“PUT ME DOWN!”
Edith laughed, and the sound echoed wildly over open water. “Oh, nowyou’rescared of heights?”
Below her, Dave was nearly hysterical with laughter, while Brutas looked deeply serene about the entire thing. Even Mark appeared stunned speechless, which seemed to be a common occurrence just recently. Gerald continued screaming threats and insults all the way up, and Edith ignored every single word, because honestly? This was therapeutic and very much needed to heal.
Then with one smooth flick of her claws… Edith dropped him.
Gerald screamed the entire way down before slamming into the sea with a spectacular splash. Below her, Dave actually applauded with his tentacles.
“THAT’S OUR GIRL!”
Gerald resurfaced seconds later, spluttering furiously. Still handcuffed and still a twat. But he was a beaten twat and held no power over her anymore.
Edith felt genuine joy for the first time in forever. She circled once triumphantly overhead before gliding back towardthe boat. The moment she landed on deck again, she rounded immediately on Mark and growled, low and threatening. Luckily for Mark, he stayed still. From the side of the ship, Edith watched as Spencer vanished, he shifted. His Kraken form retreating before a very wet and very naked human Spencer climbed aboard the small boat. It was at that point Edith forgot how to breathe.
Water dripped down his bare skin as he straightened fully, dark hair soaked, chest heaving slightly from exertion. Edith completely forgot how language worked, every thought vanished directly from her brain.
Beside her, Dave muttered loudly, “Oh, she’s buffering.”
Edith remained frozen and Spencer looked toward her. Then he visibly realised he was naked, his eyes widening slightly as he looked down and slowly lifted his hands to cup himself. Edith’s entire soul left her body as the image ingrained itself onto her brain.
38
Edith had officially stopped understandingher life. One minute she’d been a tiny dragon hiding in a seaside town playing cards with a pigeon. Now…
Now she was standing on the deck of a half-destroyed boat beside three Krakens while her former fiancé bobbed in the sea screaming threats in expensive wet clothes.
Honestly, it felt like growth, real, personal growth.
Spencer stood dripping seawater across the deck as he faced his brother, entirely and distractingly naked.
Edith was trying very hard to behave normally about the situation. Her brain had short circuited and she hadn’t even realised she had shifted back into her human form until she heard Dave stating that she was buffering.
He wasn’t far wrong. Her brain had apparently left the chat, because there was simply too muchmanhappening all at once. Dave was no help whatsoever.
“You’re staring,” the guardian stage-whispered from the water.
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.” Dave howled laughing.
It was then that Edith realised her own shift had taken her clothes with it.
“Oh Bollocks,” she murmured.
Brutas looked deeply tired and had moved back away from the boat.
Spencer, to his credit, immediately grabbed a coat from the rail and handed it to her without a word.
Gentleman… a very naked gentleman.
Edith wrapped herself in the coat quickly, trying very hard not to inhale because it smelled exactly like sea salt, cold air, and something spicy.
Which felt emotionally dangerous, and Mark cleared his throat awkwardly. Everyone looked at him and the atmosphere shifted instantly, the tension rolling across the deck sharp enough to taste. Spencer stared at his brother in silence for several long seconds. Mark looked exhausted suddenly and not angry, just so very tired.
“I thought you were throwing everything away,” Mark finally admitted.
Spencer’s jaw tightened in response before he answered, “You drugged me.”
