Kraken My Heart

by K. L. Hiers

  “Yeah, it’s just….” Ted started laughing again, grinning at the sight of the powerful Asran king wearing sparkly unicorn pajamas. He tugged at Grell’s hood, pulling it up for him. “There.”

  “Better?”

  “Much.” Ted kept snickering to himself, curling up on Grell’s chest and hugging him close. Grell’s arm curled around his shoulders and held him there, and Ted couldn’t believe how light he felt.

  Even though he’d just acquired new murder charges not even an hour ago, he was happy. He had no idea how long this bliss would last, but he was going to hang on to it as hard as he could.

  “I’ve settled on a schedule for us for tomorrow,” Grell said with a smug little grin.

  “Oh? Do tell.”

  “First thing, primal hot sex,” Grell replied seriously. “At least three positions, and I plan to make you come each time. Then we’ll have breakfast. We’ll make sure Ghulk didn’t eat Silas’s body, and we start questioning everyone.”

  “What about lunch?” Ted smiled.

  “Yes, we’ll break for lunch,” Grell agreed. “We’ll need our strength, because I guarantee my idiotic court will have no information at all to give us. It will not be an easy day, and dinner will probably be late.”

  “That’s okay,” Ted mumbled sleepily. “Maybe we could try talking to the fish people first. Mire was all tangled up with them, and we were attacked by ’em. There’s gotta be somethin’ goin’ on there. If they won’t talk, you can just eat ’em.”

  “Wonderful idea, my gorgeous little detective,” Grell said with a chuckle. He kissed the top of Ted’s head, playfully batting the horn as he said, “Now, let’s get some sleep.”

  “Good night, Thiazi.” Ted sighed, his eyes already closing.

  “Good night, Ted.”

  Ted was soon asleep, and his dreams were quiet for a while. He dreamed of nothing but darkness and the sound of the ocean. It was relaxing at first, but soon the noise became a roar that he couldn’t escape, and he woke up with a start.

  His heart was pounding, and he looked all around bewilderedly. He was alone, no sign of Grell, but the little boy was there. “Little buddy?”

  The little boy was standing next to an Asra with silver stripes and a purple bead hanging by her ear. He was petting her, saying quietly, “Silas has to talk to you before she goes.”

  “Thulogian Silas,” Ted murmured, recognizing the Asra now. “Hey! Tell me who killed you! What happened?”

  Silas said nothing, shaking her head and starting to walk away.

  “Follow her,” the boy said urgently, grabbing for Ted’s hand and dragging him out of bed. “Come on!”

  Ted hurried to keep up, chasing after the boy and the departing Asra as they vanished through the wall. The harder he ran, the farther away Silas became, and there was no way to reach her. The hallway in front of him grew longer and longer, and there was nothing he could do.

  “Fuck! Come on!”

  As Ted continued to pound his feet against the floor, the stones began to give way. He fell, dropping down into a giant body of water.

  It was salty, warm… the ocean.

  He tried to swim to the surface, but something was pulling him down. He was getting so tired, so very weak, and he knew then he was drowning. He couldn’t stop breathing in the salty water, and his lungs were on fire.

  There was something in his arms now, warm and small, and flashes of light danced in front of his face. He tried to focus on them when he realized he was seeing pictures.

  Mire with the fish people, going over potions and bottles.

  Silas and Mire, holding each other and crying.

  Mire confronting Visseract and a human man in the pits—no, not a human, Gronoch.

  It was coming at him faster and faster, so quickly that he couldn’t understand everything he was seeing. He tried to take one last breath, and he heard himself shout. No, he was screaming.

  A name….

  What was the name?

  “Ted?”

  No, that was his name. What was it….

  “Ted!” Grell snapped worriedly, shaking him awake. “Ted! What’s wrong, love?”

  “Ah, fuck!” Ted bolted up, panting and wheezing, checking all over himself frantically. “Wet, why am I wet?”

  “You’re sweating like a Vulgoran during a purity test,” Grell said, snapping his fingers and putting Ted in a fresh shirt and boxer shorts. “There, is that better, love?”

  “Thanks,” Ted muttered, running his trembling fingers through his hair, still damp with sweat. “Fuck. I’m sorry, I….”

