Stalked by the Kraken: A Monster Romance by Lillian Lark

Author:Lillian Lark [Lark, Lillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Rose

Happiness hums through me as surely as my yawn. My eyes are scratchy, and my body begs me for a nap, but satisfaction warms me. I balance two mugs of tea and make my way to the lobby.

Lowell looks up from the front desk, looking just as tired as I feel.

“Please tell me this is one of Jared’s high caffeine blends?” His voice is rough from lack of sleep and arguing with the ward master. Who, predictably, did not appreciate Lowell patching the ward yesterday.

At my nod, Lowell accepts the mug with a grateful groan. We’ve been here with the ward master since we closed late last night. Trading off duties for naps.

The payoff is worth the sleep. We’re able to open this morning with full confidence that our issue is fixed. The ward master is doing one last check over and Lowell is sending out notifications that we’re now open.

The ward master added an overlaying ward to keep such an event from occurring again. He says the siphoning was purposefully set up and had to have been done from the inside of the bathhouse. Jared is furious. He’s locked himself in the business office and is calling contacts to track down who or what group would dare do such a thing. I don’t think he’s slept yet.

I foresee many tea blends coming from this. Jared uses the hobby to calm himself down and set aside stress. I take a satisfying sip of this particular blend and hum. It’s an invigorating floral mixed black tea with a citrus kick.

“You’re sure happy on this cloudy morning.” Lowell’s eyes narrow. His bad mood is from clashing with the ward master.

The ward master’s methods are meticulous to my cousin’s free-form process. There has been a lot of snapping and snarking between the two of them all night. Even with the men trying my patience, I’m floating on a cloud.

I stare into my swirling tea. Happy. “Things are just resolving themselves nicely.”

“How so?” he asks.

“Well, we’ve solved the drain issue, so I’m not under so much pressure to make matches.”

Lowell waits for more. There is more but that really could be enough.

“I’m revising my matching strategy. Looking more into what the people wanting to be matched say they want versus what they need in their life, instead of relying so much on compatibility readings.” I’ve done that before, but this time I’m putting more emphasis on it.

I’ve been focusing so much on my lack of confidence in compatibility reading, letting doubts freeze me, that I let it overshadow every tool I use to match. Current events have shaken me out of my matching rut.

“Well, that should help your overflowing inbox. And…?” Lowell says, eyes sparkling with glee. His bad mood beginning to fade.

I duck my head but smile. “I think Gideon really likes me.”

“Oh really?”

“You know, past the number of nights we agreed on. Like, a relationship.” My cheeks heat.

Lowell’s brows lift, unsurprised, but it had felt more like a revelation to me.

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