Page 123 of Treasure of the Abyss

Turning to direct a heavy, lingering glance at Arkon, Dracchus tossed the tool aside. It clanged on the stonefloor.

Jax pulled himself out of the tank, latching onto the edge of the walkway to swing clear of the broken glass on the floor. He landed in the last of the draining water and stretched his arms and tentacles. His muscles ached sweetly with their restored range ofmotion.

The kraken stared at one another; the only sounds were those of the water running into an unseen drain and the waves breaking on the cliffsoutside.

“We need to leave.” Jax shifted his eyes from Arkon to Dracchus and backagain.

“I would have opened it soon enough,” Arkonsaid.

Dracchusgrunted.

“Come. Now.” Jax didn’t look behind him as he moved toward the doors, darkening his skin on the way. The shadows would be their only cover until they reached the dock. He grasped one of the handles, paused to listen for anything out of the ordinary, and slid the dooropen.

Leaning out, he glanced inland. A pair of lights set over the warehouse doors illuminated the area directly ahead, but the path leading down into the town was dark. He could see the glow of more lights beyond, where the main cluster of buildings stood; they’d have to cross that area if they followed the stone path down to thedock.

Jax pushed the door wider and slipped out into the relatively cool air, adjusting his skin to match his surroundings as he moved. He felt exposed in the light, even with his camouflage, and longed to reach the water as quickly as possible now that he’d been freed from the confines of thetank.

He longed to reachMacy.

He crept to the cliff edge and peered over, running his gaze along the dock, past the bobbing ships, and to its end. Three dark figures stood there, features indistinct in the soft glow of the rising moon. Their shadows stretched out over the shimmeringwater.

The door slid closed. From the corner of his eye, Jax saw Arkonapproach.

“Almost there,Jax.”

“Yes. Almost. Let us remain alert as we descend,just—”

A voice drew Jax’s attention toward the town. Dracchus paused nearby, and each of them stared down the darkenedpath.

“—be nothing. The crane rattling in the wind, maybe,” said a human voice, drawing nearer with each moment. “I don’t know. We need to get back up there before someone notices we’regone.”

“You sure you heard something?” asked a secondvoice.

“Yeah,” replied thefirst.

Jax looked to Arkon and Dracchus; both wore expressions of indecision for a fleeting moment, and he imagined they felt the same paralyzing flash of fear hedid.

The humans were not yet on the path, but would be soon. With theirguns.

Below, the waves crashed into the cliffs, drowning out any further conversation from the approaching humans. The tide was not low enough, now, to reveal the narrow strand of beach that hugged the cliffs, but it was difficult for Jax to determine the water’s depth from hisvantage.

If they didn’t break themselves on the ground below, they could get caught in the waves, which would smash them against the cliff face. Not typically life-threatening for kraken, but it would significantly slow theirescape.

He had no desire to harm any humans…but he would not be cagedagain.

His companions had moved forward; they stood to either side of Jax, staring down into the sea. Jax met Dracchus’s gaze first. The amber eyes were steady, betraying no fear. Dracchusnodded.

Jax shifted his attention to Arkon. His violet eyes were lively beneath a brow set firm in determination. Arkonnodded.

Inhaling deeply, Jax glanced at the dark figures on the end of the dock oncemore.

Tonight.

He bunched his tentacles beneath himself andjumped.

Wind whistled past Jax’s earholes. His stomach leapt into his throat. Then the surface — so far away, a moment before — rushed up to meet him. He threw his hands forward to break through just before he hit with a startling impact that sent a jolt throughout hisbody.

The current caught him immediately, sweeping him back toward land. Drawing in water through his siphons, he propelled himself away, pushing with his tentacles and pulling with his arms. His muscles burned with strain. The waves lifted him up, as though the sea meant to toss him atop the cliff, back into one of thetanks.

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