“I think we should split up to save time. I’ll head to the dock, and you should find the Honey Spot,” I said.
“Okay, and what will we do if we find a fisherman? Follow him by ourselves?”
“Just don’t be stupid about it,” I said with an impatient sigh. “Give him plenty of space and don’t let him know you have interest in where he’s going. The last thing we need is for you to go and get kidnapped.”
“You could get kidnapped too, you know,” Breena scoffed.
I stared at her, taking a quick step closer, as if she was my prey and I hadn’t eaten in ages. My pupils adjusted from black spheres into inky slits, and she stumbled back with her hand on her chest. Her own eyes widened as she stared into mine—the eyes of a huntress.
“I didn’t know you could do that on land.” She pressed her palm flat against her heaving chest. I was aware just how frightening I could look, and that was exactly why I wasn’t worried about being taken. That was why the cute one was being sent to check out a sweets store in town, and I was going to the docks.
I blinked my eyes, claiming rounded pupils once more, before saying, “They come out when I’m in a hunt. And rest assured, if a man tried to take me, I’d consider it a hunt.”
“Well then, yes, I’ll be careful.” Breena cleared her throat and wiped a hand down her hip. “I’ll follow from afar and gather any information I can find on them. We can meet by that big clock tower over there and come up with a plan based on whatever information we find.”
“Meet me when the clock rings four times. Don’t be late,” I said. Breena nodded her head and turned on her heel to head down the street. Before she could make it too far, I yelled out, “And be careful!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
GRANDFISHY
Iwatched Breena, her head held stiffly as she wandered off alone into the sun kissed town. The flow of her dress was an odd juxtaposition to her posture, which grew ridged the second she’d taken a step away from me. I doubt it was I who made her comfortable, but more so my presence and my knowledge of who she is and where she came from that had her at ease.
She was headed into an area where no one knew her, and no one would be there to correct her when she inevitably began doing something odd and suspicious. I didn’t want to separate and leave her to her own devices—depths knew she was out of her element—but I also needed time.
It had been a day since I was alone, and while that may have not seemed very long to most, it had been an eternity for me. I missed the Kilkov and craved the sunlight it afforded me. I peered up to the sky, careful not to look directly into the sun. It was a bright day in the village, with a spattering of wispy clouds. I desperately wanted to roll up my sleeves and feel the sun on my arms, but I feared my skin would burn in the midday summer rays.
I’d always watched the light dance across the water and found solace in its beauty and peace, but it was much differenthere on land—harsher. I missed the way the sea filtered it, but I couldn’t pretend the strong rays of sun beating down upon the shiny green leaves of the trees, the dewy blades of grass, and the windows of the shops wasn’t absolutely breathtaking. I noticed all the ways the sun lit up this world on my way to the docks.
Half of my focus was lost to the sun, and the other half was struggling to remember the task at hand.
Focus, Sid. Find a fisherman.
As I approached the docks, I stopped short and cut across the rocky landscape to find one flat enough to sit upon. Finding a large stone cast in shade, I took a seat from my new vantage point. From here, I could make out the docks and the massive fishing boats tied to them, all without having to squint into the brightness of the day.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. I’d realized after a while that I was too far from town to hear the grand clock strike twice—or three times, I wasn’t sure. I’d seen plenty of fishermen, but it was a specific type of fisherman I was after. I kept my eyes glued on the boat Breena and I had come to Barthoah on. Painted on the side of the vessel, the words “Indigo Tide” were scrolled across in cursive lettering. This was where we would get a clue as to where her pelt was.
Sending Breena off to the Honey Spot was a waste of her time. She had no way of knowing which fishermen were from the Indigo Tide, and even then, she didn’t know the ship’s name. Maybe I’d just wanted some peace and quiet. I tried to convince myself that there wasn’t anything wrong with that, sending her away for my own selfish needs.
My eyes grew heavy staring at the ship with such intensity. I tried to keep my gaze off the water, as I didn’t know what feelings would stir up in me if I allowed them to wander.
When the timing between my blinks shortened, I stood and shook myself out of the sleep that wanted to take hold of me. Ibegan walking to get my blood flowing and then hopped from stone to stone, each one taking me closer to the sea.
My feet began to tingle when I stepped onto a large rock that had been misted by the salty sea. My cells instantly recognized it as my home, and they fought the morphing that would take place if I’d been consumed by the water.
I kept going, despite the rocks growing more and more slippery. A voice in my head shouted at me to go back to dry land, but the waves crashing down upon my feet were stealing my willpower. I lost focus on the Indigo Tide. The sea lured me in, as if it had its very own siren song. The hold this force of nature had on me was like nothing else I would ever experience, and I craved to be consumed by it, wrapped within its comforting embrace.
There wasn’t much stopping me from calming the waves and diving into the water that called to me. I could feel my mother, Zellia, my pod. I could feel their hunger and their voices calling me back to them.
I could grab fish from within the humans’ cruel net. I could take them back to my home and forget about this whole mess with Breena’s pelt.
My hand twitched, and a dark blue swirl shimmered over the surface of the water. The white foamy caps that splashed upon the jagged rocks halted. The water around me calmed, and I took another step, then another. I hiked up the skirt I wore so it didn’t get caught on one of the sharp stone spikes that jutted out around me.
When the water reached my thighs, the tingling sensation began to feel like razor blades being dragged down my skin. Panic shot through me as scales began tearing through my flesh down the back of my calves. My teeth ached and grew wiggly, knowing my jaw was minutes from releasing them all into thewater and replacing them with the teeth of a siren—small, jagged and deadly sharp.
Scrambling back, I held my hand out in front of me, and the water recessed, creating a wall around me so the sea was no longer tempting me forward, so it was no longer urging my body to change and become its monster once more.
Before anyone noticed what I was doing, I hopped from stone to stone, carrying myself back to the shore. I released the water, and it came crashing back down upon the land, nipping at my heels as I dragged myself away from it. The scales that had begun growing like barnacles drifted to the ground below, falling into the cracks between the stones, where they would be lost to the human world. New skin began growing on my legs once more, red, shiny, and tender.
