Page 7

7

Kai

E ven with dozens of sea lions scattered across the beach, it was as easy as ever to spot Laverne. While others lazed around, she zipped right past them, her flippers stirring up a gritty haze of sand in her wake.

She was always so energetic. A wild spirit, just like Freechia had been.

“Kai-Kai!”

“Found you!” I called back with a grin. I waved the bucket over my head while Leander grumbled next to me.

“About time.”

“Come on,” I muttered discreetly, maintaining my smile. “We weren’t looking for her that long.”

Unlike Leander, the time spent searching hadn’t bothered me. In fact, I loved the California sun and sand, and it was nice to take in the familiar faces of the humans who often visited these beaches. A few had even waved back at me, perhaps recognizing me, too.

Or… maybe it was just that my hair had caught their attention.

After spending so much time with Claira and the others, I’d almost forgotten how much my hair stood out. It was on these beaches, right after the curse, that I’d learned just how odd a color it was. It seemed even with legs, I still couldn’t fit in with humans.

“I found him!” Laverne panted out, her sleek body glistening in the waning sunlight. She shook water from her neck before darting toward us up the beach. “I found Albert!”

“Great,” I shouted back, rocking on my toes with excitement. “Never doubted you!”

If anyone could track down Albert, it was Laverne. She’d fixated on him for years, well before she was old enough to join him or one of the other harem kings’ harems.

I knew little about how sea lion relationships worked, but I knew that despite having several options, Laverne had this stubborn insistence that only Albert would do. Was it because he was the strongest or that he had the most aesthetically pleasing scowl? I couldn’t remember, but whichever it was, she was convinced he was going to be hers .

Well, until the last mating season rolled around, that is.

According to her account, Albert had made his rejection personal by using his perfect mouth to mock her in front of his harem. It had been an enormous scandal and was the talk of the entire land and ocean for a while. Completely unforgivable conduct for a king! … Or, so Laverne had said.

Now that she’d sworn him off for good, I never expected her to come up with a plan that involved actually seeing him again.

It warmed my heart to see her go to such great lengths for Claira’s sake.

“Albert’s that way,” she said, signaling out to the ocean with a flipper. “I can’t wait to see the shocked look on his face after we’re done with him.”

He must have really been a big deal to the other sea lions, too, because every head around us perked up one by one. It took a fevered scan of their surroundings for them to gradually lower their necks, relaxing once more.

“Let me take a wild guess,” Leander said with a sigh. “We have to swim to get there. And since we’ll be fish…” He thumped the side of the bucket, producing a hollow note that reverberated over my head. “You thought you’d carry us there in this.”

“Wait, really?” I frowned as I lowered the bucket, clamping my hands around it to still its vibrations. “Why not just use your mouth? That’s what you usually do.”

“Yeah, fuck that . I’m not going anywhere in her mouth.”

“Rude!” Laverne stormed up to me, snatching the bucket out of my hands. Then she gave Leander a scathing glare. “See if I save you next time you turn into a fish.”

Securing the bucket’s handle in her jaws, she spun away, her tail slapping sand into our faces.

As I coughed on the gritty dust, I cupped my hands together to call after her. “Need our help?”

“As if!” She dropped the bucket onto the sand and slipped into the next wave that rolled in.

“Guess we should leave her to it.” I turned to Leander with a shrug. “What’s wrong with her mouth?”

Leander folded his arms stiffly, his nose twitching in response to the sand. “She nearly ripped off one of my fucking fins last time.”

“ What? No way.” I shook my head with a laugh. Sure, Laverne could be inconsiderate at times, but she had a genuinely good heart. “She’s very gentle,” I assured him.

Right on cue, Laverne’s head popped up over the surface. She shuffled over to the bucket and, in a less-than-dignified fashion, spat a mouthful of screaming fish into it.

Leander raised an eyebrow in my direction. “You were saying?”

I winced as their little gasps of terror echoed in my mind. “Okay, maybe she can be a bit—” I fought a gag as she retched up at least a half-dozen more. “—rough.”

