Page 22 of The Dark, Dead, Deep

The stranger cocked his head to the side. “The Unseelie Kingdom. Night Court.”

I waved my hand impatiently. “Yes, yes. On the shores of the Twilight Lake. I am quite aware. What beach are we on?”and how far am I from the Frosted Sands. I kept the second part of my question silent.

“You hail from the waters then, do you?” the male brushed his thumb against the side of his mouth.

I glanced towards the window. I said nothing.

He sighed and pushed away from the wall. “This is the Skala Beach.”

“The home of the selkie?” I sat up.

“Aye.” He slanted a look my way. “Though the Selkie tend to live on the island by the rocks, not on the shore. Too exposed.”

I nodded in agreement. Selkie were vicious fae but vulnerable in a way that the undine were not. In their seal form, they were quick but small. When a selkie walked on two legs, they had to leave their skins behind. Any person that took possession of a skin could enslave a selkie. I’d heard tales that selkie skins could make the wearer immune to most magics.

“You were beaten and left for dead,” the kelpie continued, his eyes roving over my features coldly and clinically.

“I was poisoned,” I said, placing my hand against my stomach.

He squinted, a confused crease forming between his brows. “If you were poisoned, it appears to have worked its way out of your system. All we did was drag you to the cottage and allow you to rest.”

I inhaled sharply. “Oh,” I said after a moment, numb. Trying to piece together a puzzle that didn’t seem to fit. I cleared my throat. “We?”

The kelpie waved a hand over his shoulder. “Would you like to join us for a meal?”

I didn’t trust him for even a moment, and my reluctance showed.

“You may call me Tor,” he clipped.

“Tor?”

“My name,” the kelpie huffed before turning on his heel and opening the door. “Come on. The food is getting cold.”

I stood up, allowing the blanket to fall off my body before realizing I was nude.

The dress made of woven fabric that I had worn the night before had disappeared. Why or how didn’t bear thinking about.

I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and ensured that my most important parts were covered before I followed on the heels of my host.

The cottage was warm, and a burning scent lingered in the air that I soon realized came from a log stove in the corner.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the flicking orange light.

Tor gave me a strange look. “Those are flames,” he said before clarifying. “Fire.”

“I’ve never seen fire before.” I pressed my lips together and vowed that I wouldn’t reveal much more.

The cottage belonged to the lake and the land with woven rattan and driftwood furniture. I liked it. Under the scent of the log fire, I could still smell the lake and hear the sounds of the beach outside.

Tor led me through the living space, and he did not look back until we reached a kitchen with a large dining table in the center of the room.

While Tor moved towards one of the cupboards, unbothered, I lingered in the doorway, taken aback by the presence of more strangers.

Two men sat at the table; their conversation halted mid-word as they turned at the waist to study me.

One with silver hair and eyes the color of the cloudless sky.Selkie.

The other wore a halo of braids around his crown, each fastened with various shells and a feather from a shorebird. The braids twisted like snakes, rolling over one another. The braided man was still; his hair was not. It was as if his braids had a life of their own—bristling in my presence.Nymph.

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