Page 93 of Call of the Fathoms

This would be fine. She was going to give the performance of her life.

Grabbing the headset where it hung on a hook above her head, she brought it down to her ears and turned it on. “Alexia to Tau. Alexia to Tau.”

There were a few moments of crackling silence before another voice said, “Alexia? Confirm Original name.”

“Harlow.”

More silence, then crackles as though someone on the other side was trying to get a higher up. Then came a voice she recognized. “Sargent Russell here. Are you claiming to be Alexia?”

She sighed. “I am returning with the undine. My apologies that it took so long. He was a wily bastard. Took me all over the ocean before I finally got him.”

That would stump them. They certainly weren’t sure what to do with that, and she knew for damn certain that they were going to try to figure out a way to deny her entry.

But Harlow wanted Fortis. And if an Original wanted something, the entire city did what they could to provide it.

The Sargent came back online. “Please head to the scanning dock. You must understand, we didn’t expect your return.”

“Affirmative. Heading to docking bay four now.”

She hung the headphones up and told herself everything would be fine. This was the only way any of it was going to work. She could do this.

But as the bright green scanning lights hovered over her ship, checking to make sure that everything was exactly how she said it was, she wasn’t all that certain that she was ready. What if she lost it? What if she fought with them to keep Fortis safe? She should have made the infuriating man go get the damned drugs that he had dropped into the ocean and she could have injected herself with it to start.

“Alexia?” She could just barely hear the voice on her headphones, but quickly grabbed them again.

“Here.”

“Why is there an unrecognized battery on the top of your ship?”

“You know our batteries wouldn’t last me two months, Sargent. I found another one in an abandoned facility. Damned lucky it had any juice in it, and only enough to get me home. The undine tore one of the other ones off my ship.” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, then took a steadying breath and continued. “Sargent, I have been without my medication for too long. If your scanning is complete, please collect the undine and bring me back inside. I need to be reviewed by medical. I have completed my mission and I will not be treated like an animal.”

That seemed to do it. The docking bay door opened over her head and she readied herself to let him go. It was how it had to be. He would die so everyone else could live.

“Fuck,” she whispered as tears burned her eyes. She needed to get her shit together, and fast.

The doors of the ship opened, and she squared her shoulders. She would be fine. This was for the betterment of all people, not just herself.

She turned with a cool expression to face the army of scientists and soldiers. Six guns were pointed at her, and already there were medical staff ready to stick her with whatever they could.

She lifted her hands with a wry grin. “What a welcome home.”

Thirty-Eight

Fortis

Fortis knew he had to make a show of this. The humans who would bring him into this city were not going to be happy with just capturing him. They did not expect a creature of his size—one who had already attacked their city—to come quietly. If he wanted her to live, then he needed to prove her right.

He listened to their conversation, hearing the way the scientists didn’t trust her. He knew the moment she was given the injection. The sound of her sigh likely reassured them that she was waiting to be treated, but he knew the sound for what it was.

She was disappointed. Embarrassed. There was even a hint of guilt in that sound, as though she had been the one who had made a grievous mistake in coming back.

This had to be done, however. She had to make it through this city and unlock at least a few of those hidden entrances, or none of this would work. They needed her to betray her people and to do that; she had to make this believable.

And so did he.

So when the doors opened and a rush of soldiers appeared towards him, he made it look real. He fought and struggled against the net, ripping at it with his teeth and baring those sharp fangs for everyone to see. He snarled at them, writhing over and over until they had no choice but to fear him.

“If this net was not here, I would have already torn you limb from limb,” he growled. “There is nothing I love more in this life than tearing into human flesh and tasting your blood on my tongue. I wish to see you destroyed in every way you can imagine, and then suck the marrow from your bones.”

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