Jewel of the Sea

by Tiffany Roberts

  “She is your mate, then?”

  Arkon hesitated; his instinct was to reply yes, but that wasn’t true no matter how much he yearned for it. “It’s…complicated. And what difference does it make? She helped Jax escape, so has she not proven herself a friend of our kind?”

  A hint of crimson pulsed over Dracchus’s skin. “The risk to our people was great enough during the situation with Macy. The danger has only increased, and you pushed on even though you were directly aware of the greater danger. We do not know the capabilities of these human hunters. What if they are able to reach our home?”

  “They are but a single, small group of humans! They do not represent the entirety of their race.”

  “That Macy, Jax, and Sarina are here, safe and content, should tell you I know that, Arkon.” Dracchus spoke through clenched teeth, his jaw muscles bulging. “Whether there is one of them or one hundred, they are an open threat to us. Yours is not the only blood that might cloud the water.”

  Arkon snapped his mouth shut. He’d been the one who endangered their people this time. The kraken had avoided detection by humans for hundreds of years; a few more months should have been simple. All Arkon had to do was stay away until the hunters decided The Watch was a waste of their time.

  But he couldn’t stay away from Aymee. Arkon refused to abandon her; even if she’d not chosen him yet, he’d chosen her.

  “This needs to stop, Arkon.”

  “So...you will help me transport the necessary supplies to Aymee?”

  Dracchus furrowed his brow and leaned back. “What?”

  “I’ll have many things to carry. The journey would be quicker with your help.”

  “Did you listen to anything I said?”

  Arkon held out the container to Dracchus. “Yes. And you’re correct. But that doesn’t change my decision.”

  “Arkon, you—”

  “I have chosen. You have a choice, as well. You can forget you saw me, and I will return to the Broken Cavern, laden with supplies for Aymee. You can tell the others that I am keeping a human and give Kronus another supposed betrayal to rail against. Or you can help me, and know that I would be immensely grateful, as little as my gratitude must be worth. However you choose, I am returning to her.

  “What’s done is done. She did not want to leave her people behind, but for now, she has. I do not wish to leave my people behind, but I will if I am forced to make a choice.”

  Dracchus was silent for a long while as he scrutinized Arkon, his expression surprisingly difficult to read.

  “If you consider it a matter of honor or duty, Dracchus, I will accept your challenge.”

  Those words seemed to strike Dracchus deeper than anything else Arkon had said. The big kraken’s eyes flared for a moment in surprise, and he shook his head. “You have declined my challenges for years.”

  “I am aware.”

  “Abyss take you, Arkon,” Dracchus grumbled. He accepted the container.

  Arkon turned away and released a shaky breath. He’d taken a gamble in pushing Dracchus; their exchange had been more likely to end with the two of them out in the water, facing one another down in front of a crowd. There was no time for such displays.

  He collected another container from the wall. Before he moved away, the lockers caught his attention.

  Encountering Dracchus in here had disrupted what little clarity of purpose Arkon possessed when he’d entered — he might’ve left without taking a diving suit for Aymee.

  Placing the container on a nearby bench, he retrieved a PDS and the accompanying mask from one of the lockers. The system’s outward simplicity belied its sophistication; the relatively small piece of black material stretched to fit the wearer’s body almost perfectly, and, when paired with the mask — itself looking like a plain, curved piece of glass or plastic — protected the user from variations in pressure and temperature, in addition to filtering oxygen out of the surrounding water.

  He placed the items in the container, closed it, and carried the chest to Dracchus.

  “What else?” the big kraken asked.

  “Fresh water. I believe there are suitable containers for that in the room attached to the Mess. And food. We’ll need to see if Macy has any she can spare for the time being.”

  “Is there truly going to be this much food?” Dracchus dipped his chin toward the chest he was holding.

  “Not likely,” Arkon replied, moving through the doorway and into the hall, with Dracchus just behind, “but I am certain there are other things I will need to bring.”

  “She has shelter, and you are bringing food. What more could she require?”

