Page 109 of Song of the Abyss

But Anya thought she should. She should watch and know what he unleashed because she was the one who had asked for this. She told him to take care of her father. No, not her father. Her thoughts were so jumbled and her heart was racing in her chest.

Then she saw Daios lift his hand and palm the General’s face. The muscles of his chest and back flexed, his tail coiling as though to give him significantly more power and she knew...

She knew what he was going to do.

She turned her face away from the sight, squeezing her eyes shut even though she knew she wouldn’t hear what happened. Her mind, though, it played through it for her. The massive undine who had always protected her had just crushed her father’s skull in his hand.

That shouldn’t make her breath race or her heart thud in her chest. Or maybe it should. She told herself that this was the first time she’d seen him actually act like a monster, and shouldn’t she hate him for it? Shouldn’t she be terrified that he had the capability of doing this? He could do it to her whenever he wanted, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Anya didn’t know how long she stayed where she was, frozen behind that dented table as though it was the only shield protecting her from the world. Everything had changed. Yet again. Her face and head were on fire, and she didn’t think there was a part of her body that wasn’t bruised. Every time she inhaled, there was a distinct pinching feeling that she was a little terrified might be a broken rib.

All of that was so overwhelming. She couldn’t think about all of it at once or she might break. Or maybe that was the head injury. How was she supposed to know?

Cool hands slid up her legs, and she opened her eyes to see him in the water. Waiting for her to look at him. Those black eyes were filled with so much patience and kindness that it made tears prick in her own.

He looked at her like she had hung the moon. Like he knew what he had just done would scare her and he would patiently wait for her on the other side.

And now they could barely even communicate. She couldn’t ask him for reassurance because that had been so terrifying. Because she’d almost died and maybe they never would have come back together again if she hadn’t just gotten lucky. She wanted to hear him tell her that he was all right too, and that she was going to be all right. That together, they were going to get through this.

Instead, all she heard was the faintest ringing in her ears and all she saw was that his lips were moving. But she couldn’t quite read them on those cracked lips. Maybe because they weren’t actual words to her. She couldn’t see where the syllables started or ended. She couldn’t read his lips and she couldn’t tell what he wanted her to hear or say or...

He lifted her hands from her knees, cradling them as he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. So gently. Like he knew she was fragile right now, and that she felt as though she could shatter into a thousand pieces of what used to be herself.

She broke. Anya reached for him, tears sliding down her cheeks as his hands slid around her back. There wasn’t a hint of blood on him because he’d swum to her side and soon, there would be no blood or ash on her either.

He connected them through the breathing tentacle, and even that was more gentle than she had realized it could be. She barely felt it slide into her neck and when he breathed for her, it was like he took so much of the weight off her shoulders.

With him, she didn’t have to do anything but stay in his arms and let him take the burden of it all for her.

Daios sank into the water with her, his hands never stopping as they smoothed up and down her spine. The warm one counted the vertebrae down her back, holding onto her ribs as he felt her breathing while clutching her to his hearts. The cold metal one cupped the back of her head and held her face against the side of his neck.

She wasn’t warm enough to swim with him. There were no wetsuits. Nothing for her to keep herself safe in.

But then she felt his fins fold over her hips. He curled himself around her, tucking her fingers into his gills that were warm with every breath he took for the both of them. He wrapped himself around her so tightly she didn’t even feel the cold chill of the ocean.

And then she felt his lips press to her head, and she knew nothing bad was going to happen. He was taking her home.

It was done. All of it was done.

40

Daios

Daios brought them back to the dome faster than he thought possible. With her wrapped in his arms, he had known it would be a slower journey just to make sure she didn’t freeze off any of her limbs. But it felt like a blink of an eye for the two of them to be sitting in the dome that was filled with more people than it ever had before.

Mira walked between the two of them, a tube in her hand that dispensed an ooze that healed whatever it touched. She tsked at Anya’s broken ribs and had to peel the remains of the droid out of her head. At least Byte had a medkit for that pain as well.

Arges and Maketes had yanked themselves onto the floor of the dome to give the depthstriders a space to argue. The others were beyond angry at what had happened.

So many words flowed past him, and he knew he should pay attention more than he was, but he didn’t care to.

“Were all the pods delivered safely to Gamma?” Maketes asked, that tablet in his hands beeping with words that Daios could only assume was Anya’s friend still getting in touch with him.

“Yes, of course. They were all delivered with the inhabitants alive,” Fortis said, his son floating next to him with a hard expression on his features. “My people did not take our blood price, if that’s what you’re asking, Maketes. I would be honest if we had murdered any who deserved it.”

Then he could only hear Mira scolding Anya, who couldn’t hear a word anyone was saying. “What were you thinking, doing all that by yourself? You should have set the bombs and run. That’s some stupid shit I would have pulled and I don’t appreciate anyone else doing it.”

Arges looked over the both of their heads, his neck gills wiggling with amusement. “Oh? It’s not as fun when someone else does it?”

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