Bayla had shifted her Aqua Armor back into the white sweater with the black skirt and high socks she had worn to the concert before.

“You sure seem to like that outfit Luis picked out,” said Vince.

Bayla spun around. “I will not have legs for much longer; I may as well show them off. I am sure they are delightful.”

“For a whale, you sure fish for compliments a lot.”

Bayla stopped on the brick road, spinning around and pouting at Vince. “So you do not think I have nice legs?”

“Nobody’s saying that,” he said. “Just it’s rude to talk about a Landmaiden like that unless you’re mates.”

“Another taboo!” Bayla smirked, showing her pointed teeth. “You have my permission to praise me as often as you like.”

He shook his head, trying to look solemn. “You met Ma. She’s a stickler, and if word got back I was anything less than a gentleman, I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Says the Landman who shared my bed last night.”

“Not by choice!”

Bayla let it drop, smirking at his obvious embarrassment. At least nobody’s around to watch me get teased. Like Vince had predicted, the streets of the tourist district were dead that time of the morning on a Sunday. Anybody who didn’t take the last ferry home is probably sleeping off last night’s party, and townies never come here unless they have to. It gave him a chance to speak openly with Bayla, though his head stayed on a pivot just in case anybody was eavesdropping.

 “Something’s been bothering me,” said Vince. They were making their way towards a local pancake house. “There can’t be too many whales out there like you, right?”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to praise me,” she replied. “Vince, of course there’s nobody like me.”

“Not like that,” he said. “I mean, Landmen keep orcas in tanks at water parks.”

“What? What for?” asked Bayla.

“For entertainment,” said Vince, suddenly regretting his happy memories of a trip to SeaWorld, one of the only long vacations he had ever taken with Ava. “They make the whales do tricks for the audience.”

“Nonsense,” huffed Bayla. “Who could keep us trapped like that?”

“Exactly! It must be miserable for them; if they could transform and walk out, they would’ve. So, how many magical orcas are there? Is it, like, ten percent? One percent?” Vince took the lead up a set of wooden stairs, leading onto a raised porch that led to an antique bookstore. The only person he knew who went there was Luis, and that was because he was trying to make time with some new employee.

“You’ve lost your sense,” she said. “We are all able to cast magic, though some are more skilled than others. You Landmen might be able to slay one of us, but you could never keep us if we did not will it.”

Vince’s brow furrowed. “But…”

The door to the bookstore slammed open, and a redhead stepped out. This must be Luis’s crush. Vince could see why Luis kept trying; she had an exotic beauty to her. Vince could not quite place her ethnicity; his best guess would be Greek or Middle Eastern, though the red hair and grey eyes felt like an odd match. Vince thought she gave off a hippie vibe, which was common enough on Fin Island. She was dressed in a green apron paired with a set of granny glasses that made her seem like the Platonic ideal of a small book shop employee.

“Good morning!” She was breathing heavily, and she seemed slightly frazzled. “Good morning,” she repeated after taking a moment to straighten up, sounding much more reserved.

“Good morning,” repeated Vince, unable to help but smile. “Have we met before? You seem awfully familiar.”

Her eyes flew open. “O-oh, I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“What do you want?” snapped Bayla, stepping between Vince and the clerk. He might have been too friendly.

There was something oddly familiar about the clerk, but Vince just could not place it. Probably just because Luis keeps bringing her up.

“We’re having a special this morning,” she said. “Couples get twenty percent off any book in the shop! Come on in; it’s only valid for the next half hour.”

Vince sighed. Not that Bayla’s going to have much use for a book when she’s back in the ocean. “We appreciate the offer, but we’ve got somewhere to be.”

“What is a ‘book’, exactly?” asked Bayla.

Vince expected any number of obvious questions from the clerk, but she left the bizarre comment alone. “The words of a young woman who absolutely needs a good book. I will not take no for an answer!”

The clerk grabbed Bayla’s arm, pulling her through the open door. The orca must have been off balance; even with her greater height, the clerk would not have won out against Bayla’s superhuman strength if she’d been resisting with sure footing. Or she really is curious.

The door slammed in Vince’s face, and he found it locked when he tried the handle. “Hey! Let me in!”

After a minute, Bayla shoved the door open, the redhead struggling fruitlessly to hold her back. She released her charge reluctantly, which Vince found strange.

Bayla proved too distracting for him to focus on it. Her dark eyes sparked with excitement. “Vince, why didn’t you tell me about books? These are fascinating!”

Vince raised an eyebrow. “You know that after a minute?”

She held up a children’s picture book about sea life. “This is like the Week of Sharks that Luis showed me, only the images are still! This might be even better magic.” Vince chopped his hand across his throat, but Bayla did not understand the international gesture for ‘cut it out’. “There are even printed words! I thought you only used them for signs.” She ran a finger under one of the sentences, surprising Vince with her smooth reading. “The killer whale is a sleek and efficient predator, able to hunt anything in its environment.” She flashed him a toothy grin. “You call us killer whales? That is proper deference.”

Vince chuckled and addressed the clerk. “She’s got a real imagination on her, doesn’t she? Takes the cosplay a little far.”

Bayla tilted her head. “Cosplay?”

The redhead pasted on a smile, but Vince could tell it was forced. She must have been having a rough morning, too. “She certainly is enthusiastic; it didn’t take her long to find a new book. How would you like to go find yourself something?”

Vince shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He caught a glance of her nametag. “Thanks, Nora.”

That sense of familiarity struck him again. He studied her face intently. Red hair and a name that started with an ‘n’? Who did he know like that? It was at the tip of his mind, but it was like a puzzle with a few missing pieces.

Her eyes widened, and Vince realized he was leering at her. He sighed, kicking himself internally. Good job, creep, making the clerk feel weird! Now you’ll have to buy something! He met her grey eyes and he summoned his own smile. “Where’s your fantasy section?”

She pointed him to the furthest row of bookshelves, where he gladly retreated. He was so relieved that he did not notice Nora guiding Bayla towards a different section of the store.