Page 62 of Heart of the Deep

“Theyknew,” she said, scowling. “The IDC knew what happened, knew what they’d done, and they kept everyone in the dark about it. The final order they issued was about your people.”

“I do not understand, Larkin. What do you mean?”

“Before communication was severed with the Interstellar Defense Collation, they contacted every military base on Halora and…” She sighed and shook her head, glancing at the pool then back at Dracchus. “You know what? It doesn’t matter anymore. Those people are dead, and we’re here. It’s in the past.”

He seemed to search her face for a time, and his unreadable expression made it difficult to determine what he was thinking.

“And it is up to us to shape the future,” he finally said. “To prevent the same events from occurring again.”

“Right.” Larkin lifted one side of her mouth in a half-smile. “We haven’t been doing all that great a job so far, have we?”

“The two of us have done well.” He offered her the ghost of a smile in return. “Most everyone else is the problem.”

Larkin studied him. His body was tense, but his shoulders slumped as though beneath a heavy burden. She’d seen from the beginning how he put his people before himself, and bringing her here had only caused more strife amongst the kraken. That strife was undoubtedly the weight he carried on his back.

She stepped closer to him and raised her hand, hesitating for a moment before settling it on his arm. “There is only so much one person can do. You make the best effort you can, you stand your ground, and you fight for what you believe in. Good people will see that, and it will inspire them to stand with you.”

He glanced down at her hand, and she felt his muscles shift beneath her palm. “Will you stand with me, Larkin?”

“Against the humans?”

“Against anyone who threatens the potential peace between our people.”

She lowered her gaze, watching her thumb as she brushed it over his skin, and furrowed her brow. If she said yes, it meant potentially going against her father and every ranger under his command — people she’d grown up with and had known all her life. But how could she condone the things her father had done? The torture of intelligent beings, ofpeople?

She hoped that, when the time came, her father would listen.

“Yeah. I’ll stand with you, Dracchus,” Larkin said, meeting his gaze.

He raised his free arm and covered her hand with his. The gesture reminded her again of the immense strength he possessed and how much control he demonstrated over it.

“I do not want violence because of any of this,” he said, “but it will come. From kraken, from humans, or from both.”

“I’m prepared for it.” She shifted her hand, sliding her fingers between his and squeezing them gently. Her skin strongly contrasted his in a mingling of light and dark. She also couldn’t deny howrighthis touch felt.

Cheeks flushing, she pulled her hand away and settled it on the grip of the knife on her belt. She stepped back with a smile. “Why don’t we get out of here? I think the smell is getting worse.”

His nostrils flared with a deep inhalation, and she waited for him to disagree with her; if anything, she noticed the smell less, now that her nose had adapted to it. But he only nodded, and they moved back into the corridor together.

She drew in a deep breath of the clean, filtered air as she walked, detecting only the faintest hint of the chemical odor.

“Where is your room?” she asked.

“My den was in one of the flooded buildings,” he replied.

“You sleep in the water? Does it bother you to sleep in the air, then?”

“Only after long periods of time. Being out of the water for days on that ship was unpleasant.”

Larkin frowned. “I’m sorry. If I’d known befo—”

“Do not apologize. You did what you thought was right at the time.” He turned his head toward her, and his signature frown had returned. “When I first encountered Macy, I thought it right to bring her to my people, to show them what Jax had done. I dragged her into the water, assuming humans could breathe underwater. I nearly killed her. At that point, humans were nothing more or less than my enemy. She proved me wrong when she came by her own choice to face the kraken.”

“Brave of her,” Larkin said. “And she was the first human since the revolt?”

“Yes.”

She shifted to walk partially behind him as they passed into another hallway, careful not to trip over his tentacles. She hadn’t determined the exact layout of the place, but she was sure they were moving back toward the cabins.

---