Release the Kraken: Kraken's Cult, #4

By Kaye Draper

The tentacles are coming out. Iolani Lionheart is done playing around. Caught up in the schemes of her demon godfather, she and her (sometimes difficult) cult of lovers travel across the country to stop a powerful human group bent on genocide. Bashing baddies and saving the day is nothing new for Io. But nothing is ever as it seems with her ridiculous family. And convincing the last of her reluctant lovers to trust her with their hearts (and their darkness) might prove more challenging than she anticipated…. But hey, there's t-shirts!

 

Author's Notes

• This book in particular includes scenes that may be distasteful for some readers (but are contextual and acceptable if you're a hungry goblin), including knife play and some mild pain/blood play. (Don't worry, it's consensual and krakens are made of hardy stuff, but you've been warned).
• Includes mentions of past trauma, including but not limited to: implied threat of sexual abuse as a minor, bullying, violence, emotional trauma in the characters' backstories.
• So much swearing. Seriously.
• Explicit sex with varying levels of heat and kink possible.
• Series contains M/F, F/F, M/M, MMMMFF romance.
• Characters with gender fluidity, non-binary/intersex characters, gender bending/gender swap, gray ace, and any other orientation you can think of may appear in this series.
• Let's face it, you're thinking about reading a book with a kraken main character. There may be tentacles put to use in ways that make some people uncomfortable. It's just to be expected.
• Kraken's Cult books are longer novellas to shorter novels (40,000-50,000+) words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kaye Draper
• Release date: Jan 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201970338

Kaye Draper

Tired of toxic alpha males and weak-willed women in romance? I write outside the box, inclusive, trope-smashing, paranormal romance, usually involving poly relationships (because #whychoose) and with actual character development. LGBTQIA+ included. You can read everything I write before it's published, get access to audiobooks, Q&A, live chat, and more over on my Patreon page (it's where my coolest Creatures gather)! https://www.patreon.com/kayedraper Or you can find me here: Sign up for my mailing list to GET FREE short stories and updates on new releases: https://www.kayedraper.com/?page_id=10 Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaye-Draper/350823845037547 Find me on instagram as KayeDraperAuthor On Twitter as @KayeDraperWrite Or on my website, KayeDraper.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

Iolani

F uck off, Kraken, the goblin growled, his sharp teeth flashing and yellow eyes beginning to glow.

I knew it had been too easy rounding up all my mates and convincing them they had to come to Michigan with me to meet the family. And, you know, to solve a case of genocidal poisoning.

Honestly, I had expected Zuberi to be my biggest challenge. But no. Of course not. Sure, the big, gruff unicorn had grumbled, but it was Brier who was digging in his heels. Stupid, stubborn goblin. Too bad for him, I was always going to win in a war of wills and hard heads.

Finish packing your shit, people are waiting on you, I said calmly, crossing my arms and sending a meaningful look across his tiny apartment toward his bedroom.

He bared those teeth at me again. I told you no. I’m not leaving. The coffee shop—

Can survive without you for a fucking week, I interrupted him, rolling my eyes. Zuberi already arranged coverage. You can call whoever you do your shady goblin side hustle with and let them know you’ll be unavailable—and don’t even try to pretend you don’t know what I mean. I know you brew and sell more than coffee around here.

He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, chin up defiantly, eyes narrowed, all edgy goth creature of darkness. "You don’t need me. Go away."

I smirked at him. Is that what this is about? You feel inferior to the others? I opened my arms wide and wiggled my fingers. Do you need a hug, my little lollipop?

His thin lips twitched upward into a sneer. No.

I grinned. You want to join my cult, you know you do. Why fight it?

He pointed at the door with one claw-tipped finger. Out.

I shook my head and ignored him, circling around him to get to his bedroom. I had made up my mind about a few things recently. And Brier was one of them. I was done pretending and hiding what I wanted. My demon godfather had said to bring all my mates with me to Michigan. And Brier was mine, even if he was dead set on acting like he wasn’t madly in love with me.

