Page 90 of Nora's Kraken

He defended me tonight. Hesavedme tonight. Now, it’s my turn to finally say what I need to, start getting the justice I’m more than owed.

“We’d like her to come to the station and make a statement tonight,” Detective Harris says, still trying to peer around Elias to where I’m sitting.

Elias tenses like he’s going to keep arguing, but I stand and lay a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright,” I say, finally working up the courage to speak. “I’ll come to the station.”

Elias immediately turns to face me taking, my face in his hands. “You don’t have to.”

Leaning into his touch, I let out a long breath. “I know. But I need to.”

36

Elias

It’s just after midnight, and the waiting room at Seattle PD headquarters is a ghost town. I’ve been sitting here for the last few hours while Nora speaks with the detectives to give her statement and provide photographic proof of her bruising.

They didn’t allow me back with her. Whether that’s because we’re not married, or because they’d rather speak to her own her own, I’m not sure, but after giving my own statement, they directed me to wait here. It’s a little slice of hell, sitting and waiting and wondering what she’s going through right now.

The only solace I can take is that Sorenson is fucked ten ways from Sunday, and not just over the attempted kidnapping.

It’s no coincidence that two detectives, rather than uniformed officers, were the ones to take this case. According to the call I took from Blair just after I finished my interview, Sorenson’s been on the radar of federal law enforcement for a few years. Fraud and insider trading and who knows how much more shady shit he was no doubt certain he could get away with as a congressman and the son of a billionaire.

Maybe it’s what made him so desperate, feeling that noose of consequences closing in on him. The idea makes my blood run cold. What would he have done with Nora if given the chance? If she’d tried to fight him, tried to run like she had just attempted to when I caught up to them, what would he have done?

The long, solitary hours give me time to think. Too much time to think.

I play those moments outside the bar over and over in my mind. Recalling Nora’s terror, how close I’d come to getting there too late, Cas and Blair arriving just in time, how easy it would have been for all of it to go wrong.

I could have lost my mate tonight. Nora could have been killed. And even though she wasn’t, she’s still going to deal with the mental and emotional ramifications of this night for the rest of her life.

All those thoughts swirl and coalesce until they land on a single, powerful emotion. Guilt.

How much pain has my presence in Nora’s life caused her? How much trauma has she endured because of me?

If not for me, Daniel may never have found her. She may never have had to confront the horrors of her past and endure what she did tonight. If not for me, she may have been able to continue healing in her own time and eventually built the life she wanted without having to deal with any of this.

A short time later, the door to the waiting room opens and Nora walks in, accompanied by Detective Harris. Even though she gives Harris a small smile, shakes her hand, and doesn’t appear to be in any acute distress as she walks over to me, it’s not hard to guess she’s exhausted. She looks pale, and there are dark circles forming under her eyes.

“All done,” she says as she reaches me, attempting another little smile.

I stand, wrap my arms around her, and simply savor the feel of her against me for a few long moments. Wracked with guilt or not, there’s no feeling in the world that can compare.

“Can I give you a ride home?” I ask her.

Nora looks up at me, confused. “Home?”

“To your apartment.”

She frowns, and I wonder if I’ve made a misstep. Maybe she doesn’t want to go back there tonight. But would she want to come to my place instead? I could offer her the condo, or to put her up in a hotel if either of those would be a better option.

“You…” I start, hoping I don’t fuck things up further. “You were planning to have some time and space for yourself tonight. Before everything happened. I didn’t want to presume you would… after everything… I…”

My words trail off, and I swallow hard. Nora, still frowning in confusion, reaches up to brush a hand over my cheek, waiting for me to finish.

“I can understand why you’d want some space from me, Nora. After the part I played in all of this. If you’d prefer to go somewhere other than your apartment, I can take you wherever it is you’d like to be.”

Her eyes go soft with understanding. “I think we need to talk. But not here. Can I come back to your place?”

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