Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

LEVI

“Oh my gods, Kris! I’m so sorry!” I grabbed a napkin and immediately started wiping up the mess I’d just made.

“It’s okay.” He used his own napkin to help. “I’m guessing you have strong feelings about the leviathan, huh?”

Considering the fate I’d run from was becoming a leviathan, yeah, you could say that. Krakens were natural-born leaders. Krakens were almost always the mayors of the ley line haven towns because our magic was the strongest. We were protectors. If a kraken was in charge, no one would dare threaten a haven town. A kraken in charge became a leviathan. Our powers increased in support of keeping our people safe. Think giant squid meets sea serpent on steroids. I could guarantee whatever Kris was teaching in his nautical folklore courses, he had it all wrong.

My father had started mumbling about retirement and needing to pass on the mantle, like his father had passed the mantle on to him after my grandfather left Lifeboat and settled in Baleen, serving as the mayor of the town until my grandmother told him it was time to step down. But that wasn’t what I wanted. At least not now. And besides, my brother Lake was the one my father had been grooming to take his place. He’d told me there were other things, important things, in my future.

And what the hell would Kris think if he knew he was having dinner with the object of his academic interest? I still thought it was weird he had no idea the creatures he studied were all around him. Maybe there was a way I could break it to him slowly? I didn’t want to end up on Mayor Delmar’s radar any more than I already was, but it didn’t seem fair that the humans here didn’t know about the magic of their town.

With the sake mopped up, I mirrored his gesture from earlier, holding my thumb and forefinger up with just a little space between. “Just a little. But that’s a long story for another day.”

“Yeah, okay.” But the expression on his face said he wanted to press for more information. Information I couldn’t give him. It wasn’t that I wanted to heed Mayor Delmar’s warning, but I wasn’t sure dropping a truth bomb on Kris in the middle of Kori’s restaurant was the best play. Hell, I’d almost fucked up and said more than I should when Kris asked me about speaking Japanese. It wasn’t Japanese but the ancient language all sea monsters used to communicate.

But Kris wasn’t ready to hear that either.

Luckily, our overly solicitous waiter returned and set our dinners in front of us.

“Is there anything else you need, sir?” he asked, bowing slightly.

“Uh, just some more napkins.”

“Of course, sir.” He bustled away and returned a moment later with a stack of napkins an inch thick.

Kris nodded to the pile. “Sort of a celebrity?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah.”

We tucked into our meals, chatting generally about the town. Kris seemed to know everyone and everything that had happened for the last four decades, and I took the chance to ask a few questions.

“How long has Mayor Delmar been in office?”

He thought about it for a moment. “Calder has been mayor for the last seven years. He’s up for reelection next year. But a Delmar has been mayor for as long as I can remember.”

That was interesting, and I wondered, not for the first time since I’d arrived in Lifeboat, why my grandfather left. I had a gut feeling it had something to do with the Delmar family. I would have to see what I could find out.

“Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?” Kris asked, changing the subject.

“That’s the American holiday with the turkey, right?”

He laughed. “Yep, that about covers it.”

I shook my head. “No. Thanksgiving obviously wasn’t a thing in Ireland, and despite having family roots in the US, we never picked up the tradition. Why do you ask?”

“I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this when I specifically told her I wouldn’t, but you might have come up in conversation while I was with my family this afternoon, and my mother might have told me to invite you to Thanksgiving.”

My hearts flip-flopped in my chest. Before our impromptu date, Kris and I had barely met. What did it mean that he’d brought me up to his family? Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was feeling the fast and electric connection between us? But was it too early to do the whole meet-the-family thing, especially when there were essential truths Kris was currently in the dark about? Probably. But I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I cared all that much.

My tentacles twitched in excitement at getting to spend more time with Kris, and I quickly rubbed my hands over where they rested hidden against my skin before Kris could notice.

“Are you cold?” The cutest little crease appeared between his brows as he looked at me with concern.

“Oh, uh, no. Not really. Just a sudden chill. Better now.”

“Good.” He rubbed a hand over his beard, and my mind flashed to what it would feel like to have his facial hair brush against my sensitive skin. Another shudder rolled through me, my tentacles reacting to my thoughts again.

“Tell me more about this Thanksgiving thing?”

Kris groaned. “Honestly, I feel bad even bringing it up. The Kringles don’t Thanksgiving like most people. In fact, we usually order takeout from here instead of doing the whole turkey and all the trimmings. Mostly, it’s the first day I’m forced into holiday indentured servitude. My parents and siblings have been getting everything out of storage and ready for the season, but on Thanksgiving, we hang everything and transform our giant barn into Santa’s workshop.” He paused and took a big breath. “If you agree, you will be put to work. But since you’re new in town and haven’t ever seen the operation, it might be fun to have a behind-the-scenes look.”

I already knew I was going to say yes, but I also wanted Kris to know where my head was at. “To be clear, I will get to spend the day with you?”

“And my very intense family, yes.”

“Then I’m in.”

Kris smiled, his full lips a rosy pink contrast to the dark brown of his beard. “Was it the intense family or the manual labor that snared you?”

His hand rested palm down on the table, and in a move that might have been a little bold for a first date, I covered his hand with mine and met his gaze. “No, it was all you.”

