Treasure of the Abyss

by Tiffany Roberts

  Jax woke to Macy’s moaning. He pushed himself upright — he’d fallen asleep leaning on the side of the bed — and shook away his grogginess. He hadn’t intended to sleep. Hadn’t wanted to take his eyes off her, for even a moment.

  Her face glistened with a sheen of sweat, and the sheet Arkon had laid atop her was damp and bunched around her legs. Though her eyes were shut, and she appeared to be sleeping, she shifted from side to side, her expression drawn.

  He pressed his palm to her forehead and frowned. She was hotter than before.

  By the dimness of the overhead lights, it was night — many rooms in the Facility darkened automatically after sunset — and morning could be hours away. Her words lingered at the forefront of his mind.

  If I get worse…I need to go back to The Watch.

  Jax turned his attention to her leg; she’d kicked it from beneath the sheet, leaving her calf exposed. The faint, pale scars where Arkon had sealed her wounds were barely visible in the low light, but the thin, red veins snaking outward from them were unmistakable. Though he knew little about the way humans healed, this was clearly not normal.

  This was worse.

  He spread the sheet out over her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I will return as quickly as I can,” he whispered.

  If Macy heard, she made no indication.

  He hurried out of the infirmary and down the corridor. He checked the computer room first; Arkon was not there. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed his rising panic. It would do him no good. He went to the pool next, where he gathered a diving suit and a mask. There was still no sign of his friend.

  That left only two other likely places — Arkon’s den, or the Mess. Jax moved toward the latter.

  The voices from inside the Mess carried to him from down the corridor. He’d had little contact with his people since returning with Macy; he’d not sought them out, and no one had spoken to him about what had happened. There was no doubt word had already spread.

  But he couldn’t know how any of them would take the story.

  He ignored the quickening of his hearts and entered the Mess without hesitation.

  “We can’t let this happen again. We need to keep a closer eye on our younglings, especially the females,” one of the kraken said.

  The group was smaller than when Jax had brought Macy to the Facility, but a similar tension thickened the air. They were clustered together near the far wall; Arkon, Dracchus, Kronus, and Ector were visible in the crowd.

  “This does not often happen. Melaina is restless. She isn’t the first, and she won’t be the last,” Ector said. His eyes shifted at that moment, falling on Jax.

  The others responded to Ector’s change in attention. Their conversation ended, and all eyes turned to Jax; he couldn’t read their expressions, couldn’t gauge their moods, save for Arkon’s. There was an expectancy in the set of his brow, in the tight line of his lips, in his flattened pupils.

  “I need your assistance, Arkon. We need to bring Macy back to her people,” Jax said.

  Without hesitation, Arkon moved to Jax’s side.

  “What?” Kronus moved forward, scowling. “She’s already broken our terms once, Wanderer. We cannot allow it again.”

  “Whether with our people’s approval or not, Kronus, I am taking her from this place.”

  “She stays,” Kronus growled. “We cannot allow you to expose us for a human!”

  Dracchus pushed through the others and loomed before Kronus; the two locked gazes and their skin flickered crimson.

  “That human has earned her right to be considered one of us,” Dracchus said. “She slew a razorback on her own, saving the life of a youngling and providing us ample meat in the process, at great risk to herself. She is one of us. If we can come and go at will, so can she.”

  “But he means to bring her back to her kind!”

  “She will die if I do not,” Jax said.

  “So let her die,” Kronus spat.

  Jax advanced on Kronus; the group backed away. “If you are standing between me and the life of my mate, Kronus, I will kill you here.”

  “She is no proper mate. She is an unnatural, dis—”

  Leaping the remaining distance between them, Jax hammered his fist into Kronus’s jaw.

  Kronus twisted aside with the force. Before the kraken fell, Jax wrapped his tentacles around Kronus’s neck and took his face between both hands, holding his claws over Kronus’s eyes.