Yes, it would probably seem high-handed of me from an outsider’s perspective. But I didn’t give a flying fuck what anyone else thought. I knew Brier. I saw right through his hard shell to the gooey insides. He needed pushing. Otherwise, he’d just curl up in his dark little corner and wither away.

The goblin growled again and followed me into his bedroom. He was wearing black combat boots with an excessive number of silver buckles shaped like safety pins. Very goth. They made a nice noise when he stomped in rage. "What are you doing now, calamari? Are you hard of hearing, or just plain stupid?"

I went to his closet and opened the bifold doors, rooting around until I found the fully packed duffle bag I knew the paranoid goblin always kept stashed around. It pained me to see the evidence that he was still prepped to run, bugout bag ready even after finding a place to settle down. He still didn’t feel safe. That was definitely going to change. I was done fucking around.

Picking up the bag, I slung the strap across my exquisitely muscled, polo-clad chest and looked down my nose at the endearing, frustrating creature. Come on, I said, grabbing his arm at the risk of getting my fingers bitten off. The others are waiting. Do you need anything else, sweetheart?

He tried to yank out of my grip, but I was bigger, and in my male form, pulling on a hint of kraken magic, I was quite a bit stronger. He finally stopped trying to escape and glared daggers at my chest instead, not meeting my eyes.

Why are you doing this? His voice was low—soft, but dangerous.

I sighed. "Why are you doing this? I need your help. I know you want to come with us. You love tracking people down and murdering them. It’s what you were made for. I smirked. Besides, I’m taking all of your other crushes with me. And I wouldn’t want you to get lonely."

The grumpy, gothy liar was obviously in love with at least two of my other mates. But denial was his middle name. Well... denial or poisonous glare. One of the two.

He huffed.

Besides, I continued, ignoring his scoffing noises. "You need to meet my family. Derek said to bring all of my mates." I watched him patiently while I let that soak in.

His yellow eyes still wouldn’t meet mine. Once was enough, he muttered, ignoring the mate comment.

I arched my brows at that. You’ve met my family? When?

He ground his teeth together, his face going even more stubborn.

Fine, whatever, I said dismissively. Brier was quite a bit older than me, closer to my parents’ age...not that I wanted to think about that very long. He’d probably bumped into at least one of them in his travels. And of course, he had been to Michigan before.

Keep your stupid secrets, I continued. "But I need you with me. I want you with me, damn it, goblin. I can’t leave you here. Nothing in me will allow it."

He finally looked up at me, and though he tried to hide it, I could see all his insecurities swimming right there on the surface. I’m not your mate, he said flatly.

I shrugged. Not for lack of trying on my part. Look. What’s this about, really?

His gaze slid to the side. "I’m not enough for you, idiot. I don’t...fit like the others. They are at least somewhat normal. Harmless. Sweet." He spat out that last word like it was something foul.

I chuckled, reaching out to grip the long, silky hair at the base of the goblin’s neck. Then I pulled, hard, yanking his head back, giving him that little edge of pain he apparently needed in order to honestly express himself. I don’t want you because you’re sweet, I whispered. Then I bent, capturing his mouth in a hard, bruising kiss, not letting him get away.

Not that he even tried to get away. Brier was such a terrible liar. His thin, wiry frame went rigid for a second before he melted into me, biting down on my bottom lip, his long fingers gripping my biceps, claws digging inward as he half threatened, half clung to me.

I pulled back, my lip stinging, savoring the wild, earthy, herbal taste of the goblin. Mmm...very scary, I murmured. Then I gripped his shoulders and turned him toward the door. Now move it, asshole. We’ve got shit to do before I fuck you into next week.

He lifted a hand and flipped me off, but didn’t turn around or slow down as he strode out of the apartment, leaving me to carefully lock up his sanctuary, the way I knew he needed.

