“…seen ‘em myself,” another voice chimed in. “Small still. But you can feel it, the whole place buzzing different. Like it’s… starting again.”
“…about time, if you ask me.”
Spencer leaned back slightly, expression unchanged, but his mind sharpened. Two guardians, not three… and hatchlings. Kraken hatchlings.
He exchanged a brief glance with Mark, no words were needed. Because that changed things. A lot of things. For most paranormals, the guardians were something to respect. To avoid. To quietly acknowledge and then go about your business.
For Spencer and Mark, they were something else entirely. They were kin.
Spencer’s gaze flicked briefly toward the sea again, though the walls blocked any direct view of it. He could still feel it, though, that deep, slow pulse beneath everything.
Always there and always watching. He’d spent his entire lifenotanswering that call.
He and Mark had both ignored it, despite being born into it. They weren’t raised into it, though, and definitely weren’t taught.
Born by magic and flame, and that was how it had started. No childhood in the normal sense. No gradual discovery, they hadshiftedfrom the beginning.
Tentacles and teeth and something vast and ancient sitting just beneath their skin.
They had learned very quickly that the world didn’t welcome things like them.
So they hid it, perfected it and buried it so deep that, most days, it didn’t even feel real.
But it was always there, calmly waiting… Krakens Hole… This place had always been a problem, because itcalledto them… not loudly, not forcefully just… persistently.
Like the tide, they had managed to avoid it for years. It was far too risky. Too likely that something orsomeonewould recognise what they were. But the bounty was a call they couldn’t resist and here they were. Only, the news of the death of one guardian and the hatchlings meant there was more of their kind, so this place could be a home, not something to avoid.
“…figure it means things are changing,” someone nearby said.
Spencer almost smiled at that, they had no idea how right they were.
Mark leaned in slightly. “So,” he murmured, voice low enough not to carry, “we’re not the only ones noticing the shift.”
“No,” Spencer replied quietly. “We’re just the only ones it matters to.”
Mark nodded once and went back to his pint.
Maybe they could finally exist somewhere without constantly looking over their shoulders.
It was a dangerous thought and Spencer shut it down immediately. They weren’t here for that, they were here for the job.
And the job was big enough to change everything. A bounty so large it bordered on absurd. Enough for them to retire on. Enough for them to finally stop.
Spencer exhaled slowly through his nose.
“According to the brief,” Mark said, echoing the thought, “she’s unstable.”
Spencer’s jaw ticked slightly. “That’s one way of putting it.”
Mark snorted softly. “They saidcrazy and violent. I believe the exact wording was ‘approach with extreme caution or not at all.’”
“And yet,” Spencer said dryly, “here we are.”
“Here we are,” Mark agreed. He waited a second. “You planning on talking to her first?” Mark asked.
“No.”
“Straight to drugging and tying up, then?”
