Page 53 of Shadow Seeking

“What was that like?” I asked. “If it’s not too personal.”

“If it was personal, I wouldn’t have brought it up.” She shrugged. “Selkies are born into seal form, while our mothers are in their seal form. We don’t change into our human forms until we’re about six or seven years old. Our mothers stay in seal form all through that time and keep us by their sides until we make the transformation. I remember my mother telling me that it would happen, and I was so scared. I didn’t know what to expect. Then, one day, I felt something shift inside, kind of like I was stretching, trying to get out of my skin.”

“That sounds uncomfortable.”

She began to paint my nails black, after which she would glue on the foil patches. “It was. I told my mother and she guided me through it. I remember, when I stepped out of my seal skin onto the beach, she’d brought me to, looking around at the world with new eyes. Then I looked down at my tail and it was gone—changed into feet. My mother gathered my seal skin and then helped me learn to walk. I understood then how vulnerable my human side was to the water, and panicked. But I eventually got the hang of it.”

We chatted a little more, then she finished with my nails, gave me a hand massage, and I paid her. As I headed back upstairs to the office, I realized that I was scared, too. I had no idea what I’d find when I peeled back the human mask.

Sophia broughtme a turkey on sourdough with tomato and provolone, along with another latte. I guzzled down the caffeine, feeling the wear of the day. Suddenly, I felt exhausted, so I settled at my desk and began to eat my sandwich. I took a deep breath and began to breathe slowly, trying to decompress.

I opened my computer and turned on my meditation music. I wasn’t great at meditation but I took a stab at it on a regular basis. Now, the gentle sound of water and lapping waves helped ease the stress of the day. Talking to Lazenti again loomed like a piece of cake compared to dealing with Kelvin. I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair.

“Excuse me,” Sophia said in a soft voice.

I opened my eyes to see her standing at the door, peeking in. “Sure, what is it?”

“I thought you might like to see what I found out about the Arosien Demonkin Clan.” She held up a file folder. “I can send this via email, as well.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the folder as I glanced at the clock. It was six-forty-five. “I’ll be in the conference room in fifteen minutes. When Lazenti gets here, you’ll need to invite him in, but it has to be conditional. Say,Welcome into this space, for this meeting only.I’ll revoke the invitation after we’re done.”

“All right,” she said, before leaving the room.

I wanted to dive into the file now, but I had to focus on the upcoming meeting. I didn’t want my attention split. So, I slid the file into my backpack. I almost caved and pulled it out again, but then stopped. I’d have the chance to fully examine the contents later, so I zipped the ag shut and put it on my desk. Then, picking up my tablet and notebook, I headed for the conference room.

Lazenti was right on time.Sophia ushered him in, keeping her distance. In the light of the office, I could see how good looking the man was. Or, vampire. I always felt odd trying to define how to talk about them.

Technically, theywerecorpses—they had died and returned from death. But they weren’t like zombies or ghouls, they were thinking souls, trapped inside a body that now existed in limbo, never decaying. Their souls hadn’t moved on after death, but had been bound to their body as long as the body existed. Vampires needed neither air nor food, but they did need blood. If they didn’t feed often enough, they would go into a weak, comatose state, and they could only be revived when blood was poured into their mouth.

Vampires could die, in what was called the ‘final death’…meaning their existence in the body was finished. Their souls were set free at that point. But it only happened if they were burned to death by fire or sun, exploded, staked through the heart, chopped to bits, or anything in which their heart—which did not beat—was destroyed.

Nobody knew how the original vampires were created, but it was conjectured that some sorcerer long, long ago was attempting to create immortality using blood magic. Somehow, she created a magical virus, spread by draining the blood through a bite. Why people could be bit andnotbecome a vampire was also unknown, but theories abounded that it was the amount of blood taken at any one time—drain the victim almost dry, but force them to drink their sire’s blood, and they would die and be reborn as a vamp.

I nodded to Lazenti, motioning for him to take a seat. “Would you like a drink? Something to eat?”

He glanced over at the side table at the tray of pastries and the coffee pot, which Sophia had replenished. “Thank you, yes. The maple bars look good. I haven’t had one of those in years.”

Sophia brought him one on a saucer, along with a napkin. “Here you go, Mr.….”

“Just Lazenti,” he said, smiling. “Thank you.” He smiled, turning on his glamour. What he didn’t seem to know is that oracles were immune to charm. Zeus had something to do with that, to prevent anyone trying to influence their powers.

Sophia smiled, nodding her head, then took her seat.

“Okay, we’re in a safe place. You were going to tell us—” I paused as Sophia’s phone beeped. She jumped up. “What is it?”

“Penelope is here,” she said. “I’m going to let her in.” She disappeared out the door.

“Penelope is my best friend,” I said to Lazenti. “She’s part Fae, and also a witch. She should be able to tell if you are undera curse. Given you had a reaction when Letty told you to leave her alone—you said you got lost and were foggy headed—it occurred to me that by pressing her for information, it might have triggered some sort of curse on you.”

Lazenti’s smile faded. “You might be right. All right, I’ll submit to her testing.”

Sophia returned with Penn, who was wearing a black dress with unicorns around the hem. She had on chunky heeled black pumps, and her tattoos were out in full force. While the dress had a low neck, she had draped a red scarf around her neck that covered the skin. I had the feeling it also covered a silver necklace.

“Penelope, meet Lazenti. Lazenti, this is Penelope.”

Lazenti arched his eyebrows, giving Penn the once over. He gave her a sultry smile. “My pleasure, Ms. Penelope.”

She stared at him, unimpressed. Penn could turn into the ice queen at a moment’s notice and now, she immediately erected a barrier so strong I could almost see it.

---