Chapter 18
Delmar
Whatever they'd blown in my face was effective. I could hear everything, but I couldn't move. Not even my kraken could save me. My beast was fast asleep, dreaming of eating swordfish.
It was amazingly horrific to hear my mate fighting to save me.
My eyes wouldn't even obey me so I could only see her being carried away out of my peripheral vision.
She was kicking and screaming, making the men dragging her struggle to keep their grip.
I was so proud of her, especially the way she told Norris that she'd end him.
I wished I had enough control to do her bidding.
How had things gone so wrong so quickly? One moment I thought that the worst thing was that I needed to put up with annoying selkies, now I was in a fight for my life.
Norris, Mark, and Rick appeared in my vision.
“I can't believe that worked,” Rick whispered.
“You shouldn't doubt me,” Norris said.
“What are you going to do with him?” Mark asked, his gnarled figure holding onto the back of a chair to stay standing.
“Mayor Norris?” There was a new voice outside my vision that made all the men look over.
Norris smiled at the person. “Good, you're here. Did you bring Al and Bruce?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take this monster to his own boat,” Norris said, nudging my side with his toe. “Sail his boat far out to sea and have Bruce follow you with his boat. Make sure this thing is dead, then set his boat on fire. Stay out there until his boat is ash and sinks. Understand?”
I didn't like this plan at all.
“H-h-h-he isn't dead?” the guy stuttered.
“I'm not sure,” Norris said. “I don't think he's breathing, but these abominations are cagey. Cut off his head. Nothing can survive that. But not here. I don’t want a mess.”
It's true I wasn't breathing, but my body could go a long time without air, even in my human form. Unfortunately, Norris was correct, I couldn’t survive having my head separated from my body.
At least they weren't doing anything to me right now. I was sure that given enough time, I could shake off the effects of the magic powder.
It was a waiting game of could I recover from the magic before they did something I couldn’t survive?
There was a hesitant silence from the new guy, and Norris stepped away from me and spoke to him with quiet intensity.
“You understand that we can't let this monster remain alive, right? This is for the safety of the colony. I'm trusting you with one of the most important tasks I've ever asked of anyone. Because of you, we will gain a precious female to our colony and make the world safer.”
The guy pulled in a shaky breath. “Yes, I can do this. I won't disappoint you, Mayor Norris.”
While they talked a little longer, Rick crouched down next to me.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered, then dropped a piece of cloth over my face so I couldn't see anything.
Many hands picked me up and carried me. I felt the cool night air on my skin and then I was dropped on a hard, corrugated metal surface. When I heard the engine start, I knew I was in the bed of a truck.
The moment the vehicle started moving, the fabric on my face blew off, and I could see the night sky above me.
I focused on trying to move any part of my body.
All too soon, the truck was pulling to a stop and shutting off.
The tail gate was dropped, and I was roughly pulled from the bed by my feet.
After I landed hard on the ground, they dragged me from the parking lot to the docks.
They were equally as rough getting me onto my boat.
I might not be able to move, but I could still feel pain.
They were probably enjoying this game of “abuse the helpless monster,” but they didn't realize that the pain was helping.
Every jolt seemed to bring my body back to me.
By the time they started up my boat's engine, I could move the big toe on my right foot.
“How far out should we go?” one of them asked.
“Probably about fifty miles,” another said.
“Naw, we don't need to go that far,” Rick said.
They argued for a little while, giving me hope that I’d have enough time to recover.
Come on, I begged my inner beast while frantically wiggling my big toe. Wake up, our mate needs us!
Nina
They dragged me to the basement and locked me in. There weren't any windows and the only door was reinforced.
The first thing I did was find a piece of sharp brick poking out of a wall. It took a few minutes of frantic rubbing, but I sawed through the binding around my wrist. I’d been right, it was an average zip tie. Once I was free, I went to the door, screaming and banging on it until my hands hurt.
Giving up, I backed up and sat down on the concrete floor. The place was empty except for a sink and a toilet in a far corner. It was clear I wasn't the first person to be locked up in here. Norris and his people were so much worse than I’d first thought.
I fought back tears. My body hurt from the rough treatment earlier, but I didn't care about the pain. I'd been injured much worse in the past. What I couldn't stand was feeling helpless.
