“Petey, what should we do about Sigmund?”
He shrugged. “Got any fish? We could hand-feed him. Never done that before. Could be fun. Wonder if he’s gentle about taking treats or if he tries to take a hand off. When your dad is in gator form, do not try to give him treats. Heard that’s how Three Finger Frances got his nickname.”
With a sigh, Virginia locked gazes with the man. “Petey, focus. Is Sigmund a danger to anyone like this?”
The older man worried his stubble-covered chin.
“Petey?”
“Hold on, I’m trying to think of anyone he’s not a danger to like this. That list would be shorter,” said Petey. “Can’t think of anyone. So, yeah, he’s a danger to…everyone. Well, except you, by the looks of it. Guess his kraken is sweet on you too, just like the man.”
She blushed. “He’s not sweet on me. He barely talks to me.”
Petey’s gaze went to her hand, which was still on Sigmund’s tentacle. “He talks to me all the time. Never held my hand with his hand, let alone his tentacle before. Could be I’m not his type, but let’s be frank here. I’m everyone’s type. It’s why I like to keep my options open.”
The statement was so absurd that she laughed, turning more, putting her back to the railing. As she did, another tentacle came up and out of the water. This one moved so fast that it was a blur. In the next breath, it was wrapped around her waist, pinning her back against the rail.
She gasped, fear lancing through her quickly.
Petey merely grinned.
Her eyes widened.
“Look at that,” said Petey with an approving nod. “He’s finally worked up the courage to hug you. Only took like a year and a half and eight appendages but hey, whatever works for him. Not everyone can be as good with the ladies as I am. I’m kind of a legend, you know.”
“Petey!”
The tentacle tightened around her waist.
“Is…is he going to pull me into the water and eat me?” she asked, wanting to believe Sigmund would never do something like that.
Petey leaned over the rail and seemed to be sizing up the kraken. “Nah. Looks like he already ate. You’re probably fine. You haven’t been rolling in fresh fish or anything, have you? That could go one of two ways. He could think you’re dinner, or he could see it as an aphrodisiac. From the looks of him holding you now, I’m gonna go with the latter. You gonna hug him back or is this one-sided? Take it from me, unrequited love stinks.”
She yelped, “Petey! We have to get him out of the water and back to, um, normal.”
The older man snorted. “He’ll shift back when he’s good and ready. Not a moment sooner. Can’t rush it. Could hurt him more.”
She teared up. “W-what happens if he hurts someone like this, or kills them?”
Petey locked gazes with her, and then put a hand on her shoulder gently. “Virginia, I’m not sure if your parents have had the talk with you yet, but outside of Hedgewitch Cove, if someone gets killed, they end up dead. Like dead kind of dead. Not Blackbeard kind of dead, or Morgan kind of dead, or Bob kind of dead, or Rockey kind of dead, or—”
“I get the point,” she said, realizing the man would list every ghost in the town if she let him keep going.
It took her a second to notice she was caressing the tentacle around her waist in a loving manner. She also noticed that while the tentacle was indeed wrapped around her, it wasn’t constricting her or painful. It was merely around her.
Like a hug.
She tensed before glancing back at the water. “S-Sigmund, are you in there?”
“Of course he’s in there,” said Petey. “Woman, it’s like you don’t know a thing about the supernatural. Wasn’t Curt telling me that you’re part witch like your grandmother, and a siren?”
She nodded. “And part hunter.”
He eyed her situation. “Clearly the hunter part is not dominant.”
A hiccupped laugh came from her. “No. It’s not. How do you propose I get out of this? How do I get him to let go?”
“You could poke him in the eye,” said Petey. “Works for a shark.”
“I’m not going to poke Sigmund in the eye!”
“’Cause you’re sweet on him too?” asked Petey with a lopsided grin. “I could marry you both, you know. I got ordained for mythological creatures and legends just last week. Seemed wise since I’m now spending so much time down here. Had the opportunity to marry a unicorn and a pixie the other day. I didn’t take it. Felt that union was doomed from the start. Unicorns are so needy and always want to be the center of attention. I was doing that pixie girl a favor by refusing to tie her to him. She’ll thank me later.”
Sigmund splashed in the water.
Petey leaned and stared at the kraken. “Quit bellyaching. I already know your thoughts on the matter.”
Sigmund splashed water at Petey, getting the man wet.
Petey took it like a champ, wiping the water from his face with one hand. “Don’t take that tone with me.”
“Petey?”
He glanced at her. “He thinks you and the principal are an item. Are you?”
Gasping, she looked back at Sigmund. “You can understand what he’s thinking right now?”
“Pfft, no. I don’t speak kraken. I do speak fluent dragon, but not kraken. They are kind of similar. More flames and stuff with dragon, for obvious reasons.”
“Then how do you know he thinks Darrell and I are a couple?” she asked.
“Because I heard Bob telling him to man up and ask you out already, and Sig’s response was, she’s dating the principal, and Bob said that principal could be Sig if he would just get back on the horse again in his professional life and his love life. Not that he had a real love life to speak of back in Maine. Sure, the boy dated, but nothing serious. And he didn’t spend hours staring out the window at a woman before, like he does with you.”
