Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

LEVI

The first morning of Poseidonia dawned bright. Kris and I had stayed up long into the wee hours of the night finishing all the talismans. We’d made enough for every single person in the town, and I said a silent thanks to Poseidon and all the gods that Kris’s mother was a little bit of a craft supply hoarder. The boxes of talismans were safely stacked in Kris’s truck, and we were on our way to start distributing them.

Before we’d left, I’d made Kris tuck one into his pocket, and as we drove, he absently rubbed his thumb over where the tiny bottle rested against his thigh.

When Kris had asked me about kraken mating and reproduction, I’d conveniently left out one crucial detail. When we found our mates and wanted to claim them, krakens passed some of their magic into their mates and received some of their mate’s magic in return. It was what tied our life forces together. Kraken mates left this plane of existence together, forever bonded, even as their souls were returned to the sea. Kris thought it had been his idea to have me channel my magic through one tentacle and into the jar he held last night on the beach that had finally allowed me to push my magic out.

But that wasn’t what I’d been focused on at all.

I’d been thinking about pushing a piece of my magic into Kris, of claiming him as mine, of keeping him safe and with me forever. He thought it was the wraith attacking him that had motivated me, and in part, he was right. He had been my motivation, but not because of the wraith. Because he was who I wanted by my side until we took our last breaths.

We were going to need to have a conversation about that as soon as we put the other problems plaguing Lifeboat to bed.

Kris turned the truck onto Main Street. It was still early, so most of the shops were closed. “Where do you want to start?”

Most of the sea monster families would be home getting ready to celebrate Poseidonia. I wanted to make sure they all had talismans before they went near the ocean to collect water for their tridents.

“Let’s hit the residential areas.”

“You’ve got it.” He maneuvered the truck through the center of town and onto the residential streets. “Marvin and Clara live at the end of this street.”

“Excellent. Let’s start with them.”

Kris parked the truck at the curb in front of their house, and we both got out. I grabbed two talismans from one of the boxes, and Kris rang the doorbell. A lovely older kelpie with long silver-white hair answered the door, her face splitting into a wide grin when she saw who was on the other side.

“Oh, Kristopher, what a beautiful surprise. Come in, come in.” When she spotted me behind Kris, her smile got even wider. “And you’ve brought a friend.”

I held out my hand as we crossed the threshold. “Levi Shaol. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Her grip was surprisingly strong as she took my hand in hers. “Clara Isleaire, and I promise the pleasure is all mine. My husband has told me all about you.” Kris loosened the scarf around his neck as we stood in the warm, comfortable house, and Clara gasped when she saw the sucker-shaped bruises on his neck. She flicked her eyes to Kris and whispered low in the language of sea monsters, “Does this mean he knows what you are?”

I answered in English. “He does.”

Tears filled Clara’s eyes, and she called for her husband who emerged from the back of the house, wiping his hands on a dish towel. Marvin took in the scene, doing a double take when he also spotted the sucker marks. Without another word, a ripple of magic passed through the room, and where Marvin and Clara had stood before, a beautiful pair of nearly translucent pearly white kelpies in their true horse-shaped forms stood, long manes of silver billowing around them.

Kris gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. “This is amazing.” He held out a hand like he wanted to touch Marvin’s neck but pulled it back at the last second. The kelpie nudged into his palm, and Kris ran his hand over Marvin’s neck, his eyes wide with wonder.

After a few moments, Clara and Marvin resumed their human forms, and Kris pulled them each into a tight embrace. “Thank you for sharing your true forms with me.”

“I wanted to tell you so many times.” Marvin squeezed Kris’s shoulder. “You loved all the stories so much, and you deserved to know, but fear held me back. I should have known better.” Regret was heavy in the old kelpie’s tone, but Kris wasn’t angry. He just looked at his friend with all the same love I’d seen between them at the KELPS party, and it gave me hope that revealing ourselves to the humans in Lifeboat might just be okay.

I held out the two talismans I’d collected from the truck. “Please take these and keep them with you. They will keep you safe from sea wraith attacks until we can figure out how to solidify the magic at the borders.”

“Are you giving these out to everyone?” Marvin took the talismans and passed one to Clara, who held it reverently in her hands.

“That’s the plan.” I sighed. “It’s a stopgap.”