Frustration made me want to get up and beat on the door some more. The sound of the front door upstairs banging open made me rush to put my ear to the basement door. I heard panicked voices and then silence.
Hope filled me. Maybe Delmar had woken up and was coming to get me.
When the basement door unlocked, I jumped back, desperate to see Delmar but prepared to fight if it was Norris.
The person who appeared was entirely unexpected.
“Abby?”
“Hurry,” she said, grabbing me and pulling me up the short flight of stairs. “They won't be gone long. We have to leave before they realize there wasn't really a fire.”
I pulled her to a stop at the top of the stairs. “They did something to Delmar. They're going to kill him!”
Abby turned to face me, her expression distressed. “I don't know anything about that. All I know is that they plan to give you to my brother. I can't let them do that, he'll hurt you.”
That's when I saw her black eye. She was also holding one of her arms against her body in a way that told me she was injured.
“What happened?” I asked.
She looked confused, then gave me a tired shake of her head. “Nothing new. Dad is usually better at hiding what he does, but he’s been drinking tonight so he wasn't careful.”
I hissed out a breath. I wanted to rage again, but that would’ve been useless and dangerous.
“Come on, we need to go,” Abby said. “I have one of the colony cars packed and ready to go. I’ll drive you home and then I need to disappear.”
“I can’t leave without Delmar,” I said as we got to the front door.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know how to help,” she said.
“Tell me—”
I stopped talking when a car screeched to a halt in front of the house. Abby flinched, tears filling her eyes. “No, it’s too late.”
Archer jumped out of the car and rushed up the short walkway, then stumbled to a stop when he saw us standing there. “Nina, you’re uh, you look nice.”
I raised an eyebrow and pushed Abby behind me. “Didn’t you mean to say ‘Nina, what are you doing out of the basement?’”
Archer sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what Dad was planning to do until just a little while ago. Let me get you back to your boat and mate.”
Did he not know what had happened tonight?
Before I could say anything, he looked past me. I could tell the moment he saw Abby’s bruised face. Rage poured off him, and he shoved me out of the way to get to her.
“Who did this?” he demanded, cupping her uninjured cheek with infinite gentleness. To my shock, Abby didn’t shy away from him.
She looked him in the eyes. “You did.”
Her two words made him draw back. “What do you mean? I’d never hit you, ever!”
“You didn’t have to,” she said, quiet fury radiating from her. “Ignoring everything that was going on was enough. Pretending I was safe and fine was enough.”
“I swear to you, I didn't know,” he whispered. “I was talking Dad into letting us marry. He’s going to say yes. I know he is. Then I could keep you safe from your father.”
“Really?” Abby asked, that single word dripping with sarcasm. I was impressed at her level of aggression. This was a whole new side to Abby. “Were we going to marry before or after I was forced to marry someone from another colony? Or are you going to claim you didn’t know about that arrangement?"
He looked devastated. “No. That’s not possible. Dad wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Why isn’t it possible?” she snapped. “I guess the talk of you marrying a woman from the colony back east was nothing but gossip.”
“He talked about it, but he knew I’d never do that,” Archer said.
“Except you would’ve. You will always do everything your father wants” Abby said, all her anger vanishing. She went back to looking sad and tired. “Goodbye, Archer. I’ll always love you, but I hope never to see you again.”
She pushed past him and looked at me. “I can drop you at the docks, but then I’m leaving.”
I nodded. “Understood. Get me to the dock, and I’ll figure it out from there.”
Archer jumped in front of us. “Wait, what happened here tonight?”
The rage I’d been holding in came out, and I punched Archer in the face. It wasn’t powerful, but the jab caught him in the nose and knocked him back.
“Norris did something to Delmar that froze him so he could murder him!” I didn’t bother mentioning Norris’s plan to give me to Cliff, it was a minor infraction compared to the other. “I’m going to rescue him and if they kill him before I get there, then I’m going to burn this place to the ground!”
Archer dropped his hand from his face. It filled me with satisfaction to see a little blood dripping from his nose.
“My father wouldn’t go that far,” he whispered.
“If you believe that, then you’re delusional,” I said. I grabbed Abby’s hand and together, we moved forward. Archer was forced off the path as we walked by.
