Page 49 of Heart of the Deep

The door made a softwhooshas it slid open. Larkin’s position kept her from seeing inside.

“Dracchus?”

Larkin’s heart skipped a beat; that was Randall’s voice. To hear it after a year of worry made her knees weak. Her brother was alive. He washere.

“You look like Ikaros just dragged you in off the beach,” Randall said. “Where the hell have you been? We thought you were captured ag—”

Larkin launched herself between them and threw her arms around Randall. The suddenness of it caught him off-guard, and he staggered backward.

“What the hell?” Randall steadied himself, placing his hands on her shoulders.

A pair of growls — one low and undulating, the other oddly human — sounded from somewhere behind him, but Larkin ignored them. She tightened her hold on him, pressing her face against his bare chest, failing to stem the flow of tears from her eyes.

“You’re alive.” The words clawed their way out of her tight, dry throat. She wanted to tell him that she’d known he was alive all along, that she’d never doubted it, but a small part of her had always feared him dead — a part that had become harder to ignore as time passed and their father grew increasingly obsessed with the search.

“Elle,” Randall choked out her name, wrapped her in a crushing embrace, and rested his cheek on her hair.

Larkin cried harder. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed his hugs.

Something pressed against her leg, and Larkin glanced down to see a prixxir sniffing at her calf. She started, pulling her leg away from the beast. It lifted its head and met her gaze questioningly.

“Who is this?” asked a woman from behind Randall. There was an edge to her tone that, while not necessarily hostile, hinted at the potential for aggression.

Randall looked over his shoulder. “Rhea, this is my sister. This is Elle.”

Larkin peered behind Randall and her eyes widened in surprise. Rhea was akraken.

Rhea returned Larkin’s stare, but curiosity replaced the threat in her gaze. Her features and frame were delicate compared to her male counterparts, belying the subtle muscle tone of her arms and abdomen, but Rhea’s sturdiness and strength were unmistakable. Larkin had no doubt this female kraken could easily overpower her.

Like Dracchus, Rhea had no visible hair.

And she wasnaked.

Her small, firm breasts were on display, but Larkin couldn’t discern any genitalia below her belly. Were herpartshidden, like Dracchus’s?

The female kraken approached. The motion of her tentacles, paired with her posture, created a surreally graceful image.

“Randall has told me much about you,” Rhea said, tilting her head.

“You are Elle?” came a second voice, softer, and more childlike. Another female kraken — a child, standing as high as Larkin’s chest — came out of hiding to join them. Her features were similar to Rhea’s, and her smile was warm despite being filled with sharp teeth.

Larkin looked into the room beyond them — to the rumpled bedding, the shirt draped over the back of a chair, the boots stored under the table. She released Randall and took a step back. “This is your home.”

Why did she feel so betrayed by that?

Randall looked at Rhea and the child before returning his attention to Larkin. His brow was furrowed. “Yeah, it is.”

“And you’re happy?”

“Despite everything that happened, yes. I am.” He took a step toward her. “Please, Elle, don’t look at me like that.”

Larkin retreated, bumping into the solid wall of flesh that was Dracchus, who’d entered the room behind her. She pressed her lips together and slowly released a breath through her nose. Her chest felt strange,tight, as though the words she couldn’t get out had lodged inside her, and the pressure behind them was rapidly building.

Why was she acting like this? She should be happy for him. Why was shespoilingthis reunion?

Because I thought he was dead, but he’s been here all along, making a home. Making a family. Anewfamily.

All at once, her exhaustion hit her. Her legs wobbled, her knees buckled, and only Dracchus’s hands curling around her arms kept her from collapsing. She leaned into him gratefully.

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