Read Online Kraken by M. Caspian - Free Book Online Page A

down and gave an involuntary shiver. Will turned the arm over to look at the myriad of paler rounded suckers underneath. The edges were raised, and each sucker dipped in the centre to a tiny hole. Towards the tip of the arm the suckers became much smaller and darker.
     
    “Watch,” said Cy.
     
    The arm flexed in Will’s grasp, and in the segment directly over Will’s hand tiny points protruded from the center pinholes, extending further and further until it bristled with sharp hook-shaped claws. Will breathed out, stunned, and the suckers rippled and dilated at his exhale. He reached out his other hand to delicately touch the tip of one hook, and it slid straight into his flesh like Will was ripe fruit. With a gasp he pulled his hand back, bringing it up to his mouth to suck at the pinprick of blood. The hook was milky and semi-translucent, more opaque towards the base, like a cat’s claw. Will squeezed one sideways between his fingers, and it yielded slightly, like a fingernail.
     
    “So, what, these are tentacles?”
     
    “Well, technically these are arms. I only have two tentacles. Wait.”
     
    A new limb emerged from Cy’s chest, this one carrying the wide, fat, leafy shape he’d seen earlier. The suckers were smaller and crowded together closely.
     
    “There’s also this,” said Cy. He closed his eyes for a second, and Will felt wetness on his hands. A milky goo was oozing out of the tips of Cy’s arms and dripping down over Will’s skin, onto the floor.
     
    “Ew, no, why would I— ew!” Will dropped Cy’s arm and convulsively rubbed his hands on his thighs, kneading the fabric.
     
    Cy laughed. “Humans. You’re all so squeamish. But it’s pretty useful. All cephalopods secrete neurotoxins. But you wanted to see all of me. Come down to the beach, and I’ll show you.”
     
    Will padded after Cy down the cliff, still wiping his hands. At the water’s edge Cy shucked his clothes and dove in, butterflying his arms, his powerful shoulder muscles working under the bronzed skin.
     
    Will found a handy rock to perch on.
     
    “Aren’t you coming in?” called Cy, about a hundred yards out. He had rolled onto his back and was treading water; looking like a large russet seal.
     
    Will waved to him with one arm, hugging the other against his body. “I’m good here,” he said. “Thanks.”
     
    Cy made a stroke or two in towards shore. “I thought you wanted to see all of me.”
     
    “Well, yeah. But I can see from here.”
     
    “Don’t be ridiculous. Come on in.”
     
    “Cy, I can’t— ” Will pressed his fingers against his eyes. He didn’t want to get into this.
     
    Cy walked into the shallows, naked, glistening, confident. “It’s best you learn now to do as I say. Don’t make me fetch you in here.”
     
    “No, fuck, you can’t— “ he started, and then it was too late to move, Cy’s tentacles were around him, wrapping him in their softness, tightening around his belly and chest, and lifting him, dizzyingly, into the air, and then down, into Cy’s arms, into the waters of the bay.
     
    Will’s breath caught in his throat, and his limbs flailed uselessly. His chin dipped into the cool water, and he struggled, trying to find something to push against. He tried to exhale, then coughed, sucking in a mouthful of water, then another. His head rose again, then he felt himself go under. Under. Where there was only ocean, and things that lived in the ocean, and that was not where he belonged. It was the size, the limitlessness of it. His wet clothes weighed him down, and he could barely raise his arms. The water stretched out around him and it never stopped, it just kept going and going forever, eternally, and Will would be subsumed into it and fall and fall and—
     
    “Will!” Cy’s voice brought him back to reality. He was cradled in Cy’s arms. All of Cy’s arms. “You won’t drown, Will. You’ll never do that. I’ve got you. Feel me holding you up, yeah? Now