Page 6 of Echoes of the Tide

The undine held up a chip for her, and she knew it was going to hurt. She’d only gotten one before when someone had moved in next door to her and spoke a different language. The screaming pain had been more than enough to convince her tonever get another one of these again. Of course, she didn’t have a choice this time. It was either one of those electric bolts to the head, or she was going to get this translation chip.

Not really much of a difference, if she was being honest.

She took the chip and then sank it behind her ear before she could second guess herself. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she stood there and stared into Maketes’s eyes. All the others were talking around them. Jacob was saying something about a deal that would benefit both of them. The undine were murmuring behind Maketes, even the chattering of other people seemed so loud as the translation chip did its job.

But she was stuck staring into Maketes’s eyes. The dark orbs reflected her own pained expression, the lank hair that clung to her face, because she was already sweating. When had she become this monstrous creature who stood before him? She’d never been pretty, but she’d never thought of herself as particularly ugly either.

What she wouldn’t give for a bath. Or even just dunking herself in the ocean, so she didn’t have to suffer with the grime on her skin anymore. And then the pain stopped, flipped like a switch, and she could breathe again.

Ace pressed her hands to her stomach, willing the meager bile to stay in her belly. She wanted to eat today, and she definitely didn’t want to vomit up the rest of her stomach contents.

The yellow undine in front of her reached out his hand. The webs were more than just black, she realized. They glimmered in the light, like an oil slick. Countless colors all caught between his fingers and surrounded by deadly claws.

A trap, just like the angler fish she’d seen once before. A pretty thing caught in the midst of all those deadly claws.

“You are Ace?” he asked, and she understood him. It was a slow conversation, but it was there. Words.

“And you are Maketes.”

Right here in front of her. It was the undine she’d been talking to for so many weeks now. Over a month, perhaps. She knew this monster in front of her, and it was hard to envision him like... this. Everything in her said he was just a man. She’d talked with him before, she knew who he was. He had a shrewd mind that saw a significant amount of details when he was planning quite literally anything. He had a funny sense of humor that never ceased to entertain her. He’d even told her about his life outside of destroying Alpha. But in her head, even though she knew what he was, she’d always imagined him as a human.

So seeing that he was right here in front of her, finally, but he wasn’t the man she had imagined?

It was messing with her head.

Jacob stood behind her, a wall of muscle and angry energy. “What did he say?”

“He was just confirming I am who I say I am.”

Jacob sighed. “I need you to give me an answer, undine. Weapons for your help.”

She could see the mistrust in the undine’s eyes. All of them. None of them believed the humans would stay true to their word. And she supposed that was fair enough. They’d been fighting with each other for a long time.

“He’s telling the truth,” she interjected, worrying only slightly that Jacob would consider her to be stepping out of line. “He’s not lying. I’m sure there are some humans who would lie to you, and they would try to do anything they could to get you to work for them. But the weapons are real. I helped make them myself.”

She omitted that the weapons wouldn’t work exactly as Jacob had said, but she could clarify that later. Right now, she needed this deal to go through. Because if it didn’t? She was the person who would be beaten.

Jacob clapped a hand on her shoulder. “That’s right. And it’s a good thing you already talked with Ace, because she’ll be helping you get what I want.”

Wait, what?

She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. Ace had her spot in this tower, and that was fixing the droids and making weapons whenever those were necessary. She didn’t go on missions. She didn’t risk her life or do any of the other stupid things that everyone else did. Ace stayed home. Safe, sound, and useful. That was her job.

Until, she realized, Jacob decided it wasn’t any longer. She never should have trusted this lint licker.

Maketes eyed her and then looked back at Jacob. “You will not wish to repeat this to him. This man is lying. We can smell it in the air, and whatever he wants, it’s not worth the risk. I would prefer that you risked your life with me, because I can keep you safe in this sea. However, you need to know that this man does not mean well. He feeds you to the sea, knowing that you may not return.”

She knew Jacob expected her to say something. She had to repeat and translate. “He asks what kind of mission you’re going to send them on.”

“Seemed like an awful lot of words for so little meaning.” Jacob’s hand on her shoulder tightened. “You telling me everything, Ace?”

“They speak very slowly.” It was a shit excuse, but it was the only one she had.

Maketes shifted in front of her, his gills flaring at her lie. “Good. Now you’re going to tell him that I will agree to nothing without more answers from him.”

A significantly larger undine swam up behind Maketes. This one had vague breasts on her chest, although they were not the same color or shape as humans. They were much more flat, likeswollen pectorals. Almost as though she merely had more fat there for some warming reason, rather than just for feeding their children.

“You do not make the decisions here, Maketes,” the new undine spat.

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