Page 87 of Nora's Kraken

There’s a moment of indecision in his face, a brief crack that shows the coward he is. Driven by pride and ego and the belief he can have whatever he wants, and the weakness beneath rotting it all from the inside out.

Still, he pushes that doubt aside and pulls the gun, pressing it to Nora’s side. Her whole body goes rigid, and the pulses of her terror echo in me through the ties that bind us.

“This has nothing to do with you, monster,” Sorenson sneers, taking a step backward toward the car he no doubt has waiting nearby.

He’s not taking her anywhere.

Letting my rage coalesce into a focused, icy calm, I take a step as well. He pulls the gun from her side and points it toward me, and a pained cry breaks from Nora’s throat.

Because of me. Because she’s scared for me.

He glances at her in sharp understanding, then laughs. The sound of it is cruel and unhinged, like he’s just put together the last piece of whatever deranged puzzle he’s been building in his mind.

“Are you scared for him, mouse?” he asks, putting the gun back to her.

Mouse. The way he spits it at her puts a violent crack down the center of my chest. It’s there, in his mocking, in the cruel glee at the idea he might be frightening her.

This is what she lived with for years.

This is what she’s being forced to live through again, because he found her through me.

When Nora meets my eyes again, I hope she can see the strength and reassurance I want to give her.

Just a little longer, my treasure,I want to tell her.Just hang on.

I’m watching Sorenson, waiting for another tell, some slight slip up I can take advantage of.

I want to believe if he truly intended to hurt her, he would have by now. But with the way his expression grows more wary and desperate, I don’t want to give him any more time to decide.

“Let her go,” I say again. “You know how all of this ends if you don’t.”

He tightens his hand on her, enough that Nora flinches, and a deadly certainty settles over me. No matter how this ends, Sorenson will never know a day of peace for as long as he lives. Even if he walks away from this, he’ll never know another day of happiness or safety.

He’ll live the rest of his life exactly how he made Nora live hers.

Sorenson’s eyes are wild, his movements uncoordinated and jerky as he pulls Nora backwards again. His hand shakes where he’s holding the gun, and realizing how close he might be to accidentally shooting her, I know time is up.

I don’t make it more than a couple of steps toward them before a booming noise from above has us all looking skyward.

A terrible, ground-shaking roar splits the night sky. It startles Sorenson enough that he loosens his hold on Nora. Not entirely, but enough for my brave mate to wrench her arm out of his grasp and take a stumbling step away from him.

He lunges for her, but a moment later a flash of golden scales and enormous wings and long, black talons dives from the darkness above and knocks him aside.

The gun goes flying, Sorenson screams, and though she nearly topples to the ground as well, Nora keeps her feet and runs to me. A shadowed figure appears from a nearby alleyway, kicking the gun away from where Sorenson’s sprawled on the pavement and closing in on him.

“You made a mistake tonight, my friend,” Casimir’s low, melodic voice taunts as he stalks toward where Sorenson is scrambling to get up. Another roar splits the air as Blair turns and descends back toward the scene.

I hardly see any of it. No, my attention is entirely on Nora.

As my friends deal with Sorenson, she crashes into me, and my soul has never known the depth of shattering relief that courses through me.

As soon as she’s in my arms, I don’t wait around to see what Cas and Blair do with Sorenson. I don’t really care. Not when Nora’s still shaking and has tears running down her cheeks, and not even when my instincts are telling me to stay and eviscerate the male who would dare threaten my mate.

Nora comes first. Her safety comes first. Everything else can wait.

And by the quieting commotion behind us, it sounds like my friends have things well in hand. Sirens wail in the distance, and there will be more chaos to confront in the aftermath, but not now. The only thing that matters is getting her away from here.

Sweeping Nora into my arms, I take off running.

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