Hellfire, Charm & the Shifter Witch by CK Timber

Author:CK Timber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: paranormal, romance, young adult, time travel
Publisher: Crazy Ink
Published: 2022-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

The sleuths’ feet shuffled across the dusty floor. They were elated over their next foray into the caverns. “Shh,” Rolland whispered. “Let’s try not to alarm it, okay? I really want to gain its trust.”

A few moments later, they entered the cave and found Thandion seated on the edge of the pristine pool. His tail floated out in front of him. The mer startled but didn’t move. Instead, he shifted slightly and smiled that ominous grin that had the kids scurrying out of the caverns that first day.

“Hi,” Rolland said softly, with a bit more hesitation in his voice than he intended. Then he pointed to himself and pronounced his own name. “Ro-land.” He then pointed back to the mer. “What—is—your—name?” he asked, thinking the mer couldn’t understand him.

With all her exuberance, Tansy stepped forward and sounded out the syllables in her name as well. Charlemagne was standing back, still not so sure they should be so close to the creature.

“Ta’n zee,” the mer said, sounding out Tansy’s name with sharp clicks. It hardly sounded like her name at all. But it encouraged the sleuths to relax and sit nearby at the water’s edge to continue the conversation.

His eyes were overly large yet brilliant, and his skin shimmered as if stardust had settled there. Rolland reached out to shake hands with the mythological sea creature. But the mer pulled back a few inches, not wanting contact. Or, at least, it appeared that way. “What is your name?” Rolland tried again. “Can you understand me?”

“Y’esss,” the mer mouthed and nodded his head up and down.

“That was yes, I think,” Charlemagne exclaimed, still sitting the farthest away.

“Th’an’di’on,” the mer said and pointed to himself.

“Oh, that’s a lovely name,” Charlemagne cooed.

“Than-dion,” Tansy repeated, trying the sounds out together.

“Nice to meet you, Thandion,” Rolland answered back. “It’s an honor.”

Both Tansy and Charlemagne huffed at their friend and giggled something between themselves.

He shrugged. “What? I’m just trying to be friendly.”

With a big breath, Thandion offered his hand to Rolland. He’d decided he’d take his time with the children. He found their interest in him curious. All humans were afraid of merfolk. His experience over his several hundred-year lifespans was that humans couldn’t be trusted. Those who were brave wanted his head on a stick. Then there was the part where his father, the Reef King, would sell the human children into slavery to work on the Flying Dutchmen in Davy Jones’ Locker. Thandion wanted to learn about the children and discover why they were so friendly toward him before handing them over to the king.

Astonished, Rolland took the mer’s hand into his own. The feel of it was slimy but also normal as Thandion’s finned fingers wrapped around his own human hand. The girls held their breath as they watched the scene unfold before them.

After the introductions, the four sat for a long time by the pool, exchanging pleasantries while getting to know one another. Then without a word, Thandion slipped into the pool and swam out of sight.

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