Page 24 of Kringle and the Kraken

My hands skated over his back and sides as we both came down from the high of our orgasms. I hadn’t had a sexual encounter that good in years, and I had a feeling it had more to do with the man in my arms than the actual mechanics of what we’d just done.

For a long time we stayed wrapped up in each other, enjoying the moment.

Until the sound of breaking glass downstairs forced us out of our afterglow.

Kris straightened and took a step back, tucking his spent dick away. “What the fuck was that?”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I pushed off the door and buttoned my jeans. “I have no idea.”

But that was a lie. My gut was telling me I knew exactly what had happened. I could feel it in the air, and my tentacles writhed, this time ready for a fight instead of a fuck. It just didn’t make sense.

Turning, my hand found the doorknob, and I had the door open before Kris grabbed the back of my coat.

“Where are you going?”

“To investigate.”

“No way. What if there is someone down there?”

I knew there wasn’t like I knew my own name, but I couldn’t tell Kris that. “There won’t be.”

He looked around my dark apartment, taking in the stacks of still packed boxes littering the living room. “Do you have a baseball bat or anything?”

“No.”

“Fireplace poker? Cast iron pan? Literally anything heavy you could use to knock someone out?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not going to let me go until I have something to use to defend myself, are you?”

“Absolutely not.”

His concern was sweet even if I could easily defend both of us against any threat regardless of whether I had a weapon at my disposal or not. “Fine.”

I fled into the kitchen and came back with two small but heavy frying pans. I handed one to Kris, who tested the weight in his hand before nodding. “Do you want me to go first?”

“It’s my shop. I’ve got it.”

“Okay.” He gestured for me to lead the way, and we tore down the stairs. There was no need to be quiet. I already knew the threat was gone. They never stuck around long.

At the bottom of the stairs that led to my apartment was a door that led into the back of the storefront. My keys were still in my pocket, and I pulled them out to unlock the door, struggling as I attempted to juggle my keys and the frying pan. I flipped the switch to turn on the lights the second I stepped over the threshold.

Kris followed me out to the front of the shop. The plate glass window out front was shattered, the glass blown into the shop and crunching under our feet as we got closer. Upstairs, I felt a pull on the magic like when you picked at a loose thread on a sweater, tugging until the thread came free and started to unravel the whole thing. The feeling was even stronger now, the tugging sensation running straight through my core and making me feel like I might vomit or pass out. A pungent, burning metal smell hung in the air, the acrid scent making my throat tighten and confirming what I’d already guessed to be true.

There were sea wraiths in Lifeboat, and the ley line magic couldn’t keep them out.

CHAPTER NINE

LEVI

“Sir,you can’t go in there!” A stout, balding water sprite hustled to keep up with me as I strode toward the mayor’s office. “Like I told you on the phone, the mayor is very busy today.”

I turned on my heel and stared the shorter man down. “And I have a right to know why a sea wraith attacked my shop last night.”

The sprite paled, making the blue-green tint of his skin stand out beyond the glamour he was using to hide his true appearance. “A-a s-sea wraith?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, d-dear.” For a second the sprite looked close to tears, then he rallied, pushing his glasses up on his nose and crossing his arms over his chest. “Wait. Are you one hundred percent sure it was a sea wraith?”

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