Page 13 of Echoes of the Tide

But the undine in front of her gave her pause. He was leaning against the open floor, nothing behind him but a blank wall that might have once had artwork on it, considering the holes. But he was halfway out of the water. His tail was long and coiled beneath him, not unlike a snake. He drew it nearly completely out of the water until just his thin fluke was still hidden from her sight.

Ace looked over her shoulder and realized they were in a little waiting room. There were still teal covered leather chairs where people would sit and wait for their appointments. An eye chart was on the wall in the back corner, right behind a desk that still had an honest-to-god phone sitting on top of the counter.

She’d never seen so many pristine things. Everything in the tower she lived in had long ago been destroyed, but all of this was perfect. Still here, like it had only been a few moments ago that the receptionist had walked out of the room.

Halogen lights blinked off above them before humming back on. The wooden door even had a sign on its window. She could read it backwards.

Opthamologist.

“An eye doctor,” she mused, before shrugging her way out of the dive suit. She quickly stood and hung it over the back of one of the chairs. “Hard to forget where this is.”

“You’re leaving me here?”

“I don’t think it would be all that easy for you to come with me. Thanks for the ride, though. Come back in... I don’t know, a day or so? Then I’ll definitely have what I need.”

There was a sudden silence. Not even the sound of dripping water.

She turned to look at him, and he reached out his hand for her to take. “Ace?”

Some stupid part of her reached out for him, too. It whispered “Just take his hand”, so she did. “What? What is it?”

Did he sense some danger? Was there something here that she hadn’t realized?

“You stink.” And with that, he yanked her hard and tossed her into the open water.

CHAPTER 6

Maketes watched her hit the water with a harsh slap. Perhaps he’d thrown her a little too hard. Poor thing clearly wasn’t used to being graceful in the water, because she struck face first and then seemed to sink like a stone.

Had he knocked her out with the sheer force of his throw? Unlikely. She must not know how to swim.

Without another thought, he dove into the water after her. Everything was vaguely lit by the lights above them. The room that she had entered was so bright it had made his eye ache. But that brightness gave him the unique opportunity to be able to see everything under the surface.

And to see the shocked expression on her face. Not at what he had done, but at what she was seeing.

“You’ve already swum through this portion,” he reminded her, slowly circling her still form.

He wondered for a moment why she didn’t respond, only to remember she was holding her breath. Was now the time to connect with her? Did he draw the tentacle out of his hair and give her the air she so desperately needed?

He waited too long. Already Ace was heading back to the surface of the water. She kicked her feet, those strange pants seeming to slow her down only for a few moments. But then she was treading water at the top and he had a momentary flare of pride. For a second, he feared she couldn’t swim. Mira and Anya had both warned him that not all humans could. In fact, many of them couldn’t swim at all.

He had never been so afraid in his life than when he heard such a thing. All the humans were surrounded by water. What if their homes flooded? What if they had to go out into the sea? Not being able to swim seemed almost impossible to him.

With a flick of his tail, Maketes joined her at the surface. She still had her glasses on somehow, and had a glare on her face that threatened his life without a single word being said.

Grinning, he said, “Now you do not stink.”

“The fuck was that, undine?”

“If you were to come across any enemies, they would have smelled you long before they would see you.”

Her face somehow turned red, even though he could see she was starting to shiver. “Are you insane? I can’t get wet! If I’m freezing cold, I could die of hypothermia or never dry out. Besides, it’s far more likely someone would hear the water dripping off my body before they would smell me!”

Maketes considered her words and then wrinkled his nose. “Unlikely. You really smelled quite pungent.”

She stared at him. Just stared. Didn’t stop staring until all of a sudden he felt a little uncomfortable. It was like she was looking into his soul and he didn’t want her looking there.

Words bubbled up in his throat. He’d never been very good at sitting in silence. It pressed down upon his shoulders, made it feel a little hard to breathe. He wanted her to say something. Anything. Just fill the silence with something other than this.

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