Page 73 of The Kraken Games

Razad hammered his staff on the rock floor. “He had carnal relations with a human, spilling his seed between her human thighs. And he allowed the fact to be broadcast to the world. What, you’d have him go unpunished?”

“Look at his scars, look at them.” His father’s rage was obvious now. “Don’t you think he’s been punished enough?”

Razad sat back, silently gripping his stick with a gnarly fist.

“That girl’s family has benefited Thedaka beyond measure.” Kai’s father’s voice shook with emotion. “Their tragic deathswere our gain. You know that as well as I do. The least we can do is allow this human to reunite with her one remaining kin.”

More glances were exchanged between the elders. Razad’s tentacles had turned flaccid, his shoulders sagged. Suddenly he looked old and frail.

“What are you talking about?” Kai looked from his father to his grandfather, bewildered. “How could Luna’s family dying benefit us?”

Razad said sternly, “You will know more when you reach Metan. And that time is not now.”

His father stood his ground, staring Razad down. “All I ask is that you have compassion for Luna Storm. And that you—we all—forgive Kai’s indiscretions. Hopefully then we will be able to heal and move on. Luna Storm has been a blessing to our clan. She has forced us to face up to this travesty of justice.”

There was a mumble from the assembled group that sounded to Kai like agreement.

“You have been heard, now sit,” Razad grunted. “We will have a show of tentacles. Will we disclose the whereabouts of the human’s brother? All tentacles for aye.” An array of limbs rose in the air. Their leader sat for long moments rubbing his beard. Finally, he growled, “Very well. The human shall be reunited with her brother. As long as she is sworn to silence on all that has transpired. Hana will escort her.”

“No!” All eyes turned to Kai again. “Let me escort Luna to meet Tomas.”

“You are foolishly infatuated with this human. No good can come of this.”

This time it was Shen who stood. Shen, who’d been furious with him a mere week ago, said, “Let him go with her—they have formed a bond. I am sure Kai has the sense to see this can go no further, but they have both been through a lot. Let them have a few more days together.”

Kai cast his uncle a grateful look.

Razad sat very still. Finally, he stared at his grandson from under drawn brows. “Very well. You may accompany her. But then this madness ends. You will sever all contact with the human. Purge her from your system.”

Kai stood silent. “Do you hear me?” Razad demanded.

“Yes sir,” Kai gritted out. “It won’t go any further. She doesn’t have feelings for me.” He couldn’t help the bitter note that crept into his voice.

“I’m talking about you renouncingyourfeelings forher. No pining. No trying to take on human form to sneak onto land to be with her. You will come back and attain Metan with a good kraken woman who will sire you many younglings.E ka leah?” Is that clear?

Kai bowed his head. He knew Lun would walk away without a backward glance. And he was ready for the pain. But let him have these last few days with her. Let him be the one to reunite her with her brother, to see happiness shape her lips into a smile.

“Al deg-ha,” he said quietly.

So be it.

CHAPTER 24

“What happens now?” Luna asked Hana. They were sitting on a rock that lapped the surface of the water directly above the sacred caves. She guessed she could take this contraption off her head, but with the fuss and bother of getting it on in the first place, it didn’t seem worth it.

Hana and Shen had fitted the helmet on her before they’d swum out here. She’d heard her own breathing, like the rasp of a trapped animal as she’d followed the kraken to the caves. She’d tried not to panic. What if they brought her here and killed her, as they had her mom and dad? But through her fear, she held onto the memory of Kai, of his generous hearts, the sacrifices he had made for her, and that kept the panic at bay.

At the entrance, an official kraken in uniform had fitted her hearing buds, and the speaker.

And then Shen had speared off to join the elders, and Hana had led her into the caves.

Never had Luna seen anything like this aged, becrusted man, Kai’s grandfather. Or the other elders, all different shades of blue, all covered in shells and barnacles. All in half shift. What would they look like, she wondered, in their fully kraken form?

And where was Kai?

She’d startled as she spotted him seated on a rock opposite, had given him a wave of sorts. He’d returned it—she thought. While they waited for proceedings to begin, her eyes had strayed constantly to his beautiful, composed face. It had helped to calm her shredded nerves. She’d felt his long dark eyes on her during her account, realizing he looked more amphibian here. His eyes seemed wider, and she could see gills below his ears. The blue of his skin was somehow more radiant. Otherworldly. Like all the kraken here. You could see their mixed ancestry, the human and kraken forms intermingled.

Now, out here on the rock in the open air, Hana sat calmly, cross-legged, her tentacles laid neatly in front of her. “We wait, they discuss the findings, and then we accept their verdict.”

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