting, not joining the search. I’m truly sorry.”
I wasn’t lying, not that it mattered. I had called to check in with my office and they had expressed confusion as to why I’d already stayed as long as I had.
I made eye contact and shook hands with each of the researchers, including Keegan, as if I hadn’t spent the night with him guarding my hotel room door. It hadn’t made sense to send him away once he’d seen me safely to my room. It would’ve been insulting, as if he couldn’t guard me, and he’d have gotten no rest at all attempting to keep watch outside my hotel. So I’d dozed in the few hours before coming to meet with the research team, and he’d settled into a semi-restful vigil inside my door.
We’d arrived at the dock separately, though, so his team was none the wiser.
But I hadn’t told him I wasn’t coming with them this morning. Anger radiated from him, and an additional pang of regret hit me in the chest.
I held out a small digital storage device to Dr. Jones. “I made notes on the orca body we studied yesterday. This has all of the images we took, the measurements of all the bite marks, and my analysis. I hope it will be of help, especially if there’s another incident to compare these against.”
“There probably will be,” Paul muttered.
I truly hoped not. The leviathan had gone north when I’d managed to repel it. Perhaps the beast had returned to its normal hunting grounds and food supply, wherever that was. Given other circumstances, I would’ve loved to have followed it to study how it had survived undetected for so long. More likely, it would be back. The Deep Dwellers had brought the leviathan here in the first place, I was certain, and they could do it again. I had to find a way to stop both the leviathan and the group of Deep Dwellers prodding it to attack in these waters.
I couldn’t do it with humans around to witness my true nature.
“We’ll contact you with any new findings,” Naima offered.
I smiled. “I’d like to do anything I can to help from where I am.”
I meant it. In the meantime, Keegan could keep these people safe. He, at least, was a real warrior.
“I’ll walk you back.” He stepped off the research boat, onto the dock.
He placed a hand on my lower back as I turned to walk back to where the dock met the landing. Once we were out of earshot of the team, he let loose a low growl. It wasn’t a sound a human could make, but then again, that was probably the point. “You shouldn’t go out there alone.”
“They are safer without me. You wanted me to let your humans live.” I was beginning to understand that his concern came from his protective nature. He’d developed ties to those humans and he looked after them. I would do the same for my sisters. I…respected his care. Perhaps I appreciated it more than I wanted to admit, considering the night prior.
“You can’t handle both the leviathan and those—what did you call them?—Deep Dwellers by yourself.” He huffed. “Wait for night and I’ll come with you.”
A flash of irritation burned through me, there and gone again. I wanted to snap at him, tell him this was my business and my problem to solve. But he was right. It would be stupid to let my pride lead me to overestimate my abilities against these adversaries.
He was right…but I also couldn’t wait. I needed to get back to my portal near Seattle. It was my way to travel to any of my sisters in this world. It needed to be kept safe, above all else. I also had the means to request information there, the kind of knowledge no one in this world would know. “I have to go back to Seattle now. Keep your humans safe and stay out of the water until I can deal with the danger, selkie. I’ve managed alone a long time. I’ll find a way now.”
Somehow. I was still working on the details.
“You don’t have to be alone.” His quiet statement sank in and settled in my chest.
“I am in exile.” I had to admit it to him. Keegan thought too highly of me. I deserved to be out here on my own, without the support of my people or my family. I’d done this to myself by quitting before living up to any of my potential. “I failed my father, and I was sent here to make myself useful in another way. I am the only one of my kind here.”
Careful. I was being so careful with my words. I hadn’t lied, yet. I had no other sisters in Seattle or the Puget Sound. The city and the seas around it were my territory.
“That’s just more of a reason for you to have whatever help you can get.” He wrapped his hand around my upper arm and pulled me to stop. “I’ll come looking for you tonight. I’ll swim all the way to Seattle and I’ll search the entire city if I have to. Let me help you.”
I shook my head. “You don’t need to.”
He lifted his other hand to touch my face. “I want to.”
I forced my gaze to meet his, letting the warmth drain from my eyes and my voice. “You shouldn’t.”
I turned and walked away then, hoping the twisting regret would ease in my chest as I put more than physical distance between us.
6
I swam directly from the San Juan Islands, south to Seattle, coming into Elliot Bay and staying as close to the sea floor as possible. The deepest part of the bay was its entrance, at over five hundred feet. One might think I’d place my portal there, the deeper the better.
No. I did my best to avoid the first place any might think to look for something hidden.
