Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LEVI

When Marvin, a kelpie, had pulled me aside, I’d been expecting a talking to similar to the one I’d gotten from Mayor Delmar about not getting too close to Kris, but instead, the older man’s eyes had filled with tears of joy and gratitude that I had finally returned to Lifeboat. He wrapped his callused hands around my wrists, his fingers brushing my tentacles, which reacted immediately, lifting a little to twine around his fingers as he led me to a table and made me sit.

He wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I just never thought I’d see the day when a Shoal returned to Lifeboat. Praise to Poseidon. It’s a Poseidonia miracle. One a lot of us have been hoping for.”

A quick glance around showed that no one was paying any attention to us, so I let my tentacles linger for another second. “You’re the second person to say that to me this week, but I don’t understand why.”

Marvin closed his eyes. “Your grandmother Iona and I were friends back in Ireland. She and I moved to the States together. Her father was the mayor of Baleen, and while she couldn’t take his place as leader of the town then, she was still expected to liaise with the other haven towns. He sent her here. I was to be a member of her guard, making sure she stayed safe. Lochlan was at the docks the day our boat arrived, and I swear I watched as he fell head over heels for her the instant he saw her. We all became friends, and Loch and Iona were already engaged when her father fell ill and she needed to return to Baleen. Did you know they were married by the ship’s captain on the return trip?”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t know that.”

“It’s true. Clara and I were the witnesses.” His eyes went hazy like he was remembering the day. “They stayed in Baleen, but I returned not long after Loch took over as mayor of the haven town.” The older man hung his head. “Loch didn’t know until I sent word upon my return that his father had been killed. When we’d left, he’d been healthy, set to lead for many more years, but by the time I returned a month later, he was dead, and Brackish Delmar, Calder’s grandfather, had taken over as mayor of the town. No one was clear on what exactly happened, but as krakens are usually from very sturdy stock, we all suspected foul play. Unfortunately, it was too late to prove the Delmars had anything to do with it. As you can imagine, your grandfather was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had already pledged to keep Baleen safe, and since that town is much larger and older than Lifeboat, he decided to stay.”

My hearts sank as I realized where this story was going. My tentacles squeezed reassuringly around Marvin’s wrists, offering whatever comfort I could.

“At first, everything stayed the same. Brackish led the town like your great-grandfather had, but soon, humans began to leave town, almost like they were disappearing overnight. It wasn’t enough to notice, but slowly, the human population began to shrink. The magic faltered. We could all feel it. The town was dying. So Delmar changed tactics, convincing us to keep our distance from the humans, telling us that if they knew about us, they would turn on us.” Marvin stroked a reverent finger over my tentacle. “We stupidly believed him, and soon we stopped mating with them. Relationships became strained, and mixed-species families left. With each departure, the magic grew fainter until it was barely enough to keep us safe.”

I wasn’t sure what face I was making, but Marvin’s expression hardened.

“That sea wraith attack the other night wasn’t the first we’ve had in Lifeboat.”

“You know there was a wraith in town?”

“How could we not? Nothing else feels like that.” A shudder rolled through the kelpie, his fear almost palpable. “And it felt just like the last time.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“A selkie family lost their pup.” He pursed his lips and shook his head, his eyes closed. “It was awful. The wraiths razed the town, causing damage to all the buildings along Main Street. The selkie family owned a tailor’s shop in the center of town and lived above it. The wraiths heard the baby crying and stole her from her crib before setting the building on fire. Her parents almost died trying to find her in the flames, but she was gone. Her cries echoed with the wraiths’ screams.”

“Oh my god.”

“The grief-stricken family moved away almost immediately, and Delmar blamed the destruction on a hurricane, even though we were too far north and it wasn’t the right season for that to be true. After the attack, more humans and sea monsters left town, and the magic stabilized enough to protect the remaining population. Since then, we’ve been stuck. Every once in a while, the magic flickers, and we can’t hold our human forms. We’re also afraid of what Calder Delmar will do if we reveal ourselves to the humans. And so many humans that live here don’t know they reside among mythical creatures at all, the history of the town lost to generations past.”

“I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

Marvin smiled. “You don’t need to apologize. Since you arrived, the magic is flickering again, but this time instead of fading, it’s getting stronger.”

“I don’t understand what I have to do with anything.”

Marvin slid one of his hands from the grip of my tentacles and touched my face in a grandfatherly way. “You were born to lead Lifeboat. When the first sea monsters sought sanctuary on land, the ley line magic picked one kraken family to lead each of the haven towns. The Shoals were given the responsibility of protecting Lifeboat. Leading this town is your birthright.”

The room spun for a second as I tried and failed to wrap my head around the idea that I was meant to lead a whole town of humans and sea monsters. There was no way. How had I not known about this? I couldn’t believe that in the almost forty years I’d been alive not one single member of my family had thought to tell me we were supposed to be leading a haven town that wasn’t Baleen.

I shook my head, and Marvin patted my cheek. “I take it you didn’t know?”

“Hell no, I didn’t know. I moved here because my father was making noises about his eventual retirement plans, and I didn’t want any part of it. My brother, Lake, is the one who wants to take over. I just want to run my record shop.”

Marvin’s answering smile was reassuring. “Sometimes the things we want are not the things we were meant to do. You, Levi Shoal, we’re born to lead Lifeboat.”

