Page 49 of Song of the Abyss

There was something in the murk, after all. She barely saw the tail that cut through the dust, but she recognized it. The paddle shaped fin with the sharp edges and faint hints of ragged holes could only be one kind of creature that she’d seen in this ocean. And then, as she suspected, she saw the faintest hint of a red flare.

Was he trying to sneak up on her? It seemed like it.

Leaning back, she pretended like she was relaxing again and started talking to Ace. “Listen, there’s only so much time I have right now. I’m going to keep looking at the maps, but I still think sneaking into the city and connecting with the database is our best shot. If we can get every screen in the city to tell the story of how terrible my father is, then we’ve got a start.”

“Bloodthirsty, I like it.”

“It’s revenge,” Anya replied. And it was.

For all those years that he made her feel like she was nothing and no one. She would take her revenge on her father even if it made something inside her twinge. Like the undine had said, she mourned a mother she never had and a father who should have been better. The pain never really went away.

The dust outside the window swirled, and a sudden rush of darkness approached the window. At the same time, she stood abruptly and spread the blanket wide around her. Mirroring his movements, she ran for the window with a scowl on her face and the blanket billowing to make her look larger.

Daios paused outside the window, his lights flaring bright and his fins spreading in surprise at her reaction. Clearly, he had been trying to scare her.

Dropping the blanket, she gave him a bright grin and a little wave.

He spread his webbed fingers in a wave as well, frowning at her. He didn’t even move until she pointed to the opening in the room that gave him access to her world.

Bitsy flared words in bright red. “Danger.”

“Nah.” She waved a hand in the air and turned toward the opening to wait for him. “I don’t think he’s all that dangerous at all.”

Her droid was definitely sulking as the undine surfaced. He was still looking at her with that curious expression on his face, one that she might have thought was pride if she didn’t know him better.

Plopping down on her butt in front of him, she found she couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. “Did I scare you?”

“Not at all.”

“You looked a little scared.”

Those fins lifted on the sides of his neck and then pressed flat with a hard snap. “I was not frightened.”

She shrugged. “Sure looked at least surprised.”

“You should not threaten creatures like that, especially when they are larger than you. They may consider such behavior a challenge.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “I think nothing would find that to be a challenge. If they’re hunting me and realize I’m much larger than they thought, their hesitation might work to my advantage.”

A soft sound rumbled through his gills, but then he gave her a reluctant nod.

She shouldn’t be quite so happy that she’d impressed him. Especially when he’d shown up empty-handed today. Usually he brought food or some kind of gift, and now he was looking at her with those deep black eyes, and she had a feeling he was going to tell her something she didn’t like.

He opened his mouth, and she rushed ahead of him. Why? She wasn’t certain. Only that she didn’t want this to end and didn’t want to know what was about to change.

“Can I touch you?” she asked, the words falling from her lips before she heard them herself.

“What?”

“Well, you’ve touched me.” Her fingers brushed over the ends of her hair. “And I just... Well, I’ve never been this close to an undine before. And I don’t think I ever will be again once all of this is over.”

His brows furrowed a bit, a strangely human expression that made her hold her breath for a few seconds. “You aren’t scared of me at all, are you?”

Anya had to bite her lips very hard not to grin. “Not really, no.”

“Why is that?” He moved a little closer, enough that she could reach out and touch him if she wanted.

“Well. You’ve never given me any reason to be afraid of you.” She scooted closer too until she could feel the slight chill radiating off his skin.

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