Page 65 of Call of the Fathoms

He busted through the rest of the moon pool door, scraping off a few scales in the process as he launched himself out of the water fast enough that he could sit on the edge without ever putting her down. Anya was waiting for him, a confused expression on her face, until she saw the woman in his arms.

She let out a gasp and pressed her fingers to her mouth. “Fortis, what is happening?”

Anya always said his name strangely. It was an odd name, and likely one she had never heard before she had lost her hearing. As such, the word was always slightly slurred as she said it.

He tilted Alexia in his arms. Her head lolled to the side, her hair shifting so Anya could see Alexia’s face. “She needs help.”

“She’s lost a lot of blood. I can make her comfortable, but?—”

Anya froze at the look on his face. He glared at her with every ounce of rage that made him shake. The look said he would need retribution if Alexia died, and that he would take that retribution out of Anya’s own hide if she failed in this.

The water stirred next to him, and he could hear the rumbling of voices in the water. Clearly, Aulax was having to argue with Daios. The male didn’t like Fortis much to begin with, and having Anya alone with him? This was likely eating Daios alive.

Good, let the red devil feel a little uncomfortable.

Anya shuddered before stepping closer. “Can I try something first?”

He nodded, though his gaze was narrowed, and he kept his gaze firmly on her. She reached for the breathing tube stuck in Alexia’s throat and gently removed it. There was the faintest sound of suction and then... silence.

Her chest didn’t rise. She didn’t breathe. Without the tube in her neck, she wasn’t doing anything on her own.

He couldn’t breathe either. Had this all been his fault? Had he somehow done this to her? She didn’t deserve to die like this, not when he had just found out what she looked like while she was so fucking beautiful and needy. She was too strong for this. He refused to believe she would die.

Hand shaking, he took the tube out of Anya’s hand and placed it back in Alexia’s neck. “Do what you can.”

“I can’t do anything, Fortis. She’s been dead for too long, her brain hasn’t had enough oxygen. It doesn’t work like a switch.”

Another achromo walked into the room, looking at a clipboard in his hand. “Hey, Anya? If Bitsy is on, do you mind explaining this request to me?”

But then he looked up and froze. His mouth dropped open, and Fortis could see recognition bloom in his eyes. It was almost like the man knew something that would help them.

With a flex of his tail, he slapped the man into the opposite wall and pinned him to the metal. “What do you know?”

The man wheezed out a long breath, slapping at the scales that held him trapped.

“Fortis!” Anya shouted.

The commotion was sure to bring more achromos. They all were so meddlesome. So he reached for the man quickly, dragging him close enough that he could smell the fear on the man’s breath.

“What do you know?” Fortis snarled.

“Nothing much! Just rumors. People in Alpha used to... talk.” He scrabbled at Fortis’s hands, trying desperately to get away from him. “Let me go.”

“Tell me more.”

“Genetic experiments. People who were larger, stronger, more capable of protecting important people. I used to work for a few doctors there and they all claimed that it was possible, and that they’d heard of other cities doing it.” Another long whimper followed the words. “Please let me go.”

Anya’s hand touched his forearm, but he knew there was importance in this whelp’s words. Doctor. Scientist. Whatever the creature called himself. Coiling his tail around the man, he wrapped the soft flesh in cold, wet scales and forced him closer to Alexia. “Can you save her?”

The man gulped. His eyes were too wide and his heartbeat thundered against Fortis’s tail, but there was only a short hesitation before he nodded. “If she’s one of them, then she should be able to survive a lot more than this. I can... I can try.”

It was good enough.

Twenty-Seven

Alexia

The beeping was almost too familiar. How many times had she woken just like this? A hundred beeps, that was what she had always told herself. Count a hundred beeps before she opened her eyes. Then at least she got a few moments to herself.

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