Page 28 of Song of the Abyss

Now that he had her, he had no idea what to do with her.

Daios had known it would be difficult to get to her. He’d been watching the city for some time, and he could see that there was significant movement within. All the pillars that shot those horrible, painful lasers were fired up and at the ready. He’d had to be quicker than he’d ever been before he reached the pipe.

But he had. And then he’d expected her to have moved until he heard the grating sounds of the crabs talking. So they’d found her, at least, even if that meant he had to go deeper inside the city than he wanted.

What he hadn’t expected was to find her halfway there. She’d gone down three tunnels, following the crabs like a madwoman before she came upon him. Immediately, anger had flared so hot and powerful that he hadn’t been able to control the lights of his body.

What if she had died? Drowned? What if he was just a few moments late, and he’d found her dead body? She would have ruined the entire mission. Again, the anger pressed against his throat and he wanted to hurt something. He wanted to grab onto the nearest deep sea squid and fight until there were little sucker marks all over his body and he couldn’t see through the cloud of ink.

But he didn’t want to hurt her. And that was curious enough on its own.

He didn’t mind that she was pressed up against him, nor did he mind that her tiny little fingers gripped his shoulders. Even the one that was close to his missing arm. He wouldn’t mind all that much unless she moved it lower. Which she didn’t. He wasn’t sure if that was because she was disgusted by the missing limb, or if she was just terrified.

He didn’t think she was terrified, though. Her legs looped around his hips, right where his lower fins grew. Her tiny feet, as Mira called them, were covered in some kind of strange material, but they kicked against the back of his tail whenever he changed directions. The box she’d brought was between them, or he would have focused on her heartbeat.

Instead, all he could think about was that she was wrapped around him. Her warmth pressed against him as he swam, and—for fuck’s sake—was that his fins fluttering against her thighs?

He tamped down on the movement immediately, a low growl starting in his chest with disgust at himself. He could not, would not, flutter for an achromo. Daios was not trying to impress her, and he did not want a mate.

Or perhaps, something deep inside him whispered, he did not think a mate would want him.

He started toward the achromos old lair, and then he realized she was talking. The mouthpiece makes it so quiet that he couldn’t hear her, and she already spoke so softly.

He leaned down to hear what she was saying. “One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five.”

Rhythmically, she counted. Over and over again. He tilted his head, apparently seeing better in the dark than she did. Her eyes were squeezed shut underneath the goggles attached to the mouthpiece. Her lips moved, and as he watched, her pulse sped up. The rapid beat in her neck was concerning enough without her ribs moving like that, almost as though she were hyperventilating.

Was she afraid? Had he done something? Daios didn’t know what would make her afraid if she hadn’t minded fleeing the city. She’d already been in the pipes when he found her! Clearly, she wanted to leave.

He wasn’t so much a monster that she would fear him as they fled. Was he? Was the sight of him the problem?

She must have felt him straining to see her, because she opened her eyes. But she didn’t look at him. Not exactly. More like over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I don’t like the dark,” she whispered. “Counting helps keep the panic attacks away. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing for something you cannot control?” he grumbled, but then realized that his low tones and raspy voice were more likely to add to her fears than assuage them.

Sighing, he shifted his grip to palm the back of her head. Carefully, he turned her skull, so she was looking at the part of his neck and shoulder that weren’t damaged.

It took a lot to control the colors individually on his body. When he was younger, he’d been obsessed with trying. Their mother had always laughed at his antics. She’d claimed only octopi were so talented, and no undine were good enough with their colors to do what he was attempting.

He’d mastered it, though. So, in the same rhythm she’d been counting, he focused on the lights while they swam. One, two, three, four, five. All the way down his neck. Then again, to the peak of his shoulder. More down his bicep. Then he made the lights turn and go back up the same way.

She couldn’t see him very well, although likely better than she had before, but he could see her. The trembling that he’d noticed almost disappeared entirely. Her eyes followed the lights up and down. Over the repeating pattern until he felt her tension ease. It just melted away until she was pliable in his arms once more.

He kept the lights going as they moved through the water, although Arges’s concerns were suddenly blasting in his head. Achromos got cold, his brother had claimed. Often. So he needed to keep her warmer. That would be easier with two arms, but she was so small compared to him. It was fairly easy to do with one as well. He tucked her closer to him, shifting his grip to fit her feet into the fins at his hips.

He was grateful she couldn’t see his face. The grimace he couldn’t control at the soft touch of her feet sliding against the sensitive fins would have scared her even more.

They were making good progress, at least. He didn’t want to stop swimming at this speed until he found the facility. Her father had seen them leave. He was certain of it. Which meant there would be ships coming after them soon enough, likely there already were.

Then he was faced with a new obstacle. He paused in the water, more upright than he had been before. Her legs curled a little tighter around him, and she craned her neck to look at where they were. Not that she could see much.

There were lights in the distance. He had really hoped they would avoid being followed. He was a small speck in the ocean compared to the massive ships her father had, but unfortunately, it appeared the General had more resources at his disposal. That made it difficult for Daios, even more than the obstacle that now laid out before them.

The red coral bed was famed for its danger. When he was nothing more than a pup, he and his friends used to see if they could swim through it. His first jagged scars were from this place. They looked like fingers reaching out toward him. Fingers dipped in red blood, begging to drink more from their flesh.

He found himself flaring brighter for her to see what he was looking at. Maketes had thought that they would go right over this deadly coral bed, but he had forgotten that there would be people chasing them. Which meant, unfortunately, he had a choice. He could go through the jagged, spindly red coral that would slice through his scales if he made a mistake, or he could swim above them and chance her father’s ships seeing the direction he swam in.

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