Page 28 of Jewel of the Sea

“No reason for regrets. You did it, even if it took time.”

“How did you figure it all out with Macy, Jax?”

“I didn’t, Arkon. None of this can be so simplified. It is all new, all a journey into the unknown.”

Glancing at Jax, Arkon grinned. “That has ever been your area of expertise, Wanderer.”

Jax smiled in return and shook his head. “I’ve never truly known what I was doing. You know far more about humans than I. The only difference with Macy and Sarina is that itfeelsright when I am with them, and I attempt to consider what would make them happy in all my actions.”

“So, you’re saying I am on my own in this?”

“You must find your own way, Arkon, as you always have. But you are never alone.” Jax placed a hand on Arkon’s shoulder.

The contact was unsettling, at first, and wholly outside typical kraken behavior. But Arkon recognized the gesture’s meaning — reassurance. Jax was here, flesh and blood, and he would help however it was necessary short of endangering Macy and Sarina.

“Thank you, Jax.”

Dropping his gaze, Jax nodded. It was some time before he spoke again. “A hunt has been called.”

Arkon’s stomach sank and twisted. Today was their meeting day. Seven or eight hours, and it would be time; time to go, time to see Aymee again.

A hunt could last for days.

“Kronus, this time. He wants to go for sandseekers, just off the reef,” Jax continued. “They plan to leave within the hour.”

“To the abyss with Kronus,” Arkon muttered as he turned and moved away from the pool.

“This seems familiar.” Jax’s smirk was evident in his tone.

The two of them had been in this very room several months ago, when Jax had rescued Macy from the sea...only Jax had been cursing Dracchus then, andJaxhad been the one who wanted to return to his secret human.

Jax had refused a hunt so he could spend more time with Macy. Why shouldn’t Arkon do the same?

Perhaps because Jax’s refusal set into motion a chain of events that left what meager semblance of society our people possess in a state of upheaval, and placed Macy in danger…

Arkon blew air through his siphons and slowed as he neared the lockers and machinery along the wall. He clenched his jaw and spun about, moving parallel to the pool. Aymee wasn’t in a vulnerable position like Macy had been. As long as Aymee remained in The Watch, she was safe from the other kraken, many of whom were slowly warming to the notion of being in contact with humans.

Apart from Kronus and his pack. Despite being outmatched, they threw regular insults at Jax and Macy, and considered Jax, Arkon, and Dracchus traitors to their people.

But they didn’t matter;noneof them mattered. The kraken had always seen Arkon as too different, too strange, and he placed little value in their customs and the stunted social hierarchy they’d constructed despite their natural antisocial inclinations. If he refused this hunt, having never done so since he’d reached maturity, they would attribute it to his eccentricity and nothing more.

And to see Aymee, to look into her warm eyes and listen to her musical voice, would be more than worth admonishment from his people.

“Arkon.”

Startled out of his thoughts, Arkon swung his gaze to Jax.

Frowning, Jax furrowed his brows. “You planned to see her today, didn’t you?”

Was Arkon so addled that Jax was seeing through him? Usually, it was the other way around.

Jax moved in front of Arkon, and they met each other’s eyes. “You have the choice, Arkon. But do not let your desires cloud your judgment. Our people cannot be forced into all of this.”

Unbidden, red flashed over Arkon’s skin. “After all of it — after I stood with you unwaveringly and trusted you blindly — you’re going to tellmenot to pursue what Iwant? Are you the only one of us allowed happiness?”

“Close your mouth, Arkon, and hear me.” Jax’s tone and stance might have been intimidating to other kraken, but Arkon did not fear Jax.

“You will not—”

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