Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

KRIS

Over the next couple of days, Levi and I fell into a strange sort of routine. We’d wake up together, grab coffee and breakfast in town, then go our separate ways. Levi spent his days at his record shop while I was out at the tree farm. The semester was over, and all my final grades had been submitted, so I had nothing else to do except work with my family. But in the final lead-up to Christmas, even the Christmas tree business was starting to wane.

When we were both done for the day, I’d pick Levi up, we’d grab dinner—usually from Mizu Mizu—and head back to my house. After dinner, Levi would shift into his full kraken form and try to release his magic until he was exhausted. I’d wait on the beach, watching my boyfriend swim in his giant sea monster form while I sat in a camp chair I’d set up on the beach and worked on the present I was making for him by the light of an old camp lantern I’d dug out of my parents’ garage.

Levi would emerge from the water, frustrated and a little shaky, and I’d help him back up to the house and into a warm shower, then we’d hang out on the couch for a little while, each with a cup of my mom’s cocoa. Sometimes we kissed, sometimes we spent time exploring each other’s bodies, and sometimes, like tonight, we watched Christmas movies because much to my horror, Levi had decided he was a little obsessed with them. His favorite was How the Grinch Stole Christmas —the animated one, not the live action, though he’d made me watch both—and I wasn’t sure how many more times I was going to be able to listen to “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” before the song started haunting my dreams.

As all the Whos down in Whoville started singing their final song, I glanced over at Levi. His eyes were fixed on the TV, but I could tell he was a million miles away as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. He jumped when I put my hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

“What’s wrong?”

“Poseidonia starts the day after tomorrow.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I was hoping to have the talismans made by then. It’s been over a week since the last wraith attack, but I feel like another is coming, and they are just going to get worse until the ley line magic is fixed.”

“You’re doing the best you can, Levi.”

He pushed off the couch and started pacing, the tentacles that were usually wrapped around his arms lifting and writhing as he moved. “I know, but it’s not fucking good enough. If something happens to someone in town, and I have the power to stop it, I’ll never forgive myself.”

I let him pace for another second to work off some of his agitation, but then I stood and stopped him in his tracks. Levi’s tentacles wrapped around my biceps, and I held him in a tight hug. “What you are trying to do is huge, Levi. It’s a lot to ask of anyone.” I squeezed him tighter. “And you’ve already done more to protect this town than Calder Delmar ever has.”

Levi growled when I said his name, and I just held him tighter.

The credits for the movie rolled in the background, and when the streaming service home screen popped up, I kissed the top of Levi’s head. “Let’s call it an early night.”

Levi nodded, and his tentacles disentangled themselves from around my arms, his hand finding mine as I turned off the table lamp and we hit the stairs. We brushed our teeth side by side, another thing that had become part of our routine, then slipped into bed. Usually, I was the little spoon preferring to be wrapped up in Levi’s tentacles—because, yes, I was a little obsessed with them—but tonight, I could sense he needed something different. Before he could protest, I cuddled up to him, my front pressed against his back and my arm a tight band around his chest. Levi’s tentacles unfurled and twined around my arm over his chest.

Soon, Levi’s breathing evened out as he fell asleep, and I kept stroking over his tentacles until they relaxed and fell away. I stayed for a little while longer, making sure Levi was deeply asleep before I silently slid out of bed and padded downstairs. It had been hard to make a ton of progress on Levi’s present since we’d been spending so much time together, and there was only so much I could do on the beach. I spilled into an old pair of boots and crept out to my workshop.

As much as I tried to show Levi I wasn’t worried about the wraiths, his anxiety was starting to bleed into me. I knew he was putting an immense amount of pressure on himself, and I wished more than anything that there was something I could do to take on some of the burden, but since I was only human, and the talismans to protect the town required kraken magic, the only thing I could do was be supportive.

I worked on Levi’s present until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore and nicked my finger with one of my carving tools. I cleaned up and hid as much of the present as I could just in case Levi came into the garage.

He only shifted a tiny bit when I climbed back into bed and wrapped him in my arms again. I loved having Levi in my space, and every day we spent together made me want a future with him.

