Page 66 of Treasure of the Abyss

“Yes. I was retrieving old humandevices.”

“For yourcollection?”

Jax clenched his jaw. He’d avoided Arkon because he didn’t want to lie to him. The trust they had in one another was strong, deep, unshakeable. Jax had never intended to endanger it, but he’d done so by deciding to withhold the truth. And even now, after everything, how much could he bring himself to say? If any kraken would understand — if any could accept what Jax was doing — it wasArkon.

He’d told Macy once that he couldn’t give her much information because he needed to protect the other kraken. This was no different; the choice was not Jax’s alone. She had a part in it. She’d be affected byit.

“In a way,yes.”

Narrowing his eyes, Arkon swam closer. “You have never been one to speak cryptically. What is it you are hiding,Jax?”

Jax’s stomach churned. Of course, Arkon would be suspicious; little escaped his notice. “I cannot explain it to you. Notyet.”

“Why?”

“Because…it is better understood if I show you, Arkon, and showing you is not my choice tomake.”

Arkon held Jax’s gaze. They floated in silence for manyheartbeats.

“Is it worth the trouble you are stirring up?” Arkon finallyasked.

“Whattrouble?”

“Dracchus. He distrusts you, and in this instance, I cannot blame him. You’ve given him good reason. You declined a hunt, Jax? For all your wandering, you’ve never once done that, and Dracchus knows itwell.”

“As I have said before, to the abyss withDracchus.”

The corner of Arkon’s mouth lifted in a half-smile. “I do not believe there is a hole big enough to swallowhim.”

Jax couldn’t help his own smile. “And if there was, he’d likely want to fightit.”

Arkon’s expression brightened with humor briefly before reverting to its prior seriousness. “I don’t think he will back down this time. He’s wanted to prove himself against you since we were young, Jax, and for some reason, your recent behavior has pushed him to newlevels.”

“I have deferred leadership of most hunts to him. I do not challenge him publicly, I do not attempt to sway the others in any way. What reason have I given him?” Jax’s hearts thumped, and anger poured heat into hisveins.

“Dracchus’s concerns are…foreign to me, in many ways,” Arkon said, dropping his gaze, “and I cannot pretend to understand him any more than I can pretend to truly understand you. If I were to venture a guess, it would be an oversimplification, and that would avail usnothing.”

“It does not matter. I will deal with him when I must.” Part of Jax was tempted to return to the Facility now and issue a challenge to Dracchus. If Dracchus suffered another defeat against Jax, he would settle for a time, but it would never stop. Not until one of them wasdead.

“That is what I am trying to explain, Jax. This time, it may well be more than you can deal with, if you leave it for too long. He has made no attempt to keep his opinions to himself. For all the respect they have for your abilities, you are no more normal to the others than I am. If Dracchus convinces them of your betrayal, the truth will make littledifference.”

Jax tilted his head back and stared, unseeing, toward the soothing blue of the cloudless sky. Even as part of him wanted the fight, the rest of him — stronger by far — wanted nothing more than to return to Macy and never concern himself with these affairs again. He knew, had the situation involved anyone other than Jax, Arkon would have paid it no mind; he held no interest in socialstruggles.

Could Jax live without seeing the Facilityagain?

His immediate answer wasyes. He wasn’t sure how to feel about his lack of shame forit.

“For now, I will not worry about Dracchus or the rest of them.” Jax returned his attention to Arkon. “I have betrayed your trust, and for that I am sorry. If you take the chance of trusting me one more time, I ask ten days of you. On the tenth morning, I will meet you at the Broken Cavern, and I will reveal the secret I havekept.”

Arkon searched Jax’s face and, after a short while, nodded. “You have my trust, Jax, as always. Ten days. But please…do not ignore the situation with Dracchus. It will grow worse the longer it isdisregarded.”

“Warn the others of the razorback. May the stones fall as you would have them lie,Arkon.”

“And the currents carry you where you would go,Jax.”

“You’re quieter than normal.”Macy slipped a piece of fish into hermouth.

Jax picked at his food with the tips of two claws; he’d eaten little, thusfar.

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