Laverne shot us a smug grin from across the shore, seaweed clinging to her whiskers. Then she dove back into the ocean, continuing her ruthless hunt.

I glanced over at Leander, pondering. “Do you think she wants us to bring Albert a snack?”

A look of pure disgust crossed his face as he considered the idea. “No fucking clue. I thought I had it all figured out, but damned if I know what’s happening now.”

As he spoke, I couldn’t help but notice the two humans taking a leisurely walk across the beach behind him. Their laughter caused a gentle ache to settle in my chest, and it was hard to tear my attention away from where their hands joined together.

Were they holding hands like clamshells? Or were their fingers woven together the way Claira did when she held mine?

I couldn’t suppress the longing in my voice as I said, “Do you ever miss holding hands?”

Leander took a step back. “Um, what?”

I heaved a wistful sigh. “Sometimes, I catch myself thinking about the way Claira puts her hand in mine. It feels like magic,” I confessed, sensing a rush of heat beat against my face. It hurt not knowing when I’d be able to hold her hand again. “Whenever she touches me, everything seems a little bit brighter, you know?”

Leander brushed a hand back into his hair, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. “Brighter, huh? I guess I never thought about it that much.” He took a second to think. “If I’m being honest, I have plenty of other places in mind when I think about touching her.”

Well, when he put it like that… “Sometimes I think about her neck, too,” I whispered so quietly that I wasn’t sure if he could even hear it. “And her teeth on my skin.”

And foreplay.

Gosh, now my face was boiling. I searched for a distraction, shifting my attention to a nearby crowd gathered in front of a group of lounging sea lions.

A grin spread across the face of one of the humans, revealing a glimmer of white teeth I immediately recognized.

Whoa—

“Is that...?” I took a hesitant step forward, my voice trailing as I squinted, rising to my toes to get a better look.

We were so far from the Atlantic. It wasn’t possible—was it?

“Hey, Kaius.” Leander clasped my shoulder. “Looks like she’s done.”

“Oh, uh...” I sputtered, not ready to pull my attention away. But the group of humans had already started moving on.

I stared at their backs for a moment longer before shaking off the notion.

Land was full of countless humans. Some were bound to look similar, right?

“Come on, guys!” Laverne called, her whiskers still sparkling with droplets of salt water. She pounded a flipper into the sand. “You don’t expect ME to carry all of this, do you?”

Leander pulled me along, and the next thing I knew, the three of us were gazing down at a bucket teeming with fish.

“Wow! As expected from the queen of the hunt,” I said, giving Laverne a thumbs up. “And look at that—most of them still have their fins. Nice work.”

Laverne’s neck stretched taller, her chest puffing out with an air of satisfaction.

“A sea creature who can catch fish. How incredibly impressive.” One of Leander’s eyebrows tilted up as he swooped in to pick up the bucket, beating me to it. “So, what’s our plan?” He cast a glance up at the sky. “Whatever it is, we need to get moving. It’ll be dark soon.”

Laverne let out a frustrated breath. “Do you know nothing?”

“I know some things,” Leander shot back, not quite in anger. It was nice to see him warming up to her. While it wasn’t totally obvious yet, I was sure they were starting to become good friends.

“This is the perfect time to do it.” Laverne started down the beach, expecting us to naturally follow her lead. “Everyone is waking up from their afternoon naps, and soon the harems will gather.” She ended her explanation with a huff. “Haven’t you noticed I’m much more sociable at night?”

Leander’s response was a lazy shrug accompanied by a grumbled, “Can’t say I’ve ever cared to? — ”

“Lee.” I gave his ribs an elbow poke to remind him to be polite.

Although annoyance colored his face, he cleared his throat and emphatically revised his words. “Can’t say I’ve noticed.”

Laverne threw a haughty look back at him. “Take it as a sign that you should stop moping and start paying attention to your surroundings,” she said, completely ignoring the actual signs conspicuously pitched in the sand all around us.

