Ughhhh.
Maggie waited patiently until Keeley and Lance and everyone else looked at her, and then—okay, she was going to do this, she was going tostoopto communicating intheir language—nodded her head.
Mathis blinked. “Did she just—”
“Guess that answers that question.” Lance’s eyes creased. “You pointed us towards your uncle, so we already know you can sense things further away than we can. You’re sure it’s Moss out there?”
What sort of a question was that?Of courseit was Moss.
“Hah!” one of the eely ladies cried out. “Took him long enough to say hi.”
“Maybe he was distracted?” her sister suggested quietly.
Maggie sputtered. Because Carol was with him! Obviously! How could they not see that?
“He’s… fine,” the eely lady continued. “He’s stillhim.He found Carol, and she’s with him, too.”
Everyone relaxed,finally.Maggie stretched up high so she could get the best view.
Out in the water, Moss extended one giant tentacle and wrapped it carefully once, twice, around the ship. Timber and metal creaked as he half-lifted it from the waves. Water poured down its sides. Distant shouts reached the beach.
The kraken coiled one last tentacle around the ship—and deposited it on the rocks.
Maggie sighed happily. She wasso gladshe’d claimed him for her hoard while he was still human-shaped. There was no way he would fit in her treasure chest like this.
50
Carol
*It’s the strangest thing.*Moss’s voice caressed her mind. *Your friends are all watching us from the shore, and it’s almost like they didn’t expect us to bring back a shipload of crooks for them to deal with.*
*I can’t imagine why.*Carol surfaced and rolled on her side to try and glimpse the shoreline. *How long have we been gone?*
All she knew was that the swim back had been longer than anything she’d ever done before—but she’d been swept up in the kraken’s wake, lending her extra speed.
And let’s face it,she thought to herself.I wasn’t paying attention to the time. I was paying attention to him.
Moss. Her mate. Herkraken. Or… kraken-octopus hybrid. Given new life by the bond between them.
Lance and the rest of the team rounded up the stranded sailors. *Though what MacInnis plans to do with them once he’s got them, I don’t know. Call their parents and tell them they’ve been naughty?*
*He’s got connections with shifters in law enforcement back home, but I don’t know about here.*Guilt twinged in Carol’s stomach. She should be out there, helping.
*No, you shouldn’t. You’ve done your bit. And if MacInnis is the sort of employer who expects someone to get back into it half a second after being kidnapped, I’ve got some words for him.*
*I was back in the chair two days after the last asshole tased me.*
*And how did that work out for you?*
Carol readied herself for the swell of shame at how Lance had relegated her to babysitting duty—then paused.
*He tried to give me time off,* she said at last. *But I didn’t want to seem weak. I’d already messed up by letting Briers almost get away with the dragon eggs. I needed to show him he could rely on me.*
She’d been afraid. Afraid she wouldn’t be enough—not for her job, and not for Moss. And who she was going to be, now that she wasn’t scared all the time… she would have to find out. And she wasn’t afraid of finding out.
She was excited.
*How is your shark?*
