Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

LEVI

“Sir, you can’t go in there!” A stout, balding water sprite hustled to keep up with me as I strode toward the mayor’s office. “Like I told you on the phone, the mayor is very busy today.”

I turned on my heel and stared the shorter man down. “And I have a right to know why a sea wraith attacked my shop last night.”

The sprite paled, making the blue-green tint of his skin stand out beyond the glamour he was using to hide his true appearance. “A-a s-sea wraith?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, d-dear.” For a second the sprite looked close to tears, then he rallied, pushing his glasses up on his nose and crossing his arms over his chest. “Wait. Are you one hundred percent sure it was a sea wraith?”

“Their scent is impossible to mistake.”

A shudder rolled through the mayor’s watchdog. He was finally beginning to understand the issue. His eyes turned glassy behind his out-of-style wire-rimmed spectacles. And I took advantage of his distraction to pivot and continue toward the mayor’s office.

When I shoved through the door, Calder Delmar was sitting behind a massive dark wood desk with his feet propped up on the corner, the handset from his desk phone pressed between his ear and shoulder while he picked at his fingers. His gaze swung my way, and his expression went from relaxed to annoyed in the blink of one of his beady eyes.

But my attention wasn’t on Delmar, and I couldn’t care less that he found my presence irritating. My gaze was locked on the blue-green orb floating behind his desk. Every haven town had one. The orb indicated the health of the ley line magic, and in most haven towns, it was somewhere everyone could see. In Baleen, the orb had floated on top of a fountain in the middle of downtown. It was more than a little concerning that Delmar had Lifeboat’s orb tucked away in his office.

It was even more concerning that the light inside the sphere was pulsing and stuttering in no discernible rhythm, the color moving from murky teal to bright aquamarine and back again in a dizzying and unsettling pattern. I’d never seen anything like it. In Baleen, the orb glowed a brilliant and consistent turquoise. I’d never seen the color change.

“Hold on a sec,” he said to whoever was on the other end of the line. His feet hit the floor, and he leaned forward to stab at a button on his phone, putting his call on hold. “Lawrence!”

The sprite who’d been chasing me down the hall appeared in the doorway, red-faced and panting a little. “I’m sorry, sir. I tried to tell him you were busy. He was very insistent.”

My eyebrows rose. “Insistent? There’s been a sea wraith attack, and you think I’m being insistent?”

Lawrence stammered as the mayor picked up his call again, telling whoever was on the other end of the line that he would call them back.

“It’s fine, Lawrence. Hold my calls while I deal with Mr. Shoal’s unfounded claim that there was a sea wraith attack in Lifeboat.”

“Mr. Sh-Shoal. B-but?—”

Delmar waved him away. “Shut the door, Lawrence.”

The water sprite hesitated for a second, then nodded, and the door clicked closed. Delmar pushed back in his seat, his elbows on the arms of his chair and his fingers steepled. He reminded me of every cartoon megalomaniac villain right before they launched into a monologue.

“Now, what is it I can do for you, Mr. Shoal, because certainly you didn’t burst into my office to really talk about sea wraiths?”

“The blown-out front window at my shop proves it.”

“Proves what?”

“That sea wraiths can get into Lifeboat.”

“Hardly. What it proves is that something broke your window.”

The orb behind Delmar pulsed, a crackle of cyan light jumping from the sphere. “Why is it doing that?” I pointed beyond Delmar, who spun in his leather chair to look at the orb.

“Why don’t you tell me?” The mayor’s voice was cold, and my eyes narrowed at his tone.

“Excuse me?”

Delmar pointed a finger at the orb. “Before you showed up in town, it never did this. The second you arrived, everything started going haywire, and now you’re in here talking about sea wraiths? I tried to be nice, to warn you away, but now I know for sure, you, Levi Shoal, are no good for this town.”

The magic seemed to disagree, the orb glowing the bright and steady turquoise I was used to the second Delmar said my name.

Which just seemed to make him more agitated. “I will not have you causing panic in town with your claims that sea wraiths have breached the border. It’s untrue and dangerous.”

“What’s dangerous is ignoring the fact that there is clearly something wrong with Lifeboat’s magic.” The orb pulsed in time with my words, and on some cellular level, I knew the magic was agreeing with me. It was almost like I could feel the cracks in the power coming from the ley line. “You’re the mayor. It’s your job to protect the people in this town.”

Delmar scoffed. “Protect them from what? You’re the one who’s run in here telling ghost stories.”

I rubbed a hand over my face, my jaw tight as I gritted out my next words. “Last night, a sea wraith broke the window at my shop. The glass was blown in from the outside, the entire pane shattered into millions of pieces. The damage is one thing, but the smell. It was unmistakable.” Delmar started to interrupt, but I held up a hand. “Luckily, Kris and I were upstairs in my apartment when it happened, but if you don’t take this seriously, someone is going to get hurt.”

