Page 83 of Echoes of the Tide

A grin spread across his features, like he had discovered something incredible. “Brother,” Arges said. “I heard you brought back an achromo, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“This bad?”

He waved a hand up and down, gesturing to all of Maketes’s body. “Look at you. All vibrant and showing off. You haven’t mated her then, I suppose?”

A much deeper male voice answered from behind Maketes, and he felt the hard slap of a fluke across his back. “This small one has found a mate already? Was it the one he brought back with him? She scented pretty in the water.”

That was it.

He turned with a small flick of his hip fin and raced for Daios. Catching his brother hard in the chest, they both tumbled through the water until Daios hit the sand on his back. But as much as he tried to claw at the big, red finned devil, Daiosblocked him at every turn. All the while, the massive male was chuckling.

“Look at him! All caught up in the mating rage, I can tell. This one is already done for, Arges.”

“Don’t tease him so much. You were just as delicate when you first found Anya,” Arges replied. But there was laughter in his voice as well and it made Maketes see red.

Snarling, he turned toward Arges. “You both are a waste of my time.”

“And yet, you’re fighting us.” Arges spread out his arms wide. “Come on, little brother. You need to get some of this energy out.”

They were right. He did. And there was no better way to do so than to take a pound of each of their flesh. Baring his teeth, he raced for his blue brother, only to be caught around the tail by the red. They all struggled, tooth and claw flashing in the sands until there was black blood in the water. And that was enough for him. He didn’t care who was bleeding, only that there was blood.

It was more frustrating than either of his siblings could know. The two brothers had gotten their women easily in comparison to him. They didn’t have to worry about a friendship breaking down, because they hadn’t been friends before they fell prey to the feelings that now boiled inside of him.

It was frustrating. She frequently denied his offerings. He’d yet to kidnap her and take her away from everyone, because that cave had arguably been part of the job. Then there was the gift portion of it. He should have gotten her some trinket by now, but he hadn’t had time to do so. All because they were swimming around because he was trying to be a good male who kept his people safe.

Snarling, he swam up toward the sun, where he intended to spin around and use all the force of his momentum to pin his brothers into the dirt. One by one, he would beat them.

But then he was caught by a dark purple webbed hand around the neck and then he was hanging from the depthstrider’s grip like a child. He writhed against the hold, his tail flailing and all of his body coiling around the thick arm that now drew him back down toward the sands. But nothing and no one could fight against something this large.

Fortis held him in his grip, bringing him right back to his two brothers, who were both breathing hard and had a few claw marks down their chests, but were no worse for wear than he was.

Frustration burned in his chest. He wanted them to be hurting. He wanted them to wear the scars of this moment.

At least, until Fortis gave him a hard shake. “Snap out of it. I recognize the mating need has you in its grip, but that doesn’t make you a mindless beast.”

The words sank through the anger that raged through him and Maketes let the anger go. Fortis’s hands on him didn’t hurt, after all. The big male was just forcing him to stay in place. His gills flattened, his spines drew back down, and then his tail became loose beneath him.

He swore the sea toyed with the ends of his tail, whispering that he needed to relax or he would never keep her safe. If he wasn’t thinking with a rational mind, then he needed to force himself to do so.

Breathing in and out for a long moment, he nodded. “I am better.”

“Good.” Fortis released him and then shook his hand off as though he were clearing the scent from his fingers. “Disgusting. I’ll never understand such anger and need for an achromo.”

Daios snorted. “Just for that, I hope you find the most difficult one out of us all.”

The glare that Fortis leveled him with should have turned him into chum, but then Fortis leveled the rest of them with thatsame look, and Maketes slunk back to his brothers. There was such disappointment in that gaze. More than that, though, were the eyes of a male who saw too much.

“The three of you are just the beginning,” Fortis said, his voice deep and low. It was the same tone he used when he saw into the future, and it was the tone that Maketes hated to hear. “If we continue to fight, the future becomes foggy with fear and more blood. We must focus on the gift that is now in our hands. The one that Maketes has brought us is far more useful than a singular weapon.”

“A gift?”

Fortis heaved a sigh and stared up at the sun beams above them. “Give me strength,” he murmured, clearly calling out to the gods.

Ah, right. Now that he was thinking a little clearer, he knew what the big male was talking about. “Right, the keycard. Ace has it.”

“The key?” Arges asked, clearly not following.

“She was sent to find a key from Gamma. They were going to trade us meager weapons if we got it. I thought you’d already have been briefed on this?”

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