CAUTION — STAY BACK

Sea lions can bite

Agitated sea lions may attack

I shuddered. That felt like a massive understatement. My father always warned us to stay far away from where the sea lions hunted, and for good reason.

Past the signs, clusters of sea lions formed, and Laverne had been right about them being social after their naps. While some leaped into the water together, others gathered, yipping and snorting at each other while crowding on top of flat rocks. Thankfully, Laverne seemed to be the most agitated among them at the moment.

After a few more minutes of walking, we neared a rocky outcrop that extended like a stairway leading out into the ocean. Before we reached it, though, Laverne came to a halt, swinging around to face us.

“All right, listen up,” she barked. “Albert’s territory is right behind me. He is a large, ruthless beast who couldn’t care less about your feelings. And his teeth...” A weird shiver worked through her that didn’t look to be caused entirely by fear. “Well, let’s just say they’re as deadly as they are pleasing to the eye. Move any closer to his territory, and he’d rip all of us to mangled shreds.”

Right behind her, a larger, more attention-grabbing sign sat in the sand.

CAUTION — REMAIN ALERT

An aggressive sea lion

has been spotted in this area

Leander didn’t seem impressed by Laverne’s warning. He probably hadn’t even read the sign.

With a thunk, the bucket dropped to the sand between his legs. “Yeah—he can try it.” A smirk spread across his mouth as he started stretching out his limbs.

“Careful with those!” Laverne lurched forward, checking on the state of the bucket. “You didn’t let any of them escape, did you?”

“What the fuck does it matter? There’s plenty more fish.” He gestured out to where the waves lapped up the shore. “Right out there.”

Laverne gasped, her eyes going wide. Even I cringed. That would be a fast way to agitate a sea lion bull. Even the bravest warriors of the Pacific refused to hunt in sea lion territory.

“Are you trying to get me killed?” she shrilled. “Those are Albert’s waters! Do you have any idea what he would do if he caught someone outside of his harem hunting this close to his territory?”

“No one’s getting killed,” I reassured her, stepping in while Leander rolled his eyes. “We won’t get any closer. Promise. So, what’s the plan?”

“We’re going to lure Albert out with this.” She leaned in to slap the side of the bucket. “From a safe distance, naturally. I can’t hunt in these waters, but if a couple of humans were to bring me—a mature, eligible sea lion in her prime—a delectable feast where he would happen to see it...” She paused, and I wasn’t a fan of the suggestive way she lifted her brow. “Albert is a jealous brute. He sees every male as a threat, even if they’re human. If he notices that I have two males trying to court me, it doesn’t matter if they’re much weaker than he is. He’ll want to show off his dominance by stealing me away.”

Leander scoffed. “Weaker?”

“Yes, so much weaker,” she agreed with a sharp nod. “I’m sure he’ll invite me into his harem this time.”

“You keep saying ‘humans.’” A twinge of longing pained my heart. “But we’re not... We’re not humans, Laverne.”

“Of course, you’re not,” she said bluntly. “But you look like humans, so what’s the difference? Just keep your feet dry, and he won’t want to maim you for being mermen. He REALLY hates merfolk,” she added.

“Could have led with that,” Leander said, resuming his stretching.

“Letting him know that you’re merfolk isn’t part of the plan, obviously.” She rolled her eyes . “Because then he’d know what we’re after, and there’s no way he’d let me get close enough to him to find it.”

My throat tightened, and I struggled to form the words. “Do you really think he won’t be able to tell that I’m a merman?”

I didn’t expect there to be so much energy behind her reply. “Of course not! I wouldn’t have come up with this plan if I didn’t think we could pull it off.”

Anxious, I glanced over at Leander for his opinion, but he was busy pulling off his shirt.

“What are you doing?” I gasped.

“Pretending to be human,” he said firmly. As soon as he’d thrown off his shirt, he pointed at mine. “Come on, Kaius. Off with it.”

I clutched at the buttons of my shirt, horrified. “What? Why? ” He wanted me to take my shirt off? Claira wasn’t even here.

