by Linsey Hall
I drifted through the hatch until I was floating in the airlock. A second later, the water was expelled into the harbor, and I collapsed onto the hard floor.
The door opened, and strong hands grabbed me, pulling me into a warm embrace. My bottom half was still on the cold ground, but someone strong cradled me.
“Wake up, damn it.” Fear echoed in the voice.
Iain.
I coughed, blinking open my eyes.
His face hovered above mine, pain in his dark eyes.
At the thought of losing me?
His gaze flashed toward mine, relief flickering within. Then he pulled me to him, wrapping me in a powerful embrace. I hugged him back, absorbing his warmth.
He pulled back a half second later, and I met his gaze.
Then I lunged, pressing a kiss to his lips. It was hard and fast, chaste compared to my dreams, but there was something pure about it.
I pulled back. “Thanks.”
He drew in a shuddery breath, then stood, pulling me to my feet. “Can you walk?”
“Yeah. We need to get out of here before they come.”
He nodded, striding to the controls and manipulating the small buttons and levers. The sub put on a burst of speed, shooting toward the hole that I’d created in the fence. It looked so small.
Were we going to make it?
Come on.
I held my breath as the sub narrowly slipped through the gap, then hurried to the back windows, searching for the guards.
They floated in the middle of the harbor, trapped by Iain’s control of the currents. Though they were too far away for me to see their expressions, I could feel their frustration. I resisted waving, hoping that we hadn’t just incited war with the Primordial Ones.
My wet clothes stuck to me uncomfortably, and a cylindrical apparatus to my left caught my eye. I studied it.
A drying tube.
Heck yeah.
The Primordial Ones could live on land or sea, walk like humans or swim like fish—but they couldn’t dry their own clothes. Of course the queen would have something like this.
I stepped into it, pulling closed the curved door. Warm air surrounded me, along with a spark of magic from some kind of minor spell. Within seconds, my clothes and boots were dry.
I grinned and stepped out of the drying tube. It probably had a fancy Fae name, but it’d have to remain a mystery. No way I’d return to ask.
“I’ve gone left,” Iain’s voice carried to the back of the sub. “Where to next?”
“Just keep going. I’ll let you know when we’re close.” I joined him at the front, standing close enough that our shoulders nearly touched. Tension prickled the air between us, a live wire that felt impossible to break. The moment we’d just shared had been… something. I had a hard time putting words to it, but his fear over my death had pulled at something inside me.
I flicked a glance at him, trying to be subtle.
“I feel you watching me,” he said.
“Whatever.” A blush crept toward my cheeks and I turned my attention to the sea. There were too many threats to our lives to worry about feelings right now. The mate bond was inconsequential at present.
Unless it was forcing his feelings for me?
A massive shark appeared in front of the window, distracting me from my thoughts. The creature had to be at least twenty feet long, and I gasped.
“That looks too big to be real.”
“It’s real, all right.” Iain smiled at the beast, and I imagined he felt a kinship with him.
To our left, the coral palace rose tall through the water. It wasn’t shaped like a normal castle, even though the inside had seemed like one. Instead, the outside looked more like a massive coral head, lumpy and strange. Living coral was attached to the surface, brilliantly colorful wherever our sub’s lights shone.
Holes were cut into it, more golden light shining from within. If I hadn’t known what was inside, I wouldn’t have been able to guess. The whole thing was so big that it would probably take days to drive around.
“How much fuel do we have?” I searched the simple dash of the sub. “Can we make it to the surface in this thing?”
He nodded. “The fuel is provided by a crystal. Even if it runs out, I can control the current to get this thing to the surface.”
“Good.”
The vehicle moved swiftly along the edge of the coral head, and I searched for any sight of the eight-legged sea monster that we were hunting.
“The Kraken might not actually be in its den,” I said.
“I’d hate to run into it out here.”
“That’s the truth.” I focused on the pull of the SoulStone, which was growing stronger. “I think we’re getting close.”
“We’ve covered a lot of ground so far. Should be near the other side of the coral head.”
Just like Fabien had said.
The farther we went, the stronger the pull grew, until it was pulsing inside of me like a heartbeat. “Here. Somewhere around here.”
I walked to the side windows, searching for any kind of cave entrance. An overhang of rock and coral beneath us was covered with sparser organic growth. I squinted at it, then asked, “Can we go lower? There’s something down there I want to check out.”
Iain maneuvered the vehicle lower, until we were underneath the coral shelf, quite close to the bottom of the sea.
A dark cave loomed up above us, and I grinned. “I think we found it.”
Iain’s keen eyes inspected the whole space. “You spotted it because there’s less organic matter.”
“Yeah. I think the Kraken must drag himself out with his tentacles, and it keeps the shelf free of life.”
Iain nodded. “Clever.”
He reached for the controls and killed the sub’s front lights. We sat in the dark for a moment, until our eyes adjusted to the faint glow of some kind of bioluminescence. It was just enough to navigate by.
Carefully, Iain piloted the craft into the darkened cave entrance. It formed a wide tunnel, and we followed it for several minutes, finally approaching a larger area that was similar to the harbor we’d left behind.
