Floating Alone (4 page)

Toby grinned. “It is standing by. I knew you would be back today. You never miss a release.”

Irdan asked, “Do you always release a female after she has given birth?”

Toby shook his head. “It was that the scars didn’t kill her. We didn’t want a dead momma and baby out there without us able to help her.”

Marina nudged Irdan with her hip. “Thanks for that.”

“I just helped make the skin more elastic. I am good with textures.”

Toby ignored them until they were next to the tank.

Marina looked across the shaded water, and the curious heads came up to look at her. The little one behind its mum was a definite new addition.

“Well, mom. I am just going to get into my suit, and you and your baby are out of here.”

Irdan chuckled. “I should have known that you would see them out.”

“I need to open the water gate. That has to be done from under the water.” She pressed her lips together. “We used to have a latch up top, but folks tried to get in to
free
the occupants, not realising that they were nearly dead when they arrived and we were going to let them go as soon as it was safe.”

“Would you like me to fashion you a suitable bathing suit? It might fit better than what you have on hand.”

With that subtle reminder of her change, she looked up at him.

“That would probably be a good idea. Can you manage a one piece or tank suit? I want everything covered if they get nibbly.” Marina smiled up at him and pressed her hands to his chest.

He ran his hands over her, and the fabric changed into surprisingly hard neoprene as he moved his fingers over her curves. He crafted a wetsuit with attention to detail.

“Protecting you is definitely high on my list. This suit definitely suits you, so to speak.” He smiled as he stepped back.

She looked down and blinked rapidly to stop the tears. The left breast had a logo on it that read,
Wake Manatee Rescue,
with the image of a manatee breeching a small wave.

She looked up at him and smiled. “If you dissolve this into a dress, I will kill you.”

He laughed. “I am glad you like it. We can fiddle with the logo, but you will need it for your first real fundraiser. It won’t have to happen for a few years, but it is time to get things organized. Proper equipment is part of that.”

“Fine. Whatever. I am still not letting you rearrange this suit.”

Irdan hugged her. “If your assistant is ready, you can set the lady free.”

“Cool. Once I unlatch the gate, I will coax her into leaving, and from there, I will follow her with a kayak.”

Toby was setting the kayak and paddle next to the channel that would take the manatee back to their choice of fresh or salt water.

Toby grinned, “Dr. Wake, ready when you are.”

Irdan leaned forward and whispered, “Why are you Dr. Wake now when you were Marina before?”

“He was worried before. Now that we are getting ready to film, he is all business.”

She quickly braided her hair back, pinning her ears down with hair and making it less obvious that they were pointed.

Marina tucked her braid up and under itself in the back, and she crouched next to the tank. The mother with her baby swam up and posed for the video. When the light turned red, she began to talk, explaining where the manatee had been found, how they had brought it in and how she had recovered from her injuries.

When she had gone over the details, she mentioned the date and dove into the water.

Under the water, she knew she had an audience as she unlatched, twisted and slid the lock that she used to keep the manatee in. They were curious and had very mobile lips. She knew what she could get out of when shifted, so she made sure she couldn’t pick the lock without fingers before she deemed it good enough for her charges.

When she had unlatched the gate, she beckoned to the new mum and her baby, calling them through their link. When they approached, she stroked their foreheads before swinging the gate open and showing them the way to the open water.

It was time for them to be free, but the other ladies needed to get better before they could be out in the wild again. One thing at a time.

Marina propelled herself out of the water and landed on the concrete. She smiled at the camera. “She is out and in the channel. Now, I follow her to find out where she is headed. The point where she was found might not be her preferred home. I am going to try and find out where that could be.”

She walked over to the kayak, put it in the water, snapped the camera headband onto her head and turned it on, climbed inside the kayak and grabbed her paddle. She stroked calmly through the water, tracking the mind of the mother and calf as they made their leisurely way into the shadows of roots and trees.

Marina drew closer to the mother and calf but stayed at a respectful distance. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. The camera was catching the shadows and emergence of the two animals as she slowly moved through the water after her two guests.

They were in a
No Wake
area. Marina smiled as she followed the happy newborn exploring the world for the first time while her mother guided her slowly through the water.

It was a moment of firsts, and Marina teared up like she always did. She didn’t sniffle; there wasn’t a sound, but the lapping of the water and the soft plop of her paddle.

When the water increased in its beat against her hull, she scowled. The area was surrounded; there wasn’t supposed to be any kind of wake that wasn’t caused by the animals.

The further toward the ocean they went, the more dramatic the waves.

The hum of motors got Marina’s blood up, and she paddled with purpose until she could see the two speedboats cutting up the water. That wouldn’t do.

She tipped out of the kayak and swam toward the boats. She felt her tail taking shape, but her fingers remained, the webbing made increasing her directional control easier. The grey skin that covered her body was familiar, but she knew that she wasn’t a manatee. She had become something else.

She came out of the water in a jump, verified the wake signs, and when she was sure they were still posted, she took action.

Marina didn’t know what possessed her to put herself in the path of the red speedboat, but extending her webbed hands and clawing open the hull was very satisfying.

The other boat halted in its game of tag.

She swam up to the sinking vessel and lifted herself out of the water. She spoke clearly. “It is a no-wake zone.”

The young man couldn’t have been more than twenty-two. He stared at her with horror, as did his companions.

“What are you?”

“The guardian of these waters. Have your friends tow you in and know that the next time I see a wake in these waters, I will do more than gut the fibreglass.”

Her tail was moving in the water but magic was suspending her torso up at a height of close to ten feet. Whatever she was now, she was big.

Irdan came toward her in his alligator form, and she looked to him. “I am handling it.”

