Page 32 of Heart of the Deep

“If you are telling me the truth, and Randall is really with your people, then bring me to him.”

“I cannot. The journey would kill you, and I am unfamiliar with our current location.”

“Then…what are you going to do with me?”

His jaw muscles ticked as he swung his gaze around the island, finally halting it on the horizon. He stared in silence for a time, his face unreadable. She knew, in her heart — that soft, soft heart her father so despised — that Dracchus wouldn’t kill her. He wasn’t the monster he’d been made out to be. Why would he have saved her otherwise?

“I will take you there,” he finally said, lifting his chin toward the mainland, “but you will not attempt to return to your people. Once I can determine where we are and where my home is, I will obtain the means to take you to your brother.”

Larkin’s brows rose, and she took a step closer. “You will?”

Dracchus angled his head down to meet her gaze. “Yes. But hear me — if you return to your people in the hope of rescuing Randall from us, you will never find him. He is beyond the reach of humans. But he is safe. He is…happy.”

Those last three words silenced the harsh reply she’d been prepared to make.

Randall washappy?

A twinge pierced her chest. She raised her hand to absently rub the spot. Larkin and her father had spent over a year searching for him, tearing their hair out with worry, never know if whether he was dead or alive. She was relieved to know he was safe, but she couldn’t help feeling betrayed. It was a selfish emotion, and she couldn’t deny it. While her world had crumbled, he’d beenhappy.

Had he ever thought about her while he was with the kraken? Had he ever wondered where she was, or what she was doing, or if she was all right?

“He has spoken of you often,” Dracchus said, as though he knew her thoughts. “When you revealed your name, I knew who you were. Your eyes served as confirmation. They are like his.”

“I won’t run,” she vowed. “Just bring me to him.”

He nodded. “It will take time. You are sure you will be able to survive if we move to the mainland?”

Larkin narrowed her eyes. “Don’t insult me, kraken.” She was a damned ranger; shelivedin the wilds.

Dracchus’s lips shifted upward, into an almost-smile, and the light in his amber eyes softened. “Then come, human.” He turned and moved toward the far shore, leading her by the arm.

“I can walk without you holding my hand,” she said, hopping down from a larger rock.

Dracchus paused, twisting to look back at his hand on her wrist. He released her with a strange combination of reluctance and confusion and moved on without a word. She remained in place, head cocked, and watched himwalk.

The play of the toned muscles in his back and arms was certainly enticing, but she was more mesmerized by the motion of his tentacles. They stretched and contracted, pushing and dragging him simultaneously. He didn’t leap down from the rocks; he flowed over them, seeming to stick to their sides in defiance of gravity on his way down.

She climbed down behind him, her feet squished inside her boots, and caught up with him on the beach. Here at sea level, the mainland was no longer visible.

“Climb onto my back.” He spread his tentacles, sinking into a crouch.

Larkin peered toward the horizon and sighed.

“You will be able to swim on your own when I take you to your brother,” he said.

“How?”

“You will know when it is time.”

Larkin rolled her eyes and stepped over his tentacles — his long,thicktentacles. “You’re so damn cryptic, you know that?”

He glanced at her over his shoulder, brow low. “That sounds like a word Arkon would use. What does it mean?”

“It means you aren’t speaking plainly.” She sidled closer to his back. They’d traveled like this for a time on their way to this island, but she’d been so exhausted that she hadn’t put any thought into it. Now, however, she was fully aware of her proximity to the muscled expanse of his back, to his broad, powerful shoulders, his huge arms…

He grunted and faced forward. “Itisan Arkon word.Cryptic.”

Larkin settled her hands on his shoulders, sliding them around his front until her arms were around his neck. His sea-kissed scent filled her nose as her chest pressed against his back. His skin was velvet-draped steel, surprisingly soft over solid muscle. Heat flowed into her through every point of contact.

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