  “I don’t know. Human things.”

  Dracchus grunted.

  They stopped in the Mess. In the connected room — Macy called it a kitchen and used it to cook her meals — Arkon located two large plastic jugs. He rinsed them out, filled them with water from the sink, fastened their lids, and placed them in Dracchus’s container. Dracchus frowned but said nothing.

  Arkon led the way to the Cabins at a rapid pace, his sense of urgency restored now that he’d obtained assistance.

  Jax and Macy’s door was open when Arkon reached it. He peered around the doorframe to see Jax — the mighty hunter and explorer — near the bed, making strange, exaggerated expressions to entertain the youngling in his arms.

  Arkon tapped the edge of the chest on the doorframe.

  Jax looked up and smiled. “We expected to see you yesterday. Come inside, Arkon.”

  Despite the invitation and the countless hours he’d spent in this room with Jax, Macy, and Sarina, Arkon always felt as though he were intruding upon a private space when he entered. He supposed it was a simple matter of his people’s ways having been ingrained in him since childhood — kraken kept to their own dens. Entering another kraken’s den was enough to spark a fight.

  Arkon crossed the threshold.

  Jax furrowed his brow when he looked at the chest in Arkon’s hand, and his eyes widened when Dracchus entered behind Arkon.

  “My instinct says I should not ask,” Jax said.

  “Is Macy in?” Arkon knew Jax wouldn’t allow her to wander far without one of the three kraken present alongside her and at least two weapons on her person, but he couldn’t stand there in silence.

  “She just stepped out of the shower.” Frowning, Jax’s eyes shifted from Arkon to Dracchus and back again. Sarina wrapped her tentacles around his forearm and made little cooing sounds. She turned her large eyes to Arkon.

  “Oh. Well, I suppose we will wait until she is all done.” Arkon turned and placed the container on the floor. When he rose, he moved to Jax and held the tip of a tentacle to Sarina. She latched onto it with her little fist and shook it before bringing it to her mouth “She’s getting strong.”

  “Arkon…” Jax said.

  There was a thump as Dracchus put down his chest, and he came up immediately behind Arkon, looking over his shoulder. Sarina turned her attention to the big kraken and smiled. She released her hold on both Arkon and her father and stretched her chubby arms toward Dracchus.

  Arching a brow, Arkon moved aside. His surprise and confusion were mirrored in Jax’s face as Dracchus gently lifted Sarina and brought her close. Her tentacles wrapped around his wrists and her hands cupped his cheeks. She made more of her baby sounds and blew out of her siphons.

  Dracchus mimicked her, and she smiled so broadly that she nearly tipped backward.

  Jax and Arkon exchanged a perplexed look.

  The bathroom door opened and Arkon’s gaze shifted to Macy as she stepped out. She paused, one foot over the threshold, before a smile brightened on her face. “Arkon!”

  She approached them, casting a warm look at Dracchus and Sarina as though it wasn’t a strange sight. “It never stops surprising me how fast she’s advancing compared to a human newborn.” Her smile faded slightly. “She’s only four weeks old but she’s so alert, and she’s more responsive and mobile than a six-month-old. I
feel like she’s growing too fast.”

  “As I told you, Macy, kraken younglings develop quickly after birth,” Jax said gently, putting an arm around her shoulder and drawing her against his side. “Her growth will slow when she gets older.”

  “But she won’t be a baby for long.” Macy sighed wistfully. She pecked a kiss on Jax’s cheek, turned her gaze to Arkon, and stepped out of her mate’s embrace, eagerness gleaming in her eyes. “Did Aymee have more letters for me?”

  “Yes, she did,” Arkon said. “But...I do not have them.”

  Macy glanced at the container and frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “There is a situation,” Dracchus said. He had Sarina up high, moving her around as though she were flying. She waved her arms and tentacles in a pantomime of swimming.

  “What situation?” Macy demanded.

  “Aymee is safe. Her injury was only a minor one,” Arkon replied.

  “What?”

