by Godiva Glenn
“You shouldn’t be angry with Annika.”
Pavel stared forward as Cam walked up and sat beside him on the ground. “I’m not.”
“You sure?”
“She was going to tell me about herself before. I don’t fault her for not saying it the very moment we met. And everything else isn’t her fault.” Pavel brushed at his borrowed trousers, flicking away grains of multi-hued sand. Though the beach had a gray appearance overall, each particle seemed to range in color from pale pink to purple and blue. But just like normal sand, it got everywhere without much effort. “I needed fresh air.”
“It doesn’t get much fresher than this.”
Pavel nodded to himself then glanced sidelong at the muscled selkie beside him. Cam possessed a strangely happy-go-lucky expression even when he seemed dead serious, and so far, Pavel couldn’t get a read for his true emotions.
“You must not be happy to have me here, eh?” Pavel asked.
Cam’s brow scrunched. “Why do you say that?”
“I can put the pieces together. Annika said the selkie myth was largely exaggerated but didn’t refute how humans and selkies mix. To you, I’m just a potential kidnapper. Teall saw that too and tried to kill me. Maybe you aren’t the murdering type, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opinion.”
“Annika can make decisions for herself.”
“You’re avoiding my question.”
Cam leaned back in the sand, resting on his long arms. “My wish is for her to be happy. If that’s with you, I want that. But if we’re being honest, I don’t know how that could ever be.”
“I don’t want to be that guy, inevitably driven to hold her against her will,” Pavel admitted. “But if we fall in love and everything is meant to be, can’t she just… give me her skin willingly? Do I have to steal it and hide it?”
“You can’t understand.” Cam’s dark eyes narrowed on the horizon. “The tides may as well be linked to our heartbeats. She can love you, but she’d never be able to give you that part of her. Or at least, in the history of selkies, it’s never happened. Even if she loved you and you broke her heart, she’d recover. The waters would heal her of her loss quickly.”
“But our love wouldn’t heal the loss of her connection to her magic.”
“That’s how it goes, yeah.” Cam turned to Pavel. “But even having said that, I don’t know for sure.”
Pavel smiled weakly. “And now you’re trying to placate me. Because I was on my deathbed.”
“Nah.” Cam plucked a smooth round rock from the ground and rubbed his thumb over the surface, cleaning away the sand. “While Annika was recounting everything you’d missed, it occurred to me how unusual the situation was already.”
“I thought ‘unusual’ was how the fae lived.”
Cam chuckled. “Yes and no. Some of the strange moments in our lives are easily accepted, but we live so long that we’ve seen just about everything. Yet… Annika went through a rift—something rare and unpredictable—and then it reappeared long enough for Iona to control it and not only send Teall through, but she nearly ripped into the galaxy to bring you back through it.”
“And that’s unheard of?”
“It’s a fucking miracle, even as magic goes. I always knew Iona had tricks up her sleeve but that… that was aspect level power.”
“Sounds like I owe her.”
“Oh, you definitely do, but my point is that you and Annika have already pulled off something that shouldn’t be possible.” Cam exhaled a breath of astonishment and threw the rock he’d been holding. It skipped five times across the moving water as if propelled by its own magic. “If you two try, maybe, just maybe, you can get another miracle.”
Pavel didn’t immediately respond. As amazing as it would be, he didn’t feel particularly gifted by the powers that be. Besides, there was a darker part of the selkie lore. “If it doesn’t work out, then I’ll drown trying to join her seal form, though.”
“That didn’t happen too often,” Cam replied. “And I can’t promise much, but I can promise I won’t let you do that. I’d step in. If not, I imagine Iona would stop you.”
“I’m sure she has better things to do.”
“Better than avoiding the intergalactic political nightmare of having a fae-struck human die in Prism’s waters?” Cam scoffed. “Doubt it.”
“That’s… oddly reassuring.” Pavel looked back over his shoulder at the rustic stone dwelling further up the shore. He thought he saw Annika pace by the window.
