In other years, the Oracle cave was brightly lit, shining like a candle in the dark depths of the sea. When Nic used to see it lit up, he would feel a surge of hope –this year could be the one when I can claim my heart’s desire.But in every one of those previous years, the Oracle’s message never mentioned a mate – their third. The message was usually related to krakens generally, or about Luc and Nic’s businesses. The messages were always helpful, definitely, but not what Luc and Nic were hoping for.
Which meant every year, Nic, and Luc, would be filled with disappointment. Through it all, though, Nic never let go of the belief that eventually the Oracle would guide them to their mate – a mate that would fit into their lives perfectly. Now it was difficult to keep that belief when his ideas about their mate had been shattered.
“We’ve talked about this for fifty years,” he complained to Luc, as they grabbed towels and dried themselves off before going inside. “Fifty years and this is what we get?”
“We’re both tired after our shift. Let’s grab some food and a coffee so we can talk about the situation more calmly,” Luc said, heading straight for the kitchen.
It was going to take more than a couple of sandwiches and a coffee for Nic to calm down. The trip itself was always difficult – a real muscle stretcher – and now it would seem it could also be a mind-bender as well.
As kraken shifters, Nic and Luc didn’t have a lot of opportunities to fully shift very often. Their swimming pool, despite taking up quite a large segment of the rooftop of the Regis Hotel, wasn’t big enough to comfortably take two full-sized krakens.
It was only during their holidays, when they disappeared to their own island, that their kraken selves could come through and be at one with the sea, which was where they were meant to be. And to Nic, that’s what made the Oracle’s prophecy even more confusing.
The glade that the Oracle sat in was deep underwater, hidden by ancient magic to prevent it from being found by technical equipment or random divers. Remote and beautiful, it was like how an oasis might appear in a desert. The cave housing the Oracle was huge and sparkling with gems that looked so incredibly ethereal against the murky depths.
Nic and Luc had arrived on time, taking just over three hours to get there. Nic’s limbs had been shaking, but when he saw the lit-up cave, all his tiredness disappeared.This was it,he remembered thinking, and this time he’d been right. The Oracle gave them her blessing. It just wasn’t the blessing that either Nic or Luc anticipated.
“What would we do with a human?” he demanded, slathering butter on bread and then layering it with ham slices and chopped tomatoes. Luc was busy making coffee, but Nic wasn’t sure that even the deep black coffee he enjoyed was going to make him feel any better. “We don’t... We don’t... I don’t... I don’t understand how this happened. Have we upset the Oracle in some way?”
“It’s possible the Oracle has got it wrong,” Luc suggested. “Perhaps we misinterpreted the message we were given?”
Nic snorted. “When has the blessed Oracle ever gotten anything wrong? Is this your fault? Is this because you said you didn’t want children, so she’s punishing us?”
Luc winced and Nic immediately felt as though someone had shoved a knife in his guts. He hated that he had hurt his mate so. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I’m really sorry. That was uncalled for. I didn’t mean that.”
“The Oracle sees the truth in our hearts,” Luc said softly. “Saying something out loud isn’t going to make a difference to the way we feel.”
“I know you’re right. I’m really sorry.” Nic started piling the sandwiches up, cutting through the middle of them across the diagonal, the way Luc preferred. “I just don’t see how we ended up with a human. We’ve spent every day from the day we met dreaming of finding a shifter mate. Every other kraken pairing we know of, or kraken triads, or any combination really, they always involved a shifter.
“Why were we different? Are we not worthy?” Nic voiced his deepest concern. “Is this because we allowed so many people, paranormal and non-paras, to play with our tentacles, treating our shifted form with so little respect? Oh, my gods, it’s not you. This is my fault!”
“Oh, Nic, no.” Luc stopped what he was doing, and Nic found himself in the warm embrace that could only come from his mate, although the hug was far too short – just like always. “This hasn’t got anything to do with the way we live or the way we think. The Oracle has pointed us in the direction of the person who will be exactly who we’re looking for. Our gift from the Fates. We have to remember that. Above all else, a mate is perfect for us in every way.”
“But humans don’t even like us.” Nic felt like whining, pouting, and even stamping his feet. “They see us as toys, as a form of cheap sexual gratification. They don’t see us as people.”
Luc winced again, but he finished making the coffee quickly, and by unspoken accord, Nic and Luc went out and sat on their wide porch with its uninterrupted view of the sea.
“We don’t have to follow the Oracle’s prophecy,” Luc reminded him quietly once most of the food was gone. “You heard what she said. We only have a window of five days. I have no idea what would happen to our human if we don’t get to them in time, but the Oracle’s words were very specific.”
“If, when the sun rises on the new year, you haven’t stated your claim, then your opportunity will be lost.” The words were burned into Nic’s brain. “Why have we been given such a short time span? We’re on the island, enjoying our holiday. There’s not a human around here for miles. What are we meant to do? Wait and see if someone gets washed up on the island in a shipwreck or something? What if the human is at the hotel?” Not for the first time, Nic wished the Oracle could be just a teeny bit more specific.
“The Oracle said this person isn’t known to us,” Luc said. “She said this person was currently in our world, which I think rules out a shipwreck. I doubt she meant the literal world becauseeveryone lives in the world. If that was the case, finding them would be as impossible as it already has been.”
“The term was ‘our world’.” Nic nodded. “I think we can assume that she means the hotel, not our island.”
“You’re probably right.” Luc waved his hand in the direction of the sea. “We’ve never had a person here. This island is nowhere near any of the main shipping routes. I just can’t see how anybody would come across us here.”
“What’s bugging me is the line about them only being in our world for a short amount of time.” Nic didn’t understand that either. “Five days. Five days from when? From when we arrived on the island, or when we got the message from the Oracle? And why would that be? If our mate were a hotel staff member, most of them have been with us for years. None of that bit makes sense.”
“We don’t have any humans on our payroll,” Luc said. “If any human comes to the Regis, then they’re usually a guest or a mate of the paranormal that accompanies them. Humans don’t book themselves into our hotel, and there are none on staff. Don’t you remember? You got a bit antsy around humans about five years ago, and there was that PR nightmare when some journalist reported we were actually anti-human. That article went nationwide.”
“Gods yes, I do remember.” Nic groaned as he rubbed his hands over his face. “That was an absolute nightmare, and you know, thinking about that, it still pisses me off, because my words were taken completely out of context.”
“Were they, though? Are you sure about that?”
That was the problem with having a kraken mate who had been with him for fifty years and who knew him so well. Luc was never afraid to call him out on his bullshit. “I don’t understand whyyou feel the way you do about humans...” Luc started softly, but Nic jumped in. He didn’t like where the conversation was going.
“Now you sound like you’re blaming me again for this mating fiasco, and that’s not fair. I’ve never cared what species a person was if they came to our parties or stayed at our hotel. It was humans who were getting views and clout on social media, making up wild tales about tentacle orgies and shit like that. How fair was that, when we were just doing our thing?
