Page 51 of The Kraken Games

They remained in silence for long moments. Somewhere, a marsh bird called goodnight to its mate.

“I’ll give the trophy back. Renounce the title, if you take me to your people,” she said finally.

“That won’t work.”

“Why not?”

He sipped his drink, feeling the heat move down his throat. “It’s not that simple. I’ve already lost. You renouncing the title won’t make it better.”

“I’ll tell the truth.”

“Really? Which truth? That you slept with me, got me to show you my tentacles and worked out how to defeat me? Or that I, for some reason I’m still not quite clear about, let you win because you told me that krakens murdered your family?”

“The first isn’t true.” she smirked. “At least not entirely.”

She slanted her head and their eyes met briefly. He stopped himself from digging deeper, asking if that night had meant anything more to her, the way it had to him.

He sighed heavily, downed his drink. “Well, whatever, the reason, some part of me believes you. So, now’s your chance to convince me.”

“Thank you, kind sir.” Her words were laced with sarcasm. But as she drew up her legs and hugged her knees again, she seemed so vulnerable that he just wanted to reach for her, wrap her up and cradle her.

He heard her breath rasp in the darkness, remembered the intimacy of breathing into her lungs, her mouth soft, her body limp as she almost lost consciousness. In that moment she’d really needed him, and that had felt good… so good.

When she spoke, her voice was thin, reedy. “All I remember is the sea as a little kid. Everywhere, 360 degrees. I grew up on the ocean, learned to talk and read and walk on the deck of our boat. It was home, and I loved it so much. The vast open spaces, watching the horizon, even the storms were exciting—you know, the rain would come in and then boom, how it suddenly hit.” She gave a little laugh of delight. “We only came on to land for repairs on the boat, to Motham, I think, and to trade fish for other supplies.” She sighed, her hand came up and swepta strand of thick blonde hair behind her ear. She was such a strange mix. Old and young. Hard and soft. Gods, she fascinated him.

“When I was seven, Tomas, my little brother, was born. I adored him. I’d care for him, watch him like a hawk, while my parents dived and fished and wrote about their findings.”

“Wrote about them?” He arched a brow.

“Yeah.” She took a sip of her drink. “I remember my mom and dad wrote heaps and drew pictures of sea life. They’d show me, not that I understood much, but I loved Mom’s pictures. But hey, it’s all lost now anyway, so yeah...” Her voice caught and he sensed her holding in her emotions. “Tomas, Mom, Dad and me, and the sea. That’s all I ever knew, all I ever wanted.”

“Then one day, I remember there was this really strange storm rolling in. Mom took us downstairs to our bunks and told us to stay there. She seemed more worried than usual. And then I heard this awful roaring, a terrible sound of cracking and grinding….”

A low sound of horror escaped Kai’s lungs.

She didn’t even glance up, just kept talking in a strangely monotone voice. “After that I just remember water gushing everywhere, and screaming, My mom… my dad shouting…” She faltered.

“I remember holding onto the remains of my bed. I crawled on top of that piece of broken wood and hung on. I couldn’t see Mom and Dad—not then. But I saw this… big blue tentacle scooping up Tomas in his cot. I heard him screaming, saw how terrified he was, then this creature dragged him over the waves, under them, and… he just disappeared.”

Kai’s hearts pounded in his chest. He could hardly breathe with the horror of it, what Luna must have gone through.

“But you… survived. How?”

She turned to face him now, her anguish burning into him.

“I was rescued. By an albatross. We used to feed it from time to time on the bow of the boat. No doubt it was returning the kindness. It kept me alive in its nest, then brought me to the marshlands and dropped me outside a house where a human lived. She raised me, if you could call it that. I worked for her, cleaned house, shopped. She fed me—when it occurred to her. I learned to fend for myself. Went and found my own work on the docks after she packed up and left one day.”

He stared at her, still in shock, and as if sensing his gaze, she glanced sideways at him, their gazes holding in the dim light from the porch lamp.

“You don’t believe me even now, do you?” she asked bitterly.

“I do.” He cleared his dry throat. “I do, Luna. But I need to try and understand—what’s your plan from here?” He heard her take a breath.

“I want to trade my win, for a meeting with your leaders. I’ll tell them you let me win.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, right. You think that’s going to help me?”

“My plan wasn’t to help you.”

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