Page 3 of Echoes of the Tide

“You’ve seen what they can do.” All of them had. One of their own had been mad enough to swim out there on his own. He’d thought it was a good idea until the undine had caught up to him. She’d never forget how quickly four of them had grabbed onto each of his limbs and just... pulled.

He’d come apart like they were pulling on cotton candy. So easy that it seemed like there wasn’t muscle, sinew, and bone holding him together.

“Come on,” she said, her mind already fraying at the edges with that memory. “We’ve got to go see what the boss wants, right?”

“You’re supposed to be managing the meeting, I guess.”

“I don’t know all that much about the undine. I just had a contact who knew them.” But she went down the ladder after him, shutting the trap door above her head before heading into the main section of their tower.

They had one of the smaller towers, but that didn’t make them the weakest. There were enough supplies here to last them several generations. Of course, this was a prison city. So what had once been a rather utilitarian area of Gamma was now in ruins. Store signs had fallen on the floor, some of the neon still blinking as they walked past. Barbershop. Butcher. Nail salon. She’d walked past them so many times that she hardly noticed them anymore. The stores were now empty, lights hanging loose from the ceiling and wires already torn from the walls. They were useful, these stores, but not for anything other than their parts.

Most people here lived in the ruins of old stores and homes that had once been beautiful. Some people lived in the alleyways or made the old dumpsters a bed. But everyone used the streets for fire and food. As they walked past small groups of people all clustered around burning trashcans, she filled her lungs with the scent of cooking meat.

Rats, mostly. Everyone here loved rat. They were easy to grow fat and strong, and they were quick to cook. She’d been so afraid to eat it when she’d first gotten here, but time had worn her down. A couple years in Gamma, and her stomach didn’t turn as much when she smelled it. Rat just smelled like food, now.

She hated every second of living here, but it was necessary. Her sister needed her to do everything she could to ensure thesafety of her last remaining family. Her father? He could rot in hell for all she cared.

Sighing, she skirted around another large group who had built their fire on the ground. They were all dirty and greasy, like the man beside her. Fresh water was hard to come by, and if they had any, it was for drinking. Cleanliness in this place was rubbing a dirty towel over her head and hoping she didn’t look like a freshly drowned creature who had just come out of the bowels of the sea.

“Boss man said you know this undine?” Gregor asked, snagging a skewered rat from a fire that no one was tending.

“Sort of. I have talked with him a few times.”

“They talk?” He ripped a chunk of the rat’s back off and chewed loudly.

She’d never get used to that. “Seems like.”

“Can’t imagine what they have to say to us. Nothing good, I’d wager a guess.”

She wasn’t sure either, but she could only hope it was good. Because as she approached the large glass windows that had once been a dining area four stories high, the massive shadows of the undines chased her across the floor.

CHAPTER 2

Maketes surged forward through the water, ensuring the small bag he carried was still closed and everything inside was water tight. Mira had made it very clear that any water would have disastrous effects on their plan. He was not about to let any water into the bag. The translation device he’d been given needed to stay dry until it was implanted.

There was only one. None of his kind trusted the creatures who had summoned them, and he knew all too well that most achromos were bloodthirsty creatures. They could be dangerous, and he wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. His blood had heated at the thought then, and it did now.

But it was a beautiful day. The sea was bright with sunlight that sent beams through the water, and the silver schools of fish scattered as he blasted through them.

“Maketes!” One of the others in the pod called out. “Slow down!”

Those words had never been in his vocabulary. Slow down? Why would he ever want to slow down when the sea called for him to move faster?

With a laugh already bubbling free, he swam in a huge circle around the others. With his back arched and his tail ripplingbehind him, he was faster than the most darting fish. Nothing could evade him. Nothing could even catch him.

At least until a massive hand caught the back of his tail and yanked him back toward the others. He stared up into the disapproving expression on Agalma’s face and tried not to anger her any further. She was the one running this whole mission, after all. Maketes was just here to talk with Ace and then get out. He wasn’t supposed to do anything other than that.

He was definitely going to do a lot more than that.

As if she could hear the thought pass through his mind, Agalma’s hand tightened around his fin. “Stop it, quick one. Your mind wanders too far from this mission and you’re going to ruin it.”

“My mind is firmly on the mission. Get in, implant the chip, see what answers we can get. It’s not a hard mission.”

Other than his interest in Ace. They’d been talking quite a bit since the end of Alpha, and he’d gotten the sense that Anya’s contact had a lot more information than he was providing. Every question Maketes had, Ace had an answer for. Which could only mean that the man was involved deeper in Gamma than any of the others realized.

Maketes didn’t trust anyone who was in a prison city like this. The moment Mira had told him what the city was used for, with Anya replying that it was even worse than what Mira knew, he had been the one who wanted this mission.

Not because he wanted to hunt the achromos. Not because he wanted to hurt anyone at all.

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