He sighed. “Sure, Albert might be a brute, but I’m willing to bet he’s figured out that the merfolk around here prefer to keep covered. If you take it off, there’s no need to worry. He’ll never suspect we’re mermen.”

Laverne’s eyes lit up. “That’s genius!”

He chuckled. “See? I told you I know some things.”

“Laverne...” I sighed, noticing her gaze lingering on Leander’s exposed torso. “You’re drooling.”

“Am I? Must be the fish. I am getting hungry.”

“I-I guess you have a point.” Reluctantly, I started unbuttoning. “It’ll be better if we don’t give him more reason to think we aren’t human.”

As I worked down the front of my shirt, Laverne moved the bucket to a new spot in the sand. When she was done, she tapped the sand next to her, summoning both of us to her side. “I’ll give a signal when I see Albert, and that’s when you’ll start feeding me the fish.”

Leander and I shared a look.

“So, uh…” I scratched the back of my neck. “This whole time, we were getting you a snack, Laverne?”

“Exactly!” She vigorously thumped the sand with her tail until we went over to join her. “Like I said, Albert won’t be able to resist me if he thinks I’m being courted by TWO males. And everyone knows the best way to court someone is with lots and lots of fish.”

I chuckled, hugging my arms over my bare chest as I sat beside her. “Oh, so that’s why you’re always bringing them to Barren.”

Although she let out an uppity snort, I noticed she didn’t deny it.

“Great.” Leander scoffed before dropping down to Laverne’s other side. “Like the rumors about me fucking sea creatures weren’t enough,” he grumbled. “Now I’ve got to pretend to court one.”

“Hold on.” Laverne’s mouth fell open. “You mean they’re just lame rumors?”

Leander’s face flamed red. “Of course they are!”

“Hmph.” She looked up and away, not seeming entirely convinced. “That’s disappointing.”

The plan made sense, but one thing still puzzled me.

“Hey, Laverne?” I leaned in, adopting a soft and careful tone. “If you knew a way to get into Albert’s harem, why didn’t you ask me to help you the last time you tried? I would have done it. I know how much you liked him.”

Her gaze fell down to the sand between her flippers. “Of course, I thought about it,” she said bitterly. “That’s how most of his paramours get in. But I wanted Albert to pick me because he actually wanted me, not because he was trying to ruin some other male’s chances of finding a mate.”

I considered her words before giving a small nod. “Well, I’m glad you moved on from him, then,” I said, smiling gently. “You’re far too amazing to end up with a partner like that.”

The sound of crashing waves interrupted us, drawing our attention to a large figure emerging from beyond the outcrop. With a prominent forehead like that, there was no mistaking it—it was a proud sea lion bull.

Laverne’s neck stretched upward at the sight of him, her entire body tensing.

Whoa —okay, he was more than large. That sea lion was massive .

Scars ran through every patch of brown that made up his mottled coat, and despite the darkened sky and the distance, I could clearly make out the definition of each muscle rippling under his glistening skin as he moved.

Laverne’s breath hitched as smaller figures surfaced behind him, five in total, all entering the territory together.

“So, is that huge fucker Albert, or...?” Leander’s voice trailed before he muttered, “Thought we were supposed to be getting a signal.”

“ Dude, ” I blew out. How many fish did a beast like that have to eat in a day?

This was Albert. It had to be.

Although, he admittedly looked more like a beached whale than a sea lion. I never knew that bulls could grow to be so big.

As soon as he dragged himself to dry sand, the females in his entourage nuzzled right up to his side, creating a circle around him.

“That’s him.” Laverne seemed to choke on the words. But there was something wrong with the pitch of her voice. It was like all her confidence had suddenly flipped to panic. “I—I can’t do this.”

“What?” Startled, I was quick to refocus my attention back to her. “Of course you can!”

I placed a hand over her flipper, but Laverne was frozen, her gaze fixed on Albert—or maybe on his doting females. I could hear their adoring clicks and coos, even from here.