She gulped. “What?”
Petey bit his lower lip. “Probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. It’s weird, right? Staring out a window that long? I mean, if you want to stare at the woman you’re sweet on, get closer and do it. I stare at your grandma all I can. Erm, probably shouldn’t have mentioned that either. Morgan told me it’s strange. She’s one to talk. She could be staring at us right now and we’d never know it, since we can’t see her or anything.” He leaned over the rail more and stared down at Sigmund. “If you don’t let her go, Bails, I’m gonna assume it means you’re ready for the next step.”
“Next step?” asked Virginia.
Nodding, Petey glanced at her. “Yes. Admitting you’re destined for each other. Pretty sure everyone in town has figured it out by now.”
“We’re not…no. He’s not my…well…I’m pretty sure he’s not…my mate.”
Petey lifted a bushy brow. “Tongue-tied? Happens to me too. Want my help?”
She nodded. “Yes, please. I don’t want to hurt him, but I can’t stand here forever like this. And do not poke him in the eye. Whatever you do to help cannot hurt him in any way. Understand?”
“Yep.” Petey grinned and looked between them. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you were-kraken and part-siren-witch-and-clearly-not-dominant-part-hunter. You may kiss the…erm…do krakens have lips?”
She stared wide-eyed at him. “Petey!”
“What? It’s a real question.”
“That wasn’t the kind of help I was hoping for,” she said. “I was hoping you’d help me get free from his grasp without hurting him.”
Sigmund released her, and she spun around. He then slipped under the water, vanishing quickly, but not before she caught another glint of gold near him, almost as if he’d been clutching it with one of his tentacles.
“Where did he go?” she asked.
“Probably off to do whatever it is krakens do. Sink a ship. Eat people. Crush things. You know, standard kraken fun and games.”
She gasped.
“Relax. Your husband is a good man,” said Petey
. “He won’t go have any hanky-panky with other squids or anything. He’ll be true to you.”
“Husband? Hanky-panky with a squid?” she echoed. “Are you drunk?”
“Nope. Not had a drop of whiskey since Christmas. Had me a celebratory drink for Jolene and Wilber’s wedding. Married them too, you know. Missi and Curt too. Now you and Sig. Wonder if I’m eligible for a world record or something now?”
Chapter Eleven
Virginia merely stared at Petey, positive the old man had finally done it—finally lost his marbles. Then she stiffened as she thought about her sister and Curt. Petey had done the same thing for them. It had been off the cuff and seemingly innocuous.
And yet it had been binding in the eyes of Hedgewitch Cove and the supernatural community.
She gulped. “Petey, are Sig and I really married now? Are you telling me what you just did is official?”
Petey sighed. “Woman, you’ve lived here all your life, and you mean to tell me you don’t know about the law on the books giving anyone ordained the power to do instant marriages? You need to brush up on the town ordinances and code book. You didn’t even know you can’t operate a motor vehicle with tentacles. I can see why your grandmother doesn’t like your father. For a hunter, you’d think he’d be the first one teaching you all these things.”
“Petey!” she shouted, nearing hysterics. “Am I married to Sigmund?”
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “Ready to take the food out to the high school now? You know, we could just keep it here and use it to celebrate the marriage. Like a reception.”
Virginia thought about what Betty had said.
The demon had known this was going to happen?
How?
“Virginia, you should probably let the principal guy down easy. He’ll just need to understand things are over. You’re a married woman now. Your husband is the Yankee version of him.”
With a sigh, she looked at the water, wondering if she should call York to tell him what had happened. That Sigmund had clearly shifted forms again. “Petey, I can’t just leave Sigmund like this.”
Arnold’s bell started up again, and she looked out at the pier, a sinking feeling settling in her gut.
She glanced back at Petey. “Will that sound attract the kraken?”
Petey nodded. “Without a doubt.”
“Will Sigmund hurt Arnold?”
The unease that showed on Petey’s face was all the answer she needed.
“We have to help him,” she said. “We can’t just let him wander and do whatever. There has to be a way to hunt for him without needing to alert everyone we know that he’s lost control.”
Petey hooked his fingers through his suspenders once more and rocked on the balls of his feet. “Sure. There is a way. Simple one.”
“What is it?” she asked, desperate to help Sigmund.
He met her gaze. “You could sing and lure him back here to us. To you, specifically. You’re part siren. Should work. Well, only if that part is better than your hunter part, because that isn’t worth a damn.”
“Sing?” she asked, her throat going dry. “To lure him? I don’t know. I’ve never done that before. I don’t even know how a full siren would do it.”
Petey lifted a brow and shook his head. “Can’t hunt, can’t siren…can you witch?”
“Petey!”
He shrugged. “I’m gonna go get me something to eat out of Sunshine, since it’s clear we ain’t gonna be taking that food anywhere anytime soon. You sing. I can’t lure krakens to their wives on an empty stomach.”
With that, he headed off in the direction of the street.
To heck with the food.
Sigmund needed her.
She could do this. She could find it in her to tap into her siren side and draw her husband back to her.
My husband?
