Page 76 of Echoes of the Tide

“There’s a tracker on the keycard. Whoever keeps track of these things—I’m going to guess that person is alive and well in Tau—knows that the key has been taken.”

All of a sudden, she felt rather exposed. Like she was out in the open, which she was, and anyone could find her. All Tau had to do was hit a button and they would know everything about her whereabouts. Her skin scrawled at the mere thought of some stranger watching her every move.

“We have to throw it away,” she hissed.

“Then someone else will find it.” He reached forward and wrapped her hand in his, curling his fingers around the card until the metal edges pressed almost too hard into her hand. “This is our responsibility. We have to make sure that everyone stays safe, Ace.”

But at what cost? She looked up at him, indecision filling every inch of her body. She didn’t want to know what it would mean if she got rid of this keycard. But she also didn’t want to risk everyone’s life again.

What she saw in his eyes, though, steadied her. She took a deep breath, blew it out with him, and then nodded. “You’reright. Someone has to do something about it. Maybe we can destroy it.”

“And all the secrets it keeps? This could be the answer to all of my people’s problems. We don’t know what is on the card until we use it.”

Her hands were shaking as he gripped them. “What if the secret on this card is far worse than we could ever have imagined?”

“Then we will use that information to our benefit.”

“How is that possible?”

“We have to trust each other. The information you have in your hands could contain what my people have been searching for. I need a way to save my people. If this Tau is the reason why achromos have attacked our kind for centuries, then I need to know. Perhaps there is only the one city we need to attack to end all of this. A sea without war, Ace.”

Her heart thudded hard in her chest. “Were you going to attack other cities?”

“Beta is already rumbling again. The weapons are online, and they are pointed toward any of my kind that swim by. Alpha was destroyed, and that is something that we will always have as a success. But the reality is that your people are continuing to create more weapons. Gamma clearly has intent to do worse, if your Jacob is seeking something like this.”

“Perhaps he knows it’s a direct link to Tau.”

“Or perhaps he merely seeks more power.”

She blew out a long breath. “You’re afraid.”

“I do not know what your people will do with this information, but I have every right to fear their choices.” He cupped her cheek in his hand, the cold webs chilling her even further. “Our kinds have hunted each other for as long as your people have been in the sea. I fear what it means for our future.”

She didn’t know if he meant their future together, or for both of their kinds as a whole. But did it matter?

“My sister,” she whispered. “I need to know she’ll be safe if I do this.”

His hand slid into the back of her hair, drawing her closer so their foreheads touched. “I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make sure your sister is safe. I have friends who can find her. If Jacob was able to find her by following that drone, then so can we. If you promise to help us, then the People of Water will do everything in our power to help you.”

She had to take that as the truth. He’d not lied to her yet, though her stomach was already cramped at the idea of keeping this keycard. She couldn’t give it to Jacob. That mass murderer would only kill more people with whatever opportunity she gave him. There wasn’t a chance she could do that. So there wasn’t really a choice here.

She had to help the undine. She had to do it.

Because even if she saved her sister by giving it to Jacob, she knew Laura would disown her the moment they saw each other again.

If they ever did.

“Giving the key to Jacob means I will never see my sister again,” she quietly said. “It will keep her alive, but I know without a doubt he’ll use her again as a threat. Over and over again. So many times that I won’t know what to do about it. Eventually, I will be locked in the same trap that he’s caught me in now.”

“I fear the same thing.”

She ducked her head to stare down at her hands, trying her best to stay in this moment and not let her own fears and insecurities blind her. “If I give it to you and your people, Laura might not make it out alive. He might kill her on the spot after he finds out what I’ve done. But there’s a chance you find her, keepher safe, and maybe...” She took a deep breath. “Maybe I’ll get to see her again.”

The faintest rattle reached her ears, as though his gills had all flipped out to stand straight. When she looked up at him again, she could see she’d been right. Every gill on his body was straight out, even down his back and down his arms, where the deadly spikes had impaled people only yesterday. The ferocity in his expression sent chills down her spine.

But he was gentle, ever so gentle, as he reached out and cupped her jaw. “I promise you, I will make sure you see your sister again. I know it is not an easy ask for you to choose my people over your own. I know that it is difficult to imagine what might happen if you do. But others have done the same, with less reassurance that everything will be all right.”

“Mira and Anya,” she whispered. “I’ve heard you talk about them. And Anya... I talked to her for years. I know it wasn’t an easy choice for her to destroy the city she grew up in.”

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