In an abrupt shift, she jolted back to awareness. “What if he rejects me?” Horrified eyes snapped over to me. “I—I got so mad at him last time. If that happens again…”

“Oh fuck,” Leander hissed, and I looked up to see that Albert’s thick neck had swung our way.

The moment his dark, dangerous eyes locked onto us, the atmosphere seemed to shift. Now, that was an agitated-looking sea lion.

The growl that broke free from his throat washed over the beach like a tidal wave, causing my grip on Laverne’s flipper to tighten.

Well, at least we had his attention.

“Lee—the fish,” I muttered, my heart pounding up into my throat. We needed to act the part of doting suitors before Albert charged and we lost the opportunity altogether. I nodded subtly toward the bucket. “Give her a fish.”

“ Me? ”

I nudged him back with my voice. “We’re courting her, remember?”

“Damn, uh, okay.” Leander fumbled over the bucket like he’d never held a fish before in his life. When he finally dangled one in front of her face, Laverne didn’t react. “The hell is wrong with her?”

Albert’s next roar carried more warning than all the signs we’d ignored to get here combined.

“I-I don’t know. Laverne?” In a panicked move, I snatched a fish from the bucket, pushing Leander’s hand aside as I thrust it in front of her nose.

She looked right past it, her body rigid, the bull holding her in a trance.

Leander cursed before scooping up a handful of thrashing fish, dropping his hands on top of mine to get me out of his way. “You told us to feed you,” he said in a very un-suitor-like tone. “So, take one!”

Laverne’s teeth began to chatter, her whiskers falling uncharacteristically flat against her snout.

I caught sight of Albert’s massive figure from the corner of my eye and could barely contain my panic. Had he always been that big, or was he getting closer?

“Dude,” I said, my voice cracking on the word. “You shouldn’t yell at someone you’re trying to court!”

“If she doesn’t want me to yell, then she should let me fucking court her!”

“You’re doing it all wrong, okay?” I lifted out a heaping scoop of fish and added them on top of Leander’s pile. “Come on, pretty girl, these are your favorite,” I soothed, a quiver rocking my voice. “Yummy, yummy jacksmelt.”

My back shot straight upright as Albert’s bellowing took on a deeper, more ominous tone.

Uh-oh. He was definitely getting closer.

The sound must not have sat well with his harem, either. They scattered like startled seabirds, retreating into the ocean.

And then we were alone, just him and us.

“This was her plan,” Leander seethed through clenched teeth. He threw every fish he held back at the bucket. “I bet that beast doesn’t even realize we’re trying to court her. It’s like we’re taunting her with fish!”

He had a point. With how things were going, Albert could have easily misinterpreted our actions as harassment.

My thoughts whirled, searching for an idea. But what did I know about courtship?

“Here.” Plucking up a fish, I desperately held it out to Leander. “Put it in your mouth.”

“My mouth? You’re fucking crazy. She vomited up half of these.”

“Yes! Feed her with your mouth,” I urged, pushing the fish into his hands. I’d scrubbed a mural depicting the act countless times back at the ruins. It looked wildly intimate. Albert would definitely catch onto our intentions. “This one looks mostly fine. I’m sure it’s only been in her mouth. Hurry, he’s watching!”

Leander shoved the fish back into my chest, not looking the least bit amused. “Put it in your fucking mouth.”

I frowned. “But she’s like a sister ? — ”

“Yeah, and that’s why you should do it.”

Albert might have mistaken our spirited debate for aggression toward Laverne because his flippers kicked up into a thundering gallop across the beach.

“Fuck, okay!” Leander yanked the fish from my hand. In one smooth motion, he bit down on its tail and leaned over Laverne, attempting to pass it off to her mouth.

It was enough to jolt Laverne out of her daze, and her eyes popped with surprise as she stared up at Leander.

“Take it,” he garbled, aiming the wiggling creature over her snout. But as soon as his jaw opened, the fish had other ideas. It thrashed and bent, landing on Laverne’s face with a slap to her forehead.