  “Speak of her again, and I will end you,” Jax growled through bared teeth. “I will take you apart one piece at a time and spread you across the sea as I return her to her people.”

  Kronus stared, wide-eyed, at the claws hovering above him, body twitching as he fought to breathe.

  “She is one of us,” Jax said. When Kronus did not reply, Jax roared. “She is one of us!”

  Frantically, Kronus nodded, though his range of motion was limited by the tentacles coiled around his neck.

  “I am taking her away from here.” Relinquishing his hold, Jax shoved Kronus away.

  Kronus tumbled into the group behind him; most of them were the same kraken who’d followed him out after Ector had spared Macy’s life in this very room.

  Jax ran his gaze over the others slowly. “Do I have any other challenges to my intent?”

  “I will accompany you,” Dracchus said. He met Jax’s eyes and held them.

  “I do not know how the humans will react if they see us.”

  Dracchus shrugged his broad shoulders. “She did not know how we would react when she first came here. I would honor her courage.”

  “Thank you,” Jax said.

  “Her condition is poor?” Ector asked.

  Jax nodded, pressing his lips into a tight line.

  “Then go. Quickly.”

  Chapter 22

  The sea was relatively calm as the kraken sped along the surface. The coming sunrise had stained the water and clouds purple, and the patches of sky visible on the horizon were a blend of soft orange and pink.

  Jax had seen the humans’ home from afar, and, as they neared, Macy’s name for it — The Watch — seemed increasingly fitting. He felt exposed beneath the light-crowned structure atop the cliffs. Boats bobbed beside the dock, and the dark shapes of humans walked along its length. Jax had seen many of the boats from below during his travels, but had never been close to one…not until the day of the storm, when he found Macy.

  Uncertainty crept up his spine. Would they be able to help Macy in this place? Was she going to survive, would her wounds fully heal? What would the humans do if they saw a kraken?

  One question, stronger and more troubling, rose above the others — would they ever be together again? If she survived, would her people let her leave?

  Despite any misgivings, his path was clear; he knew what to do, knew there was only one way to be sure she was safe. He had to go with her. Had to place himself at the mercy of her people. He had to ensure her survival, even at the risk of his own.

  When she agreed to go to the Facility for the first time, had Macy felt the same fear blossoming in her stomach?

  He tightened his hold on her and stopped, turning to Arkon and Dracchus.

  “I will go on with her from here. You two stay back,” he said.

  “Nonsense,” Arkon protested. “I will go with you, Jax.”

  “I am not afraid of these humans.” Dracchus’s nostrils flared as he shifted his gaze to The Watch.

  “No. It is too dangerous. I will take her, and whatever happens, both of you will return to our people. They cannot stand to lose three of us at once.”

  “And what of you?” Arkon’s brow was low, his eyes hard.

  “For her, anything,” Jax said. The words washed over him, easing the tension in his muscles. Macy had sacrificed much — her comfort, her friends and family, her home, her freedom — since they’d met. He would do the same, and more, if it meant saving her.

  Arkon clenched his jaw and forced air through his siphons. �
�We will not leave you. We’ll keep watch from the sea.”

  “Good luck, Wanderer,” Dracchus said.

  Jax nodded. “Thank you both.”

  He turned away from them, ducked beneath the surface, and swam toward the dock.

  The humans will help her. She will recover.

  He angled himself upward as he neared the end of the dock.

  They will help her.

  Adjusting his hold on Macy, he pulled himself onto the end of the dock with one arm and his front tentacles. The structure floated on the surface of the water, and its swaying, combined with the sense of heaviness he always felt in the air, set him off-balance.

  “What the hell is that?” someone shouted from nearby.

  “Oh, shit!” A second human stumbled back, calves hitting the side of his boat. He tumbled into it with a crash.

  Jax cradled Macy in his arm. He shifted her wrist and brushed his fingertip over the control there, summoning the projection. She’d shown him how to perform some of the basic functions just to pass the time one day. He knew the symbols by their shapes, rather than their meanings, and touched them in the order she’d demonstrated.