  “A bruise! She’s only bruised. She was struck in the face by one of the hunters yesterday, but it should heal normally.”

  Macy stared at him, jaw agape, eyes wide, but there was a moment’s delay before true anger tinted her expression. Fury etched itself into every line of her features. “Tell me what happened.”

  Arkon nodded. He spoke rapidly, telling them about the exchange from beginning and end, leaving out his regrets — even if different choices might’ve resulted in a different outcome, it was no longer important. The past was done.

  “Bring her here,” Macy said as soon as he finished. It wasn’t a request.

  “I do not believe that to be a wise choice, currently,” Arkon replied.

  “What do you mean? She’s out there alone and hurt. I know how that feels. She should be here, where we can keep her safe.”

  Jax winced at her words but shook his head. “Macy, this place is not even fully safe for you, and you nearly died to protect a kraken. It would be an even greater risk for her.”

  “She could have died protecting Arkon! How is that any different? She’s been trying to turn the hunters away from kraken, surely she’s proven herself enough.”

  “No one outside this room has witnessed any of the things she’s done. For some, our word will not be enough,” Jax said. “Another human brought here without the approval of our people as a whole might well be enough for Kronus to throw everything into chaos.”

  “He does not need everyone’s support,” Dracchus said. “He only needs them to doubt, and it will further his goals.”

  Macy visibly deflated. “Then what can we do? I hate that she’s out there by herself.”

  Seeing her so suddenly resigned hurt Arkon; his spirits sank. In all his life, Macy had been only the second person he’d considered a friend, and he did not enjoy feeling as though he were the cause of her distress.

  “She won’t be,” he said. “Help me gather whatever will be useful to her. We have fresh water, and if you have food to spare, it would be of benefit. I do not know what else, though I am certain there is more.”

  “I’ll gather things for her.” She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Arkon returned her embrace. “Thank you. If it were anyone else, I’d probably still be arguing to have her brought here…but I trust you.”

  Once she released Arkon, Jax hooked a tentacle around Macy’s waist and drew her back against his chest, enfolding her in his arms. Arkon exchanged a look with him; there was no threat from Jax, but he wasn’t likely to ever be comfortable with another male touching her, with another male’s scent on her.

  And wouldn’t Arkon himself feel the same regarding Aymee?

  “I will keep her safe, Macy.”

  Chapter 12

  Time had never held much meaning to Aymee in The Watch; she woke with the sunrise most days, worked in the clinic, painted, sketched, visited her friends, and readied for bed around sunset. On her few free days, she often helped with other duties — mostly tending crops, before Macy had left.

  But the passage of time had altered after she met Arkon. Days spent in longing and anticipation dragged on through eternity, while moments with him fluttered by much too quickly, falling away into the past with startling finality.

  Worst of all was time passed alone and scared in a cold, dark, unfamiliar place.

  The rain continued long after Arkon had left, but the thunder and lightning diminished as the storm swept inland. Despite their lessened intensity, each bone-rattling boom quickened her heart and shortened her breath, leaving her on edge.

  She glanced toward the entry tunnel frequently, seeking signs of Arkon’s light in the dark water. Eventually, the hunger gnawing at her stomach grew unbearable, and she finally drew the canister closer. She relinquished her white-knuckled grip on the carved stone and placed it in the container for safe keeping. After eating the apple Arkon had handed her, she devoured one of the muffins her mother had baked for Macy — after everything, she still felt a pang of guilt at doing so — and drank from the water he’d collected.

  Aymee wasn’t keen on wandering this dank, dangerous place; with little to do but wait, she read her letter from Macy, angling the paper toward the grayish light spilling in with the rain.

  Aside from her concern about the rangers, Macy’s words were happy. She’d written about Sarina’s rapid development — she could already swim on her own! — and life in the Facility. Though she hadn’t fully recovered from giving birth, Macy was up and moving without trouble.