There were questions I needed to ask Levi about what our future would actually look like since he was a kraken with a lifespan far, far longer than mine, but for now, I was trying to enjoy the moment and not worry about what would happen when I was old and gray and he had barely aged.

And maybe it was those sort of morose thoughts that made me wake up with a strange sense of foreboding the next day.

Levi and I went through our morning routine like normal, and we made out in my truck for a few minutes before he went in to open the record store and I drove out to the tree farm, but I felt in my gut that something was off, even if Levi didn’t seem to feel the same.

Or maybe he did, but he was just better at hiding it.

Later, I picked him up, and we made the drive out to my house. More snow had fallen overnight, and the setting sun cast a red-orange glow over the landscape. It was gorgeous, but my hands were sweaty on the steering wheel. We hadn’t picked up dinner because I had said I’d cook.

“Do you want to eat first, or do you want to head down to the beach?”

“The beach, I think, but can we take a walk first?”

Snow had begun to softly fall and it looked like glitter sprinkling from the sky as the flakes fell to the ground. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “It’s so beautiful, and we’re usually only out here in the dark.”

A walk in the sunset did sound kind of romantic, and maybe it was what I needed to drive the still lingering sense of dread from my head. Plus, I loved walking along the bluff, so I found Levi’s hand again, and wrapped my fingers around his in a poor imitation of the way I loved to be tangled up in his tentacles. I dragged him back around to my side of the truck and grabbed the extra flashlight from behind my seat, just in case we walked for longer than we thought, then led Levi out along the cliff.

A comfortable silence fell between us, the only sounds the crunching of the snow under our boots, the wind whipping around us, and the waves crashing on the rocky shore below. It was kind of perfect, and I could picture Levi and me walking on the cliff every day as we shared stories about our days and caught up on town gossip. As we walked, the snow picked up, heavy white flakes blocking out the sun and casting the world in watery gray as the sun sank farther below the horizon. What had been pretty flecks of glitter turned into almost a complete whiteout, and I gripped Levi’s hand tightly.

“I think we should start heading back.”

“Yeah. I agree.”

We were at the edge of the cliff, right near where the forest at the end of my property began. It felt like something was watching us from the tree, but as I looked into the evergreens, I didn’t see anything. But I couldn’t shake my unease, and the sense of dread I’d felt all day returned tenfold.

I started to turn, my hand still gripping Levi’s, and several things happened all at once. Like the last of the setting sun was being snuffed out, it went completely dark around us. A howling wind whipped off the ocean, turning the snow sharp as it pelted and stung against our faces, and my feet slid on the slick snow under my boots as I was tugged backward. The flashlight dropped from my hands, flickering out as it hit the ground, and in the now total darkness, the sound of the wind changed until it echoed in my ears like a tortured scream. An acrid scent burned my nose and filled my mouth. The wind tightened around me in eerie tendrils, and I was dragged backward toward the edge of the cliff. My feet couldn’t find purchase on the slick ground, and my hand was yanked from Levi’s. It seemed inevitable that I was going over the edge of the cliff to land on the rocks below. I tried to yell for Levi to run, but the breath had been stolen from my lungs, and Levi’s stricken face kept getting farther and farther away even as he reached for me, his tentacles lifting from his body and flailing around him in the unnatural wind.

“The sea claims you. You are mine.” Icy terror slid down my spine as the wind spoke in a raspy, distorted voice that sounded like it was coming from inside my head, echoing against my skull and making my head throb.

And then I suddenly stopped falling, and Levi’s hands were on my face as he held me up, my feet dangling in the air above the cliff. For a long time, I could see Levi’s lips moving, but all I could hear was the reverberating scream of the wind and that terrifying voice.

“Kris? Kris, look at me. Look at me!” Levi’s voice was frantic, and my head was spinning, my stomach roiling like I was going to throw up. The wind and snow were still a swirling tempest around me, and I clawed at the tight bands around my waist, trying to get free until I realized Levi had once again saved me with his tentacles, and he was pulling me into him, to safety.

It was my last thought before everything went black.