The back seat of the car was stuffed with boxes, but the passenger seat was empty. She’d planned to rescue me, even though it was dangerous for her.
Abby might’ve been abused by the people who were supposed to love her the most, but she was still ready to help others. She was probably the strongest woman I’d ever met.
Headlights made me look up to see several cars speeding down the narrow, residential street. It had to be Norris coming back. I shoved Abby into the driver’s seat.
“Go!” I screamed. “I’ll slow them down.”
She didn’t hesitate. She jumped in and shoved the running car into gear and shot off. Archer finally shook off his shock and rushed into the street.
“Abby, please don’t leave me!” he screamed at the car’s taillights.
“You left her first,” I whispered as the other cars all screeched to a halt around us. This meant I was going to be captured again, but maybe this would be helpful. Archer was standing in front of me, hands covering his face as if he was fighting tears.
He was still in full uniform, including his utility belt with a wicked-looking gun at his right hip. I went to grab it, thinking it would be easy to snatch and then I’d be able to hold all the men at gunpoint and demand they take me to Delmar.
While I had experience firing handguns, I didn’t know anything about the type of holster Archer was using. The gun wouldn’t come out, and I realized there had to be a trick to pulling the weapon out of the hard, molded plastic.
I didn’t get past the first tug before Archer was in motion, pushing me away and drawing his weapon in one smooth motion. It was clear he kept up on his training.
“What were you trying to do?” he asked, as if surprised to see me standing there.
“I think that’s obvious,” I snarked.
By now the cars had emptied out, and Norris along with half a dozen men were surrounding us.
“Archer, what are you doing here?” Norris asked. I could tell he was trying to sound unconcerned, but it wasn’t working. “That doesn’t matter. You should go home. I have this under control.”
His words and lack of concern made me realize he didn’t know who was in the car that had left. I was happy for Abby, she was escaping. Only now I was in a difficult spot.
Maybe I could use Archer and Norris to distract everyone. All the cars were sitting in the street, still running with all their doors open. I guess no one thought of theft in a town made up of colony members.
I only needed to get to one.
“He let me out of the basement you locked me in,” I lied, then I hit them with the truth. “Is it true that Abby is marrying some guy from another colony in a few weeks?”
“No,” Archer said with a shake of his head. “That can’t be true. You told me that if I was loyal, Abby would be my wife. I never even told anyone we were fated mates. Our marriage would've been good for us and the colony.”
Norris shot me an angry look before focusing on his son. “Not good enough. Abby is a nice girl, but the woman I’m bringing in is selkie royalty. Your children would be held in the highest esteem by selkies all around the world.”
I watched the last of Archer’s trust in his father melt away, leaving nothing but bitter disillusionment.
“How could you do this?” Archer whispered, striding past me to confront his father. That’s what I needed!
I edged back as the two men spoke in low, harsh tones and the other colony members drew in close, unsure what to do.
No one paid attention to me as I eased myself behind them and to the closest car. I was almost there when a sound filled the air. It was so loud it made us all gasp and cover our ears.
“What was that?” one of Norris’s men asked the moment it stopped. “It sounded like Godzilla from the movies!”
“Oh god,” Norris whispered, looking scared for the first time. “Archer, go to the station and get every gun you have. We’re going to need them.”
“What is it, Dad?” Archer demanded.
“Kraken!”
Relief at knowing Delmar was alive made my legs go weak. I had to lean on the hood of the car to stay upright.
Norris looked around frantically until his eyes met mine. “Grab her, she’s the only way we’re going to be able to defeat him.”
Of course I tried to get into a car, but everyone was so close that I didn’t get a chance. Two men grabbed me while Norris ordered the others to gather as many weapons as they could find and meet at the harbor.
“Don’t do this Dad,” Archer begged. “Let me take her down there. I’m sure Delmar can be reasoned with to leave once he has her safe in his arms.”
“You can’t reason with a kraken,” Norris snapped. “They are monsters. All you can do is kill them before they kill you.”
I let out a frustrated scream. “You’re the true monster here!”
Norris ignored me. “Gag her!”
I didn’t get another chance to talk. Fabric was shoved in my mouth and more fabric tied around my head to keep me from doing anything more than making muffled cries.
You’re all dead men, I thought, as they shoved me into the back of a car. Every single one of you!