Page 45 of Shifting Tides

“Oh, that’s right!” Ashlyn said with a snap of her fingers.

I looked at Tobias for my next question. Of course, he knew everything about the different shifters. I should’ve asked him instead, but Ashlyn was so much friendlier.

“What about Caesar? What can gryphons do?”

Tobias seemed less irritated by my question than he was correcting Ashlyn. “They can manipulate the weather. Mostly just wind, but I’ve heard that Caesar is powerful enough to create storms.”

“Really?” Ashlyn asked him, surprise widening her eyes. “That’s awesome!”

“Kitsunes can manipulate electricity, which is why they make up our tech team. Nagas have paralytic venom that kills vampires, and they can learn to hypnotize people with their eyes. And harpies have the ability to manipulate light waves toeither inflict physical damage or heal wounds.” Tobias said all of this in a bored-sounding drone.

I realized my forehead was scrunched upward after listening to him, so I purposely smoothed it. “Wow, they all sound so cool. I still have a hard time believing all this is real, even after seeing it with my own eyes.”

Ashlyn put a hand on top of mine where it rested on the table. “I know, it’s definitely a mind fuck. But you get used to all the weirdness of it after a week or two. Getting a handle on your powers is a different story.”

She frowned and looked down at her plate. She’d been here for a month and hadn’t learned to control her powers. I felt bad for her, especially since I knew the struggle. I had a strong feeling I’d be in the same boat as her.

***

After breakfast, I went to the mermaid training room for my first class, Mastery. As I walked, I tried to guess what the class would entail. I’d never heard of anything like it at any other school. If it was in the mermaid training room, it obviously had something to do specifically with being a mermaid but not shifting.

When I entered the training room, students were just emerging from the locker rooms in their swim tops and getting ready to get in the pool. I followed their example and went to the locker room to get into my own top, then returned to the training room to see what the next hour had in store.

Celeste was at the opposite corner of the room, talking to a small group of students, and I figured I’d just wait for instructions.

I sat at the edge of the pool and, with a thrill in my belly, dipped my feet in the water. Just as last time, a prickling itch swallowed the surface of the skin on my legs, and I watchedwith rapt attention as the smooth flesh was gradually replaced by glistening pink scales.

I had been too disoriented yesterday to get a good view, but now I could clearly witness my ankles and shins webbing together and stretching out into a tail that still astounded and excited me.

Hell, I could happily sit here all day and splash my tail in the water. Nothing was more comfortable than the feeling of water surrounding me. The coolness on my arms, washing over my tail, it was like discovering the underside of a pillow.

I was tempted to dive in completely, but I wanted to be alert for when the class started—and skip the not-as-pleasant emergence of the gills on my neck. That had been my least favorite part. I knew I’d have to get used to it eventually, but for now, I was enjoying this leisure moment.

A good ten minutes passed, and Celeste still hadn’t officially started the class. Many of the students were just playing in the pool. Had I missed something? I watched the other mermaids swimming, flipping, or just floating in groups and gossiping.

Then, something caught the corner of my eye, and I looked to the far left edge of the pool. One of the male students was waving his hands above the water, and impossibly, a stream of water rose upward and made a somewhat sloppy arc before splashing back to the surface.

My mouth dropped open, and I blinked hard several times.Did I really just see that?

“Quite a trick, huh?” a male voice said behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see a rather attractive guy standing behind me. For a moment, I lost myself in appreciation for his boy-band good looks. He had sandy brown hair that looked as though it had taken him all morningto get it to feather out so perfectly and beach-blue eyes that seemed to harbor some hidden hunger within their depths.

Thanks to the skin-tight swim top, I could see each sculpted muscle of his defined chest and abs. Damn, were all shifter guys just created hot?

He gave me a crooked smile, then dove head-first into the pool, his form flawless. I watched his legs morph into a handsome dark blue tail as his body cut like a knife through the water. He spun around, and his head surfaced a foot or so in front of me. He swam closer and rested his bent elbow on the edge of the pool.

“So, you’re the new mermaid nobody will shut up about,” he said with a laugh. “I’m Kendall.” He extended a wet hand.

I reached out and accepted it, hating that my cheeks were burning so much. “Yep, I guess that’s me.”

I looked back to the student who had manipulated the water. “How did he do that?” I tipped my chin in that direction.

Kendall nodded. “I know you’re new to all this, so I’ll break it down for you. All shifters have secondary abilities—powers, if you will—aside from just transforming. Mermaids can control water in whatever form they find it. That’s the main purpose of this class, teaching young shifters like us how to master this power.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Buuut, most of us mermaids have been playing with water since before we could talk, so the majority spend this class as a free period,” he explained.

---