A hush fell over us as it ricocheted off her, flopping down to the sand.

We’re doomed .

Albert skidded to a halt. He stood his ground at the border of his territory, his attention darting back and forth between the fish and Laverne.

Was he waiting to see if she would bend down and accept it?

“Uh… Maybe you should try again?” I whispered to Leander.

“Fuck that,” was his immediate response. “It’s your ?—”

Albert silenced us with a bark that had all three of us jumping out of our skins.

Behind him, his harem resurfaced. They moved upshore in a straight line, their jaws straining under the weight of carrying an object much longer than they were.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” Leander muttered under his breath as Albert’s thick neck swung to greet his harem.

I couldn’t either. It seemed improbable, but there it was.

My father’s trident .

I hadn’t realized I’d tried to stand until Leander’s arm had intervened to stop me. “Wait,” he mouthed, yanking me back down to the sand.

But the trident… It was right there .

I flinched as Albert’s massive body lurched with a powerful, grunting heave. He turned away, carving out a channel in the sand as he made his way back to his harem. Upon reaching them, his jaws stretched wide, effortlessly accommodating the trident’s size and weight.

Oh —that probably wasn’t good. Even if a sea lion couldn’t use magic, the trident was still a weapon.

I cringed. “Uh, do you think he’s going to try to stab us with it?”

“No, I do not.” Leander’s face drained of color, rendering him as pale as the moonlight. He clutched at his arm, teeth gritted. “Holy fuck, I—I think he’s using magic.”

“Magic?” I nearly yelped. That definitely wasn’t good.

I hadn’t expected this to be the moment for Laverne to find her voice. “No!” she shrieked, her neck whipping into a frenzy.

It really was shocking—a sea creature trying to use magic.

Laverne sprang to her flippers, her nose aiming skyward, and I traced the path of her gaze up to the newly darkened sky.

“Whoa, what’s up with the moon?” I gasped. It looked so perfectly round. Its color seemed to intensify with each passing second, deepening to a rich shade of cobalt blue that sent an unexpected chill through me. “Why is it so… blue?”

Laverne’s voice quaked, barely a whisper in my mind. “No-no-no, he wouldn’t…”

All at once, my hair stood on end, the surrounding air charging with a magic that was not unfamiliar to me. I’d never experienced it on land, but I had no doubts—this was the power of creation.

And a sea lion had figured out how to use it.

A gasp tore from Laverne. “No!” She scrambled backward, colliding with the bucket behind her, as white flowers sprung up, emerging from the sand beneath us. One, then five, then more than twenty. They continued materializing, seemingly sprouting from nothing more than the otherworldly glow of the blue moon.

Across the beach, Albert arched his neck, holding the trident up to the heavens. The sea lions congregated in a tight circle, jumping and chanting around him like this was the most fun they’d ever had.

And it looked kind of fun. At least, I’d never seen anything quite like it. White flowers, bathed in cobalt light, blanketed the entire beach, even outnumbering the sea shells.

It was both beautiful and terrifying.

And vaguely familiar.

“The fuck?” Leander shot to his feet.

I stood as well, absorbing the sight of the white petals unfurling around us. But when I glanced back at Leander, he wasn’t looking at the flowers.

No, he was gawking down at Laverne. “Are you molting? ”

“No!” she barked back at him, her sharp sniffle piercing through the sound of the waves. “Well... kind of.”

My heart skipped a beat, or maybe it stopped altogether.

This was Laverne’s voice—I was sure of it. But I hadn’t heard her in my mind.

For the first time, her voice resonated in my ears.

But why…?

“Laverne—?” My throat choked as soon as our eyes met. She stared up at me, panic rounding her dark, silver-rimmed pupils.

Only, these weren’t Laverne’s eyes. This wasn’t Laverne’s face.

Her head tilted back, and hair as long and silver as strands of moonlight moved across her features.

“Kai-Kai,” she pleaded, barely more than a breath. She held up a hand, dainty and fragile, reaching out to me. The other hand kept a careful grip on the grayish-brown coat draped over her shoulders.