After I watched Brier triple check the wards on his precious Coffee Cave, I herded him into the massive, rented SUV that waited at the curb. Brier refused to look at anyone else, just flung himself into the passenger seat and commenced glaring out the window as he ran his fingers over his leather bracelet, worrying the metal studs in an uncharacteristic show of agitation.

I glanced into the rearview to see Zuberi digging around in his pocket. The unicorn shifter grudgingly pulled out a twenty and handed it to a grinning Sasha. The basilisk met my eyes in the mirror and winked. Told you so, they whispered to Zuberi.

Archie ignored them as he worked on something on his laptop. But Cora shook her head like she was dealing with a couple of idiot children.

I tended to agree with her on this one. Taking bets on Brier was just asking for swift, bitey, stabby retribution.

Okay, I said with false cheer. Who’s ready for a long, miserable drive? Everyone? Okay. Yay!

Then I pulled into the street and got us moving.

Mr. Jules Verne gave a pitiful little yowl as we got underway, and I maneuvered the SUV carefully to keep from sending his carrier sliding around in the back. Archie absently cooed something at the cat, and Brier gave me a look that clearly conveyed what he thought about that sound. But that was the least of my worries at the moment. We’d be lucky if we weren’t arrested before we made it out of the state.

Sure, no one had come knocking yet, and the new police chief was technically on our side. But the people involved in this clusterfuck weren’t exactly powerless. At the very least, the bad guys included the head of the Florida EPA and a multi-million-dollar pharmaceutical company. If I was right, we also had to worry about the billion-dollar umbrella corporation, United Health, which owned both Pharma-X and the poison bottling company, as well as a few people in government offices, and most likely a powerful supe or two. I hadn’t forgotten how all evidence of the floating lab had disappeared from the bottom of the ocean in a matter of hours. That just smacked of divine levels of fuckery.

I didn’t have a good handle on exactly who all was involved or why. But I was pretty sure I knew their end game—to sterilize the supe population and prevent our continued survival.

Cora wrinkled her nose at me in the mirror when I checked on the occupants of the car for the millionth time. A plane would have been so much faster, but I was a bit paranoid at the moment. I had no clue if we’d be detained when trying to board. I had a valid air travel pass—a necessary license required of all beings who posed a risk to the aircraft if something happened to spark a surprise shift or a magical incident—but I didn’t know if the others were cleared, or if the people we were working against had a way to invalidate our paperwork and detain us.

Then there was the whole exploding car incident. What if our airplane just decided to randomly blow up mid-flight?

Cora and Archie started playing some silly travel game that involved road signs, and I grinned when she effortlessly pulled Sasha into their nonsense. Zuberi was pretending to read a book, but I could tell he was secretly listening in on the others. He probably wanted to play too, but was too much of a big, gruff tough guy to admit it. Brier, though, continued to glare out the window like he was seeing the scenery for the last time because it was the end of the world. His expression just begged for some poignant violin music to start playing in the background.

Hey, I said softly to the goblin. He didn’t look at me, but I saw the tip of one tall ear twitch out of the corner of my eye. You want your bag?

Fuck off, he muttered, still not looking at me.

I sighed and waved a hand between our seats, gesturing for assistance from the back. Someone hand me Brier’s duffel bag.

I grabbed the bag’s straps one-handed while I kept the car on the road. Then I passed the overstuffed bag to the goblin. Here.

He muttered something dark and probably life-threatening under his breath, but his long arms wrapped around his bag, and he held it on his lap like a kid with their teddy bear, some of his tension easing. Poor thing. He literally couldn’t relax unless he knew he had a way out. He probably had a bunch of fake IDs in there, along with money, food, burner phones, weapons... maybe a potion or two. I didn’t know many details about how Brier had survived outside his clan for so long on his own. But I knew how much everyone hated goblins and a few other evil races. For him to be this scared, things must have gotten pretty bad a few times along the way. It made me want to murder all the people who had ever made my goblin feel like he had to run. I’d choke the life out of them slowly while I gutted them with my third-best knife—yes, third best. They didn’t deserve a quick death by with a sharp implement.

