Page 7 of Echoes of the Tide

“I do when it comes to matters of these achromos.”

Achromo. She’d read the word he’d sent her before, but she hadn’t realized what it meant. Achromo must mean human.

They were already bickering again, both of them sending jabs at each other until she interjected, “Jacob, why don’t you tell them what you want?”

Both of the undine stopped talking and glared. They were intimidating when they did that. Otherworldly and monstrous in a way she hadn’t realized could exist outside of story books. One of the undine behind the other two bared its teeth, and she stared into the razor sharp maw with dread. If Jacob made one mistake, just one, then everything really was going to shit.

Jacob cleared his throat, obviously a little uncomfortable. “There is a key in another tower that I need you to get. The problem is that we can’t get into the other towers, and we aren’t sure which tower it’s in to begin with. But that key is vital to us being safe and living where we are. It holds a great amount of power in Gamma, and I want it.”

She hadn’t ever heard about a key. A key to what?

“All we need from you is transportation. You will bring Ace to the main tower where I believe the key was last seen, and then you will pick her back up and bring her here. We even have a dive suit that will suffice for travel, so the only thing you have to worry about is getting her in and out of a building.” Jacob spread his hands wide with a grin that was far too smarmy for comfort. “It’s an easy job to do, and in return, I’ll give you the best weapons you’ll ever have.”

That was a stretch. She didn’t have to say it though, because Maketes was quick to reply, “The best weapons are my own hands, achromo. I could rip your head off and toss it into the crowd of your people before you take your next breath. Let’s not pretend you can create any weapon more deadly than me.”

She felt faint. She knew her face had turned white at the same time she felt dizzy because Jacob immediately snarled, “What did he say?”

She didn’t know how to lie about that one. All she could envision were these undine crawling out of the water and starting to tear limbs off. She’d seen them do it the one time, and she didn’t want to see them do it again. She couldn’t protect herself. Not from that amount of power and speed. They would kill her so quickly?—

Jacob shook her. “Ace, what did he say?”

Before she could try to make up something that wouldn’t cause Jacob to tell everyone to open fire, Maketes spoke again. This time, he scratched his claws down the metal floor as well, making a horrible sound that all the humans winced at.

“We will accept this deal of his. We will take you to the tower you speak of, and we will provide you with whatever else you need.”

The other, larger undine hissed, “We need to talk about this.”

“Tell him now, Ace.”

She respected that the bigger undine might have a little more say in this situation, but she wasn’t going to risk ignoring a direct order. She looked at Jacob and said, “They accept.”

“Unwillingly, it seems.”

“There’s some back and forth between them, but it seems like the overall consensus is that they accept.” Which was a lie. But she knew it was the only decision she could make, considering the threat of death right in front of her.

“Good achromo,” Maketes said with a grin, all of his sharp teeth on display. “I will be back for you soon."

“When?”

The undine were already sinking back underneath the water, one by one. Her yellow finned devil was the last one to go. His dark eyes watched her every second that he moved away. “Tomorrow. Be ready in the same place. I will not wait long.”

And then he disappeared, too. Just sinking into the black water and then... gone. Like they were never here. Like everyone in this room had shared a fever dream that would leave them forever changed.

“The fuck was that?” Gregor muttered. “I don’t like it, boss. I don’t like having them so close to our home.”

“It’s the best chance we’ve got,” Jacob said. Then his hand clamped down on her shoulder again, squeezing so tightly she swore she could feel her bones creaking. “Come on, Ace. You and me need to have a chat about what you’re going to do.”

No one stopped him. No one even offered to help. They all just watched the two of them walk out of the room with worried expressions on their faces and pitying glances that told her everything she needed to know.

This wouldn’t be a good meeting. Nor would it be an easy one.

She held her breath until they made it out into the semi private hall. Jacob threw her against the nearest wall the moment no one could see. Dust rained down on her head, and the sign above her rattled against the metal wall with an ominous threat. He didn’t care, though. If it fell on his big ass head, then he would just shake it off like an enraged bull.

“Listen to me, you little lying sneak. I know your kind. You got here because you snuck through the shadows, fucking around with whatever you wanted until you got caught. You think you’re smarter than everyone else, but let me tell you,you’re not smarter than me. I get even a hint that you’re out of line, I have a direct way to kill your sister. You hear me, Ace?”

Her blood ran cold. But her sister was in Beta, not here. Her sister was safe. Her sister was untouchable by anyone in this horrible place.

“I can see those thoughts going through your head. But you’ve been sending a droid to go check on her, and I’ve known about that since the first day you built it a year ago. I know where she is. I have friends in low places, and I will not hesitate to kill her. Now nod your head to say you understand.”

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