“We’ll help.” Clara was already grabbing her coat from the closet in the hall and slipping on a pair of shoes.

“You don’t need to do that.” I tried to protest, but Clara and Marvin both shook their heads.

“We want to.” The older man took his coat from his wife and shrugged it on. “It’s the least we can do.”

Realizing they weren’t going to take no for an answer, the four of us walked back out to the truck. Clara and Marvin filled their coat pockets with talismans, and they took one side of the street, while Kris and I took the other.

By the time we’d made our way to the other end of the street, we’d picked up several other helpers, including a teenage mermaid who had called a group of her friends who were all apparently bored since school was out for winter break. I’d been surprised when two of the kids who showed up were human.

“Do they know?” I asked in our native language, nodding toward the tall Black boy and short blonde girl who had arrived with two mermen and another mermaid.

She nodded. “We swore them to secrecy, but, like, it was kinda hard to hide. We went to the lake last summer, and Mariner”—she tipped her head at one of the young mermen—“kind of jumped in without thinking. But don’t worry, they didn’t, like, freak or anything.”

Her words made the kernel of hope in my chest grow. This might all be okay.

Our little entourage worked quickly, passing out talismans to almost everyone in the residential areas before lunch. Kris had been introduced to a family of frog-like vodyanoy, several sirens, and a few selkies. He’d complimented each sea monster family’s Poseidonia decorations and sent well wishes from his family to each human family we visited. He was immensely respectful each and every time one of the townspeople was gracious enough to reveal their true form, and by the time we got back into the truck to move to the next location, I could tell he was in awe.

“You okay?” I asked, gripping his hand before he shoved the key into the ignition.

“I just can’t believe it. I’ve known the Prud family for years. I went to high school with Aleksandr’s older sister, Katya. I had no idea they were vodyanoy. I feel like I’ve missed so much. I have so many questions.”

“I love that you’re getting to meet them all now. Do you see how relieved they are to tell you what and who they really are? This is how it always should have been. This is how it is in Baleen.”

“I hate the Delmars for doing this to Lifeboat, but I’m glad we’re going to fix it.”

We hadn’t run into the mayor yet. When we’d rung Lawrence Tidewell’s doorbell, he’d gratefully taken the offered talisman and told us the mayor should be in his office.

It was almost noon, and all the businesses in town were open, so I suggested we head into town, and Kris put the truck in gear.

“This is going a lot faster than I thought.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove.

“We picked up quite the crew. I bet Kori and his family will help too.”

“Let’s go to Mizu Mizu first then.”

“Sounds good to me.”

When Kris parked in front of the restaurant, Kori came out immediately, cornering us before we even got out of the truck. “I’ve heard what you’re doing. Why didn’t you call me? You know I would have helped.”

Kris nodded. “We know, and we’re counting on it.”

Mollified, Kori smiled. “Come inside for a second, then you can tell me what you want me to do.”

We followed him into the restaurant. His grandmother was waiting for us. They weren’t open for lunch yet, and in another rush of magic, Kori’s obaasan revealed her true kappa form. Unlike many sea monsters, kappas were small but more or less humanoid in shape. They had scaly green skin and webbed feet and hands and turtle-like shells on their backs that extended up to cover the tops of their heads. As soon as Kori’s obaasan revealed herself, the rest of his family did the same until we were standing in the midst of seven kappas.

Kris bowed as a sign of respect, and Kori’s obaasan returned to her human form, stepping forward to clutch Kris’s arm in a sign of mutual respect. He handed her a talisman, and she turned a beaming smile my way. “You have done very well, Levi.”

“Thank you, obaasan. I couldn’t have done it without your guidance.”

She gripped my arm tightly as the rest of her family resumed their human forms.

“So what do you need us to do?” Kori, his brother, Tai, and a few of their cousins that I’d only met in passing stepped forward.

“We need to get one of these to everyone in town. We’ve already hit the residential areas, but if you could help us with the businesses, that would be great.”

“Consider it done. Then you’ll come back here for lunch. On the house.” Tai’s tone brooked no argument, and Kori nodded.

I tried to protest, to tell them that wasn’t necessary, but they ignored me, following Kris out to the truck.

“They didn’t leave us much to do, but I told Kori we’d take the grocery store and community center.”

