Kraken the Seal (The Shifterverse #7)

Chapter 1

Delmar

The moment I hit the cool water of the Pacific, I shifted into my kraken form.

My entire body sighed with happiness as my tentacles stretched out, the ends curling and uncurling.

At first, I floated about six feet from the surface of the water.

I could see my boat floating above, the anchor trailing down to help keep it in place.

One of my tentacles stretched out to touch the anchor chain.

When I wasn’t focused on using them, the tentacles had little minds of their own and tended to wander.

I pulled the limb away from the chain and swam straight down.

I needed to do my task first, then I could enjoy ocean time and let my tentacles be the child-like puppies they were.

Light dimmed and color dulled, then disappeared as I got deeper.

I felt the pressure change and adjusted the seawater in my body to match.

I could sense a lot of life in this section of the ocean.

There was a pod of bottlenose dolphins and a whale not far away.

A large yellowfin tuna moved past me to the right, making several of my tentacles reach out hungrily.

I pulled them back and focused on going down.

Soon there was no light. I could still see, but I was mostly using my other senses. I felt the pulses of other living creatures and the way the water moved around the objects laying on the ocean floor.

Ah, there it was! I discovered the wreck yesterday.

Half the ship was intact, but the rest was scattered across a large section of the ocean floor.

I spent yesterday exploring the section of the ship that landed in roughly the same spot.

Today I was going to start sifting through the silt to find any treasure that might’ve been scattered.

There were plenty of goodies left to find. This wreck alone would support me for the next two years!

When all a kraken wanted to do was soak up the sun, swim in the ocean, and enjoy the company of friends, he got creative to earn money. In my case, I’d hunt down enough treasure to keep me in beer and dock fees but not so much that it felt like work.

Honestly, I didn’t always like taking items from these ships. Sometimes I came across a ship that had carried passengers instead of goods. I believed in ghosts and left those sites untouched. I wasn’t going to disturb their final resting place. That’s how you ended up cursed!

Even more so if the ship had carried humans as cargo. When I found a sunken slave ship, I said a prayer to the ocean and hoped their souls found their way home. Then I made note of where that ship was resting and left that area alone.

Merchant or whaling ships were fair game and thankfully there were a lot of them.

I’d been doing this long enough to identify ships pretty quickly.

This one was from the late 1700s and was mostly carrying lumber and tobacco judging by remnants of containers I found.

The cargo had long since disintegrated, but there were plenty of little historical treasures that collectors would pay top dollar for.

I’d already found a few French gold coins, and I expected there were more.

I started by sifting through the detritus near the ship, then working my way outward in a widening spiral. As I found things, my tentacles would pass them among each other, feeling all the textures and angles of each item.

When I found an intact box, I didn’t think about it except to warn my tentacles to hold that one with care. Wood had a tendency to disintegrate once it was brought up from its resting place. The box was probably empty, but I’d bring it up anyway.

I was so distracted by my task that at first I didn’t notice the giant squid sneaking up on me. Moving to face it, I admired the large creature. I didn’t want to hurt my distant cousin. Being bigger was the best way to discourage him without having to physically confront him.

As a kraken, I could control my size. I could be as small as a hand or as big as the classical monster of legend. I grew until I was twice his size and fanned out my tentacles. The giant squid jerked back and then fled.

Seeing him worried me. They didn’t usually like these waters. If I saw him again, I might see about taking an extended trip to guide him into a better habitat.

Or maybe I shouldn’t. He looked healthy. Perhaps he’d found a nice niche to fill, and I shouldn’t mess with him.

Turning my attention back to the treasure hunt, I spent the next few hours happily running my tentacles through the silt. By the time all my limbs were carrying multiple items, I headed for the surface.

I peeked out of the water to make sure no one was close, then climbed onto my boat in my kraken shape. Once I was onboard, I gently set all my treasures down, then shifted into my human shape.

It was always a little shocking to pull that first lungful of air in after spending so much time underwater. I gave myself time to adjust, then grabbed a towel and dried off, then pulled on a pair of sweatpants.

Shifting always made me hungry, so I made myself a giant sandwich my sister dubbed the Delmar Special and munched on it as I went through my haul.

“Nice,” I said, separating the gold coins. Those, along with a few pieces of gold jewelry, were going to be worth the most.

Popping the last bite of sandwich into my mouth, I picked up the wooden box that was in surprisingly good shape. The moment I opened it, I almost dropped it.

If a human were looking at it, all they’d see was a simple silver chain with a teardrop pendant, but I could feel powerful magic radiating from it.

“Talk about cursed objects," I mumbled. My first instinct was to toss it back into the sea, but I couldn’t do that. If a human accidentally came across it, they could be badly hurt. I didn’t know what the pendant was meant to do, but it couldn't be good.

I didn’t want to, but I needed to take this pendant to a bruja who could dismantle the spell. Once it was safe, maybe I could sell it and recoup some of my loss. I let out an aggravated sigh.

“This is going to be expensive,” I said, shutting the box and gathering all my treasures up to store them below deck. “Stupid angry people creating cursed objects. I hope you died sad.”

“Did you have a good time?”

I looked up to see Jean standing on the dock with a small cooler in one hand and an overstuffed beach bag in the other. She owned the small sloop tied up next to my boat. She’d caught me furling the sails.

“Always,” I said with a smile. I liked Jean, sometimes she shared her homemade cookies with me, and she loved the ocean almost as much as a kraken. “But I’ll probably go out again tomorrow. The ocean is calling to me.”

“The ocean never stops calling to you,” Jean teased. “It’s a pleasant surprise when I see your boat tied up. You're the only person I know who spends more time out at sea than docked.”

I shrugged. It was true I spent most of my days far from land, swimming deep in the ocean in my kraken form. Some nights I didn’t even come back to port. It was only the lure of tasty treats like lattes that pulled me back to land.

Well, treats and companionship. Even a kraken could get lonely.

“I ran into Zak in the parking lot. He’s having a party on his yacht tonight,” she said, nodding her head at the monstrosity in a slip not far enough away. “He said we’re both invited.”

I smiled, showing too many teeth but no joy. “Great.”

Jean laughed. “I didn’t think you’d be interested. I’m not going either, but I thought I should warn you in case you’re docked tonight.”

“I’ve never been so tempted to be out to sea,” I grumbled with another glance at the yacht.

I liked a social gathering as much as the next kraken, but Zak’s parties were always full of crypto-bros that talked endlessly about all things money related. Day trading, cryptocurrency, and NFTs were their favorite topics.

Their second favorite thing to talk about was whatever weird diet was trending. If I had to hear another one of those idiots drone on about macros or fasting, crypto-bro would become my new favorite snack!

“You could always crash at my place,” she said.

I gave her a grateful smile but shook my head. “Spend a night on land? Never!”

She laughed and waved. “I’ll see you later.”

I waved back and went back to my docking chores. Fatigue hit me as I finished. It was time for a nice nap in the sun. I’d deal with everything else later.