The mayor’s expression turned stormy. “I will not have you telling me how to run my town.”

“Then maybe you need to actually lead. Get a message out telling everyone to be careful. With Poseidonia coming, there will be visitors in town and others will be traveling. Remind them how to stay safe while you figure out what is causing the instability in the magic.”

Delmar slammed his hand on his desk hard enough to make his computer monitor sway. “There are no sea wraiths in Lifeboat, and there is nothing wrong with the magic!” The orb pulsed behind him, clearly calling his bluff.

I closed my eyes trying to summon strength. “My boarded-up front window tells a different story.” Last night, Kris had wanted to call the police, but since I already knew what had happened, I managed to convince him it was probably just a faulty seal or something since the building was old and had been empty for a while before I bought it. Kris didn’t seem to buy the shit I was shoveling his way, but he let it go enough to call his brothers who had grabbed some sheets of plywood from the extra supplies out at the workshop and had come to help us temporarily secure the front of the shop.

“Mr. Shoal, I think it’s time for you to leave.” Delmar stood, attempting to make himself look imposing, which was ridiculous because despite his position, nothing about Delmar scared me.

“Fine, but if you aren’t going to help the people in this town, I will.”

Delmar said something else, but I couldn’t hear it over the blood rushing in my ears as my hearts pumped with rage, and I stormed from his office, nearly running over the water sprite who’d apparently been listening at the door.

He sprinted to keep up with me as I booked it down the hall.

“Mr. Shoal. Mr. Shoal! Wait!”

I stopped abruptly, and the shorter man almost ran right into me, panting from the exertion of trying to catch me.

“What?” My tone was sharper than I’d intended, and Lawrence took a half step back like I’d threatened him before he glanced around furtively, then he tugged my arm, pulling me into an empty conference room and shutting the door.

“I-I believe you.” Sweat beaded along his balding head, and I was hesitant to trust him. “We weren’t properly introduced earlier.” He wiped his hand on his pants, then held it out to me. “I’m Lawrence Tidewell, assistant mayor and town historian.”

“Levi Shoal.”

He nodded. “Yes, I know. I know almost everything there is to know about your family.”

“My family?”

“Yes, Mr. Shoal.” His eyes narrowed. “I think the real question is, how much do you know about your heritage?”

“I don’t understand the question.”

Instead of clarifying, he asked another question. “Is your grandfather well?”

“Yes. He’s fine. He and my grandmother live in a retirement community for active older sea monsters in Norway.”

Lawrence made a face like he already knew this information. “My grandfather knew your grandfather and great grandfather well. My grandfather was the town historian as was my father after him. Like the Shoals, my family’s legacy in Lifeboat goes back generations.”

“I don’t understand what that means to me. I grew up in Baleen.”

“Yes, but you are back now. My guess is you felt called to come here like this was the haven town where you needed to be.”

I felt my eyes narrow. “How did you know that?”

“The same way I know that the magic in Lifeboat hasn’t been the same since the day your grandfather left and shortly after when your great-grandfather passed away and the Delmar family took over.” When I didn’t say anything, Tidewell continued. “There were reasons your grandfather had to go. Baleen needed a leader, and he’d already fallen in love with your grandmother. Did you know she was originally from Baleen?”

“Yes. Her father was mayor of the town before he died.”

“Indeed. But Lochlan Shoal’s departure left a hole here, a hole the Delmar family stepped in to fill despite the fact that it was not their place to do so. From that day until this, the magic has not been the same, which is why I believe you. I believe sea wraiths can get past our borders. The magic in Lifeboat has been fading, and I think you are the only one who can save it.”

“Me?”

Tidewell’s face was solemn. “Yes, Levi, you. The magic is happy you’re here.”

“How does that translate to me saving the town?”

The water sprite shook his head. “I don’t know, but I think you need to keep doing what you are doing.”

“And that is?”

“Making friends in town. Spending time with the humans.” Tidewell swallowed hard, his throat clicking like it was too dry to speak. “There are lots of us in town who don’t agree with Delmar’s plan to drive the humans away. He wants us to fear them, but they are our neighbors and our friends, and while we have had to hide our true forms from them for a long, long time, there are many who don’t want to live like this.”

“And you want me to change that?”

Angry footsteps sounded in the hall followed by Delmar bellowing angrily for Tidewell, and the sprite winced. He lowered his voice and spoke in barely more than a whisper. “I have to go, but yes, I think you are the only one who can. Keep doing what you are doing. And talk to your family. You need to know who you truly are.”

Tidewell stepped behind me and opened the door a crack, peering into the hall before he left me standing in the middle of the room, dumbstruck.

I’d come to Lifeboat to start a new adventure. Looked like I walked into a hell of a lot more than I’d bargained for.