To my surprise, Kris turned his hand over and gave mine a squeeze. “For the first time in a long time, I’m actually looking forward to Thanksgiving.”

“Me too.”

We kept our hands intertwined on the table and chatted until dusk turned into dark and the restaurant grew quiet around us. It was the most comfortable first date I’d ever had. In a lot of ways, it felt like I’d known Kris forever despite having known him for only a little over a day. I was halfway to smitten and a whole lot interested in getting my hands, and eventually my tentacles, all over him.

Kori dropped off our check, our server having already left for the night, and Kris made a grab for it, but I got there faster. “This is on me. Least I can do for spitting sake all over you.”

He shook his head. “You barely got any on my hand. I should pay as a welcome-to-town thing.”

I held up a hand, fending off any further protest. “You get the next one.”

Kris’s eyes went bright like he was happy I was planning to go out with him again, but then that little crease I wanted to kiss smooth appeared between his brows. “Maybe you should hold that thought until after your Kringle trial by fire.”

I shook my head. “Nah. Won’t change anything.”

Kris’s answering smile was so bright it probably could have been seen from space.

We slipped back into our coats and said goodnight to Kori, who was closing up at the front of the restaurant, the sign on the door already flipped to closed, and stepped out into the chilly evening.

Kris took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “It’s going to snow soon.”

I followed his gaze, but I didn’t see a single cloud. “How do you know?”

“I just do. By the end of the week we’ll have snow on the ground.”

I pulled my coat around me a little tighter. The weather in Lifeboat was definitely colder than what I was used to in Ireland. While we occasionally got snow, it mostly passed us by. The winters in Baleen were generally wet and a little cooler but not like what I expected winter in Maine to be like. I was going to need a heavier coat so I could blend in even if I wouldn’t need it to stay warm. I could easily control my own body temperature, which made it easy to swim in frigid or warm water.

“I’m looking forward to it. We didn’t get much snow in Baleen, and when we did, it usually fell in February or March. Maybe I’ll get to see one of those, what do you call them? White Christmases.”

“I thought you said you don’t celebrate Christmas.”

In Baleen, where human and sea monster culture were inextricably linked, we celebrated our winter holiday, Poseidonia, alongside Christmas, Hanukkah, and others. While I didn’t personally observe Christmas, I wasn’t unfamiliar with the general concepts surrounding the holiday, both those tied to human religion and those tied to the secular aspects of the season.

“I don’t.”

“Me either.”

That didn’t make sense given what he’d told me about his family. “Really? Not even with your family’s business?”

“Maybe because of it. I dunno. It’s just not my thing.”

“Well, maybe I can teach you some of my holiday traditions.”

Kris’s hand found mine, and we crossed the street, heading for the record shop. “I think I might like that.”

“Okay, but I also expect you to take me out to your tree farm.”

He squeezed my hand. “Deal.”

The walk was far too short, and before I knew it, we were standing in front of my store. My hearts were racing with anticipation, my tentacles tingling under my jacket as I wondered if Kris would kiss me goodnight. I wasn’t normally the kind of kraken who kissed on a first date, but when it came to Kris Kringle, it wouldn’t take much to convince me to be the sort of kraken who did a whole lot more on a first date.

Kris kept his hand locked with mine and took a half step into my space. My breath caught in my throat. This was it.

“Thank you for dinner. I had a great time.”

“My pleasure. I had a great time too.”

Kris’s gaze fell to my lips. “I really want to kiss you, Levi.”

“Gods, yes. Please.”

Before the words were barely out of my mouth, Kris’s lips landed on mine. The second our mouths touched, a pulse of magic rushed through me. I’d never felt anything like it, and my tentacles unfurled, straining the seams of my coat as our lips molded together. The magic continued to hum around us as heat pulsed in my veins from where Kris and I were connected to the tip of each tentacle and back again.

When Kris finally broke the kiss, he rested his forehead against mine.

“Wow,” he breathed.

“Very wow.” I smiled and pressed another kiss to his mouth, loving the contrast between his pillowy soft lips and his rough beard. I wasn’t ready to let Kris go yet. The magic rose in me again, feeling like a fourth heartbeat that was coming up through the ground—from the ley line itself—and filling me up until I thought I might burst.

The sound of a ripping seam made me break our kiss. Cold night air blew over my now exposed tentacle.

Shit. Not good. I needed a way to end our evening that didn’t make it seem like I was running or make Kris ask questions I couldn’t answer. At least not yet.

“Damn. I could kiss you for hours, Levi, but I have to get home to prep a lecture. Rain check?”

I beamed at him, grateful for the out so I could get myself under control. “Absolutely.”

He pecked one last kiss on my lips, then dropped my hand. “Goodnight, Levi.”

“Goodnight, Kris. Sleep well.”

With a smile, he backed away, walking backward until I was inside the building.

I struggled out of my coat, my tentacles spilling free as the residual rush of magic continued to pulse beneath my skin. I had no idea what had just happened, but it was pretty clear the ley line magic in Lifeboat wanted Kris to be mine.

And as I ran my fingers over my kiss-swollen lips, I wanted that too.