Page 14 of Heart of the Deep

Each name was punctuated by a heavy strike.

“And Randall Laster!” the Commander concluded in a shout.

Lifting his knee, Brock kicked Dracchus in the face, his boot scraping skin. Warm blood oozed from the wounds. Flexing his abdomen, he swung his bundled tentacles toward Brock’s feet. The human grabbed onto the bars, holding himself upright, and scowled.

Despite the deep aches in his body, Dracchus curled and stretched his fingers and bared his teeth, offering a challenge of his own. “Your body will break before mine, human.”

“We’ll see about that,” the commander said, nodding toward his men. “Let’s go over this again…”

* * *

Larkin concealed herself behind a stack of crates as her father and four other rangers emerged from below deck. The commander’s mouth was set in a harsh line, his movements were tense, and his eyes burned. She shifted her attention to the others, and her heart stopped.

The glow of Jason’s flashlight made the blood on their fists, shirts, and pants glisten.

Dad, what have you done?

Nicholas called another man over — Lance Oliver, a young, inexperienced ranger — and spoke with him quietly. Lance nodded, grabbed his rifle, and positioned himself beside the door leading down to the brig. They’d designed the bowels of the ship to keep the holding cells separate from everything else; nothing could come or go from that room without alerting the guard posted above.

Larkin waited until her father was out of sight before stepping out of her hiding place. She crossed the deck, heading directly for the brig.

Lance straightened as she approached. “Miss Laster.”

“RangerLaster,” she corrected. As petty as it was, any guilt she might’ve felt for what she was about to do faded in the face of that slip-up.

“Sorry.” He cleared his throat, cheeks reddening. “W-what can I help you with?”

“I want to see the creatures.”

The color that had just entered his face quickly drained. “I don’t think anyone’s supposed to go down there right now, Ranger Laster.”

“That might be true for the others, but I am Commander Laster’s second, and I want to question them myself.”

Swallowing, Lance swung his gaze from side to side, as though her father would materialize to sort this all out.

“You know the commander places high value on respect for the command structure, Ranger Oliver,” she said. “Do I need to report your insubordination to him?”

“N-no!” Lance licked his lips and squared his shoulders. “Please, just be careful down there. Those things arestrong.”

“I will.” She placed her hand on Lance’s forearm and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

His blush returned, but he otherwise maintained his composure.

She walked through the wide entryway; the door had been left open since the creatures were hauled below and would likely remain so while the weather was fair. Her fingers trailed along the wall as she moved down the ramp into the room below. A single electric lantern hung on the wall, illuminating the door into the brig, which was secured with a thick wooden bar.

Larkin raised the bar, swinging it aside and latching it in an upright position. She paused. A strange sense of foreboding filled her chest, amplifying the beating of her heart. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The metallic scent of blood hit her nose immediately, mixing with the briny air and the odor of recently treated wood to create something overwhelming.

Father,whathave you done?

The room was dark; the lone window, high on the wall opposite the door, allowed only a sliver of moonlight inside. She stepped back to remove the lantern from its hook and reentered the brig. The white lantern light reflected on the metal bars, which cast wide, vertical shadows on the creatures inside the cells.

Two kraken were caged on her right — the first two she’d hit with tranquilizers. The closest cell held the gray one; the creature hung limp in its bonds, eyes closed, blood and saliva oozing from its mouth.

Larkin frowned and stepped closer, raising the lantern to shift the shadows away from the kraken’s face.

The creature in the next cell snarled and thrashed in its bindings. Larkin leapt back, hitting the bars behind her. Dark splotches of drying blood stood out against the kraken’s crimson skin.

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