Page 23 of Song of the Abyss

He stared his brother in the eyes and hoped that he wasn’t giving too much away. He had no intention of telling Arges anything, even though he knew his brother would most certainly try to get it out of him. And would likely succeed. They knew each other too well, and Arges knew when he was planning something.

Mira narrowed her eyes before turning her attention to Maketes. “What changed?”

Maketes might be their pod mate who enjoyed his fun, but he knew how to stay out of a fight. He held up his webbed hands, fingers spread wide, and shook his head. “I’m not getting in the middle of this. He’s the one you gave the mission to. I’m just here to babysit.”

“What does that mean?” Daios growled.

Sitting on babies didn’t sound remotely close to what Maketes was doing here with him. Yes, his brother was watching him to make sure there were no surprises, but that was all it was.

Maketes only grinned and shrugged. “It’s another term that Mira uses. She knows what I mean.”

“It means he’s watching over you because you cannot watch over yourself. Like a child,” she said, her voice turning gritty with anger. “So what changed? I can see something has happened and neither of you wants to tell us.”

He’d admit he was impressed by her ability to see straight through them. Arges had picked a rather terrifying shark of a mate, and that was the only way she would fit in with their people. Though there were some who were still very hesitant about her, a majority of the People of Water had accepted her. After all, she was Arges’s mate. And they loved Arges.

Baring his teeth in a wince that likely only his brother would recognize, he turned back to the stones. “There are three entrances. The achromos have been watching me go in and out, unfortunately, which means I will need to be quick about this. The one you sent me to steal away has informed me that they will drain the pipes soon. Closing the city off from water for an undetermined amount of time.”

Mira joined him, looking down at the stones with a frown. “Unless they have a considerable store of fresh water somewhere, they can’t cut off the entire city from water. Humans need that to live.”

He shrugged. “It is what she told me.”

“You have spoken with the General’s daughter?” Arges swam to his other side, his fins scattering sand over the stones. “Why did you not take her when you had the chance?”

There was a muffled laugh and cough that came from a short distance away, and Daios glared at the yellow finned brother who knew better than to snicker at times like these. “Yes, I have spoken with her.”

“And why did you not take her then? You knew what you were there for.”

He met his brother’s gaze and knew that perhaps something passed between them that he didn’t want Arges to know. Not just yet, at least. His brother’s tail came around his, shoving him away from the other two.

“Come,” Arges said, his voice low and guttural. “We need to talk.”

What Daios did not expect was for Arges to hand Mira off to Maketes. Even she looked surprised, but quickly disconnected from Arges and took Maketes’s offered tendril. All People of Water had this tendril, though its purpose had long been a mystery. Daios had one. All of them did. The tendrils were a part of their bodies for which they had no explanation, until Mira.

Once Arges was satisfied that his mate was still breathing, they took off closer to Alpha. The two of them settled into the sand on their bellies, watching the city move, and the pillars flare bright and hot as fish swam too close. They’d done this a hundred times in their lives, but their ease together was not the same. Never would be after what had transpired.

“You are different,” Arges finally said. “You have a purpose, it seems, and I don’t think it was the one we gave you.”

Again he winced, his teeth bared to the icy sea before he replied, “I do not know what it is.”

“I can see it in your coloring, you know. Your body is making decisions for you, is that it?”

He’d tried to understand what was happening for many nights. Daios had hardly slept as he tried to convince the urges to disappear. After all, he had a mission. This woman had to be delivered to Arges and Mira. That was the only choice.

But again, even the thought made something in him rebel. His entire body tightened, seizing against the very idea of bringing her to their home where he knew others would take her away from him. She would be in that pod with Mira. He would be able to see her every day and not do... something that his body seemed to understand.

“I never thought it would happen to you,” Arges said, his eyes following the trailing red lights that illuminated Daios’s entire body. “Of all our people, you hate them the most.”

“I have the most reason to hate them,” Daios replied.

“After all that you have done? I think you may be right.”

How did he tell his brother that he could still hear all the people he had failed? All of their people who had died because of the achromos? He still dreamed in bright flashing lights and blood coating the water. His arm still ached when he woke, a constant reminder that no matter what he did, no matter how much he paid for his penance, he had still led them to slaughter.

Then he blinked, and he could see them all again. Floating behind Arges, this time a delicate tail with holes all through the fluke, just drifting through the sea. A tail that had once belonged to someone so wonderful, even if he hadn’t known them. All of his people were special in their own way, and he had ruined so many of them.

“Daios,” Arges said, drawing his eyes back to his brother even though he could still see the carnage behind him. “What are you planning to do with her?”

“I do not know.”

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