Page 28 of Kraken the Seal

Taking Delmar's hand, we followed the sheriff out into the sunshine.

Chapter 10

Delmar

It was only because my mate needed answers and Norris possibly had them, that I didn't let my tentacles pick him up and toss him out the nearest window.

I could only hope that this sheriff wouldn't be as speciest as the mayor.

We followed him outside and without looking back, he turned right and began striding quickly uphill. My mate tried to keep up, but Archer was almost as tall as I was, and Nina would've had to break into a run to stay close.

I stopped, pulling Nina close.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Smiling down at her, I nodded my head at the sheriff. “I'm waiting for him to realize we aren't there. It feels more effective than shouting.”

She giggled and waited with me. The sheriff had almost crested the hill before he noticed we weren't behind him. Turning around, he looked confused at first, then embarrassed. He got a lot of points from me for rushing back down to us with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry, I tend to walk fast when I have a lot on my mind. There's a small park with a nice view of the town at the top. Can you walk up there, or should I take us some place closer?” His expression lit up. “If you wait here, I can get my cruiser and drive you.”

“I can walk up the hill,” Nina said. “But I'd rather not have to run.”

“You should go ahead of me and set the pace,” he said, stepping off the sidewalk to let us pass. Nina nodded, and we started moving.

I could tell Nina was enjoying the walk. She liked being active and being off the ship probably felt good.

“Your town is pretty,” she said over her shoulder. She wasn't wrong. The houses we could see were all well-maintained, and the streets were lined with trimmed trees. All that was missing were kids on bicycles and families walking dogs.

No, that wasn't exactly right. The more I looked around, the more I saw abnormalities. Everything was a little too clean and perfect. The quiet was also a bit disturbing. It was Sunday, so there should be people out shopping, talking, laughing, and doing all the things you did on a weekend. Not only did this place lack foot traffic, but there weren't even cars.

Places like this thrived of tourism, where was everyone?

“Our colony works hard to keep the town nice,” he agreed.

“Nice but empty,” I said.

Nina tensed up, and I knew she was ready to verbally slap the sheriff if he was rude to me.

Unlike the mayor, the sheriff didn't have a fake smile. In fact, he hadn't stopped frowning since we'd met. His expressions seemed to vary between a severity of frowns.

He gave me a medium frown. “We only open the town up for tourists on select weeks. Dad wants to keep outside influence at a minimum, but we need to make enough money to survive. We'll be opening up tomorrow for a week. Jace runs our social media accounts and does an amazing job of drawing crowds during the open weeks.”

“Dad?” I asked.

“The mayor is his dad,” Nina said.

“Oh,” I said, looking down at Nina who didn't look surprised. “You knew?”

“They have the same eyes,” Nina said with a little shrug, then pointed to Archer's chest. “And they have the same last name.”

Now that she pointed all that out, I felt a little foolish for not noticing earlier. My mate patted my shoulder.

“Don't feel bad, you were busy protecting me,” she said. “It was so romantic when you put yourself between me and danger.”

Her admiration made my tentacles want to come out and pick up heavy things to show off.

“It's my privilege,” I murmured. “I'll never hesitate to do anything necessary to keep you safe and happy.”