“It’s naturally formed,” Iain said. “No Primordial manipulation like the other harbor.”
“Thank fates. I’m not keen on another gate.” Frankly, if I had my way, I wouldn’t exit this sub again until we reached the surface.
“I’m going to kill the power to this thing and use the current to get us to the surface. It should be completely silent.”
“Hopefully there aren’t too many of those blue crystals up there.” We didn’t need a lot of light giving us away.
He nodded, cutting off the power until the whole sub was eerily silent. We began to rise through the water, and I watched anxiously as the sub approached the surface. It broke through without a splash, and I got my first look at the Kraken’s den.
It was enormous, with a wide stone ledge like at the Primordials’ harbor and deep caves extending back into the coral. A few of the blue crystals sat in the ceiling, illuminating the space, but I couldn’t see the Kraken.
“There.” Iain pointed to a cave to the far right.
It was the biggest one, by far, and the Kraken blended with the shadows, impossible to see at first glance. I squinted, trying to get a better look. The beast appeared to be sleeping on a pile of debris. I squinted harder at it, then murmured, awestruck. “That’s not trash.”
“No, it’s not. I can feel the magic from here.”
The Kraken appeared to be sleeping on a pile of magical treasure. So many powerful signatures carried on the air, competing for supremacy. I could make out colorful stones and golden cups, tattered books and wooden staffs. I could feel the pull of the SoulStone from somewhere within the pile.
We’re so damned close.
“He’s like an underwater dragon, crouching on his hoard.” I grinned, terrified but oddly charmed.
“He’s a collector.”
“And that’s why h
e went for the SoulStone. The power within it. When it fell into the ocean, he must have grabbed it.”
Iain nodded. “We can’t fight him. We’re already on the queen’s bad side for taking her sub.”
“And I don’t want to kill him.” It was odd to feel so warm toward a giant monster who would probably immediately shove me into his mouth with one of his eight legs, but I couldn’t help myself.
Even from this distance, I could see the huge fangs peeking out of his sleeping mouth. The neon green at the tips of his tentacles made me think of poison, and I was certain that there was nothing about this creature that wasn’t deadly. To make matters worse, he was probably fifty feet tall when he stood up, and he had to have an arm-span of a hundred feet.
“How the hell are we going to do this?” I muttered.
“We need to trick him.”
“Kraken are smart. Like octopuses.” Unfortunately, they weren’t smart enough to talk, so we couldn’t bargain with him. “We need to get him away from that pile. A diversion.”
“The only thing he’ll leave that pile for is a better treasure than what he’s got.”
He was right. “We’ve got nothing better.”
“Yes, we do.” He caught my gaze. “My magic.”
“How, though?”
“I’ll feed it into an object.” He turned around, clearly looking for something. A small golden lamp was bolted to a table next to one of the scarlet couches, and he reached over and broke it off. “This thing.”
“You won’t permanently give it up though, right?”
“No, I’ll recoup it when I rest. I won’t give all.”
“Not like I did.”
He shook his head. “Not unless I have to.”
“You can’t. One of us needs magic if we’re going to get out of here.”
He nodded, his eyes dark. “While I distract, you steal the stone. Then we get out of here in this thing.”
“I can do that.” I turned toward the airlock. “Let’s go.”
Silently, we climbed out of the sub. With any luck, we’d be able to sneak up on the Kraken without even waking him.
As if.
I never got quite that lucky.
Together, we climbed onto the stone ledge that acted as a makeshift dock. The Kraken snuffled and shifted on its pile of treasure, but didn’t move.
Iain gripped my arm and pulled me around to face him. Silently, he mouthed, “Be careful.”
Then he pulled me toward him for a silent, swift kiss.
Warmth exploded within me, but he pulled back and slipped away before I could do or say anything.
Okay. We were kissing a lot for two people who were determined to break their mate bond.
I shook the thought away and moved toward the Kraken, slipping silently toward the cave containing the beast. Dim blue light illuminated the space, sparkling off of the treasures upon which the Kraken sprawled.
The SoulStone pulled hard at me, but I couldn’t see it from here. Quietly, I crept toward the edge of the cave, hiding behind a huge pillar of rock.
With the Kraken still slumbering, I turned and looked toward Iain, spotting him at the entrance to the cave that was farthest from this one.
I held up my hand, indicating that he should wait.
He frowned, then nodded, seeming to get my drift.
If I could sneak up on the Kraken and find the stone, there’d be no reason to wake him. It was far safer.
I drew in a slow, steady breath, then turned back to the Kraken. It was even bigger up close, the skin a beautiful, burnished blue. My eyes darted from the fangs to the seemingly poison-tipped tentacles, and my skin chilled.
Now or never.
11
Heart thundering, I crept forward, my eyes searching the piles of treasure around him. Jewelry, gems, tableware, weapons, and ratty books that hadn’t done well on their swim to this cave. But no SoulStone.
Silently, I skirted around one of the huge, sprawled tentacles, sneaking up to another huge pillar that could act as cover. I ducked behind it, frantically searching the tumbled pile of objects.
