Page 57 of Kringle and the Kraken

My legs were still a little shaky when I stood again. “Let’s go down to the beach. I’ll grab the jars.”

“What? No. You aren’t going out there.” Levi stopped and crossed his arms. He glared at me, his eyes glowing amber with anger.

“Oh, yes I am.” I stuffed my hands into my pockets so he wouldn’t see they were shaking. “We’re in this together, and I don’t want what just happened to me to happen to anyone else.” With a jolt I remembered that the last time sea wraiths had attacked Lifeboat, a selkie pup had been taken, and that was enough to make my fear turn to rage. “I won’t let those things take anyone else. I’m not going to lie, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced, and I’ll probably hear that voice in my nightmares for a while, but I’m going with you. We’re doing this together.”

For a long minute we both glared at each other, neither wanting to give up or give in, and then Levi launched himself at me, wrapping me up in a hug so tight I thought my ribs might crack. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. When I saw the wraith grab you, I”—a sob tore from his throat, and I pushed him back enough so I could see his face, which had a tear tracking down his left cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb.

“Hey, you saved me. Again. I’m right here.” I pressed a kiss to his lips. “And we’re going to go out there right now and save the town.”

“Kris—”

I shook my head. My hands had stopped shaking, and I held his face between my palms. “I’m with you, Levi. I’m safe. You’ll protect me.”

He scoffed. “You might be giving me too much credit.”

“No, I’m not.” I grabbed his hand. “Stop stalling and let’s go.”

On the way out of the house, I stuffed my feet into an old pair of waders and grabbed two towels and tucked them under my jacket to keep warm. The last thing I picked up was the box of large mason jars we’d taken from the craft barn at my parents’,hoisting it into my arms. We’d been leaving it by the back door with the thought that if Levi managed to harness his magic and push it out, that I would run up to the house and grab the jars. Tonight, we were going to do things a little differently.

The snow had tapered off again, and without the wraith’s magic blocking out the sun, there was still a sliver of light on the horizon making the waves glow.

We were quiet on our walk down the metal staircase and as I picked up and brushed off the camp chair I’d left on the beach. I held out my arm so Levi could drape his clothes over it, and as always, I tried not to get hard with Levi’s naked body in front of me, close enough to touch, and attempted to stay focused on the mission at hand, even if I did sneak a little peek at his dick.

Just a little one.

He had a nice dick, and I was only human.

This time, instead of settling into the chair and folding Levi’s clothes, I tossed his stuff on the chair and followed Levi to the water’s edge with the box of jars.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you, and I’m giving you a visual aid.”

He raised a brow.

“You go get in the water. I’m going to set these up on the beach.”

“Why?”

“Because we both know you can pretty easily access your kraken magic at this point. You’ve consistently made your core glow every time we’ve been out here. It seems the problem comes when you try to push it out. I think it might help to think about filling these jars with your magic rather than just trying to push it out.”

“That’s pretty damn smart. Worth a try.”

I kissed him hard and smacked his ass, making one of his tentacles lift off his body. “Go get ’em, babe!” Since I had mywaders on—and two pairs of very unsexy long underwear on under my jeans—I followed him into the water, stopping when it got just past my knees. Levi looked over his shoulder and winked as he went a little farther, then dove under the water. I tracked his movements, trying to guess where he was going to come up until I couldn’t see him again.

Like before, it took a few minutes before Levi emerged from the ocean in his full kraken form. His head became visible first, the squid-like fins on the sides of his head visible first followed by the thrash of several of his tentacles that seemed to make up most of his body. He was huge, at least the size of a large cruise ship, and magnificent. I’m not too proud to admit I might have cried just a little the first time I saw him like this. I knew he’d been worried I was going to run, but there was no way. I was so totally into him.

In all his forms.

He stretched his tentacles for a while and swam in a few lazy circles, going through the motions of what I’d come to think of as his warmup. Soon though, he sank below the water, his eyes and the top of his massive head the only things visible above the surface of the water. A heartbeat later, the water around him glowed a deep bluish green. At first, I’d thought there was something in the water reacting to Levi’s presence, but now I knew that glow was Levi connecting with his kraken magic.

Unlike the other nights we’d done this, Levi lifted his tentacles out of the water and stretched them toward where I was standing, and for a brief second, the base of each tentacle started to glow. That hadn’t happened before. The glow faded from his tentacles but stayed lit at his core.

“Come on, baby. You can do this.” I chanted the words under my breath, hoping he could somehow feel them.

He tried a few more times, the glow hitting the base of his tentacles before seeming to snap back toward his core. I couldsense his frustration, so instead of whispering the words, I yelled them as loud as I could.

“You can do this, baby! I know you can!”

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