Page 14 of Song of the Abyss

Regardless, it was time. He could find her now. And he already knew where she was.

Every gill and fin on his body fluttered, flaring wide around his body until he knew he must look even more monstrous than ever before. But he was ready to see her. To impress her. To take her away from her home and fight off anyone who tried to keep her from him.

He told himself he was ready. He would bring her somewhere safe. Somewhere much better than Alpha. Then he would feed her. He would prove that he was a good hunter who could provide for her.

Beyond that, Daios didn’t allow himself to even think what might happen. The thoughts made him a little uncomfortable, and it felt like he was a little unpredictable even to himself.

That little achromo was his, though.

And now he was going to take her.

6

Anya

He was back.

The undine.

Anya sat at her dressing table, staring into the mirror where she could see the sudden ripples in her pool. That was all she could see, and hopefully that was all the cameras saw as well.

Her father had been in his “war room” for days on end with some of his other advisors. Apparently they were concerned about the undine problem. They were certain the creatures were getting ready to attack Alpha, but they wouldn’t tell her why they thought so.

Thankfully, Bitsy had yet to go in for her checkup, and therefore was capable of hacking into her father’s system. With that little lens over Anya’s eye, they had both searched through the videos from the exterior of Alpha. And she’d watched the same undine she had seen sneaking through the pipes day after day.

Sometimes hour after hour.

She’d watched those videos more times than she wanted to admit. There was a certain power in his body as he blasted through the water. Sometimes she could see the lasers hit his sides as the command center sent the message to kill. Those pillars each contained an AI of their own as well. They scanned his body, providing more information than she thought the undine would want them to know.

He was larger than most males they had seen. Sixteen feet from the top of his head to the bottom of his tail, and broad across the chest. The AI had also noted that while he was faster than the others, he turned slower. It had been learning his movements and patterns every time he went by the pillars. But for some reason, even the AI couldn’t track him.

He was changing his patterns, she realized after watching the third clip. There was enough time between his visits that it was clear to her he was watching the pillars. Perhaps he saw the lights on the top that blinked when something got close to them. Or maybe he was watching the animals as they approached her city. She had no idea.

But watching him struggle over and over again, it made something in her feel hope for the first time in a very long time. This undine hadn’t killed her. He hadn’t even grabbed onto her, so that had to mean something, right?

He was still trying to get into the city. He was still doing something because he slipped into the pipes where the AI couldn’t see him anymore.

And this was the third time she’d seen him in her bathing pool.

Wrapping her shawl tighter around her shoulders, she gently pulled Bitsy off of her head. “Take care of the cameras in the bathroom, would you?”

The little droid bounced up and down once, twice, three times, and then skittered off into the bathroom. She could only imagine what Bitsy would do. Generally, her droid was good about taking orders. Especially when it came to the cameras. She made very quick work of the frustrating recorders that were in every part of her room. But right now, she needed her bedroom cameras to stay on.

None of them had a good angle of the bathroom, for privacy, because only certain people were allowed to check in on her in the bathroom. Her father was a jealous man, at the very least. Overprotective of his daughter, he didn’t want any of his men peeking in on her when they shouldn’t.

She’d never been more thankful for his boorish nature.

Anya had thought maybe the undine would return today. He seemed to come in patterns of threes, and it had been three days exactly since she’d seen him last. She had no idea how he knew where to find her, but it seemed like he always knew where she was. The first time she’d seen him in her neighbor’s house after she’d taken a swim in her friend’s home. The second time, she’d seen him here.

And now he had returned. At least, she had to hope it was him. The water moving like that wasn’t normal. Bitsy would overlay the cameras with a picture of her bathroom with no one in it. It would take a while for anyone to review the footage, so she could only imagine they would see her walking into the bathroom and then give her privacy as long as she walked out at the right time.

Even if they did check the cameras, she was hoping they wouldn’t notice that the image didn’t quite move the way it should.

Blowing out a breath, she brushed her hair back over her shoulder and then nervously tucked it behind her ears. She had no way of knowing what this undine wanted. But she was curious enough to entertain him.

Clearly, a creature with this much dedication had something to say. Anya liked to think they were smart enough to... well, at least talk? But maybe they didn’t, and that was okay too.

After all, she knew what it was like to not have the same ability as everyone else.

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