“Peace man,” he said. “I’ll find your boat for you.” He grabbed a long rope and tied it to the front of the boat with some knot I didn’t know. It looked nautical, at least. He put the other end in his mouth and dove overboard.
I looked over the rail at the same time as Zora, when suddenly the boat lurched into motion. There was a whale about six feet under the water. It was dark, so I couldn’t tell what kind; I assumed a humpback, since it started singing almost immediately.
“We can’t get there before daybreak,” I said. “The vamps can see in the dark.” The whale made a noise that sounded suspiciously like “duh,” but I let it slide as the boat changed course to go south.
“He turned into a whale.” Zora said beside me, her voice far off and full of wonder.
“I only dog paddle,” I said, in
