Page 64 of Heart of the Deep

“She needs to die. We can’t allow her to remain here,” Orphus replied, glaring at Larkin. “She is our enemy, even more than the rest.”

Jax and Arkon shoved past Kronus and Neo, stopping beside Dracchus. Dracchus turned his back on Orphus, moving Larkin within the shelter of his arms. He bristled with rage, but he’d never let it be his master where she was involved, would never do her harm. He met Arkon’s gaze.

“Take her to Randall’s den,” Dracchus said.

Arkon’s eyes rounded with innumerable questions; he voiced only one. “Are you sure of this?”

Dracchus nodded.

“What’s going on?” Larkin asked, drawing his attention down to her.

“You betray your own kind!” Neo growled. Kronus hissed something to his companion, but Dracchus couldn’t make it out.

“A challenge,” Dracchus replied. “Go with Arkon. I will come to you soon.”

Larkin grabbed his wrist, her fingers barely wrapping halfway around it. “I stand with you, remember?”

She was a warrior, a huntress, formidable and fierce in her own right. But this was not her fight.

“Trust me, Larkin.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her to Arkon.

“Damnit, kraken, no!” she said, attempting to pull from Arkon’s hold.

Arkon held her firm, shifting to shield her body from Kronus and Neo with his own. “He will be fine, Larkin. Jax will remain at his side.”

Larkin growled, jabbing a finger at Dracchus. “You better come back in one piece, or I’ll tear the rest of you apart myself.”

Only the flames rampant inside Dracchus prevented him from smiling; their heat was scorching, uncomfortable, driving. The last thing he wanted was to have her out of his sight, but he could not adequately protect her and settle this matter at the same time.

Jax served as a living barrier between Arkon and the other kraken as Larkin was escorted past them. Neo scintillated red and black, and Kronus physically restrained his companion as the others went by.

Soon, Arkon and Larkin turned the corner. She glanced back once, face hard with anger and concern, before she was out of Dracchus’s sight.

Dracchus’s skin prickled; he couldfeelOrphus behind him, could feel the hatred in Neo’s glare.

“You will all pay the price for betraying us!” Neo yelled. “You will die the deaths of traitors, and then every human will—”

“Orphus. Neo. Kronus.” Dracchus’s deep voice cut through Neo’s shouting, silencing the angry kraken. “You received your final warning. I issue my challenge.”

Jax eased closer, arms spread slightly and claws at the ready. “None of you seem to learn.”

“You have disrespected the ways of our people enough,” Kronus spat. “Your challenge is no longer valid.”

“My challenge is not optional.”

The air behind Dracchus shifted, whispering across his back. He lashed out with his rear tentacles, wrapping them around Orphus’s waist, and slammed the other kraken into the wall. Before Orphus could recover, Dracchus spun and hammered his fist into his foe’s face.

Bone crunched, and metal groaned. Orphus sagged. Dracchus grasped him by the neck and arm, swung him around, and threw him toward Kronus and Neo.

Caught off-guard, Neo was too slow to do the same. He and Orphus tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

Kronus caught himself against the wall before he could be dragged down with his followers. He clenched his jaw, eyes blazing, and turned red. Bunching his tentacles, he sprang at Jax. The Wanderer was ready, meeting Kronus’s ferocious assault with equal speed and intensity. Blood splattered the wall and floor from fresh cuts.

Dracchus advanced on Neo and Orphus as they pulled themselves up, the latter moving unsteadily.

Neo recovered as Dracchus drew near, and launched into an attack, pushing off the wall with his tentacles to speed his charge.

Dracchus accepted the full force of Neo’s strike. Claws sank into his sides, and he swayed back slightly, but remained upright. The sharp pain of his wounds strengthened his focus; Neo wouldn’t have hesitated to bury these claws in Larkin’s pale skin, wouldn’t have shown her any mercy.

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