She nearly panicked but knew it wasn’t the time or place. Freaking out about being married to a man who barely spoke to her could come later. For now, he needed her to be what she was born to be.
A siren.
The song that Winston had been whistling (which seemed oddly fitting to the situation) popped into her head, and she began to hum it. Her power buzzed deep within her, and she let go of her fear. She started to sing, softly at first, unsure how one went about luring anything to them, let alone a giant kraken, but she trusted her gut.
She concentrated on Sigmund, hoping that by doing so, her siren side would only summon him and not the entire coastline of Louisiana.
Her hands went to the railing and she belted out the song about an octopus and his garden, but in a slow manner, as if it were more of a lullaby than anything else.
She spotted a ripple in the water as something large came barreling toward her location with enough speed and size to make a wake behind it. She kept singing. Sigmund hadn’t hurt her before; she had to believe he wouldn’t hurt her now.
The mass kept coming but it didn’t slow.
It came up and out of the water partially. It was massive. Tentacles whipped in all directions before slamming down on the railing, ripping it backward and into the water.
The entire deck shook. It moved back and forth violently, so much so that she fell and nearly went into the water. The sounds of wood cracking filled the area, and she turned onto her back just in time to see the tables and chairs that were on the deck were all pitching forward. They slid down fast, falling over and into the water.
A table came at her, knocking her closer to the tentacles.
It took her a second to realize the tentacles she was falling toward were not the same as the one that had been wrapped around her only moments before.
No.
These were different. There was a deep green. There was no red or purple to them. They were also narrower than the red ones had been.
She locked gazes with the giant beast—and realized its eyes weren’t green. They were gray-blue.
That meant one thing.
Whatever was ripping the decking down and into the water was not Sigmund.
And she was about to end up in the water with it.
The dock stopped tilting downward and she took a deep, shaky breath, thankful she’d not ended up in the water with whatever it was.
Her reprieve was short-lived.
One of its tentacles came at her fast, wrapped around her leg, and ripped her toward the beast.
Just before she was pulled into the water, there was a giant roar, the noise something she’d never heard before in her life. A mass rose up behind the squid-thing.
For one second, there seemed to be nothing but tentacles flailing about. As her wits found her once more, she realized what she was seeing.
Some red, some greenish.
Sigmund, still in kraken form, was back—and he was not happy with the giant squid.
He somehow managed to be even bigger than the squid. He also looked considerably more lethal when set side by side with the other sea creature.
Virginia yanked at the tentacle around her leg, trying to pry it free. Its grasp was firm and almost suction-like.
As Sigmund fought with the creature, he caused it to careen backward, farther into the water. Since its tentacle was wrapped around Virginia’s leg, she went where it did. And it just so happened that was into the murky, cold water.
She took a deep breath a second before she was fully submerged. The cold of the water made her want to gasp, but she didn’t dare. She struggled with the tentacle that was still around her leg.
The beast swung her around in the water like she was a rag doll.
One of its other tentacles hit her, making her see stars.
The kraken thrashed at the squid. The entire scene looked like two titans had come together for an arena fight. Unfortunately for Virginia, they’d done so with her in the middle.
Her chest burned with the need to take a breath. She kicked and clawed at the tentacle, to no avail. She was whipped around and ended up close to the squid’s eye.
<
br /> Petey’s suggestion on how to deal with Sigmund in kraken form came flooding back.
She poked the squid in the eye.
Much to her delight, it loosened its hold on her and she was able to wiggle free.
The next she knew, one of Sigmund’s tentacles was coming at her. This one wrapped around her gently and thrust her up and out of the water, letting her catch her breath.
Coughing, she held tight to the tentacle before it tossed her onto the deck with great care before releasing her.
She didn’t get up and run away.
No.
She scrambled on her hands and knees toward the edge of the deck, scared for Sigmund. Whatever he was fighting was no ordinary squid. Everything in her screamed that it was supernatural and extremely deadly.
She watched in stunned horror as the two sea creatures fought partially out of the water. Never in her life had she seen anything like it.
Virginia pushed to her feet and grabbed a broken piece of wood from the railing. She then jabbed it into the water at the squid, wanting to help Sigmund.
“Woman, you better demand a paternity test,” said Petey, shocking her by suddenly appearing close by. He grabbed her and pulled her back from the edge of the deck. “There is no way you can have hunter in you. Going up there to poke the bear, or in this case, squid with a stick. Got no sense in you.”
She pointed at the water with one hand and held the wood in the other. “Sigmund is fighting with it!”
Petey very calmly looked from the water back to her. “Yes. I see.”
“We have to help him!” she shouted.
He tipped his head. “Ain’t nothing we do is going to help. Your husband is good and worked up. It’s best we let him handle this. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my long life, it’s you don’t come between two mythical beasts when they’re fighting. Not if you want to live to tell the tale.”
The squid splashed up and out of the water for a split second. It whipped a tentacle out and seized hold of Virginia’s leg again. It yanked her off her feet and started to drag her toward the edge of the deck once more.
Everybody Wants to Rune the World: A Happily Everlasting World Novel (Bewitchingly Ever After Book 2) Page 9