Was he fae-struck? Unlikely. He didn’t feel the urge to die for her. And though she’d worried about unintentionally charming him with her glamour on their first date, he found her just as radiant today as he had over dinner.
“How does that whole fae obsession work?” Pavel asked.
“It’s random. Nothing we control. And most likely, a thing of the past. When the fae choose to go anywhere where humans are present, they do it the proper way, through an official portal. Before going through that portal, they drink something that adjusts their bodies. It changes their appearances, mostly, but also acclimates them to the planet.”
“How does that work?”
“You’re asking the wrong person. I know of it. I’ve never used it. I know it comes from Iona, however, and on top of everything else it does, it removes whatever magic would cause humans to be fae-struck.”
“How would one know if they were affected?”
Cam looked Pavel over. “You aren’t. I know this for a fact because you aren’t begging for a kiss.”
Pavel glanced sharply at him. “What?”
“Fae-struck is a true obsession. It’s damn obvious. You’d be crawling on your hands and knees for any fae.” Cam grinned and pushed back on his dark, wavy hair. “Since you aren’t humping my leg or begging for my attention, I know you’re safe.”
“What about the one that made men drown themselves?”
“That would come later, and I believe it was usually tied to men whose love was truly unrequited to start. Since Annika wants you around, the magic shouldn’t sour and make you suicidal.” Cam tilted his head. “And if it happens anyhow, we’d catch it and fix it, I guess.”
The clarity released a knot that had taken residence deep in Pavel’s gut. He hadn’t suspected foul-play or magic, but it was great to get confirmation. Annika didn’t need tricks, intentional or not, to attract him. Her personality had done that already.
On top of that, she’d attempted to save his life, and she’d called for the miracle that brought him to Prism. Then she’d stayed by his side while he recovered, after having met him twice and barely knowing him. If she wanted to give it a chance, he wasn’t going to say no, but he couldn’t shake the suspicion that there’s was the burn bright and fast before dying out type of love.
Ten
Annika
Annika kept busy with cleaning while Cam and Pavel sat outside. She’d wanted to give Pavel space, as he had every right to be upset, but her mind tumbled with fear that he’d leave now. The entire situation was a mess.
She loved that she now had the opportunity to show him Prism and her life, but that was only if he stayed.
Sweeping lazily, she passed by the window, sneaking a peek at the two men sitting on the sand. The other dilemma was Cam. She hadn’t expected him to be as frustrated with her as he was, though she understood his reason completely. She’d been selfish. Leaving Prism was an overreaction, truth be told.
Her problems with Teall were a pain but running away wasn’t the right call. The solution should never have involved abandoning her best friend. But there was more to it than that. She just couldn’t think about it right now. Not with Pavel around.
Despite everything else, Gerri had seen a reason to put Annika and Pavel together. Annika had faith in the matchmaker.
The front door opened, and Cam and Pavel entered. Annika hovered on the other side of the room with her broom. What she wanted was to rush to him and hold him. What she did was
stare at him with a nervous smile.
“Feeling any better?” she asked.
“A bit,” Pavel said. “Still going through shock, I suppose. Taking it all in, one crazy bit at a time.”
“Right. Though I also meant physically.” She leaned the broom against the nearest wall. He was up and walking, but underneath his eyes were weary bags and his complexion lacked the lively glow it usually had. “You’ve been through a lot.”
He scratched his head then combed through his hair when he realized he’d messed it up. It didn’t take long for her to notice how particular he was about his hair.
“Maybe you’d like to freshen up? A hot bath?” she asked.
He drew his hand down, brushing over his cheeks with his thumb and forefinger. “I could use a shave.”
“That’s not a problem,” Cam said. “I have a blade you can use.”
“A blade…” Pavel nodded and shifted on his feet. “But I suppose something more pressing. I was thinking that since I’m here, perhaps I should let Vevina know.”
“Vevina? A family member?” Cam asked.