A soft touch on my cheek woke me, and I looked up to see Levi’s worried face surrounded by the soft glow of lamplight. Soft cushions cradled me, and a beat later, I figured out I was on my couch. My head felt fuzzy, and my stomach queasy like I had one hell of a hangover, and I couldn’t remember coming inside.

I remembered being in my truck, then walking along the cliff, then the wind…

Sitting up quickly, I almost smacked Levi in the chin with my forehead, but he took a step back just in time. My legs wobbled as I stood, and Levi grabbed my forearm to steady me.

“Levi, what the fuck was that? What happened out on the cliff?”

He sighed and paced in a tight circle before plopping down on the couch in the spot where I’d just been resting, his arms braced on his knees and his head in his hands. “That was a sea wraith. You were attacked.”

“Fuck.” My knees gave out, and I slumped back onto the couch next to Levi. My ears still rang with the sound of the eerie voice that had spoken in the wind, and an unpleasant shudder rolled through my body.

Levi wrapped his arm and a tentacle around me, and I saw deep scratches along the purple blue flesh of the extra appendage, my stomach sinking as I moved to bring it into my hands to survey the damage, remembering what I’d done. “God, Levi. I’m so sorry. I was so confused, and all I could hear was that voice. I thought that thing still had me. I didn’t know it was you. I’m so, so sorry I hurt you.”

He wriggled out of my touch and wrapped himself around me again. “I’m fine. In a couple hours, I’ll be completely healed.” He squeezed me tight, and when he spoke again, I heard the catch in his voice. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I promised to protect you, and for fuck’s sake, you almost died, Kris.”

His touch fell away, and he shot off the couch, pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, but unlike the last few nights when his pacing was born of frustration, now there was steel in his spine, and I could see his resolve snapping into place.

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 my waders 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 could sense 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!”

Levi emerged from the water and roared.

Then he started moving toward the shore, his huge body getting closer and closer.

If I thought he was massive from far away, that was nothing to how huge he appeared as he got closer and closer to where I stood until I could tell his body was scraping the bottom of the ocean. Most of his body was out of the water now, his tentacles writhing and curling around his head. He was probably only the length of a football field away. Close enough that I’d bet if I went in just a little farther and he stretched a tentacle as far as he could that we could touch.

Which gave me another idea.

“Levi? Can you hear me?”

He opened his mouth and made a sound that reminded me of a creaking mast, then he tipped his head forward in what I was choosing to interpret as a nod.

“I have an idea. Instead of focusing your magic through all your tentacles, just pick one. I’m going to bring you a jar.”

This time I could tell the noise he made was less than pleased, but I knew in my gut this was going to work. It had to.

I ran back to the snow-covered beach and picked up one of the large jars then ran back out as far as I could without getting water over the edge of my waders. The water was icy, but I could handle it. If I got wet, though, it wouldn’t be good, and hypothermia wasn’t on my holiday bingo card.

Holding the jar up, I yelled to Levi. “Pick a tentacle and see if you can get the magic to travel into the jar.”

Levi, a giant-ass, powerful-as-hell kraken, rolled his glowing golden amber eyes.

“Don’t give me that. Just try.”

He let out a rumble that sent ripples out across the water. He closed his eyes and didn’t open them again until his core was glowing blue. Lifting a tentacle, he stretched it out as far as he could until the massive tip nudged the edge of the mason jar. For a second, I panicked. I’d clearly underestimated the girth of his tentacle in his full form. If magic started shooting out of it, it would be like trying to catch water from a firehose in a china teacup.

But we had to try.

I watched as the glowing blue traveled out from Levi’s core, slowly creeping down the tentacle.

“You’re doing it, baby! So close!”

Close was a relative term when his tentacles were almost as long as a football field, but the magic was more than halfway. My encouragement seemed to help as the magic got closer and closer to me.

Finally, after several long minutes, a ball of blue appeared at the end of Levi’s tentacle, and I got into position to catch it. It fell into the jar, and when I held it up to show Levi and to take a closer look, I realized what I thought was one ball was actually a bunch of tiny little orbs all glowing a brilliant turquoise.

