Page 56 of Kraken the Seal

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.