Page 75 of Echoes of the Tide

They probably came here hoping if they were going to die, at least they could see the sunsets over the ocean. Just like she was looking out at now.

It was the perfect place to think, and Ace had a lot to think about.

Drawing out Tera from her pocket, she let the droid settle on the dock. “Careful, there’s water everywhere. And I think it’s too deep for me to dive in after you.”

A resounding clack from her droid was the only response she got. Which she knew meant that the droid would be extra careful.

Turning her attention back to the sea, she settled her arms around her legs and blew out a long breath. “What am I going to do?”

The droid settled in its careful rolling and seemed to look up at her.

“The key, Tera. It opens something dangerous and horrible and no one should have access to such a thing.” She said the words all on a sigh that came from deep within her belly. “Definitely not Jacob. He doesn’t deserve this power.”

And therein lay the problem. She didn’t know what this key would unlock. Martin made it seem like it was just the knowledge of Tau, but then he’d said a few other things that made her stomach churn in her belly. Like it was also a connection to that city deep in the sea. A direct connection. So she was hesitant to give this key to anyone at all.

She picked it up from where it dangled on a chain around her neck, smoothing her fingers over the metal plate. The dim sunlight caught on a few letters that had long ago been worn away. But she thought it said a name. Like there was someone else who had originally worn it, and now it was in her hands.

Had they also felt the same level of responsibility? Because this wasn’t something she even wanted, now. She didn’t want to choose who got it.

“I should throw it into the sea,” she mumbled. “Maybe that’s where it belongs.”

A fish slapped the dock next to her right foot, and Maketes heaved himself up onto the dock with her. His bulk made the water roll over the edge, and she just barely caught Tera in her hand before it was swept right off.

“Sorry,” he said with a slight grin, before settling the dock. “What belongs in the sea?”

She flashed the card at him. “This.”

“Ah.” A troubled expression crossed his usually jovial face before he wiped it away. Maketes never liked to look too serious for too long, and she wondered if that had to do with people not liking him.

What he’d said yesterday still didn’t settle well. But she supposed that wasn’t something she could control. He had to love himself for who he was, and she couldn’t make him do that.

But she could love him hard. She could love him hard enough for the both of them.

And fuck, that thought terrified her. It was the first time she’d thought the words that maybe, just maybe, she was in love with him. An undine. A creature who might not even be compatible with her in the long run.

They couldn’t even live in the same world. They didn’t breathe the same air, not for long at least. And there would always be that barrier. No matter what they did with each other. She would always need to leave the water and he would always need to leave the air.

He brushed his soaking wet hair away from his face, biceps and pecs bunching with the movement. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

He gestured over his own face. “I don’t know. There’s an odd expression all over you.”

Fix your face, she thought to herself. The last thing she wanted was for him to realize that she was stupidly in love with him. She wasn’t all that sure how to deal with that realization herself, if she was being honest.

Instead, she shook her head hard to clear out the thoughts. “I just don’t know what to do with the key. I don’t think Jacob should have it, but I don’t know who should. I’m afraid of what this opens. Perhaps it would be better to give it to you and haveyou cast it into the very deepest part of the sea. Then no one can have it.”

He seemed troubled by the thought. “If it is that important, should we leave it up to chance that someone else might find it?”

“Who would find it at the bottom of the sea?”

But then Tera clacked against her leg, getting her attention. She lowered the key down to the droid, who circled around it, making a move almost like it wanted her to flip it over...

Right.

Looking at the back, she could see there was a tiny tracker implanted on the back of it. “Shit,” she muttered.

“What is it?”

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