The Silkie's Woman by Claire Cameron

her mind. With no obvious place to begin her hunt, she decided to make her way to the pub. Eventually, everyone on the island stopped in, and strangers would be remarked upon.
    The pub was open for breakfast, and packed with people when she arrived. She paused just inside the door to see if anyone looked like Urlon's mental pictures of his tribebrothers or grandfather. There was no one who looked like his grandfather, but one of the men sitting at the booth closest to the door had Urlon's distinctive eyes. She approached him cautiously, unsure of her welcome.
    She knew that most p'or did not reveal their differences to their tribemates unless they had bonded with them, and she was afraid Urlon had broken some rules when he'd bonded his first time out of water. This p'or looked young, as young as Urlon, with straight black hair and black, black eyes. He definitely was not Urlon's grandfather. As she approached, he looked up and froze when his gaze connected with hers. She felt the now familiar questing touch at her shields and lowered them just enough for him to enter.
    Urlon and Set have discovered that many of the p'or who have gone to land have been murdered. Set was taken and placed in some type of medical facility on the other s ide of the island. Urlon and I found him yesterday. He had been placed in an iron-shielded room, so obviously the perpetrators had access to knowledge about the p'or. We took him out, and he rested at my house throughout the night. He and Urlon are going back to the facility to see if they can discover who is behind it. I was supposed to find Urlon's grandfather and ask for help. We only have until tonight before all of you have to go back to the sea. I want to go back and help them. If there are more people there than they expect, they'll have a hard time getting in, especially in daylight. Can you find the others and have them meet us at the facility?"
    Megan lowered her shields even further, and projected a clear picture of the facility and its location.
    You are my brother's tribemate; I would do anything you ask. Grandfather has bonded with a woman outside of town for this cycle. He'll be easy to find. I am Uber, one of Urlon's closest friends. I can't let you follow him. If you are in danger, you will be a great distraction to him. Because you are bonded, anything you feel he feels. If you are injured, he will be incapable of reacting to his surroundings in his attempts to find and heal you. You can't endanger him that way. I think we should both go get Grandfather and some of my other tribebrothers before we join Urlon.
    "Doesn't the same hold true for me, then? If Urlon is injured, won't it affect me just as much? Why should he be the one to face danger? I think that the more people at this facility, the better. They won't be able to try anything if enough people show up at their door. I think I should go on ahead." She paused and then continued, "Actually, there is no way I am staying behind." She pushed herself up from the booth. She turned to walk out the door, and Uber grabbed her hand.
    "Please be very careful, Megan. Now that you know how to link with someone other than Urlon, you should able to call out to me if you are in any danger."
    Megan nodded and pushed open the heavy door to the pub.
     
    ***
     
    Urlon and Set made their way quickly up the hill and through the fields to the long, low building that had been Set's prison. As they neared the building, Urlon noticed that the outside lights on the building were still on. There were no cars parked in front of the building as there had been yesterday, and there were no signs that anyone had come into the building since they had left it the night before.
    Good, they had arrived before anyone had come in. He and Set sat with their backs against the same stone wall he and Megan had rested against the day before. It seemed like years had passed since yesterday. The chemical changes that had taken place once he had chosen his Amat were