“Great.” We had less than half a box left, and I stuffed some of the small vials into my pockets as Kris and I headed off down the street.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” an angry voice hissed from behind us before we’d even made it halfway down the block.

Kris and I both spun around to find a pissed as hell Calder Delmar storming up the sidewalk toward us.

“Would it do us any good to run?” Kris asked under his breath.

“Nope.” I had been expecting this showdown at some point, and I knew Kris had said we’d handle the grocery store and community center because that also meant hitting city hall and Delmar’s house, but that didn’t mean I was looking forward to the inevitable scene.

Kris and I stood on the sidewalk waiting for Delmar to catch up.

“What the hell is this?” He held up one of the talismans. I knew we hadn’t given him one yet, and I wondered who he’d taken it from.

I crossed my arms over my chest and drew myself up to my full height. My tentacles twitched against my body, ready to wrap around Delmar and physically move him out of the way if necessary. “It’s a talisman. For protection. From the sea wraiths you refuse to acknowledge or do anything about.”

“He what?” Kori and his brother had joined us on the sidewalk, both looking at Delmar like he was something gross they’d stepped in. “You knew wraiths were attacking the town, but you didn’t do anything?”

“Well, I… That is to say…” Delmar started to stutter before he composed himself and narrowed his eyes. “You are creating fear where there shouldn’t be any. There are no wraiths in Lifeboat!” He shouted the last part.

Kris took a menacing step forward, and the mayor countered, retreating. “I disagree since one almost dragged me off the cliff out by my house last night.”

“Shit, Kris. Are you okay?” Tai asked, but Kris waved his question away.

“You don’t want to face facts, fine. But we”—Kris gestured at me and Kori and his brother—“aren’t going to let anyone else in this town get hurt.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Delmar spat. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re just a dumb human.”

Kori gasped. “Oh no he didn’t.”

Tai nudged his arm. “Oh yes he did.”

Kris took another step forward, and Delmar paled. “You’re right. I’m human. And Kori and Tai are kappas, and Levi is a kraken.”

The second the word kraken passed his lips, a wave of magic washed over me like the ley line needed to hear Kris identify our species out loud or something, and the power in my core felt like it amplified.

It was my turn to jump into the fray. “But you, Delmar, are nothing but a coward. So why don’t you just run and hide, and we’ll take it from here.”

Kris stood by my side, and behind us, Kori and Tai had partially shifted, their webbed hands a scaly yellow-green with sharp claws at the tips. My tentacles snaked out from under my jacket.

Delmar’s eyes went wide. “I will not be threatened! I’m mayor of this town, not you.” His angry gaze held mine. “I run this town, not you. I will not be undermined. I will not be forced out!”

“You are also no longer fit to lead this town if you insist on putting its people in danger. The way I see it, you have two choices.” I stepped forward, glaring at the soon-to-be former mayor. “One, you can step down willingly and stay in town, or two, you can step down and leave. Either way, your time as mayor has come to an end.”

“You can’t do that! You have no right.”

“Actually, I think you’ll find he does.” Lawrence Tidewell pushed between Kori and his brother, stopping in front of the mayor. “Levi Shoal is, as you already know, a descendent of Lochland Shoal, who is the son of Levan Shoal, the last kraken leader of Lifeboat, who died under mysterious circumstances one hundred twenty-seven years ago, coincidentally not long before the Delmar family took over the town’s leadership. The Shoal family was chosen by the ley line magic over a millennia ago to lead the haven town here. Leading Lifeboat is Levi’s birthright.” I got the feeling he was saying all this, not because Delmar and I didn’t already know it, but so the rest of the people standing behind us on the street could hear it.

“Looks like you’re the one who has no right to the title,” Kris said, giving Tidewell a tight smile and nod.

“My mate is right. So pick an option. We have things to do.”

Delmar’s beady eyes surveyed us and the small crowd of other sea monsters that had gathered at our backs and pushed off the wall, turning quickly to hustle down the street toward his house.

“Total coward,” Kori said to his retreating back, while a murmur ran through the small crowd.

“Are you going to fix the magic?” Sue asked, stepping forward in the crowd and revealing her pale blue naiad’s skin and subtle scales to Kris.

“We’re going to try,” I said, giving everyone a tentative smile.

“We’re going to do more than try.” Kris grabbed my hand and twined our fingers together. “And I have an idea how we’re going to do it.”