Page 34 of The Dark Sea Calls

The Kraken was awake; its echoing cries rocked the water as it projected its voice. No doubt sensing our approach.

I cursed, checking Rainn for any sign that he had heard the booming, bone-shaking voice in his skull, but the Selkie showed no reaction as he swam forward.

I said nothing. Ignoring the Kraken.

I closed my eyes tight. “I’ve come to touch the rock at the bottom of the crevice. The one that grants Fae their magic.”

the Kraken grumbled.

“Please let us pass,” I pleaded.

A red tentacle emerged from the darkness, grasping the lip of the crevice. A second later, another joined it. From far away, the Kraken’s size had been easy to discount. Up close, it was hard to ignore.

Each of the suckers on its tentacles was larger than my body.

Slowly, appendage by appendage, the Kraken emerged from the darkness. It’s dark beak snapping, hidden amongst the tangle of its limbs. Suddenly, I felt tiny in the face of the beast. A forest of writhing limbs and insatiable hunger.

The Kraken dipped its head.

“Can you speak to that thing?” Rainn hissed incredulously.

“Maybe.” I winced. “It said we can go to the stone as long as we don’t touch anything else.”

Rainn let out a low whistle, eying the beast wearily. “Whatever you bargained for must be worth a lot.”

“You have no idea,” I grumbled as I gestured to the crack in the seabed with the tilt of my chin.

I was frightened. Even though the Kraken had given its consent for me to enter its home, I couldn’t force myself to move.

Rainn swam closer, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Let’s be quick.”

I liked that he didn’t mention that it might not work. The thought pounded behind my eyes and made me want to run away.

Though I knew the Kraken didn’t have eyes in the traditional sense, I felt its presence with every breath of water through my gills. It was watching, waiting for something.

I didn’t know why the behemoth was affording me such leeway, but I was going to take it.

It was rare that life gave a gift and a bargain that benefited both parties.

I was so close to getting my magic that I could taste it. Every inch of my skin tingled with excitement, and my heart danced in my chest.

Rainn grew closer to me as we squeezed through the fissure and into total darkness. The only sound was the rush of his breath next to my ear.

I was about to ask Rainn if he would have the first clue of what to look for when I felt the familiar sensation creep up on me.

The hunger.

I recognized the stone, leeching its magic into the water; I knew its twin. I had sat on it hundreds of times and felt its sharp teeth bite into my wrists. The lumpy scar tissue that hid under the pearls on my arms from every time my uncle had forced me onto the High Throne.

Its forgotten and unassuming stone appearance, throbbing magic to even those that didn’t know how to sense it.

It couldn’t be.

The High Throne sat in Cruinn, a fortnight’s journey across the Night Court.

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