Page 37 of Kept By the Kraken

I punch and kick, landing some blows, but all it does is make him angrier. His face is twisted into that of a true monster, all fierce teeth and seething rage.

“I tried to do this the amicable way. You don’t want to be married? Fine. You’re a lousy fuck. But with you gone, the assets are frozen. You owe me, and you’re going to help me make my own fortune.” We slam into the door as he pushes us forward. His body presses against me, trapping me, his breath hot inmy face. “The rune, it’s a lost symbol. And a discovery like that would mean collectors. Help me secure the artifact and we’ll part ways.”

Shit. Bjorn’s mark and my stupid email.

“You can’t be serious!” I jump forward, trying to spring free, jabbing my elbow into his chest.

Daniel grunts but doesn’t budge. Panic floods my system as I realize I’m truly trapped with my desperate ex. He’s acting crazy and reckless, and I have no idea who this man holding me is. I’ve never seen him so out of control.

The burning ember in my chest flares. Bjorn is coming for me. How this mate thing works is still somewhat of a mystery to me, but there is no way that Bjorn hasn’t felt my stress in the bond. He must not be close enough that I can hear him, but that ember is burning in my chest, reassuring me that he will protect me.

Even though it should make me feel better, it causes more panic to rise. Shit. The problem is my matewillprotect me. He’s a warrior and a kraken shifter. If he deals with Daniel, there’s no way my ex will live through the night. And if Daniel disappears, it won’t be just Bjorn’s secret we expose. It would lead back to me. I’ll be a suspect, or we both will. Bjorn and I will start our life together on the run.

I want a life of adventure with this man, but not like that. That future isn’t one where my wounded kraken can heal, where I can figure out who I want to be, or where the two of us could build a life. We’d be constantly worried and hiding for the next decade. Maybe more. What would happen if we wanted to have children? We would have to hide and that’s not the future I want to imagine for us.

I try to stall or convince Daniel this won’t work. He can’t get anywhere near the water, my Bjorn, or that symbol. “I told you it was from a party cruise.”

“Bullshit. You know you didn’t find a party cruise token. I’ve seen the marking once before on a weapon and I know it would spark interest. Now, let’s go. Where is the dock for the lab?” He pushes me harder into the door, scowling.

“I’ll draw you a map, but we can’t go out there. We don’t have equipment. It’s gonna be dark soon,” I explain, lowering my tone and trying for compliance to see if I can get him to back down. “We could go tomorrow. Let’s cool off, come up with a plan. We can start fresh in the morning.”

“No. I don’t trust you not to recover it for yourself. The money is frozen where you can’t touch it either. The boat will have what we need. Now lead me to it.” He jerks on my arm, and I stumble behind him, trying to pull from his grasp.

We spill out of the office into the lobby, and he makes a grab for me. I try to stop us in place, planting my feet. His hold on me pushes past too tight, fingers digging roughly into my flesh.

“You’re hurting me,” I yell.

Daniel pulls on my hair, yanking my head back and dragging me through the lobby and into the parking lot. It’s empty. I scream anyway.

He tugs on my hair again, this time so hard I suck in a breath, and his hand covers my mouth. I bite his palm and thrash against him, kicking. Daniel curses but doesn’t back down, violently stuffing me in the backseat of his car with quick, hard movements. He shoves my head onto the seat and slams the door. I scramble for the handle, push on the unlock button, but it’s childproofed.

Fuck.

By the time I half-climb into the front, Daniel is in the driver’s seat. He shoves me hard, and I fall back against the leather, whacking my cheek on the side of the headrest. Getting up quickly, I try to knock him over, pushing and shoving to getcontrol of the car and stop him from leaving. He backhands me hard and I land against the seat, stunned.

I press my hand against my busted-up cheek and laugh, the sound unhinged. In the front seat, Daniel carries on about his plans, ignoring me. I’ll give him credit for working the angle of the artifact. Daniel spends his life around showy antiques dealers through his work at the university archives and as a resident expert in the area. He knows the money he could collect if such a thing were real. But the idea that he could secure an artifact—if there was one like he thinks—on a night dive is half-cocked and laughable. None of his ramblings are founded on the logistics of diving or knowledge of the water. No one in their right mind would think this was a solid plan. Obviously, he’s not in his right mind.

It would be funny—how little my ex knows about me, my job, or the water—except with every moment, we’re drawing closer to the inevitability of Bjorn getting to Daniel before he even makes out of the bay.

Daniel takes a deep breath and fixes the collar of his shirt, visibly trying to regain his control before he turns on the car, and my fear spikes. How the fuck am I ever going to get us out of this? I try the door again, but it’s useless, so I sit back and eye Daniel, hoping like hell he’ll come to his senses. Daniel keeps muttering as he drives around the research lab until he takes the cutoff toward the docks.

It’s empty, all the boats tied up for the evening and staff gone. Daniel parks then opens the passenger door. I kick at his legs, screaming, and he drags me roughly from the backseat.

“Daniel, stop!” I plant my feet and pull against him, trying desperately to get him to leave with me. I can feel my mate’s presence and I panic, swinging and bucking desperately.

But there is no stopping the inevitable. One step onto the dock and my kraken explodes from the water.

Chapter 20

Bjorn

My tentacles rip the man’s hold from my mate and wrap around him. I yank them back to me, hurtling him from the dock. He shrieks as he plunges into the bay. I sink with him, squeezing him tightly with my tentacles and pulling him to face me.

His eyes are wide in panic, his face etched in horror, but he’s immobilized in my grasp. This man will die for touching her, but I want him to suffer first. It was already too long before I got to her.

I shudder at the memory of the bolts of fear her distress call sent to my heart. History will not repeat itself tonight. She is mine and I will protect her. I won’t fail her.

My feelers crawl until they find skin, their jagged hooks piercing his flesh, stunning my prey. My ink clouds around us, the poison thick. It will distort his vision, detaching his mind from reality and sending him into a hellscape.

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