Page 12 of Song of the Abyss

So he did not trust that primal part of his mind, even if it screamed and clawed and tore at his insides while he darted through the pillars of pain. It didn’t matter in the long run. He couldn’t trust himself.

Still, her pretty sea-blue eyes haunted him until he paused at the rendezvous place where he and Maketes were staking out the city. He could still see her eyes. His fingers could still feel her, trailing her fingers along his webbing like she wasn’t tapping her way through his carefully laid defenses.

Silly thoughts, and he had to remind himself that they were. Even if every fin on his body stood out and shuddered. Even if his tail had already turned him to look back at that glass dome that kept her imprisoned.

Where did she live? Somewhere pretty, like her. She was too delicate and too quiet for her to live in hardship. If she was the General’s daughter—and he had no reason to think otherwise—then she was likely one of the richest people in that city. She’d have plenty of food and water to drink. Plenty of options for someone to look out for her.

Still, his mind roared that he would bring her better meat. There were more nutritious options in the sea, and her people clearly were not feeding her enough. She was too thin. Too delicate.

Easily crushed by anyone who might want to hurt her.

Frowning, another thought flashed in his mind. Was she mated? Did she have someone who already fluttered for her and made her smile?

A white hot rage flowed through every inch of his body. He was glowing, bursting into a bright red while every bioluminescent dot on his form flared with rage. He could see the light reflecting on the sand around him, the waves of color rotating on the ground.

“So I’m going to guess you found something?” Maketes’s annoyingly amused voice broke through the anger. “You look upset.”

“I found her.”

“You found an entrance to the city? That’s fantastic.”

“No, I found her.”

“How many of us can fit through, do you think?” Then Maketes blinked a few times. What Daios had said twice now must have finally gotten through his skull. “What do you mean, you found her?”

“I assume most of us could fit through,” he murmured, his eyes never leaving the city. “The pipe system is tight for me, but smaller males would have no issue. Perhaps a band of us could fit through together, but the city is massive. Even larger on the inside than it looks from here. It wouldn’t be safe to send more of our people through.”

“I think that’s the most you’ve ever said to me in one sitting,” Maketes muttered, before he swam in front of Daios.

It didn’t escape his notice that Maketes left a decent amount of space between them. He wouldn’t have advised anyone to get close to him right now, either. The colors rioting up and down his body were a way for his form to tell others that he was in a dangerous mood. The kind of mood that would have him reaching out for someone’s neck and snapping it just so he could feel something.

Maketes cleared his throat, gills vibrating with the sound. “You found her?”

“I did.”

“Why didn’t you grab her? Were there a lot of people around her? Probably. The General won’t give us an opportunity to grab her that easily, damn it. We’re going to have to send in more than just you if that’s the situation. We can’t just let her stay there, and Mira is adamant that taking his daughter is the only way to get the General to listen to us.”

Daios was already tired of his prattle. “She was alone.”

Maketes stared at him for a few moments, his mouth open and blissfully silent for a few heartbeats. “What do you mean, she was alone?”

He grunted in response, already done with these questions.

“She was alone?” Maketes shifted closer, freezing at the growl that rumbled through Daios’s chest. “Then why didn’t you grab her?”

“Just didn’t.”

“But why?” Tossing his arms up in the air, Maketes spun in a dramatic circle before facing him again. “And don’t give me some lie about how it was too dangerous. You were in the pipes. We know how to give them a way to breathe underwater. You could have snagged her and you didn’t!”

Slowly, he turned his head to focus on Maketes. Perhaps something in his dark eyes was enough to threaten the yellow-finned brother who was too talkative for his own livelihood. “Wasn’t the right time.”

“It wasn’t the right time,” Maketes repeated, although his words were mocking. “We’re back to that, are we? When is the right time going to be?”

“Don’t know.”

“Ugh!” Maketes kicked his tail up and floated down onto the sand. With his arms crossed over his chest, he stared up into the darkness above them while muttering, “This is why I didn’t want to take this job. I knew without a doubt that he was going to be a problem. I told Arges, I’m not the person for this job. If they wanted Daios to be controlled, they should have sent someone bigger. And who was right? Me. I was right. No one’s going to give me credit for being right, so I’m giving the credit to myself.”

Daios watched him and felt the lights of his body flickering. Amusement replaced the anger that was so hard for him to think through. “You were right.”

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