  Smiling to herself, Aymee read through the letter again and again; she wasn’t so desperate as to open the letters sent along by Macy’s parents. After a time, she returned the letter to the canister, replaced the lid, and lay on the cold, hard floor with an arm curled beneath her head. She watched the run-off pouring through the ceiling gap and listened to the seawater thrashing against the concrete below.

  Her eyelids soon grew heavy, and she lapsed into a fitful sleep.

  A loud splash woke her. The sound echoed through the dark chamber. Her eyes went immediately to the hole; the sky had dimmed, and night was fast approaching.

  Another splash.

  Gasping, Aymee jerked upright. Something thumped against the metal ladder leading down into the water.

  A figure squatted at the edge of the platform, leaning over it.

  Arkon.

  “Just pass them up,” he whispered. “That’s why I handed you mine to begin with.”

  “I can manage,” replied a deeper voice from below him.

  “But you do not need to.”

  “Who is that, Arkon?” Aymee asked, easing closer.

  Arkon lifted his torso and glanced at her, offering a smile. “My goal was to not wake you, Aymee. Dracchus is helping.” He turned toward the water. “Helping,” he repeated.

  A grunt of assent came from below. Arkon swayed back as he caught the large chest Dracchus tossed up. He hurriedly set it aside to catch the second chest just before it struck him.

  “That was juvenile, Dracchus.”

  Arkon moved toward Aymee.

  Her lips twitched with amusement before Dracchus hauled himself up the ladder, drawing her attention. Only his head had been above the surface of the water the one time she’d seen him — the night Macy left The Watch. Between the sea’s motion, the poor lighting, and his dark coloring, she hadn’t been able to make out much detail.

  When he reached the platform and stood on his tentacles, Aymee’s eyes widened. Jax and Arkon were both big — at least two meters tall without stretching — but Dracchus was huge. His shoulders were at least half again as wide as Arkon’s, and his body was thick with muscle. Even in the relative gloom, his eyes were stunning amber that stood in stark contrast to his black skin and gray stripes.

  “Thank you for helping,” Aymee said.

  Dracchus studied her in silence for a time before finally nodding. “You have helped my people. It is only right that I help you.”

  Aymee frowned and folded her
hands in her lap. “I feel like I’ve made a mess of things.”

  As Arkon moved the containers closer to Aymee, Dracchus shook his head. “Not you. Him. But he was persuasive enough to convince me to help, anyway.”

  Aymee glanced between Arkon and Dracchus. “What did he say?”

  “He said you were—”

  “I was simply honest and forthright about the situation.” Arkon pushed the first chest before Aymee and opened the lid. “Macy helped us gather what would be useful for you.”

  Her heart warmed when she saw the items within — clothes, bedding, a hairbrush, soaps, and more. A letter rested atop it all, Aymee’s name scrawled on the paper in familiar handwriting. She picked it up and opened it.

  Aymee,

  I wish more than anything you could be here with me. Know that we will do whatever we can to make it happen, but for now, it’s not safe. I trust Arkon, and I know you do, too. We’ll figure something out soon. Until then, I hope all of this helps.

  Macy

  “Oh, I could hug her right now,” Aymee said. It hurt to smile, but that didn’t stop her.

  “There’s food and more fresh water in the other container. I know this is not an ideal place to stay, but I want it to be as comfortable for you as possible while we’re here.”

  “Thank you, Arkon.”

  He slithered closer to her and extended his arm, lightly pressing his hand over hers. “How do you feel?”

  She brushed her thumb against his, tracing the claw to its tip. “I’m okay.”

  Arkon lifted her hand and leaned down, pressing his lips to her knuckles. “I am sorry I was away for so long.”

  “I know you would’ve returned sooner if you could have. And all of this,” she gestured toward the large containers, “is amazing.”

  Dracchus approached, stopping a couple of meters away, and sank down to her eye level. “I will not ask you to betray your people, but we need to know whatever you can tell us about these hunters to protect ourselves.”

  Aymee slowly withdrew her hand from Arkon’s grasp as she faced Dracchus; she immediately missed its warmth and comfort. “What do you want to know?”