Page 60 of Kraken the Seal

He tried to grab hold of Nina, but Archer shoved him back. That's when Norris brought up the gun and aimed it at Archer’s chest.

“What are you going to do?” Archer asked, keeping Nina behind him. “Shoot your son?”

If Archer got Nina a little further away, I felt confident I could move fast enough to shield them with my body before anyone had a chance to react.

“I can't let you challenge me in front of others,” Norris said. “If I have to train another successor, I will. It'll hurt to lose you, Archer, but I won't let anyone put this colony in danger.”

“You put everyone in danger!” Archer snarled. “All because of your ego.”

Before Norris could say anything, Archer looked at me and repeated what Nina had said. “No mercy!”

Then he grabbed her and jumped.

Chapter 20

Nina

I screamed as we fell, but Archer never let go of me. He flipped his body so his back hit the water, shielding me from the brutal impact.

The frigid ocean enveloped me, stealing my ability to think or move for a moment. I was still clinging to Archer, even as his body changed and his arms turned to flippers.

Right, we were selkies!

The moment I thought that, my inner seal came to life. She gleefully took over, shifting our body and shredding our clothes. We slipped away from Archer's grip and swam for the surface. My seal’s first thought was about our mate.

The moment I surfaced, the sound of gunfire filled my ears. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear screaming and shouting. Beyond that was the sound of people yelling and car tires squealing as colony members ran away.

Archer’s giant seal moved close and tried to nudge me out to sea. I ignored him and dived under the water and made my way around the bend so I could get into the harbor. I could feel him following me, but he didn’t try to stop me. I was shocked at how well I could see underwater, despite the darkness. It was almost as if I could sense everything with my body as well as my eyes.

My selkie sent me aduhthought, as if I was being stupid about how capable we were. She was right.

I got to the harbor and surfaced. The selkies with the guns had retreated up the road that led to the harbor as Delmar advanced on them. There were more men now, taking turns unloading their guns at Delmar while the others reloaded.

Norris was one of them; he had a long gun he held with practiced ease and fired it rapidly. I’d be upset except Delmar didn’t seem to care at all. I couldn’t see him bleeding anywhere, and it almost looked like he was playing with them.

He was throwing his tentacles out, tossing cars, destroying shops, and generally causing destruction and chaos without touching the men.

I froze with my head bobbing out of the water, surrounded by the remnants of wrecked docks and boats. I couldn’t take my eyes off Delmar’s immense kraken form. My gorgeous mate was a fearsome sight, and I loved it.

Archer surfaced next to me. We watched as Delmar made his way up the road until he disappeared from sight. I couldn’t stand not being able to see him. My seal couldn’t either. She gave up control without warning. I suddenly found myself in my human form, floating in freezing water.

With a gasp I swam to the boat launching ramp.

“Damn it,” I whispered to her. “Couldn’t you have at least gotten me over here before shifting?”

I felt her amusement and then I was walking up the concrete ramp, the air on my damp skin making me shiver even worse.

Archer had followed me in his seal form and then shifted once I was standing up. He rushed past me, unconcerned and unbothered by his nakedness. He opened a storage shed that had escaped Delmar’s appendages and pulled out a towel he wrapped around his waist. Then he pulled out a folded blanket and tossed it to me.

I wrapped the soft fabric around my shoulders, feeling warmer immediately.

Archer wasn't done because he pulled out two sets of cheap flip-flops and brought me a pair after slipping a set on his feet.

“We shouldn't get too close,” he warned as I slid my feet into my pair.

I ignored him and half walked, half jogged up the road as fast as I could without sending one of the flip-flops flying.

I rounded a bend, Archer at my side, to find that Delmar had done a good job of destroying a section of the main street.