“Have you ever seen a selkie half-transitioned like that?” Rory asked.
“Never. But she was spectacular,” I breathed.
“She really was. And you’re next. Are you ready for that?”
“No,” I groaned, his words breaking me from my trance. Rory’s words sat there right next to Breena’s in my mind, growing and warping with each passing moment. “But I have to be.”
“Just think about the fact that you get to see your family. It should help with the pain,” he offered.
“Thanks, human, who has never known the pain of transitioning. I’ll give that try,” I said with a distracted grunt, still staring out into the sea, as if I could still see Breena as she swam off toward the jagged rocks in the distance.
“Tell me about them,” Rory said. I eyed the man as he got the ship moving once more. He flashed me a crooked grin as he caught me watching.
The two of us talked about my family for the duration of our travels, distracting me from the impending pain of returning home, both physical and mental. When we approached the Dreslee, both of us fell into a deep silence for longer than I’d like to admit.
Rory was the first to speak, and when he did, he asked, “What if I need to contact you in the next five days?”
“You can’t, and neither can Breena,” I admitted, twisting my hands on top of my lap. “But I can contact you. Keep a bonnet shell on you. If something goes wrong, you’ll know.”
“We’ll be able to talk through the shells?” Rory sputtered. His disbelief took form in an uncertain smile that dropped into a gaped mouth.
“Of course not, don’t be dense,” I said. “The shell will grow warm, as if it had been baking in the summer sun. That will be your sign to meet me back here.”
“That’s not as fun, but it makes more sense.” He closed his mouth once more, no longer looking like a suffocating fish.
I shook my head at him and unclasped the necklace my grandfather and I had made together from around my neck.
“Will you keep this safe for me until I get back?” I asked, holding it out to him.
“You should hold onto it.” He took the necklace from me anyway then motioned for me to turn around, and hesitantly, Idid. He resecured the necklace around my neck, careful not to catch any of my hair, then uttered the words, “There. Perfect.”
“You’re going to get me in trouble for this, you know.” I faced him with my palm pressed onto the pendant.
“I think you’re resourceful enough not to let them know about it. Not until you’re ready,” he said.
“Who says I ever will be?” I fiddled with the glass in my fingers, watching as the pearlescent streaks reflected the sunlight like my grandpa said they would.
Rory stared at me, his hair flopping to the side. An all-knowing smile spread across his face, and he clasped my hand in his as he said, “I thought you were a goddess of the sea? You will be.”
“Thank you, Rory,” I said. “For just, I don’t know, being kind. Being… nothing like I thought you’d be.”
“I’m happy to have shattered your expectations,” he said, giving me a little nudge. It was what I needed to carry myself to the side of the ship. I motioned to the two baskets of fish surrounded in their gelatinous water spheres. Since Breena and her clan got an entire netted enclosure, we figured it was only fair I took both baskets home.
“Will you do the honors?” I asked. “Just give me a few minutes. The last thing I need is a bunch of fish dropped on top of me mid-transition.”
He nodded his head, and with that confirmation, I dove into the sea, dress and all.
Once I hit the water, I managed to take one deep breath before the itching began. The sensation started as a mild irritation and quickly grew into slicing pain across my whole body. I lost all concentration of the globes of water I’d created over the fish, and I felt the exact moment my magic failed me. White splotches clouded my vision as I lost myself to the all-consuming pain. Pressure grew along my back, where new fins would inevitably rip through the thin summer dress I still wore.
Out of nowhere, a man’s voice echoed in my mind. I couldn’t make it out at first, the sounds of my own screams bubbling through the water, but I tried to focus in on the sound anyway.
“Think about your family.”
Rory’s words became clear in my mind, and it momentarily drew me out of my haze. I pictured Zellia’s sweet face as the skin on my legs began to melt together into a fleshy, scaly mess. I thought of my mother carving protection symbols into my spears as my teeth began falling out with each scream, only to be replaced by smaller, sharper ones. I saw my father walking through Barthoah as spiny fins cut through the skin on my back, my elbows, my ears, my fingers. Images of my grandfather blowing glass pendants flooded my mind as my dull human nails were replaced by razor-sharp talons. And I heard Breena giggling in bed next to me when the skin on my neck and ribs split into gills.
A large, dark shadow covered me, and I peered skyward to see a round object balancing on the edge of the ship. I darted out of the way as fast as I could in the tattered dress as wiggling fish began hitting the surface.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
