Page 62 of Selkie AU: Beyond the Storm

“We did it,” I projected, so that anyone who wasn’t with us would know we’d won and it was time to head home. There were five coats in my arms, precious treasures that would soon be reunited with their selkies.

The boat waiting for us was definitely bigger than Rowan’s had been, but we’d need the extra space with our extra passengers anyway.

“Ouch, he fucking bit me,” an annoying voice complained a short distance behind us, and I recognized it as belonging to Andrew right away. “Stay here then, kid. Your funeral.”

Kid? I frowned, stopping and turning around to investigate. Rowan immediately followed.

A small white-haired child was snarling at Andrew. I recognized him as selkie right away, but unlike the selkie we’d arrived with, and the ones we’d freed from their cages, he was wearing tiny human clothes. He looked to be about five years old, and he didn’t have his coat. I frowned, knowing that none of the coats in my arms were small enough to belong to him.

Shit. Where could it be?

The entire base groaned as the orcas continued to ram into it. There wasn’t any time to go searching. The kid kicked Andrew in the shin with his tiny boots and then turned to run off.

“Grab him!” I shouted, then watched as one, two, three, four selkies attempted to snatch the boy up, and he managed to dodge or wriggle out of their hold every time. Whoever this kid was, he clearly wasn’t happy we were here, and he didn’t want to come with us, but I wasn’t about to leave a selkie child behind regardless of circumstances.

Again the walls rattled and metal groaned, and I heard the flood of water on the lower levels. We were out of time. I turned to hand Rowan the coats so I could get the boy myself, only for my grandmother to laugh as she scooped him up by the ankles, holding him upside down as he tried to claw at her.

The pull from the goddess got stronger, urging us to leave. If his coat was here, she would have guided us to it. The fact that she was telling us to leave told me it wasn’t. And we’d figure out what to do about that when we got to safety.

“Get out. It won’t take us much longer,and our alliance is over as soon as we break through these walls,” Kova’s voice echoed in my mind. The expressions on the faces around me told me they’d heard it too.

We rushed to the boat as fast as we could. Rowan was first, racing to check whatever things he needed to before he gave one of his delightful little smiles, and I knew he was satisfied that he could drive this thing and get us out of here. Then he was rushing around to all the places the boat remained tethered to the dock as he unfastened them.

That wasmymate. My strong, kindhearted, protective human, knowing exactly what he was doing as he started the boat and we pulled away from the crumbling dock. He was so smart. So capable and reliable. We never would have made it this farwithout him, and now he was going to get us all home safely. My heart was so full of love and gratitude. We hadn’t even made it out yet, and I already wanted to jump him and show him how much I appreciated everything he was.

Soon. So soon.

Rowan steered the boat out of the small dock, though quickly slowed it again as we realized there was another very big obstacle ahead of us.

The gate.

The dock was sealed, a huge metal ice-coated barrier standing between us and freedom. How were we supposed to open it?

Rowan looked around him for any sort of sign, then up to the high ceilings with red blinking lights and that horrible mechanical barking from somewhere above us.

“The gate is probably controlled remotely,” he explained. “There.” I followed the direction he was pointing, up high above to a window in the metal wall. “That’s probably a control room.”

“How do we get up there?” I asked.

The entire base answered me with a long, impatient metallic groan, a promise of destruction echoing from below as more water burst inside. It said we were running out of time to figure this out. It said it was going down, and it was going to take us with it.

A shriek echoed from on top of the tall metal structure that rang through the entire base. The harpy I’d freed earlier was perched on an extended metal arm, watching, listening. She took flight, heading straight for the room Rowan had pointed to, and shattered the glass as she made her way inside.

Had she heard what he’d said? Was she in there trying to open the gate for us?

Long moments passed, my heart racing in my chest as I debated whether I should dive into the water and try to find another way up to that room to get us all out.

Then the walls rumbled as giant cogs turned. The gate was opening.

Rowan increased the power to the motor.

The harpy flew out again, joining us on the boat just as the gate opened enough for us to leave. We entered the fog as it billowed around us in an embrace along with a fresh breeze that tasted like victory.

“You did it!” I squealed, unable to contain my excitement as I grabbed the harpy’s shoulders and shook her.

She quickly shrugged me off, pulling a face of disgust. “You freed me, and now I freed you. I owe you nothing more,” she said in a low, raspy voice. Then her wing-arms extended, huge brown and white feathers rustling in the wind before she flapped them and took to the air in one powerful gust, disappearing into the fog above.

“Thank you!” I yelled after her anyway.