My portal was tucked farther into the bay and closer to the city, southwest of the aquarium at nearly four hundred feet deep. Deep enough to avoid any of their little expeditions in their mechanical bubbles. Visibility in the bay waters was horrible for human eyes. And the spot was sheltered, better to defend. If I sensed anything amiss, I could get to it quickly from my home or office.
I made my way to it, taking a winding course around the bay and the various shallows before diving deep again. There were enough larger sea animals in the bay to mask my presence so long as humans didn’t get a good look at me.
As I approached the portal, I slowed until I hung suspended in the murky waters. I studied the area carefully, looking for anything amiss with both my physical sight and my magical senses. My wards were all intact, invisible to any eyes but mine. They deterred creatures from coming too close to the portal itself and also redirected the eye. It was a bit of supernatural camouflage in addition to a magical barrier.
It was quieter here, the sounds of boats at the surface muted. The symphony of the sea played more softly. I listened hard for the bass tones in minor key I’d heard when I’d encountered the Deep Dwellers, b
ut didn’t detect a single note.
Finally satisfied, I circled and entered my warded sanctuary.
There was no physical structure. My sanctuary seemed open to the waters around and above it, with nothing but my wards as barrier. Protective walls could quickly become impediments. The trouble with hiding within something was that you couldn’t see what was coming to find you.
I had lines of sight in all directions and could listen or feel for anything out of place in the near vicinity. My portal hung suspended and maintained at the center of my wards, the palest of blue to my gaze alone. No other could see it, or make use of it without me, and I could reach any of my sisters living here in this world by passing through it. I could also use it to get to the Nexus Portal, the only way back to our home world, and the only way for more of my sisters to join us here. It was a comfort and a danger at the same time, this connection to my family and to my home world. I guarded it with my life.
I dove under my portal to the basin I had set into the sea floor beneath it. The basin was lined with crystals I’d brought with me from Salacia, from home. I’d spelled the crystals to create a small warded space, not for protection this time, but for a different purpose.
I came to a rest on the sea floor beside the basin and reached in to retrieve a large, perfect nautilus shell. Empty of its original occupant, the shell was a receptacle, and into it I sang the chirps and whistles of my people, our language. It was beautiful in the way whale song could be, haunting and enigmatic.
It was also a concise report on what I’d seen, an assessment of the present danger, and a request for guidance.
Finished, I placed the nautilus shell back into the basin and set my larimar pendant on top of it. I fed my focus stone a few drops of my power until it pulsed, a beacon to the one being who could sense my magic through all of my wards and across worlds. Then I waited to find out what my father would have me do.
I didn’t contact him often. He didn’t want to hear from me unless it was of importance. I wasn’t inclined to reach out because progress on my mission here was slow and I really didn’t want to hear his disappointment voiced in the return message. But this situation was beyond anything we’d anticipated. It was the right thing to do to keep my father abreast of what I’d seen.
Hours went by and the sun sank low. While it’d been murky and dim during the day, there’d still been light. Now, the waters had turned dark around me and still, I waited.
There was no knowing when my father would return the message. If he was busy, or otherwise occupied, he might not notice my beacon for some time. He also might not choose to check the message right away. It didn’t matter. I needed to be able to act as soon as he responded to me. So I remained nearby. I didn’t want to risk leaving and missing his response.
I waited and tried to think of a solution for dealing with the leviathan.
It couldn’t be allowed to stay. It was too large and having it prey on the animals in the Puget Sound would upset the balance of the food chain. This wasn’t a small, contained ecosystem in some aquarium. Even the smallest change in the intricate predator-to-prey relationships in the area could have devastating impacts to both seas and land. It needed to be returned to wherever the Deep Dwellers had summoned it from, if possible. Only, I had no idea if the leviathan had a place to return to or if its natural habitat had been depleted in some way. There was no time to do a drawn-out investigation to find out, either.
If this had been an epic tale, the leviathan would’ve been a massive agent of change, a chaos factor. And in any of the stories I’d read or listened to, one generally had no chance of stopping chaos or reversing the damage it did. Things would have to continue changing until they reached another balance, but I didn’t know how they could without having disastrous consequences.
Anger built and smoldered inside me. The Deep Dwellers should’ve left the leviathan where it was. What right did they have to use it? And for what? To lure me out into the open? I didn’t need any of them to explain their intent to me. I could analyze the tactics and see the strategy behind them without one of them launching into a villain’s monologue of their nefarious plans.