“Yes!” I thrust the jar up into the air. “You did it!” I examined the jar closely. “Do you think this is enough?”

Levi shook his kraken head, the fins on either side waving.

“Okay, then what are you waiting for?” I held up the jar again.

He rolled his huge eyes again, and my heart flip-flopped. He was so goddamn adorable in all of his forms.

It took less time to move the magic down his tentacle again, and he kept going until we’d filled two jars. I could tell Levi was happy, but moving his magic like that had taken a lot of effort. His core was still glowing, and while I’d expected it to dim or for it to be obvious Levi had siphoned out some of his magical essence, there was no discernible change.

After Levi determined that he thought we had enough, he swam back out to deeper water, then came back toward the shore in his half form until he climbed out of the surf on his human legs.

Immediately, I pulled one of the towels I’d been keeping warm under my coat out and wrapped it around his shoulders. Levi had assured me multiple times that he didn’t get cold, but I still couldn’t bear to see him standing naked on the icy beach.

Using the ends of the towel, I pulled him against me. “You are so fucking amazing, Levi Shoal. I’m so damn proud of you.”

The lighthouse’s beam swept over us, and I could just make out the flush of color on Levi’s cheeks. He smiled, but it faded quickly. “We aren’t done yet.” He knotted the towel around his waist, then picked up one of the still empty jars and took it to the water’s edge. He filled it with seawater, then letting his tentacles free to act as extra hands; he filled two more. He carried the jars of seawater, and the jars filled with his kraken magic wrapped carefully in his tentacles.

“Can you grab the last of the empty jars? We need to fill them with dirt from the town.”

I nodded and picked up the box that only had three jars left in it. “Does it matter where we get the dirt?”

“I don’t think so. My dad just said it needs to be from within the haven town’s border.”

“Then let’s go dig up my yard.”

With the dirt collected and all the other supplies ready to go, Levi and I headed back into the house. We set all the jars on my kitchen table, and I set up the former sugar plum fairy dust jars at one end.

“Now what?”

Levi had put on a pair of gray sweats and a T-shirt and stood surveying the table. “Now we fill the little jars with a little bit of dirt, some water, and some of my magic.”

“No magic words?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“Okay. I have some tools that might make this easier. I’ll be right back.”

Hustling out to my workshop, I made a mental list of the things I had that would help us and snatched them all up quickly. Back in the kitchen, Levi had found my measuring spoons and had set them out on the table. I dropped off the tools I’d gathered, and we sat down to work, setting up a little bit of an assembly line. I added the dirt, Levi put in the water and one of the floating orbs of his magic, and he passed it back to me so I could seal the lid with a dab of the glue I used on my ships in bottles. The finished product looked like a tiny sunset if the sun were a bright glowing teal.

Holding one of the talismans made me feel safe. The bottles were oddly warm to the touch, and with one in my hand and a lot near me, I felt better, calmer, a sense of protection washing over me and driving away the last of the coldness that felt like it had settled in my bones during the wraith attack until I could barely remember what being dragged away by the angry spirit had felt like.

When I told Levi as much, his face went dark and he started to mumble out another apology.

“Don’t, Levi. You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m just saying that this is going to work. These will keep the town safe. And I would happily face another wraith if it led to this same conclusion.”

Levi’s face lost a shade of color. “Don’t say that. Please don’t say that.”

I tried to hide the shudder that snaked down my spine. “It’s not like I’m going to put myself in harm’s way. I promise it’s not something I’m in a rush to repeat, but I’m happy to be your motivation anytime you need it.”

He shrugged, still lost in thought, as he started working on another talisman. “But how do we fix the rest?”

I set down the bottle in my hands and stared at him across the table until he met my eyes. “You already know what we have to do.”

“I do. But it’s going to be a lot harder than you think.”

Reaching across the table, I grabbed his hand, and he turned his over, our palms pressing together and fingers tangling. “You don’t know that.”

“People always fear what they don’t know. Delmar could end up getting exactly what he wants.”

“I know the people in this town, Levi. It’s not going to be like that.”

He gave me an unsteady smile. “I hope you’re right.”