Page 60 of Kringle and the Kraken

“Let’s hit the residential areas.”

“You’ve got it.” He maneuvered the truck through the center of town and onto the residential streets. “Marvin and Clara live at the end of this street.”

“Excellent. Let’s start with them.”

Kris parked the truck at the curb in front of their house, and we both got out. I grabbed two talismans from one of the boxes, and Kris rang the doorbell. A lovely older kelpie with long silver-white hair answered the door, her face splitting into a wide grin when she saw who was on the other side.

“Oh, Kristopher, what a beautiful surprise. Come in, come in.” When she spotted me behind Kris, her smile got even wider. “And you’ve brought a friend.”

I held out my hand as we crossed the threshold. “Levi Shaol. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Her grip was surprisingly strong as she took my hand in hers. “Clara Isleaire, and I promise the pleasure is all mine. My husband has told me all about you.” Kris loosened the scarf around his neck as we stood in the warm, comfortable house,and Clara gasped when she saw the sucker-shaped bruises on his neck. She flicked her eyes to Kris and whispered low in the language of sea monsters, “Does this mean he knows what you are?”

I answered in English. “He does.”

Tears filled Clara’s eyes, and she called for her husband who emerged from the back of the house, wiping his hands on a dish towel. Marvin took in the scene, doing a double take when he also spotted the sucker marks. Without another word, a ripple of magic passed through the room, and where Marvin and Clara had stood before, a beautiful pair of nearly translucent pearly white kelpies in their true horse-shaped forms stood, long manes of silver billowing around them.

Kris gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. “This is amazing.” He held out a hand like he wanted to touch Marvin’s neck but pulled it back at the last second. The kelpie nudged into his palm, and Kris ran his hand over Marvin’s neck, his eyes wide with wonder.

After a few moments, Clara and Marvin resumed their human forms, and Kris pulled them each into a tight embrace. “Thank you for sharing your true forms with me.”

“I wanted to tell you so many times.” Marvin squeezed Kris’s shoulder. “You loved all the stories so much, and you deserved to know, but fear held me back. I should have known better.” Regret was heavy in the old kelpie’s tone, but Kris wasn’t angry. He just looked at his friend with all the same love I’d seen between them at the KELPS party, and it gave me hope that revealing ourselves to the humans in Lifeboat might just be okay.

I held out the two talismans I’d collected from the truck. “Please take these and keep them with you. They will keep you safe from sea wraith attacks until we can figure out how to solidify the magic at the borders.”

“Are you giving these out to everyone?” Marvin took the talismans and passed one to Clara, who held it reverently in her hands.

“That’s the plan.” I sighed. “It’s a stopgap.”

“We’ll help.” Clara was already grabbing her coat from the closet in the hall and slipping on a pair of shoes.

“You don’t need to do that.” I tried to protest, but Clara and Marvin both shook their heads.

“We want to.” The older man took his coat from his wife and shrugged it on. “It’s the least we can do.”

Realizing they weren’t going to take no for an answer, the four of us walked back out to the truck. Clara and Marvin filled their coat pockets with talismans, and they took one side of the street, while Kris and I took the other.

By the time we’d made our way to the other end of the street, we’d picked up several other helpers, including a teenage mermaid who had called a group of her friends who were all apparently bored since school was out for winter break. I’d been surprised when two of the kids who showed up were human.

“Do they know?” I asked in our native language, nodding toward the tall Black boy and short blonde girl who had arrived with two mermen and another mermaid.

She nodded. “We swore them to secrecy, but, like, it was kinda hard to hide. We went to the lake last summer, and Mariner”—she tipped her head at one of the young mermen—“kind of jumped in without thinking. But don’t worry, they didn’t, like, freak or anything.”

Her words made the kernel of hope in my chest grow. This might all be okay.

Our little entourage worked quickly, passing out talismans to almost everyone in the residential areas before lunch. Kris had been introduced to a family of frog-like vodyanoy, several sirens, and a few selkies. He’d complimented each sea monster family’sPoseidonia decorations and sent well wishes from his family to each human family we visited. He was immensely respectful each and every time one of the townspeople was gracious enough to reveal their true form, and by the time we got back into the truck to move to the next location, I could tell he was in awe.

“You okay?” I asked, gripping his hand before he shoved the key into the ignition.

“I just can’t believe it. I’ve known the Prud family for years. I went to high school with Aleksandr’s older sister, Katya. I had no idea they were vodyanoy. I feel like I’ve missed so much. I have so many questions.”

“I love that you’re getting to meet them all now. Do you see how relieved they are to tell you what and who they really are? This is how it always should have been. This is how it is in Baleen.”

“I hate the Delmars for doing this to Lifeboat, but I’m glad we’re going to fix it.”

We hadn’t run into the mayor yet. When we’d rung Lawrence Tidewell’s doorbell, he’d gratefully taken the offered talisman and told us the mayor should be in his office.

It was almost noon, and all the businesses in town were open, so I suggested we head into town, and Kris put the truck in gear.

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