They’d been striking at a few of my sisters in recent months, and I wondered if they were testing, looking for the vulnerable or weak, trying to pick us off. I spent so much time in the city, on land or in this bay, they had to lure me out into open waters. Perhaps they’d known there was a daughter of the Sea King here in Seattle. Perhaps they’d been hoping to attract one of us from anywhere nearby. That part didn’t matter. It was the why. Once I figured out the why, I could devise my own strategy for dealing with them.
The nautilus shell began to glow, softly at first, but with steadily increasing intensity. Relief and wariness clashed, swept through me, and clashed again as I stared at the shell. It was my father’s response.
I rolled my shoulders and steadied myself, then leaned forward and retrieved the shell from the basin. I’d reached out for his counsel. I wanted to hear his answer.
His song flowed from the shell in a strong baritone, his chirps and whistles deeper than mine with the resonance of great age. I listened, let his message wash over me and, damn it, I basked in the pride that was finally there. He was pleased with me, proud of me for identifying and deterring the leviathan. And…
No!
Shock shot through my veins like ice water. I almost dropped the nautilus shell.
He had a solution for me, all right.
He wanted me to send the leviathan out of this world and to Salacia, to become a beast in his army.
There was no way I could open my portal—or any portal—big enough to pull a creature of that size through, much less send it all the way to Salacia, assuming I could find a way to subdue the sea monster in the first place. The act would require too much power—would kill me—and I might still not succeed.
But his message continued, inexorable and tumbling forward in a quickening cadence. Of all his daughters, my power was the closest to his in nature. He had confidence I could do this thing. All I needed was the right boost to enhance my power to carry out his will.
A boost.
All those centuries ago, it hadn’t been his own power that had opened the Nexus Portal for the entirety of my people to pass through to Salacia. He’d taken it, stolen it.
And in his message, he instructed me on how I could do the same, to gather enough power to send him the leviathan.
The pier was quiet when I returned to the aquarium. I shivered as I climbed out of the water and retrieved my bag. I quickly dressed and climbed the ladder before someone saw me.
Nearby seals were barking in their open-air enclosure, excited about something. They almost never made noise except for during feeding times. My pulse quickened and I scanned the area.
There was a man leaning against the wall of the aquarium, in the shadows. Human eyes might have overlooked him, but even out of the water my vision was sharper.
Keegan.
Instead of heading for the street, I walked slowly toward him until both of us were hidden in the shelter of the aquarium.
“There was another killer whale carcass today.” He sounded tired.
Ah. Regret filled me. Would I have been able to turn the leviathan away again? It must not have fed if it was still hunting.
“Those other mer—”
“Deep Dwellers,” I cut him off. He couldn’t speak of mermaids here. There were too many listeners in the city. I tugged him away from the aquarium until we stood at the railing on the walkway, at the edge of the seawall. To any humans, we’d look like a couple out for a late-night walk.
“Those Deep Dwellers, then.” He lifted his arm, his pelt gathered in his fist. Anyone else would assume it was a jacket in his hand but his knuckles were turning white as he gripped his own fur. “They must’ve taken the kill from your leviathan somehow and pushed the body ashore for us to find. The team was horrified. Even Doctor Jones was crying as she took pictures of the
lacerations on the body. It was a female this time.”
There were a dozen or more of the Deep Dwellers here. If I could drive the leviathan back alone, they must’ve been able to distract it from its prey at the least. Or at the worst, they could control it and make it leave its kill.
I didn’t think they had that kind of control, though. If they did, they could’ve come after me more directly.
“You should be with your humans.” Even to my ears, my words lacked conviction.
His gaze left the water and turned to me. “I told you I’d come find you.”
I didn’t look away. Of all the problems in front of me tonight, I wasn’t going to back down from him. Besides, I wasn’t sure if I would call him a problem, exactly. “How did you find me?”
If he’d found my portal, I was going to have to do something drastic, and a part of me cried out against the idea.
His lips spread in a lopsided grin. “The sea lions in the bay told me one of the water folk swims around the city piers often. Dangerous, a predator. The seals here in the exhibit told me one of the water folk walks by sometimes. I figured it was likely to be you.”
Relief washed through me, cool and soothing. I wouldn’t have to make a difficult choice about Keegan, at least.
His brows drew together as he continued to look at me. “What’s wrong? You look even more upset than you did last night. I’m here, and you aren’t going to be able to make me leave, so you might as well let me help.”
He put a little of his power behind his statement. He wasn’t trying to coerce me. It was more like he was settling in and standing his ground.
Siren's Calling (The Sea King's Daughters Book 4) Page 5