What I wanted to do right now was talk to my father. He’d made me feel bad for leaving Baleen, but he had to know the Shoals belonged in Lifeboat if what Marvin was saying was true. And the way the magic had reacted in Delmar’s office was evidence that maybe Marvin was right, but why hadn’t anyone told me? And why had my father tried to keep me from moving? I had more questions than answers, and I hated that.

Marvin’s revelations rattled around in my head with the millions of unanswered queries, a single thought finally shaking loose. “You said the ley line magic chose one kraken family to lead and protect each haven town. If my father is already leading Baleen, then don’t the Shoals already have an assignment?”

“Technically, your father is a descendent of the Trench family line. You are too, but since it was your grandfather who took up the Trench family’s position out of necessity, the responsibility to protect Lifeboat falls to you.”

“Okay, but what exactly do you expect me to do? I can’t just stage a coup.”

The older man’s mouth turned down in a frown, and his brow creased. “No, I suppose you can’t, but I think the magic might be doing it for you. A lot of people in Lifeboat already disagree with Calder Delmar. It wouldn’t take much for them to get to the point where they push to replace him. Now that you’re here, people have hope. Some of the oldest sea monsters in town, myself included, remember what it was like when your great-grandfather protected Lifeboat. We lived openly, we mated with humans, the town was growing, and the magic was strong. A lot of us believe with you here, we can see that reality again.”

I willed my tentacles to unwind from around Marvin’s wrists. “That’s a lot of pressure, Marvin.” Pressure I sure as shit didn’t want.

He closed his eyes and nodded. “I know.”

“But I also hate that Kris doesn’t know what I really am.”

The kelpie’s eyes widened. “You need to tell him, Levi. He needs to know.”

“I know, I know. I’ve thought about telling him a million different ways, but he has no idea you’re a kelpie or that Kori is a kappa. He doesn’t know that the reason the Christmas carolers are his favorite part of the holidays is because they’re merfolk harmlessly luring him in with their magic. If I confess one thing, I have to tell him everything.”

“Did you know Kris used to work for me?” I shook my head, and Marvin continued. “I used to own a commercial fishing operation, and he’d help out on my boat. I had a few other sea monsters on my crew, and they used to love to tell him stories about their lives as though they were old fish tales. Kris ate up every word. He loves the sea, and I know when you tell him the truth, he will love you just the same.”

My hearts turned over in my chest, the triple beat picking up at the thought of Kris loving me. I wanted that. I wanted that so badly. But there was an ocean between us at the moment, an ocean only I could cross.

Marvin’s wrinkled hand landed on my knee, patting me back to reality. “Come on. I’ve kept you from your man long enough. You don’t need to make a decision about what you are going to do right now, and I think Pete has the artifacts out. There is a picture you need to see.” I stood and offered my hand to Marvin, but he brushed me away, leaning heavily on the table as he stood. “Aging really sucks.”

“How old are you?” Kelpies, like krakens, could live a long, long time. Given the appearance of his human form, I guessed Marvin to be close to a thousand.

“Nine hundred and twenty-seven, but I barely feel a day over nine hundred. And Clara keeps me young. She’s only eight hundred and sixty.” He winked and patted me on the back. “Let’s go.”

I followed him to the snack table first, and he served me a cup of eggnog, then turned toward the table where Kris and several other men were gathered. They all seemed to be looking at something in a frame, and I took a drink of the eggnog as I waited to catch a glimpse. The second I did, my breath got caught in my throat, and I swallowed hard, the spiked eggnog getting stuck and making me choke and cough.

Kris patted me on the back until I stopped hacking, my eyes still streaming as Marvin pushed me forward to get a better look at the photo.

Holy shit. The picture was worn by time, but I would recognize my grandfather anywhere, and despite the age of the image, I could see he’d been one good-looking kraken.

Pete, the leader of the KELPS chapter, launched into the history of the photo, but I barely heard his words as I replayed everything Marvin had shared with me. My grandfather was supposed to protect Lifeboat, and since he’d been gone, there had been no one keeping the town safe. A selkie pup had been taken, and the Delmar family was on some xenophobic power trip trying to get rid of all the humans in town.

“Here.” Kris nudged my shoulder and covertly passed me another piece of Marvin’s wife, Clara’s, shortbread. “You okay?”

I tried to give Kris a smile, but it felt like it got stuck closer to a grimace. When I tried to speak, my voice came out rough from choking on the eggnog. “I’m good. I like your friends.”

“I saw you talking to Marvin for a while.”

“He’s great.”

“Yeah, he is. I used to work for him. He helped to foster my love of the sea.”

Reaching between us, I wrapped my fingers around Kris’s. My tentacles started to lift, thinking they would get more playtime, but I held them back. Soon I was going to have to come clean. “I know. He told me.”

“Oh, great, they’re already telling you all my secrets. I told you they were world-class meddlers.” Kris and Marvin exchanged a look, and Marvin winked.

“Not all of them. Don’t worry.”

“Good.” He leaned in closer and brushed the barest hint of a kiss along my cheek as he whispered in my ear. “Are you still coming back to my house after this?”

“Definitely.”

“Excellent. Pizza should be here in a few minutes, and we can eat and run.”

But that isn’t what happened.

As we were getting ready to sneak out, Kris got a phone call from his brother Keith. They were overrun at the tree farm and needed a hand, so instead of heading back to Kris’s, we were on our way out to help.

Which bought me the tiniest amount of extra time to try to figure out how to tell Kris the truth.