Page 63 of Krammin’ With A Kraken

I tried to push myself off the floor. Seta was probably crying, believing I’d taken Ezric’s side. She was hurting, and it was my fault.

My arms gave out, and I collapsed onto the singed hardwood floor. Despite my best efforts, my eyelids grew heavy and my muscles went slack.

Please don’t hate me, Seta.

Everything went black.

Icried myself to sleep and woke the next morning with a pounding headache. Something was buzzing just over the side of the bed.

It stopped, only to start again a moment later. I tried to ignore it in favor of feeling sorry for myself, but the sound grew increasingly annoying.

Flinging my arm out, I felt around in my bag until I found the offender—my phone. It only buzzed for alarms and phone calls, and I only ever got phone calls from one person. And I definitely wasn’t in the mood to talk to him.

But to my surprise, it was Ayla’s number on the screen. I’d also missed seven calls from her.

Tapping the screen to answer the call, I asked, “What?”

“Seta,where are you? Are you okay? Did you get kidnapped? Has someone left you for dead? Give me visual clues and I’ll help figure out where you’re being held.”

I sniffed. “Gray ceiling, gray bed, gray wardrobe, gray desk. I’m in our room.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“Are you, like… tied down?” Ayla whispered.

“No.”

This time the pause lasted so long I thought maybe she’d hung up.

“So you missed class by choice?” Ayla sounded incredulous.

I took the phone away from my ear and squinted at the time. Crap! I was supposed to be in beginner’s incantations. If I ran now, I could make it for the last half hour—

Screw it. I didn’t feel like running anywhere, and I had such high grades in that class I could flunk the final and still get an A. “It’s just a review.”

More silence.

When Ayla spoke again, her voice was frosty instead of worried. “All right. Who are you, and why do you have my friend’s phone?”

“Ayla, it’s me. I’m fine. Also, I’m not sure we are even friends,” I replied dully.

“Well played, roomie. See you in a minute.” Ayla hung up.

I frowned at the phone before setting it on the nightstand. She had class for another thirty-five minutes at least, so how would she see me in a minute?

But my questions were answered when the succubus breezed through the door twenty minutes later. She carried two to-go cups of hot chocolate and a paper bag.

Kicking off her kitten heels, she sat on her bed and leaned over to hand me one of the hot chocolates. “Okay, what’s the deal?”

Easing into a sitting position, I took a sip of hot chocolate. It was velvety on my tongue and spread warmth through me.

“I’m fine.” I would be, anyway.

Today I could hide in my room, but tomorrow I had to be back on track. I had alchemy class the next day, and it was the one review I couldn’t miss.

“Seta, you are not fine. You haven’t missed a single minute of a single class. Hades, I bet you could have tentacle rot and you’d still show up for class. Wait. Is tentacle rot even a thing? Is that what’s wrong with you?”

“Wh… What are you talking about?” My belly flopped unpleasantly, and suddenly the hot chocolate tasted bitter on my tongue.

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