  “It’s fine. I can get you another onesie.”

  “I was having a dream. A really, really supremely fucked-up dream.” Ted heard Grell’s fingers snap and found a glass of whiskey in his hand. “Fuck, thank you.”

  “Relax, love,” Grell purred gently. “You’re safe. Nothing is going to harm you.”

  “In the dream, I was drowning,” Ted said, taking a big gulp and hissing at the burn. “I was trying to find Silas, and then I was in the fucking ocean… oh fuck.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I saw it,” Ted said shakily as the visions washed back over him with a new clarity. “I saw what Silas was trying to show me. Mire was trying to make a deal with the Vulgorans for fertility magic—”

  “Well, they do have lots of holes.”

  “He wanted it for Silas,” Ted went on, ignoring his comment. “She couldn’t have kids. Carry them, make them, whatever. No one else knew. That’s why he kept their marriage a secret, so he could barter his position to the Vulgorans. Not even her bestie Ghulk knew.

  “Mire saw Visseract and Gronoch hiding in the pits, heard them talking about making slaves with the bones. He ran, told Silas what he saw. Wanted her to come tell you because he didn’t trust anyone else, and then… then he was killed.”

  “Can’t see who killed him?”

  “No, but Silas threatened to spill the beans if Visseract didn’t give her what she wanted so she could bring Mire back,” Ted went on quickly as he tried to sort through the visions. “They kept going somewhere together. Somewhere with water…. Shit. I’m missing something. I’m still fucking missing something!”

  “Calm down,” Grell soothed. “Was it about Graham? Who’s Graham?”

  “Huh?”

  “You were screaming that name,” Grell explained. “It’s what woke me up. I was starting to get a bit jealous, to be honest.”

  “Oh fuck,” Ted gasped, reaching up to cradle his head. Just like that, it all clicked into place. “I remember….”

  “What, my love?”

  “I know where to find Visseract, and I….” Ted tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. “I remember how I died.”

  Chapter 11.

  “HOW?” GRELL asked, reaching for Ted and drawing him close. “Talk to me, love.”

  “The beach.” Ted took another big sip of whiskey, silently grateful it kept refilling. “Me and my old boyfriend had gone to the beach. That’s when he proposed, and I turned him down. We got into a big fight.

  “But there was this boy. His name was Graham. He kept wanting to play. He was there with his parents, and he just wanted to play with us. Oh God.” Ted’s chest clenched in pain, and he looked up with tears in his eyes.

  Graham was standing at the foot of the bed, and for the first time, Ted could see his face. He had brown eyes and a fluffy mop of dark hair. He wasn’t wearing a scarf, Ted now realized.

  He had a striped beach towel draped around his neck.

  “He came to ask me to play, to take him out in the waves,” Ted said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I was still mad at my boyfriend. I was upset. I was looking for sunscreen, couldn’t find it, and when Graham asked me again, I snapped at him.

  “He was so upset. I felt like a complete fucking tool, and by the time I calmed down… it was too late.” Ted closed his eyes. “Everyone was screaming, screaming for Graham. He went into the water on
his own. God, where were his parents? I can’t… I can’t remember….”

  “It’s okay,” Grell murmured, stroking a strong hand across Ted’s back. “Just keep talking, love. Go on.”

  “The water,” Ted said, sniffing noisily and trying to stay focused. “I went into the water to get him. It was all my fuckin’ fault. If I hadn’t been such a jerk to him, maybe he wouldn’t have tried to go on his own. I kept swimming, kept diving….

  “And I found him. I found him, and I held on as tightly as I could… but the current. Fuck, we were caught in something, and it just kept pulling us out, deeper and deeper….” Ted was crying, reaching out to take Graham’s hands.

  “But you never let go,” Graham said with a sad smile. “You kept holding on to me.”

  “I kept thinking that they’d find us,” Ted cried quietly. “They’d dive down, they’d see us and save us both….”

  “They never did, did they?” Grell asked somberly, stroking Ted’s hair.

