MERIBELLA

The pounding in her head escalated when the alarm next to her bed went off. Hours had passed since waking, but she couldn't make herself leave her cozy nest. Not even to down pain relievers. Groaning, she flailed around until her fingers found the snooze button and put a stop to the shrill beeping.

Two snoozes later, she managed to shuffle to the bathroom, relieve her pressing needs, and brush her teeth. The glint of her nose ring drew her attention, mocking her for her stupidity, but the damage was done now. Dropping the toothbrush into the holder with a clink, she left the room and the talisman behind.

Clanking pots and pans in the kitchen signaled to her that her guest was awake. The realization almost sent her back beneath the covers, but she'd already run once. She had nowhere else to go so she pulled on a clean outfit and stepped into the next room.

"I usually just eat fruit for breakfast," she said as she slid onto a stool and eyed the broad shouldered man who was attempting to use the stovetop. A small monkfish lay sprawled out on the countertop, it's fishy odor not displeasing.

He spun around, his eyes, so similar to her own lighting up with delight."Yes, but why eat fruit when you can have fish? Freshly caught of course."

Laughing, she responded, "You make an excellent point. I just wanted you to know you didn't have to go through all this effort."

He leaned against the counter, drawing her eye to the swim shorts that sat low on his hips. Jerking her gaze upward, she decided the view wasn't any safer. His deeply tanned chest was bare and smooth, every muscle well-defined.

"Understood. But as it has already been caught, perhaps you can enjoy the treat. You look in need of a good meal."

"What is it with men and insisting I eat?" she shrieked, looking down at her form. Sure, she was slender, but she'd actually managed to put on several pounds since moving to Cutler. A steady job meant a steady diet, and her classes with Thorne had molded the soft edges into steel.

Shrugging, he gestured towards the stove. "I am trying to figure out how to work this so I can cook the fish. Unless, you'd be willing to eat it raw? That is the best way to enjoy fish."

Meribella eyed the fish, it's blank stare and gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth making her shudder. Her disgust shamed her a bit, a true Selkie wouldn't hesitate to dive in, but a raw salmon roll at the sushi restaurant was about as adventurous as she'd even been with her food. She grabbed an apple and bit into its sweet flesh.

"Go right ahead. I'll be fine with this."

"How about I wrap it up, and we can have it for dinner?"

"So, Caspian," she began while he cleaned up, "How long do you plan on staying?"

He didn't answer until he finished, but when he turned back to her, his expression was guarded. "The Council has been trying to locate Kai for about a hundred years now. When rumors of a black haired woman who shines like the stars when she swims reached our ears, they were certain she'd be found. As her cousin, I was sent to-"

"You're her cousin?"

"Yes, our mothers were sisters. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that the woman they'd seen swimming wasn't Kai, but her great-granddaughter. I suppose I shouldn't have been as it isn't terribly uncommon to have human relatives. Our women often become victims of human men, but most find their way back to the ocean after the human man dies."

Meribella absorbed this new information. "But why now? Why come looking for her after all of these years?"

Caspian appeared to grapple with his thoughts. "Selkies live in matriarchal clans. We're long lived so we do not often change leaders, but when it does happen, power passes to the female who has been marked by the stars. We've known since Kai's birth that she was Star Blessed, and we need her to come take her place as our clan leader."

"Star Blessed?"

Caspian grabbed her by the hand and pressed his thumb into her skin. The swirls of light flared everywhere he touched her. "The Blessed are almost all in her family line, but I've never heard of a human being chosen."

"But I'm not human," she insisted, trying to ignore the heat between his hand and hers.

Pity filled his face. "But you are. At least in the way it matters. You'll never be able to join the clans." The room spun as she scrambled off of the stool. Large hands reached out to steady her, but she pushed him away. Wrong. They felt wrong. And everything she knew was wrong. "Meribella?"

"But Kai said- she said if we found her skin that we could go back with her. She promised."

He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring her protests. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he spoke, "You have to have your own skin to become a Selkie. You can have a human father, but a selkie must be in her seal form when she gives birth. That's the only way you can have a skin of your own. I'm sorry."

She withdrew from his embrace, shaking her head. "I'm supposed to believe you? A stranger who just shows up after all of these years? Kai wouldn't lie to us."

"She would if it would get her what she wanted. After all of these years, she has to be desperate to get back to us. Not only because the ocean calls her, but because she's forfeiting years of her life if she doesn't shift soon."

"I'm leaving," Meribella sniffed, wiping tears from her cheeks. "When I get off of work, you're going to be gone. Is that understood?"

"Meribella, please-" Caspian begged.

She slammed the front door on his pleas and jogged towards town. It was only when she was halfway to the restaurant and no one said hello to her that she realized she'd made a very big mistake. Catching her reflection in the window, she groaned. The pale, freckled redhead they called Bella was absent.

"Shit," she hissed, spinning around to head home and slamming into a muscled chest. "Damn it Caspian-" Her words trailed off as she realized she'd bumped into a stranger.

"Gotta watch where you're going," the stocky man said with a smile that didn't warm his eyes.

"So sorry," she replied, wondering why he looked familiar. "Excuse me."

Fingers gripped her arm, stopping her escape. "Funny, I knew Cutler had a lot of supernatural creatures, but you're the first ghost I've encountered."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"But you do," he insisted. Leaning to whisper in her ear, she suppressed a gag as his stale breath washed over her. "My boss would be very interested to learn you're alive. He's not been himself since you disappeared."

She pulled back and looked him over, recognition stealing her breath. "You're the man who was driving that night."

A low growl slipped past his lips. "Can't even remember my name. Nobody ever remembers Herrin. Well, I have a proposition for you."

He handed her a card with nothing but an address written on it. "Come to this location at nine o'clock tonight. You show up, I'll make sure Raff continues to think you're fish food."

He released her and ambled past. A swirl of yellow and purple was already forming on her skin, but she ignored it as she stared at the card. It wasn't a business, and if her memory served her correctly, the location was several miles inland. Neither of those details gave her a good feeling.