  He took the mask in hand and set it aside gently as humans approached, their footsteps heavy. Their hushed voices held a mixture of fear and awe. Carefully, Jax drew back Macy’s hood, uncovering her sweat-dampened hair and looked up at the humans. “Help her. Please.”

  “That’s Macy!” One of the humans turned his head and yelled over his shoulder. “Get Breckett!”

  “What is that?” another human asked.

  “I don’t know… A monster.”

  “Help her,” Jax repeated. Even with the suit on, even after hours in the water, the unnatural heat of Macy’s body flowed into his skin.

  “And it fucking speaks!”

  “Get her.” They shoved one of their number forward.

  “Hell no! You see that things claws? Its teeth?”

  Jax growled. “She doesn’t have time for this!” He moved forward; all the humans scurried back, stumbling over one another.

  “What the hell is this?” someone shouted from the far end of the dock. Heavy footfalls plodded nearer.

  The crowd of humans parted and glanced back at the two newcomers. One was tall and broad-shouldered, his face covered in hair. The other was familiar to Jax.

  Camrin.

  “Macy!” the larger male called. He shoved through the cluster of frightened humans without hesitation and barely looked at Jax as he snatched Macy from the kraken’s arms. He smoothed her hair back. “Macy girl?”

  Jax backed away slightly, spreading his hands to the side and sinking down. They were unsettled by his appearance, fearful because they did not know what he was, and he didn’t want to push them to violence.

  Camrin grasped Macy’s hand and pulled it to his chest. “Macy…”

  “She is sick. Infected,” Jax said.

  “Infected?” one of the men asked and looked at the others. Several of the humans retreated farther.

  “The wounds on her leg are infected. She was attacked by a razorback.”

  “What are you?” Camrin asked, staring at Jax with wide eyes.

  “She needs help, needs medicine,” Jax said, keeping his gaze on the larger male.

  The big human looked up from Macy, and for the first time, he looked directly at Jax. His eyes widened, and his mouth moved beneath his thick face-hair. “Did you do this?”

  “No. I would never hurt her.” Jax gestured toward the water. “She was attacked by a razorback, and it bit her leg before she killed it.”

  The emotion on the man’s face didn’t diminish, and he didn’t look away.

  “What…what are we going to do with this thing?” someone asked.

  A different human leaned forward. “You really think it’s not the one that hurt her?”

  The large man shook his head. “If he did, why would he bring her here?”

  “I will not leave her,” Jax said. “I only want her to be healed.”

  “We can take it to one of those old tanks. Enough of them are empty that it won’t hurt to use one.” Camrin said.

  “I’m taking my daughter to Doc Rhodes. Will you go with these men if they take you to place to hold you until we figure all this out?” the large man asked. His eyes were hard, but there was an undeniable honesty in them.

  This man was Macy’s father, who she’d spoken of so fondly.

  “Yes. I wish none of you harm. Just…save her.”

  Macy’s father nodded and turned to the others. “It brought my Macy back, so it deserves fair treatment until we get some questions answered. Understood?”

  The other humans made stammering replies, shifting their attention back to Jax. Macy stirred, moaning, and opened her eyes. They were glassy with fever. “Dad?”

  “Yes, Macy girl. I’m here.”

  “Jax?” she asked. “Where’s Jax?”

  “Who is Jax?” Camrin asked.

  “I want Jax.” She shook her head back and forth, slowly.

  “Shhh,” the large man soothed. “You’re sick. We’re getting you to the Doc.”

  “Jax!”

  Macy’s father hurried down the dock as her cries continued, her voice weak and desperate. Camrin followed immediately behind. Jax watched with his jaw clenched, his chest tight, and his stomach churning. It took all his willpower to prevent himself from calling for her, from chasing after her. She needed medicine; he wouldn’t delay that any longer.