“Hands,” I stammered, like I was accusing her of some terrible deed. But it was true. She had hands .

Down the beach, the sea lions’ merriment had taken on a new voice, but even fear of Albert couldn’t pull my attention away from the sight in front of me.

“You’re...” My brain was in such turmoil that I couldn’t even find the word for it. I couldn’t put a name to what she was.

Her limbs curled tightly, held in an awkward arrangement, the skin that peeked out from underneath her coat as smooth and translucent as a tide pool. Despite that, she held her chin high as she declared, “A selkie, obviously!”

“A s-selkie,” I repeated back to her, but while that could have been true, that wasn’t it—that wasn’t what she was .

My chest was on fire, burning all the oxygen from my lungs. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her face. That face .

It was a face I knew better than even my own.

Freechia’s face .

Only, instead of the urchin purple hair I’d spent years brushing and styling with care each morning, silver hair framed it. And as I looked into the eyes in front of me, it wasn’t Freechia’s rebellious gaze that stared back, but Laverne’s brazen spirit.

“But...” I shook my head, my voice breaking. “I… I don’t understand.”

“Big Brother,” she whispered, her voice as shattered as my own. “Let me explain.”

Twin . That was the word for it. Laverne and Freechia were twins . They had to be. How else could they look so similar?

It didn’t make sense, yet somehow, it made complete and perfect sense.

Hadn’t Freechia and Laverne always been a reflection of one another? Two of the same spirit just mirrored in a different form.

“You’re sisters?” It may have been obvious. Even so, I needed her to confirm it. “Does that mean... Are we actually related?”

Laverne’s eyes carried a shadow of sorrow as she nodded. “Yes.”

Whoa . Even hearing it, it was hard to believe.

“But, if you’re our sister, how did you end up like this?” I gestured to her. “You have flippers. Well, usually.”

Her only response was tight, unamused lips.

“I’ve—I’ve met your mother, Laverne. She’s so sweet and kind, but she’s a sea lion, ” I blurted, not understanding how this could have happened. My voice dropped. “She… she gives me fish whenever I see her.”

“Of course, she’s a sea lion!” Laverne huffed, brushing the hair out of her face as if unaccustomed to having it. “Well, most of the time. And don’t call her my mother. She’s Freechia’s mother, too,” she snapped.

Freechia’s mother was a sea lion? “That means…” My mouth dropped open.

It meant we all shared the same father.

Laverne cast a glance over at Albert’s territory, but they were the least of my worries. “Freechia was never supposed to find out,” she continued, keeping her voice low. “And I wasn’t supposed to find out I had a sister. But one day, we swam past each other and…” She shrugged. “We just knew.”

My mind raced, trying to work it all out. “But how could Father—? He hates the land.” I looked over at Leander for backup, throwing my hands wide. “Come on, you both know how much he hates it.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Leander cut in, his eyes flashing with anger. “ King Darias is your father, and yet the Pacific is filled with rumors that I go around fucking sea creatures?”

“Keep your voice down!” Laverne slapped at Leander’s arm. For some reason, the slap didn’t have the same impact as when she did it with a flipper. “And, rude! She’s in human form whenever they court. Obviously.”

“They court?” My stomach plummeted at the thought, my mind immediately turning to Mother. No wonder she never fawned over Freechia like she had the rest of our siblings. Well—except for me. I’d always had this nagging feeling that I was a disappointment to her. “How often does he visit land?”

Laverne took a deep breath. “More often than you’d think.”

“I see.” I nearly choked on my tongue getting the words out. So, all of my father’s hatred, his laws… all of it was a lie?

“Kai-Kai,” Laverne whined. “Freechia and I, we never wanted to hide it from you.” She reached out to me only to gasp as her coat slipped, falling from her shoulders.

Leander bent down to retrieve it, but I swiftly intervened, grasping his wrist. “Don’t.”

