Page 78 of Surface Pressure

Still the one in the back moved to push the button. Soulara moved quickly, diving between the two brutish men in front of her to reach the other one and slap his hand away from the machine while pistoning her elbow into the underside of his jaw.

He grunted and fell to the hard floor. She had far more traction with her bare feet than she would in those foot coverings Autumn always wore. Spinning around to put her back to the wall so they were all in front of her, Soulara stared them all down.

“You won’t win this war,” she threatened.

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Autumn dragged her feet down the hall as she walked toward the tech room. She had to get one more part for the water collector and then it would be fixed. Then she would be shoved off to her next mission, and she would be back under the water.

Without Soulara’s protection this time.

Autumn clenched her jaw tightly, unable to have the strength to feel good about this.

The pressure built around her ribs, tightening with each passing moment as she felt stuck between two impossible choices.

Soulara.

Humans.

Love.

Genocide.

Love?

Autumn frowned and shook that thought from her head immediately.

How could she choose? There were no right answers.

Autumn wanted to be stronger. Stronger than her family, stronger than those who turned away from what was wrong and chose to do nothing. But she hadn’t done nothing. She had given the coordinates to Soulara, she had damaged the water collector, and she had already chosen a side. Hadn’t she?

And hurt her people.

Betrayed her people.

How could doing the right thing feel so much like the wrong thing?

Because it was treason. That’s how.

Cringing, Autumn turned down another corner. Voices floated down the hallway. She stopped briefly, something about their tones setting her off. Autumn listened carefully, the hairs on her arms going up. If she weren’t mistaken, the sound came from the very tech room she had been heading toward.

She was so used to fighting, growing up, that it all sounded normal to her. When the sergeants had yelled at her during training, it was nothing. But this was different. This sounded almost fearful. Like what her mother would sound like when her father was over the edge and they weren’t sure he’d catch himself before he killed one of them.

Her breath caught in her throat. A voice reached her. A voice she knew. A voice that shouldn’t be anywhere near their camp. Her heart leapt into her throat, clogging it up as she was frozen on the spot and unable to make herself move. Freeze at its finest.

“Soulara,” she whispered.

A wild scream reverberated down the hall and hit Autumn full force. She pushed her feet against the cold floor as she burst into a run. Her muscles tense. Her entire body ready for action, just like she’d been trained for.

Protect.

Serve.

Obey.

Autumn reached the open doorway. She froze, staring in horror. Soulara stood at the back of the room, crouching slightly with her eyes wild and darting around at the different humans who faced her. She had a scratch on her arm that was already bleeding. Two men were flat on their backs and not moving.

All weapons were pointed at her.

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