  The remaining humans stood, staring at Jax, for several moments before they finally acted. Several stepped into boats — teetering to maintain their balance, seemingly unwilling to take their eyes off the kraken — and gathered weapons. Some hefted poles with pointed, barbed tips, others knives of varying size.

  “A-Alright,” one of the men said. “Just listen to what we say, and we won’t have to use these. Follow me. Everyone else is going to be behind you, just in case you try anything.”

  Jax nodded, and when they made room for him, he slowly rose and moved forward. The man who’d instructed him turned reluctantly and started walking.

  Their gazes were heavy on his back as the humans fell in behind him. Jax focused on keeping his movements smooth and steady, on giving them no reason to make use of their weapons. He breathed deeply and evenly and did his best to match the pace of the male in front of him, who kept glancing over his shoulder.

  They moved up a stone path cut between the cliffs. Jax tilted his head back to look up at the structures built atop the stone to either side; to his left, a device jutted past the edge of the cliff. It was a large metal arm, and a thick rope hung from its tip, the hook at the end swaying in the breeze.

  Behind him, the humans muttered to one another nervously. Any one of them could lunge at any moment and bury their weapon in Jax’s back. Any one of them could be his end. And he’d brought Macy into the Facility, knowing the same had been true for his people; any one of them might have killed her at any time.

  As they crested the path, Jax’s nervousness was temporarily forgotten. It had always been difficult to determine the size of The Watch from the sea. The sight of it now, from within, was stunning. The structures were so varied; a few bore a vague resemblance to the Facility, but many more were constructed of some sort of stone or wood, sometimes mixing materials.

  There were more humans in the pathways between the buildings. All of them stared at Jax as the male in front of him led him onto a path that doubled back toward the water — toward the large building overlooking the dock.

  Two of the humans hurried forward and slid open the big doors. They escorted Jax into a huge, dimly lit room. Rows of cylindrical glass tanks, all filled with water, ran from one wall to the other. The foremost were full of various fish; was this how the humans kept their food fresh?

  Raised metal platforms ran between the tanks, set at the same level as the lids. The lead human climbed a ladder to get atop the platform. Two more humans followed hi
m before they told Jax to follow. They directed him to one of the empty tanks.

  One of the men bent down and manipulated a control on the lid. It slid open, and a light came on at the base of the tank, illuminating the water.

  “Go on in,” the man said. “Please.”

  Jax clenched his jaw. It was a cage; he’d have room enough to turn about, and no little more than that. He moved forward — slowly — and lowered himself into the water.

  Surprisingly, its temperature matched that of the sea, and it was familiarly salty. A series of narrow slits ringed the bottom; water seemed to cycle through them.

  “Does it need air?” one of the men asked.

  “I don’t know,” someone replied. “Ask it. It talks, doesn’t it?”

  “If it is no trouble to you,” Jax said. The men hushed and stared at him.

  “How’d you learn to speak like us?” the closest human — the one working the lid — asked.

  “We learned from humans, long ago.”

  The men exchanged glances, and then the one at the controls swallowed. “O-Okay. Going to close it up. Keep your head down.”

  Jax sank to the bottom and watched as the lid slid shut. The gentle sound of water flowing around him would have been soothing at another time, in another situation. Only Macy’s recovery would ease him now.

  For an instant, the entire tank vibrated. Then several slits — not unlike the ones on the bottom — opened on the lid. Jax poked his head into the small space between the lid and the water.

  “Alright, um…a couple of us will, uh, stay here. If you need anything, we’ll try to help,” said the human crouched there. Most of the others had already descended the ladder and were walking toward the door, glancing back as they moved. Their forms were distorted through the curved glass of the tank.

  “I need to know if Macy is okay,” Jax replied.

  It did not comfort him when he received no answer.

  Macy floated in a haze of pain, darkness, and noise. There were voices, so many voices; raised voices, quiet voices, voices calling her name over and over.

  Then silence. Blissful silence.