The alligator swam around the sinking vessel, and the screams of the occupants rang across the water.

“Stuff it. Now, get on the other boat and leave this area at a sedate and calm pace and the other boat will be able to leave in one piece.”

The driver of the pale boat came close and looked at her in surprise. The driver of the red boat explained what she had said as he helped the ladies on his boat out of the vehicle.

She heard the phrase that explained it all.

“Dude, you said this place was great because there wasn’t anyone here.”

Marina propelled herself toward the other boat pilot and raised her brows. “He said what?”

“That we could drink and race, and there was no one here.”

She smiled tightly. “He didn’t mention that this is a manatee habitat? The no-wake signs all indicate as much.”

The heat crept up in the cheeks of the other pilot. “He said it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It is a very big deal. I am telling you now; it is a very big deal. I am guarding these waters, and I will defend them.”

She smiled and was sure that her teeth weren’t their normal straight whiteness. There seemed to be a sharpness to them that would be fascinating to examine.

When the passengers were transferred, she watched as they left, lowering herself into the water to chest height.

Irdan swam up next to her, and she leaned on his wide head. “That was definitely different.”

He snapped his jaws at them as they followed her directions and left the cove.

She stroked his dark-emerald scales. “So, I am guessing that I am no longer just a manatee shifter. I don’t recall having talons on my hands that can rip open a hull.”

She flexed her fingers in front of her, taking in the silvery-grey skin that covered her and checking out her tail. The tail was still the rounded shape that she was used to.

Marina scowled. “Damn, I screwed up the wetsuit on my own.”

His rictus grin seemed inordinately amused.

He turned and headed to the sinking boat. With a lash of his tail at the engine, the motor burst into flames, burning off the fuel. Magic consumed the rest.

He cruised back into the delta, and she followed him, swimming up toward her little safe place for those of her bloodline.

Her new form was fast. She kept up with Irdan and passed her kayak. Marina paused, grabbed the small boat and looked for the paddle. It was floating a few feet away and drifting toward shore.

A small alligator grabbed her wrist as her hand closed on the paddle. To Marina’s astonishment, she felt and saw the teeth break on her skin. The gator was shocked as well; he let her go and swam away.

She floated with her tail keeping her upright and grabbed the paddle again, tucking it into the kayak before she hauled it up the waterway to the rescue centre.

Irdan was waiting next to the water gate, dressed and crouching at the mossy edge.

“Hello, darling. Would you like a hand out of the water?”

She scowled. “Yes.”

She pushed the kayak onto the grass and reached out to take Irdan’s hands. He pulled her from the water, and she resumed her legs and—to her surprise—her clothing.

Toby was standing with the camera in his hand and his mouth open. When she saw the camera, she was reminded of her headgear.

“Oh, heck. Well, I guess I now have a detailed description of my own body. Hooray. So, Toby, impressed?”

Toby closed his mouth with a snap. “That was... you are... that’s cool.”

She was relieved at his opinion of her other shape.

“Why didn’t you show me this before?”

She sighed. “It hasn’t always been this obvious. How is my hair?”

“It’s silver.”

She reached behind her and pulled some strands out, peering at them. “What?”

Irdan grinned and gently shut off her camera before lifting it off her head. “I told you that the first change after our joining would have some results.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me until
after.
” She wrinkled her nose at him.

Toby was still recording.

She snickered. “Okay, Toby. Enough with the recordings. I am going to check on the other ladies and see what they think of my new look.”

Her assistant reluctantly lowered the camera and turned it off.

Marina stepped away from Irdan and stretched. “It feels peculiar.”

“Your colouration is striking, dearest. I am sure that your guests will approve.”

She threw a quick glance over her shoulder at him and Toby. “Can you put those cameras in the office? I need to go for another swim.”

Marina walked over to the first of the holding tanks and slipped into the water. She swam easily, and soon, her guests came to nibble at her hair as well as rub against her.

She would have been afraid of the fourteen-foot creatures if she didn’t possess a form that was the same size. The gentle minds murmured softly to her, whispering of their approval of her newly shaded head and skin.

To Marina’s surprise, her hands were marked with faded strips of the same silver. She smiled and looked at them, admiring their curves and the soft sweep of their healed skin.

She lost track of time, enjoying rolling on the surface and returning to the depths as her guests nibbled at the grasses she had carefully cultivated at the edge of the holding area.

When she had played enough, she turned and swam back to the entry point, boosting herself up and out of the water before Irdan helped her the rest of the way.

“You do realise that I can and have gotten up and out of the water on my own.” She was wet and plastered against his body.

He chuckled. “But, now that we are official as far as our people are concerned, there is no reason to remain at a distance.”

She had to admit it felt good to be against him with his hands rubbing up and down her back.

She exhaled and smiled against his chest. “Now I have to go and show the fellas. I have no doubt that they will be impressed.”

“I am coming with you. If any of them get out of hand, I want to be nearby.”

She laughed. “Whatever. I am in too good a mood to put up a fight.”

She unravelled herself from him and led him to the bachelor quarters.

“Don’t they stay with their mates?” He glanced toward the other tank.

“No. Males and females enjoy floating alone. They only get together every five years when the females go into season.”

He frowned. “That isn’t going to work for me.”

She chuckled. “It is not my style either. Even with casual lovers, it is more frequent than once every five years.”

Irdan let out a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness.”

She laughed, and the huge heads of the manatee popped up as they greeted her. She stepped down into the tank and let them explore the changes in her form.

They were discreetly admiring. They liked the changes in her colouration. She checked on how they felt, and they were enjoying the safety of the tank, but the scent of females who were coming into heat were coming to them in the water.

She swam around them, checking on their wounds, and she let them know that she would be setting them free at dawn the next day.