I’d read all about selkies—memorized every glyph—although until this moment, I’d always believed they were nothing more than an ancient race whose magic was long lost to Poseidon’s Deep.

“Never take hold of a selkie’s coat,” I quietly instructed, then nodded at Laverne to pick it up for herself.

Her eyes widened like my knowledge had surprised her, but she lifted the skin and shook the sand out of it before winding it around her shoulders once more.

So all along, there had been a population of selkies living here without our kingdom’s knowledge? Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate—my father was evidently well aware of their presence, but he’d chosen to keep that knowledge to himself.

My eyes finally cut over to Albert and his harem. And there they were, bare legs and glistening sea lion skins covering their shoulders. They laughed and spun, kicking through the flowers without a care.

The blue moon, the flowers—why hadn’t I recognized them sooner?

“These must be moonflowers,” I whispered, digging into my memory for knowledge pertaining to selkies. It was kind of nice to find some answers on my own. “I didn’t think they still existed.”

I didn’t think selkies still existed, either. In fact, I could distinctly remember asking Laverne about them once after I’d studied them in the ruins. I’d thought perhaps she would know more about her ancient ancestors, but she’d laughed right in my face, calling the idea of sea lions shedding their skins to walk on land absurd.

“They don’t bloom often,” Laverne explained. She clutched her coat like its nearness brought her comfort. “Their magic is how we shed our coats. But they only bloom under a blue moon, and sometimes it takes years before the moon turns blue again.” She threw a furious glare in Albert’s direction. “Usually.”

It made sense now why Albert was able to use magic. Selkies were much like merfolk, weren’t they? Favored by Poseidon and blessed with the gift of walking alongside humans on land, even if that gift was limited to the occurrence of a blue moon.

Maybe that was the reason Albert grabbed my father’s trident in the first place. With the power of creation, the sea lions could make a blue moon whenever they wanted.

“Well, now you know the truth. My father is a king, and guess what? I’m a princess, even if no one is allowed to know it,” Laverne said haughtily, brushing it off like the words couldn’t hurt her. But I could tell she was hurt—deeply hurt.

“Laverne—”

A rumbling laugh interrupted us as Albert broke free from the merriment of his harem. Gosh . Somehow, he appeared even more imposing in human form. Silver hair flowed down his towering figure like streams of water cutting between boulders.

Wait—

I glanced down at Laverne, then back to Albert and his harem. Every single one of them had silver hair.

Albert tossed his trident to one of his entourage and stumbled a good four steps before stalking toward us, the delicate flowers underneath him no match for his enormous feet.

“Do you th-think he wants to fight us?” It was a silly question, really. The look in Albert’s eyes when they finally pinned us down made it clear that an attack was imminent.

But apart from sparring with Leander and brawling with my brothers, I hadn’t been in many actual fights. Still, I gulped as I took a step in front of Laverne. “I wish Barren were here,” I whispered, glancing over at Leander for an idea of what to do next.

Despite all his earlier stretching, Leander didn’t sound completely convincing when he nodded and said, “I can take him.” He widened his stance, planting his feet in the sand, and I did my best to follow his lead.

Up close, Albert’s face was just as scarred as the rest of him. Yet, as his eyes traveled over our exposed chests, I could almost visualize his thoughts taking shape.

Humans. Harmless.

When he reached us, instead of launching an attack, his chest puffed out like an angry blowfish. “Laverne, was it?” he rumbled, dismissing Leander and me entirely.

Laverne swatted at my leg until I was forced to move aside, hopping away on one foot. “ Ow, hey —Laverne!”

But now she was ignoring me, too. Her eyes looked as innocent as a dolphin calf’s, blinking up at Albert. “Maybe,” she said, hiding the tremble in her voice with her best coo.

He overstepped into our space, mercilessly kicking over the bucket of fish. Then he smashed it beneath a bare foot, unfazed by the grating sound of metal or the jacksmelts’ tiny screams.

Without waiting for her reaction, Albert’s grin spread into something sinister. “You belong to me now.”