Pavel smiled crookedly. “No. I’m fine with my family not knowing my whereabouts, at least for now. Vevina is a friend, though I haven’t seen her in quite some time. She’s somewhere around here.”
“Oh, is she the sprite?” Annika asked.
“Yes. She works for prince Kerren. Or did, I’m not sure what’s the story these days.”
Cam, who’d been lingering by the door, moved further into the room and took a seat on the couch. “Kerren. The Pure court.”
“Yes, I believe so.”
Annika tried to mask the frown that automatically crossed her face when hearing the name. When Pavel had mentioned knowing fae, she didn’t imagine he could mean he’d met royalty. “We selkies live far from the centers of either court, as far as territory goes. The Virtuous court touches the sea on its outskirts, but the Pure court is land-locked.”
“And we have no allegiance to either, nor interest in the on-goings of either court, politically,” Cam added.
“Does that mean you can’t get in touch with Vevina?” Pavel asked.
Cam glanced at Annika. “It will be tricky.”
“Neither court acknowledges communications with the selkies, or many of the water fae, as a whole,” Annika explained. “We’re the oldest of the fae, but not considered to be the wisest or most reliable. We aren’t taken seriously.”
“I don’t follow,” Pavel admitted.
“Selkies, naiads, and the rest of us… we don’t do politics. We don’t require rules and social manipulations.” Cam grinned. “We were born of the aspects base interest. We were born, in honesty, to have fun.”
Pavel’s brows lifted. “Are you serious?”
“All fae are playful. Deviant. Lustful. But we are the purest embodiment of it.” Annika rested against the back of the couch beside Cam. “That isn’t to say we aren’t intelligent. But the rest of the fae see it that way.”
“And they exclude you for it?” Pavel asked. “That seems oddly against most of what I’ve heard of the fae.”
Cam nodded. “They exclude us, yes. Not that we care so much about that. We don’t need war and political strife. They judge us, and that is more frustrating, but again, we have our own society.”
“All of this is why reaching your friend may be a problem. Compounded by Kerren’s past relationship with the selkie community.” Annika gazed off wistfully. “He once requested to formally court Mira, Duchess of Lugh Isle. The only selkie with a title.”
“But the Queen denied his request, and the Pure court enjoyed making jokes at Mira’s expense. They called her the ‘whore of lust island’ if memory serves,” Cam said darkly.
Pavel crossed his arms and met Annika’s eyes. “Is this real?”
“Quite,” she answered. “Mira is like any selkie. But to most fae, all selkies are whores. Though by the same logic, to humans, all fae would be whores. Sex is just sex. So what if Mira got her title by bedding both kings? Most selkies don’t have any ambition. I think she earned her duchy fairly.”
“She…” Shock raised Pavel’s brows and put a strange smirk on his face. “I see. But if anything, if Kerren wanted to court her, it means he doesn’t have the same prejudices, right?”
“Can you say the same for your friend Vevina?” Annika asked.
“I would hope so. She’s part water something. I’ve seen her do tricks, and she can hold her breath nearly indefinitely.”
Cam glanced back at Annika. “Could be worth reaching out.”
“We’d reach out regardless,” Annika stated. “But I don’t know what to expect.”
“I’d be thankful if you try. Even if it doesn’t work out for whatever reason.” Pavel sighed heavily. “I’ll be honest. It’s hard to wrap my head around magic and politics mixing. If the presidents and kings and prime ministers of our world could shift into things and fly… do magic… I don’t think there would be much of the world left.”
“Did you miss the part where we mentioned war?” Cam asked. “There very nearly wasn’t a world left. We stayed neutral and still lost many.”
“What saved everything?”
“Sacrifice,” Annika said mournfully. “The aspects stepped in. But then they left, and they took with them more than just themselves.”
Pavel met her eyes and appeared to understand that the story was longer and deeper than they’d summarized.
Cam stood. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Then we’ll get some food into you.”
