Page 79 of Seas the Reckoning

“No. I want to make sure everyone else is okay. Thomas, what if we do run into an issue? Is there a way to get your attention?”

“Oh sure. Have the witch zap my tongue and I’ll know to stop and surface.”

I’m guessing her key, and our abilities, came up during my swim.

Once logistics are decided, Thomas hops into the water. The rest of us wait by the boat for him to surface, and I can tell by the wide-eyed stares around me that I am not the only one unprepared.

Blue whales are already the largest mammal on Earth, and I can say with confidence, having swum with several in the past, that Thomas is notably bigger.

I can’t imagine shifting into this. My brother is large as a sea serpent, but Thomas is mind-boggling. Too large to be real.

“Hop in!” His voice has deepened several octaves, vibrating the very air as he invites us to his now open mouth.

“Here we go.” Starla holds her nose as she hops into the waves and swims for the whale.

Thomas was right. Not particularly comfortable, although there are worse things than a whale tongue. It doesn’t stink, so he was right again on dental hygiene.

“This isn’t my top choice for travel,” Starla says, voice raspy.

“Agreed. He may be the largest living thing on the planet, but I am still claustrophobic,” Ji-hwan agrees. The Were has put on his fur, his claws out.

The other unfortunate part of the journey is the music. Thomas can’t sing with us in his mouth, but he has managed to hum. Whether he’s using his mouth or a blowhole I cannot possibly say. But he does manage it, and his tongue is like a vibrating pad beneath our feet as his entire body shakes along with the tune.

Pickles takes it upon himself to join at intervals, short awooos added to the ear-splitting humming.

After hours, Thomas’s singing fades.

I feel a headache that vibrates out and through all my bones, and I could kneel down and kiss the whale’s tongue for ceasing the music. Then, I notice something else.

Thomas’s bulk acts as a dampener, blocking a lot of sound from outside, but I can feel something. There’s a pulling sensation that washes over me.

I look at the others, and my alarm grows.

Starla claps her hands over her ears. Exos is holding on to her with one arm, shaking his head like he’s a wet dog trying to dry off.

Jackal growls, fur sprouting from his back.

“Leena. I think we’re close.”

Ji-hwan sinks his claws into his own forearms.

“He’s right. I’m fighting myself, but I have a desire to run right through Thomas’s teeth.”

The whale doesn’t have actual teeth in this form. He has baleen plates in his mouth, but it doesn’t seem like the time to point it out.

“What’s happening? Starla, shock Thomas,” I instruct.

The witch is trying to worm her way out of Exos’s grasp and launch herself at the baleens as well.

I stand right in front of her.

“Starla! Shock Thomas!”

She does, but after a few moments, I don’t feel a change. We’re not surfacing.

“Leena,” Jackal is panting. “I think we’re here. I think we’re facing a siren.”

I feel like the blood drains out of my body.