Page 48 of Call of the Fathoms

Twenty

Fortis

Bringing her anywhere that would prove the depths of Tau’s evil was a foolish choice. Fortis knew this. There might be little hope for her yet, but he had seen how hard she had struggled in the depths.

And, in some sense, he understood her hesitation to make a choice after all that he had put her through. He’d just assumed that she would want to fight against those who had wronged her as well. Now that she was clear of mind, it was the easiest choice to make.

He had seen many of his own people addicted to the sulfur fields deep within the sea. He had seen them make choices that were questionable at best, and downright wrong at worst. All so that they could return to those fields and disappear from reality for a little while longer. So he understood her need to be reassured that she wanted this, and not that she’d been forced by the circumstances.

But he was growing impatient.

He sped through the sea, bringing her somewhere he had sworn to himself that he would never reveal to another living person. This was the first place that had shown him what the humans really were. It was the reason he knew Tau existed. And now he was going to share that knowledge with her.

“When I was young, I traveled much of the sea,” he started. “I spent many years exploring every corner of this ocean that I could. I discovered a great many things in my travels, but the greatest of them all was the name of your city. Tau. I knew it existed, as did many of my people, but we had no way to find it. I have spent a very long time seeking your hidden city.”

“There are signs of us?” She twisted in his arms, trying to look up at his face even though his speed made it difficult for her to do so. “There shouldn’t have been any at all.”

“Perhaps they are not where you believe them to be.” He shook his head. “Too many years have been wasted trying to find your city. But I was the one to find the shrine that revealed all the truth of our world. The truth of Tau.”

“A shrine?”

His hands tightened on her body, holding her a little closer. He remembered finding this place and the fear it had caused. For the first time, he had seen what the achromos were truly capable of.

“Fortis?” Alexia asked, her voice shaking with emotion. “Where are you bringing me?”

If only he could tell her. If only he could get the words to come out of his lips, but he couldn’t. Speaking any more of that place felt like he was ushering a curse into the world.

So he forced himself to remain quiet and just show her. Because eventually, she would see for herself.

It didn’t take very long. Tau was very close to where he had found the original site, almost like the city itself had been taunting him all these years. He had found the first secret, thefirst sign that there was more than just the three cities under the sea, although at the time there had been four.

It was his greatest failure that he hadn’t found Tau on his own. Perhaps he never would have needed to find this woman. He never would have pulled her out of her home, tortured her with darkness and starvation.

But he never would have known how warm she was in his arms, or rediscovered how much he had missed being touched.

Fortis swallowed hard before he found himself back in that hazy place where he was too close to her, too enraptured by her scent. He hadn’t even thought about that moment. Instead, he’d stuffed the embarrassing memory deep down.

Unfortunately, he could smell it. Her. Whatever that scent had been. He still had no clue what it was, but he was certain that it had cast a spell over him. One inhalation of that scent and he’d lost his mind.

He needed more of it. More of... her.

Perhaps she wasn’t the only one losing her mind. Because while she thought he was just a dangerous beast to be around, he was certain she would be the one to kill him. And yet, here he was, still entertaining the idea that he only had a little while to live anyway, so why not indulge himself one last time?

Finally they made it and he could stop thinking these complicated thoughts.

“There,” he murmured in her ear, pointing so she could follow the line of his finger.

In the distance, a strange metallic island drifted. It was wholly unlike anything else he’d seen. The root of it stretched deep into the ocean, balancing land on top. It was mechanical, though. Bits and pieces of it continued to open up and close, constantly shifting and moving under the surface as it filtered out water that was likely necessary for above, along withdisposing a long trail of muddy liquid beneath it. Refuse from whatever lived on the island.

“What the fuck is that?” she murmured, furrowing her brows.

“The legacy of Tau,” he replied. “Come. We go to the surface.”

“The surface?” She seemed to panic in his arms, struggling again even though she knew damn well he would not let her go. “What do you mean we’re going to the surface? We can’t do that! You said yourself, it’s covered in storms.”

He was already heading that way, so surely she could see that there wasn’t a storm above them. The light pierced through the waves, and long rays of sunlight speared around them. All she had to do was look.

But then again, he had taken away all of her stability. Fortis was learning that this new version of her was far more emotional than the warrior he had met before.

---