* * * *
There wasn’t time to arrange an elaborate feast to celebrate Pavel’s health, but he barely had much of an appetite. He picked at his grilled fish and didn’t even touch the poached egg sac, which Annika had given him as he was the guest.
“How is everything?” Annika asked.
Pavel startled as if he’d been lost in thought. He offered her a smile. “It’s great. I guess my appetite isn’t back just yet.”
“Annika’s the best cook around here,” Cam said while digging through the flaky white flesh with his fingers. “I prefer everything fresh unless she’s doing her magic in the kitchen.”
“I’ve fished up my own meal before.” Pavel sipped his wine and gestured to his plate. “This does taste fresher, somehow.”
She beamed. She’d always felt pride for the effort she put into meals.
“Most selkies just eat everything raw and leave it at that, but I’ve found that different preparation methods yield different, more robust flavors. And being on Earth gave me even more ideas for things. I plan on experimenting more broadly with spices.”
“Really? I’m actually quite fond of spending time in the kitchen. I wouldn’t mind watching you cook. Or even swapping recipes, perhaps?”
“I’d love that.” His words helped to clear away the fear that he hated the food. It was hard to replicate the standard human fare when her cupboard was limited, but she was serious about wanting to try more things. She’d especially loved the hot, peppery spices of Earth, though she wasn’t sure if there were similar ones to be found on Prism. “Maybe we’ll head inland at some point. Look around the market?”
“Sounds fun.”
Soon enough, it was clear that Pavel was full. He ate most of the fish and half of the seaweed salad she’d tossed together in a hurry. Of course, when he pushed his plate away, Cam stole the untouched egg sac. No matter. Annika already had plans to impress Pavel with her culinary skills when his appetite was sturdier.
“I’ll get the dishes.” Annika gathered the plates and nodded toward the couch in the living area. “Why don’t you sit?”
“I can help,” Pavel insisted.
“It’s not enough to require help. Sit. Relax.” She hurried across the room before he could grab anything from her hands.
He sat with a soft sigh and ran his hands through his hair. He appeared tired, but not as a sign of lingering weakness. It seemed that the sleeping he’d done the last fe
w days didn’t do anything for exhaustion.
The kitchen was separated from the dining area and living room by a low counter, and while she brushed the leftover food into the trash, she couldn’t help but stare at Pavel’s profile. He had a few tiny nicks on his neck from shaving, which she hadn’t commented upon, but Cam had, earlier.
The ritual of shaving had become a deep discussion between the two men, as Pavel tried to explain that on Earth, men didn’t shave with sharpened rocks. She’d barely listened, more focused on how delightful it was to see them talking. A step closer to bonding. Their relationship was important to her. She couldn’t imagine being with a man who wasn’t a suitable friend for Cam.
“What are you thinking?” Cam asked, sidling up next to her as she rinsed the plates.
“Nothing in particular.” She kept her voice low. “Just thinking of things to do to entertain our guest.” Things that would convince him to stick around, primarily.
Cam raised his voice and called to Pavel, “Hey. What do you normally do after dinner?”
Pavel, who’d been lounging on the couch and staring off, turned to face them. “I don’t know. Sometimes I’d watch television. Catch up on emails. Maybe play a little before bed.”
“Your violin?” Annika perked up. “I’m sure we could find a similar instrument here.”
“What’s that?” Cam asked.
“It’s like a lute,” Annika explained. “But he plays it with another piece of wood.”
Pavel chuckled. “It’s a bow.”
“Like the weapon?” Cam scrunched his nose. “I don’t recall seeing anything like that inland.”
“Not like that,” Annika said. “He showed it to me on his phone but, oh... It didn’t survive the water.” As she said it, Pavel’s face fell, and she looked away to avoid further engaging the knot of guilt in her stomach. She’d pulled him away from everything he knew and loved. And here she was, thinking to impress him by cooking up an egg-laden fish.
“What music do you have here?” Pavel asked. “I wouldn’t mind learning something new. I probably hit my plateau with the violin, as it were.”