Io? You okay? Cora’s voice snapped me out of my dark thoughts, and I realized I’d been driving completely on auto pilot. Crap way to protect your mates, Io, by killing them in a car accident.

Yeah, I said with a cracked grin. Fine. Why do you ask?

Sasha’s head turned as they glanced between me and Brier in the front of the car, then they leaned over and whispered something into Cora’s ear that had the sea nymph turning bright red with suppressed laughter.

I sighed. It was going to be a long drive, especially if everyone was going to gang up on me. Worst. Cult members. Ever. I muttered to myself.

Gas, food, lodging, Archie said to Cora, nudging her arm and pointing to a sign for whatever game they were playing. Then, without missing a beat, my sweet, innocent seal said, I thought we were getting t-shirts, Io? Where’s my t-shirt?

I depressed the gas pedal and drove a little faster.

Chapter 2

Iolani

We arrived in Michigan after over twenty-four hours on the road, including a few rushed rest stops. Anyone who was looking for me would probably know right where I was headed, so I was determined to get there before they could catch up or pin us down. Let me tell you, after a full day and night crammed into a vehicle with a goblin, a cat, and my four other sweet, but increasingly annoying mates, I was in desperate need of someone to choke. But unfortunately, we had no idea who our target really was or what all was really going on.

There was a reason Derek had asked me to come back home, and I was sure it had less to do with family bonding than with the original demon overlord arranging his chess pieces the way he liked. I wasn’t exactly mad about that. I was used to how Derek and his wife, Troya, worked, but it made me antsy now that my mates were involved. It was one thing trusting a demon and a god to use me for the greater good. But the possessive, protective monster inside me wasn’t okay with other people messing around with my hoard.

I almost cried with relief when I finally pulled through the gates and into the parking lot of my old apartment complex and turned off the car. I needed a nice, long soak in my tub, something to eat that wasn’t fast food or gas station snacks, and—once we’d all had some space—my big bed full of sexy mates. Then maybe I’d get around to the whole saving the supe population...thing.

We got out of the car and unloaded our bags and the cat carrier. Then the others followed me inside, all of them silently taking in the place I used to call home.

You still have an apartment here? Zuberi asked as we headed down a long hallway to my first-floor room. Or did you manage to throw around enough money to rent the place in the space of a day?

I shrugged. The realization that he thought I could work those kinds of miracles was an ego boost that my fae and kraken sides both reveled in. Yes, I was awesome enough to pull off something like that just to provide my mates with a comfortable place to stay, thank you very much.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d be in Florida, at first, I said as I paused to unlock my apartment door. The rent here is paid for the year, so I thought I might as well keep it in case I came back to visit or something.

I grinned and opened the door to shoo them all inside. Worked out well, didn’t it?

Brier prowled deeper into the apartment to inspect things, probably doing a paranoid check to make sure we were secure. A soft smile crossed my face when I noticed he moved through the murky, barely-dawn space like he still remembered the layout. Silly goblin with all his weak protests and his running away.

I pulled myself out of reminiscing over how much time we’d spent locked in my apartment all those years ago, and waved the others further in. Make yourself at home. I’ve been having a maid service come in to dust and check things over every few weeks. We’ll need to stock up on food and stuff, but there are two bedrooms and the couch folds out into a decent bed. It would be cramped, but I fully intended to have most of them sleep with me in my oversized king bed anyway.

I dropped my own bags on the floor in the hallway and crossed the small living room to open the blinds over the sliding glass doors, revealing a beautiful view of the lakeshore. I was possessed by the urge to go for a swim, but part of me had become spoiled. I had grown used to the warmer waters of the ocean. Plunging into the cool, freshwater depths of Lake Huron in the middle of winter somehow held less appeal than it used to.

A hard head butted my leg, and Mr. Jules Verne rubbed against me, giving a pathetic mew. I sighed and bent to pick him up, carrying him into the kitchen to see about setting up his food and water bowls. His owner had let the cat out of his carrier, but was currently distracted