  “I drowned.” Ted couldn’t believe he’d said it out loud. “I drowned trying to save Graham, and… and he died too.” He squeezed Graham’s hands as hard as he could. “I’m sorry, little buddy. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Graham said. “I’m not mad at you, Ted. I’m okay. I know you were trying to save me. When I died, at least I wasn’t alone.” He smiled, bright and happy. “You were with me.”

  “Fuck.” Ted sniffled weakly, knocking back the whiskey and trying to calm himself. “That’s why you’ve been trying to help me? To show me stuff?”

  “You couldn’t save me, but maybe I can help save you,” Graham said cheerfully. His image faded a little, and Ted couldn’t feel his hand any longer. “I saw a fish man take the bead from the dead kitty while you were sleeping. I knew it was important, I just knew it!”

  “Fish man?” Ted paused. “You saw a fish man take the bead?”

  “Visseract?” Grell asked quietly. “That fish man?”

  “I don’t know,” Graham said, his image returning more vividly before fading away again. “I couldn’t see his face… I’m sorry… I….”

  “Hey, hey, it’s okay, little buddy,” Ted soothed. “You okay? Getting sleepy?”

  “Yeah.” Graham vanished completely, but Ted could still feel his presence. “Mm. Sorry.”

  “Is he all right?” Grell asked, nearly interrupting Graham because he couldn’t hear him.

  “He’s okay,” Ted said earnestly. “Sorry, I know it’s weird having to listen to a one-sided conversation and all, but uh, yeah, he’s good. Manifesting like this can take a lot outta a spirit. I’ve seen it happen before. They just kinda run outta juice, but he might perk back up in a bit.”

  “Does he know what wonderful little person hid the bead away?”

  “No, couldn’t see his face. Why would Visseract or any fish dudes want to hide the bead?”

  “Mire was trying to barter himself for marriage when he was already hitched,” Grell replied. “The Vulgorans might have been trying to save some face. It would be quite embarrassing for them if it got out that Mire was about to swindle them out of fertility magic for that wife everyone else seemed to know about except for them.”

  “Big ol’ scandal of people-eating proportions?”

  “Precisely,” Grell confirmed. “What I want to know is why take the damn thing to the library? Why didn’t our fishy little culprit just run off with it?”

  “More monsters came.” Graham’s voice sounded far away. “The fish man had to run. Hid it there.”

  “Okay,” Ted said, turning to Grell to relay the information. “Graham says that other people were coming, and fish dude had to scoot. I guess he got scared and stashed it there.” He shrugged. “Maybe he thought he could come back and get it later.”

  “This would explain why those Vulgorans attacked us,” Grell mused. “If Visseract found out we were going to see Silas, he might have thought she would confess the truth of her marriage to Mire.”

  “Well, shit. Sounds like Visseract is our fuckin’ dude.” Ted let out a long sigh of relief, looking back toward where he had seen Graham last. There was one more thing he had to know. “Hey, little dude. I really appreciate all of your help, and, uh, I hate to ask because I know you’re really tired, but….” He took a deep breath. “Do you know who brought me back?”

  “No,” Graham replied softly. “I don’t remember. We were in the ocean, and then I was with you. We were driving back to your apartment, and you took the crazy road because you were upset…. That’s it.”

  “After the beach trip,” Ted recalled. “Yeah, I took the long way back because I didn’t wanna go home. Fuckin’ hell.”

  “What did he say?” Grell asked.

  “He doesn’t know who brought me back either.”

  “Damn.” Grell frowned, taking Ted’s hand in his and pressing a kiss to it. “I wish there was some sort of card for this situation, love. ‘Sorry you drowned’ with a picture of a puppy or something.”

  “You’re sweet.” Ted managed a smile and gulped another mouthful of whiskey before setting the glass aside. “I’ll be okay. I mean, now I know, right? I know who Graham is, I know what happened.”

  “And your family never mentioned, ahem, your demise?” Grell asked politely.

  “No. I remember them being upset about me and my guy breaking up, but pretty sure they don’t fuckin’ know I died. I guess it happened right there at the beach.”

  “What about the former boyfriend? Any ideas?”

  “Haven’t spoken to him in a long time, but I’m sure he would have said something about fuckin’ necromancy. His damn uncle is a cop. He’s a good boy, you know? Woulda freaked him out.”

