Page 95 of Call of the Fathoms

Just like the vision had promised him.

One last time.

And then there it was. The sight of her dark hair blocking out the blinding light that had been so painful to look at. The darkness of her was the same comfort as staring into the abyss. A lovely and welcome sight after he’d been so exhausted. Breathing in deeply, he stared up at her with all the love that he felt in his heart.

Had he told her that he loved her? Not in so many words, but he thought with his actions that he had.

It was kinder that he hadn’t admitted it. She didn’t need to know how much he loved her when they were going to be parted for all eternity. But maybe the drugs had gone straight to his brain, because he regretted not telling her. She deserved to know that someone loved her.

“So, this is where you brought him?” Alexia asked. Her voice was a welcome balm compared to all the other voices he didn’t recognize, nor did he have any interest in hearing them speak.

“He’s going to go into processing. But we thought Original Harlow would like to see him first.” That was said by the female scientist who had wanted to tear him apart to understand how pressure didn’t affect him like it did humans.

“Ah,” Alexia said. Her hand landed on his shoulder, and he knew it must look like she was there to lay claim to him, but he could feel the comfort in her steady touch. “I don’t think we’re going to experiment on this one.”

“We are.”

“No, you’re not.” Her voice hardened. “This is Harlow’s prize. I hunted him down for her, and I brought him back. I don’t care what experiments you were going to choose, and I don’t care about your petty interests. This is her undine.”

He had been warned that she would be cruel, but it was still hard to hear her say all this. He wanted her to tell them all to fuck off, and protect his prone body while he could do nothing by lay there and take whatever they offered.

But it was also his time. And no matter how hard his mind wanted to fight to live, he knew that this was the only choice he had.

Another voice spoke up, and this lilting tone must be the Original Alexia had spoken of. “I don’t care what they do to him, Alexia. I’m just pleased you did what I asked.”

“I understand that, Harlow. But you also sent me on a mission to kill this creature and I did not do it yet. I wanted you to be here, so that there was no question that I do your bidding and let nothing stand in my way.” Again, her voice turned to something like steel. “I know there are rumors that I couldn’t possibly be the same guard I was before I left. Though I am onmedication again, I find I resent those who believe I will not serve you until my dying breath.”

The sigh that echoed in the room was nothing short of lovesick. As though Alexia had said something that was truly romantic. “Oh, you sweet thing. You always know just the thing to say to me. Go on then. Kill him and we’ll tell them all to stuff it. You were always the best of them, even if a few emotions slip through here and there.”

And then Alexia turned toward him. All he could think about was her standing there, looking down at him with those dark eyes filled with regret. She held her hand out. “Give me four hundred milligrams of neurotoxin. The one we pulled from the diatoms.”

“Alexia, we cannot just kill him. The information within his body is too valuable to destroy a specimen like this!”

“I will make you if I have to.”

The scientists rushed. And all the while, she looked down at him. Surely they all thought she was looking at the greatest prey she would ever catch in her life, but he saw the brightness in her gaze. He saw the way her eyes were already watering even as she struggled with herself to not cry.

A needle and vial were handed to her, and she carefully drew the neurotoxin out of the bottle before handing it back. Her hand dropped out of view, likely to his arm where he knew, without a doubt, she would kill him.

But then she hesitated. He could see she wasn’t going to do it. There was a flare of rebellion in those dark eyes, and he had to stop her. This was both of their destinies as much as it hurt.

Struggling through the drugs, he lifted his hand and press it to hers. With his hand on hers, he guided the needle into his flesh.

Whispering so no one would hear what he said, he quietly told her, “It’s all right, virago.”

A single tear rolled down her cheek and dripped onto him. He felt the heat of it splash against his neck at the same time as he felt her inject him. His entire body seized for a moment, every muscle stiffening in pain until he felt it all let go. All of his body was so loose, so at ease. He hadn’t thought it would feel like this. Like nothing had ever been wrong and everything was going to be all right. He hadn’t realized that sinking into death would be so... peaceful.

And the last thing he saw was her beautiful, sorrowful eyes filled with tears.

Thirty-Nine

Alexia

These fucked up people. Alexia would never forgive them for this. Never. He didn’t deserve to die, and they had taken the only good thing she had.

She just wanted him to live. That’s all. She didn’t want to beg for it or ruin the mission that she was on, but she wanted him to live so that she didn’t have to lose the only thing that had ever made her feel like a person.

He was everything to her. And as she watched his gaze slacken and his body go limp, she could feel herself dying with him. The person he had brought into this world, the version of herself who was soft and kind, died a long, sorrowful death. She went with him, wherever he was going, because she damn well wasn’t going to be that soft Alexia here.

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