Page 19 of Song of the Abyss

She licked her lip again, that aggravating movement stealing his mind until she spoke. “If you are here to take me away, then I want the same thing.”

For a moment, he was tongue tied. What did she mean she wanted the same thing? Surely not. She was the General’s daughter. A paragon and figure of this place. Everyone knew that she was the General’s golden child, according to Mira.

She must have seen the confusion on his features. “I will explain everything if you can get me out of this city. Can you do that?”

He nodded, reaching for her. This had played into his plan so well, he almost had a hard time believing it.

But then she took a step back from him, shaking her head. “In a few moments. Can you wait here for me?”

If no one knew he was here, then yes. But he frowned and then looked pointedly up at the cameras on the walls. He knew that Mira had told him there was a tracking system throughout the entire city. They would know he was here soon enough. They had every time he’d come up to the surface. He only had a few moments before people were about to swarm this room. Surely she knew that?

She tapped the robot attached to her head. “Bitsy already took care of the cameras. As long as you stay in the pool, then no one will know you’re here. Just... Give me a bit to get ready.”

And so he waited. Watching as this strange creature backed out of the room and walked into the other. All the while, he wondered just what he had captured.

A delicate golden fish? Or a shark in these strange waters?

8

Anya

She had so much she had to get. And Bitsy was shrieking in front of her eyes, “Do not do this! What are you thinking? No. No. No.”

And then it was just “No” repeated until she ripped the lens away from her eyes. “Bitsy, stop panicking.”

The leg holding the lens slammed back down over her eye. “No. Danger. No. Stay.”

“Bitsy, I’m going to put you in a waterproof box, okay? I know you got wet in the pool, but with the pressure down there, we don’t know that you’re going to survive. The box will be dark, but I will take you out of it as soon as we get somewhere safe.”

The droid flailed its arms the moment she opened the box. But Anya had been preparing for this exact moment for months. Even if Ace was unaware of it, Anya was ready to leave. This place was a prison. It would be so much easier for her to get out of this area and then they could take it down from the outside.

“I know the plan was taking the city down from the inside out,” she said, feeling like her throat was closing up as she placed the droid inside the box. Bitsy’s hologram eyes blinked up at her, wide with simulated fear. “But I can’t stay here. This is an opportunity I have to take.”

She’d been trying to figure out how to escape on her own. It wasn’t likely, though. Her father had people at the front of her door all the time. Hell, even her neighbors were watching her on a regular basis. There was nowhere she could escape to and no one she could go to for help.

This undine had no idea she was going to use him to her own advantage, but did it matter? He wanted to get her out of here, too. She didn’t know why, but that was a risk she was willing to take. She wouldn’t be here if she went with him. And that was good enough for her.

Rushing into her closet, she yanked out her wetsuit. It was rated for waters this cold, although the pressure would likely mess with her. She thought she had...

Grabbing the device her first doctor had given her, she shoved it into her ears. They weren’t going to be perfect, but it helped regulate pressure in her ears after the accident. The plugs should help while she was diving.

She ducked behind the partition and hoped this would look at least a little realistic. Tossing the shawl over the edge, she worked the wetsuit up her body. It was hard work. The damn thing was tighter than she expected. But she got it on, eventually. Then she tossed her pale green sundress over it.

Her arms and legs were still visibly different, but she thought if she tossed the shawl back over her shoulders, the wetsuit might look like leggings to anyone watching her. Poking her head out, she thought maybe she was ready. Maybe...

Her door opened, swinging wide enough that the movement caught her attention. Wide eyed, she looked into her bathroom.

The undine was still there. He had his forearm on the cold tile of her floor, his chin propped on a closed fist as he watched her. Those black eyes didn’t miss any details. He saw the wetsuit underneath her clothes. He had to know what the plan was.

Her father stood in the doorway, hesitating as he noticed she was behind the partition. She read his lips as he said, “We have to talk. Get decent. I’m giving you three minutes, girl.”

The door closed, shaking the wall beside it so hard that a picture fell and shattered on the floor.

“Shit,” she whispered. Or at least, she hoped she whispered it. Waving a hand at the undine, she tried to get him to understand that he needed to go.

He lifted his head. The gills along the sides of his neck flared. She was suddenly shocked to see... lights. Glimmering red lights burst into brightness around his face and down his chest.

The undine could make himself glow.

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