  “Well, I’m quite grateful to your mysterious rescuer, whoever or whatever it was,” Grell said quietly, cradling Ted’s hand against his cheek. “You’re here.”

  “With you,” Ted said with a warm smile. He paused. “I mean, yeah, the double dose of murder charges I could do without, but the rest is pretty cool.”

  Grell laughed. “We’ll get through that, love. We still have until midnight tonight, and well….” His brow furrowed up. “And not that I’m trying to downplay this sudden revelation of your death and sweet bonding with Casper over there, but did I hear you correctly before? You know where Visseract is?”

  “Shit!” Ted had been so caught up that he had honestly forgotten about that part of his vision. He bolted out of bed, exclaiming, “Yes! I know where to find that slimy son of a bitch! We gotta go! We gotta go right now!”

  Grell grunted as he got to his feet, changing out of his unicorn onesie and into a new emerald suit with a snap. Another click of his fingers gave Ted a fresh T-shirt and jeans. “So that’s a no on breakfast?”

  “Yes,” Ted said, shifting anxiously in his new shoes. “We need to go wherever there’s an ocean here. It’s a beach with black sand and some super wicked-looking giant rocks. You got an ocean? Some kinda water?”

  “We do,” Grell replied. “I’ll tell the guards to prepare to move and meet us there at once.” He closed his eyes briefly. “There. Done. Are you ready?”

  “Let’s fuckin’ go get this bastard,” Ted confirmed, pulling Grell in for a firm kiss. The world moved around them, and he could suddenly hear waves crashing.

  The sound reminded him so much of his dream that he shuddered and jerked, staring out at a long beach. The sand was as black as it was in the vision and glittered beneath the eternally dark sky, shining in the light cast from the bridge off in the distance.

  The water went on as far as he could see, with sporadic bright spots, perhaps from more of those glowing eels swimming around. Behind them, the beach rose up to meet a large collection of rocks. It was the jagged foot of a mountain, rising high into the sky like a fistful of daggers.

  “Are you okay?” Grell asked, drawing Ted close in a comforting embrace. “Being here?”

  “Here?” Ted didn’t mind the closeness, but the cause for Grell’s concern
didn’t register at first. “I’ve never been here before.”

  “I meant being by an ocean after, well, your recent discovery of an ocean-affiliated death?”

  “That. Right.” Ted bowed his head until their brows met and took a deep breath. Though he was touched by Grell’s concern, he honestly didn’t know how he felt. “No fuckin’ clue.”

  “We don’t have to do this now if you’re not comfortable,” Grell assured him, brushing a hand over his cheek. “We could wait and send the guards in first if you’d prefer.”

  “No,” Ted said firmly, though he let himself lean into Grell’s palm and take the offered comfort. “I need to do this. Graham and Silas want me to see something. I just… I just have this feeling.”

  “Then where to, love?”

  “Uh….” Ted turned away from the ocean, and he looked up at the rocky foothills. There was one part of the mountain that seemed darker than all the rest. As soon as he saw it, he knew that’s where they had to go.

  “A cave,” he said. “There’s a cave up there. That’s where Visseract is. Silas is sure of it.”

  “How the hell did she know where to go?” Grell asked with an incredulous huff.

  “I don’t fuckin’ know! She called 1-800-Find-Fish-Man!”

  “You and I both know that joke is beneath you. This is what happens when you skip the most important meal of the day.” Grell shrugged off his human form and crouched down once he was fully transformed. “Come along, then.”

  “What? You can’t just poof us up there?”

  “No. The same energy field in the forest exists here. So, unless you want me to wing it and risk cutting your gorgeous body in half, climb up and hang on.”

  Moving as gracefully as he could, Ted eased himself up onto Grell’s back. He leaned forward and hugged his neck awkwardly. “You know, I did plan to ride you, but this isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

  “You’ll have plenty of chances later,” Grell teased. “Now, I was serious about hanging on. Here we go!”

  Ted grunted as Grell leaped up the side of the rocks, scaling them with inhuman speed and dexterity. He could feel the huge muscles of Grell’s shoulders and back flexing beneath him, and he did his best to dig in and hold on tight.