Page 31 of Kraken the Seal

“This could be handy,” Delmar said, picking up a basket on the next table. As I watched he picked up a second basket. “Or maybe this one.” Holding both those baskets in one hand, he grabbed a third. “Wait, I like the color of this one better.”

He gave me a confused look when I laughed. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said, facing him and going up on my toes. “You're just adorable.”

He leaned over, and our lips met. It was a chaste kiss, but I heard a little gasp behind us. We turned to see a blonde woman with startling green eyes staring at us.

“Hi,” I said, giving her a little wave and a smile.

She tried to smile, but it didn't cover her worried expression. “Hello. You're new here.”

“Yes, we arrived yesterday,” I said, then I started talking and couldn’t seem to stop. “I'm surprised you didn't hear about it. A lot of people were staring at us from the pier. I mean because we sailed here on Delmar's boat. They were staring at the boat. And I guess they would stare at us when we weren’t in the cabin.”

I pointed at Delmar, and he gave a little smile and waved. I expected her to look relieved, but if anything, she looked even more scared.

I almost sighed. Delmar was in his human form and acting perfectly normal. I know he was hiding a kraken inside him, but these people were acting as if he was about to rampage through the town.

She was just standing there staring at us. I was getting a little annoyed.

“What?” She jumped a little at my sharp tone. That made me feel guilty so I tried again with a gentler voice. “Do you need something?”

“Can I talk to you? Alone?”

Her voice was so quiet I almost couldn't hear her. Curiosity had me nodding.

“Sure,” I said, stepping forward. “But I'm not getting into any windowless vans no matter how much candy you have.”

Delmar chuckled at my bad joke, but the woman's expression didn't change. She backed up, moved to the front door, and opened it.

“Please don't go far,” Delmar murmured.

“I won't,” I promised and followed the woman outside. The area in front of the store was empty of people so it was unlikely anyone would overhear us. Despite that, the women looked around nervously before speaking in a whisper.

“I can help you escape,” she said.

It took me a moment to figure out what she was saying. “Escape what?”

She looked surprised and then a ghost of a smile passed over her face. “You weren't forced to come here?”

“No, I came to find answers,” I said.

“Mayor Norris will make you pay dearly for anything you need,” she said. “Don't trust him.”

“I don't,” I said. “If you were going to help me escape, does that mean you have a plan?”

“Yes,” she said. “But I wasn't ready yet. I planned to wait until tourist week started. That way it'll take longer for them to notice I'm missing.”

She sounded so quietly determined that I was proud of her.

“Can I help?” I pointed to where Delmar was watching us on the other side of the window. “I don't know if you can tell, but that guy is a kraken. I've been told that's pretty intimidating. If you need, we could escort you out of town.”

She snorted, then slapped a hand over her mouth as if making a sound would get her in trouble.

“I’m sorry I laughed, but you didn’t need to tell me that. He smells so strongly of danger that I could scent him before he walked inside.”

After escorting us inside the small grocery store, Dale had disappeared into the back. Now he rushed past Delmar and through the front door.

“Abby, get away from her!” he snapped, grabbing the woman's arm. She let out a startled cry.