The Kraken moved and yawned, its huge green eyes blinking open.
Crap!
I darted back behind the pillar, heart thundering. Rattling noises sounded as the treasures shifted underneath the Kraken’s weight. The sound of deep breathing filled the air.
Was he sniffing the air, trying to get a good scent?
Oh fates—could he smell me?
I conjured a blade from the ether—my shiniest one—and used it like a mirror, trying to get a look at the Kraken as my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
The monster was shifting irritably, looking around. It sensed something.
Crap.
The strange, slitted nose seemed to flutter as it took in more of the air, and I realized that I had absolutely no idea what this thing was capable of. It was a beast that shouldn’t even exist—an octopus-like creature that could survive on land and in the sea.
A low growl emerged from its throat, and cold sweat dripped down my back.
A surge of magic came from Iain’s direction, smelling of a stormy sea and feeling like a cold breeze against my skin.
He’d started the diversion.
I waited, breath held, as the Kraken started to shift toward Iain. The creature blinked myopically, looking a bit out of sorts.
Hang on.
Could it not see well above the surface?
It was possible.
I didn’t know how the creature’s body accommodated both air and water—maybe it had two sets of lungs. Maybe it was magic. But it was highly possible that it had far better vision underwater, where its eyes were designed to cope with higher pressure. That’s where it would hunt, after all. This den was its safe space, so it wouldn’t need to see as well.
That could help us. Though I wouldn’t make the mistake of assuming it was like a T-Rex and could only see me if I moved.
I stayed hidden, waiting for the beast to climb off its pile of treasure. Hopefully its hearing was better underwater, as well. I could use all the help I could get here.
The Kraken moved more quickly than I expected, gracefully descending its pile and shifting toward the other cave. It moved silently on all eight legs. A vision of it chasing me flashed in my mind, and a shiver of fear raced over me.
It would be fast.
Almost impossible to outrun.
Likewise, Iain wouldn’t have long before it was on him.
As soon as the creature’s back was turned to me, I hurried from my hiding spot, keeping myself hidden at the interior edge of the cave. The jewels called, and my gaze went to any that gleamed with red and gold fire.
But none was the SoulStone.
The tracking charm pulled me to the top of the pile, where a massive collection of glittering objects sat.
They were the most valuable.
The Kraken spent its time guarding the best of the best, sitting right on top of them.
Quickly, I clambered to the top of the pile, wishing that I had Fae wings so that I could move silently through the air. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I prayed that the Kraken couldn’t hear me.
Silence came from the other side of the cave, and I couldn't see Iain or the beast from here. Worrying about him would slow me down, so I turned all my attention to the pile, searching desperately for the stone that called to me.
There.
It was a good ten feet away, all the way on the other side. Still at the top, just not next to me.
“Caera! Move!” Iain’s shout sounded from across the cavern. “It’s coming!”
Fear drove me forward. Silence wouldn’t help me now. I dived for the SoulStone, my hand closing around it.
I processed two things simultaneously—this was definitely the SoulStone.
And something was wrong with it.
Terribly, dreadfully wrong.
But then the Kraken roared, and I had no more time to worry about it. I briefly
debated shoving the stone in my potions bag that was stored in the ether, but what if I yanked it out during a fight and chucked it at someone, thinking it was a potion bomb?
Nope. Not worth the risk. I shoved the stone into my jacket pocket and zipped it up tight, then scrambled down the pile of treasure.
The Kraken raced toward me, moving swiftly on its eight legs. Iain threw a massive gust of air at the beast, slamming it against the wall of the coral cave.
The Kraken bounced off, its eyes alight with rage. It was an unbreakable beast, moving with impossible speed across the ground.
I dived off the tower of treasure, sprinting toward the sub. On the other side of the cavern, Iain launched himself into the air, headed for the Kraken.
The beast was too fast. Before I could blink, it was on me, grabbing me up with one of its arms. The acid green of the monster’s poisoned tentacle flashed in front of my face, but it didn’t touch me, thank fates.
No doubt the Kraken saved the killing blow for the right moment.
Or maybe it ate its prey alive.
My heart thundered, fear icing my veins.
The monster squeezed its arm around my waist, wrapping hard around me and trapping my arm against my side. I gasped, my ribs nearly cracking.
As fast as I could, I reached into the ether and drew my potion bag with my free hand. I swung the strap of the bag around my neck so I wouldn’t lose it, and dug inside, grabbing for whatever potion I could find. As long as it wasn’t a healing potion, it would work. This monster was far too big to kill with anything in here, but I might be able to stun it.
My hand closed around a round orb—probably a forgetfulness potion. I didn’t have time to search for the distinctive cap that would make the contents obvious. The beast was already raising me to its mouth, its fangs gleaming ominously.
I chucked the thing at the Kraken’s face. The glass globe shattered right between its eyes. Confusion flickered in the green depths, then the beast shook its head and roared.
Iain appeared, throwing a massive gale at the Kraken. It blew the creature toward the water, shocking it into slackening its grip. I slipped out of the Kraken’s hold.
