Page 87 of Heart of the Deep

“What the fuck?” Randall asked, stepping farther into the room. Ikaros followed close behind, whiskers up, and released a trembling whimper.

Dracchus looked over the other beds. Aymee lay curled on the bed beside Sarina’s, a sheen of perspiration on her grayish skin, with Jace in her arms. Arkon stood beside them. The next bed over held Melaina. Rhea leaned over her, stroking the girl’s cheek soothingly. The color of both females was muted, just like Jax’s.

His heart stopped when he saw the occupant of the fourth bed. Larkin was in the same state as Aymee, hair damp and plastered to her face, skin glistening with sweat.

Randall ran toward the last two beds. His gaze shifted between his sister and his mate, torn between the people he loved. He brushed his palm over Larkin’s forehead and frowned before turning to embrace Rhea.

Ikaros stood on his hind legs, propping his front paws on the bed to lay his face next to Melaina. She reached up weakly and patted his head.

Dracchus moved to Larkin’s bedside and sank down to put his head at her level. He reached forward and placed his hand on her cheek. Her skin was cold and clammy. Her brows drew together at his touch, and her eyelids fluttered open.

“Dracchus,” she breathed when she saw him. “They’re okay.” Her eyes drifted shut again.

His hearts constricted with a combination of relief and dread. She was alive, but how poor was her condition? Why had he chosen to leave her behind? He’d allowed this to happen to his mate, to hispeople. Hisfamily.

“What the hell happened?” Randall demanded.

“Blue needler venom,” Arkon said, undisguised anger in his voice. “It seems likely that the fish we had today was contaminated.”

Blue needlers were amongst several dangerous, venomous sea creatures that could kill even a full-grown kraken.

Dracchus looked over his shoulder, fixing his gaze on Kronus. “This is your doing?”

Kronus lifted his head; it bobbed with his rapid, shallow breaths, but he held Dracchus’s gaze. There was a gleam of sorrow in his eyes. “I had no part in this.”

“Liar!” Macy shouted. “Who else would do something like this? You’ve hated us from the beginning, and what have we ever done to deserve that besidesexist?”

Drawing in another labored breath, Kronus winced. “Your kind has no place here. We claimed it, long—”

“I don’t care! Stop living in the damn past! This is now.” She pulled away from Jax, though the kraken kept a tentacle around her waist. “And right now, that’s my child on that bed, mybaby. Arkon’s baby, Rhea’s daughter. Your own kind! Look at what your hatred has done!”

“I want you gone from the place my people have called home for generations,” Kronus said through clenched teeth, “but I will not stoop to harming kraken females and younglings to see that happen. Our kind can thrive without you, but we will not survive if we are killing one another.” His gaze shifted toward the beds, and something in his expression softened. “There is no honor in this. Poisoning is a coward’s tactic.”

“So what, you’d rather just stab us while we’re looking?” Macy demanded.

“I would look into the eyes of my enemies, yes. Treat them as though they are my equal, even if they are not.”

“When are you going to realize that we are not your damn enemy, Kronus?” Macy turned away from him, into the shelter of Jax’s arms.

Kronus looked first to Randall, and then the harpoon in his gut. Features strained, he bowed his head and said no more.

“Take him to a bed,” Aymee said, voice raw, as she pushed herself up on shaky arms.

Arkon placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her back down. “I will tend to him. You’ve taught me much, and you need to rest. At worst, it will only be as much of a mess as I made of Macy’s leg.” He twisted to watch as Brexes and Vasil lifted Kronus onto a bed, positioning the ochre kraken on his side. “Perhaps a bit worse.”

Arkon pressed a kiss to Aymee’s head before joining Kronus and Brexes. Vasil moved away from them and came to a halt when his eyes caught on Melaina. He stared, silent, his brow lowering and mouth falling into a deep frown.

Finally, Vasil shook his head. “I will go and keep watch.”

Dracchus returned his gaze to Larkin as Vasil departed. She hadn’t stirred since first opening her eyes. “Will they recover?” he asked, gritting his teeth once the words were out. Part of him didn’t want to know, fearing the answer would be too painful.

“It will take time,” Aymee said. “Being kraken is all that saved the children. Had they been human, they would have died before they received the antitoxin. And if Macy had eaten…”

A chill ran up Dracchus’s spine. The thought of losing the younglings, of losing Sarina, and Macy’s unborn babe, of losing Larkin — it was too much. Larkin was here, right in front of him, suffering, but what could he do? The poison that had harmed her wasn’t something he could fight. His prowess meant nothing in the face of this.

A hand settled on his shoulder.

Dracchus turned his head to see Ector just behind him.

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