Page 48 of Kraken the Seal

I wasn’t sure if he misheard her question or decided to ignore it completely.

“What if someone wants to leave the colony?” Nina asked as she walked inside the small house. It was empty and very obviously recently refurbished.

“It hasn’t happened,” he said. His smile never faltered and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was telling the truth. He had to know there were women like Abby who wanted out. Her situation hadn’t suddenly gotten bad out of nowhere or all at once. Frank had to have been abusing her and probably her mother for many years.

Despite all his “caring,” he wasn’t doing anything about it.

I could tell by the way Nina grabbed for my hand that she was thinking the same thing.

“Only a few more hours,” I whispered.

She gave me a slight nod before turning her attention back to Norris.

“You'd live alone until you married,” Norris said. “If you pick my son, you'd move into his house. Cliff, Frank's son, is single. If you marry him, then you’d move in with him and Frank. Sadly, Frank's wife passed away, but that would mean you'd be the ruling woman in the house.”

“What about Abby?” I asked. “Doesn't she live with her dad and brother?”

Norris’s smile disappeared as he looked up at me, but he answered. “Abby won't be there in a few weeks. We are in negotiations with a colony in the north.”

“It's nice she found her fated mate,” I said.

Norris’s expression went from mildly unfriendly to hostile. “We don't believe in that nonsense. The best marriages are partnerships based on mutual respect and duty. We are above the idea of fated mates.”

My jaw dropped. I'd never met a magical creature that didn't believe in fated mates. His dismissive attitude to our claim of fated mates suddenly made sense.

Out of everything I'd learned about this colony, that was the strangest. It was like saying you didn't believe there were fish in the ocean or birds in the sky.

While I was silently trying to comprehend this, Norris went back to talking to Nina with a giant, excited smile on his face.

“There are three other men available to marry that would move in here with you, so you could keep the house. I know having a home to make your mark in is important to women. We could help you move your belongings in, although there can't be much on that boat.”

He showed us every part of the house, making sure to point out all the new appliances in the kitchen. It was a nice place, but it felt vaguely evil.

Or maybe that was Norris.

After he was finished, he walked us back to Dale waiting with the car. “I know it's crowded with all the humans in the town today, but you can see that we are thriving. We were struggling thirty years ago, but look at us now! We're the biggest and richest colony on the west coast.”

“But at what cost?” she murmured.

Norris didn't hear her. “You should spend the rest of the day walking around town. Try anything, it's all free for you. Tonight, we'll have dinner at my house.”

By now we were at the car and getting inside. Instead of getting in himself, he waved then strode away, looking very pleased with himself.

Dale turned in his seat to look at Nina. “Where would you like to go?”

“Coffee,” she said succinctly.

“I'm supposed to drive you around all day if you want,” Dale offered as he pulled away from the curb.

“Just drop us off and then you can go wherever you want,” Nina said.

Dale looked disappointed, but took us back to the coffee shop, then drove away. He was so young that he probably didn't get to drive the colony cars very often and had looked forward to the privilege.

“Do we even need to talk about all that?” Nina asked as we got in line for coffee.

“Nope,” I said. “But we can rant if you want.”

She chuckled, and we ordered coffee. This turned out to be the best part of the day and the last bit of peace everyone in the town would know until we left.