Page 12 of Heart of the Deep

Vertical bars ran in front of him and to either side. He turned his head, but the collar would only allow a small degree of movement. He tugged at his bindings tentatively; they offered no give and were likely attached to the cool piece of metal at his back.

“Finally awake,leader?” Neo asked. “We should have killed them. All we did was hand ourselves over to our enemies.”

Dracchus shifted his gaze toward Neo’s voice. The other kraken was in an identical cage on the other side of a small walkway, bound in the same manner as Dracchus. His skin was a muted red, signaling his displeasure.

The cell beside Neo’s held Vasil, who maintained his normal, pale gray coloring. Vasil’s only outward sign of distress was the bulging of his jaw muscles.

Dracchus counted six more cages, all empty. He hoped that meant Brexes and Garon had escaped.

He inhaled deeply, and the faint ache in his chest as his lungs swelled reminded him of the projectiles he’d been shot with. What sort of poison had they contained? How much time had passed? He recalled charging toward the large ship, recalled the red-haired woman and the thump of her gun, and then…nothingness.

“Are either of you injured?” he asked.

“Uncomfortable, but unharmed,” Vasil replied.

Neo growled. “I am going to—”

An opening door cut off Neo’s threat. Light flooded the room — not the flickering fire the humans had used on the small boat, but a handheld light of the sort found in the Facility.Electric, according to Arkon.

The intensity of the light impaired Dracchus’s vision, turning the humans behind it into dark, indistinct shapes. When they shined the beam directly at him, he squeezed his eyes shut against the sting.

“Looks like they’re awake,” one of the humans said.

“Good. I was afraid we’d have to wait another day on the big one,” said another, and Dracchus recognized the voice — it was the human who’d given the command to attack. “He took three darts before he finally went down.”

The light shifted as the human holding it crouched in front of Dracchus’s cell. Dracchus slitted his eyes, meeting the human’s gaze through the bars.

“That’s some freaky shit,” the man said, scowling. “How long do you think these things have been around, commander?”

The leader stepped closer and stared down at Dracchus, his expression hard. “Doesn’t matter, Ranger Dane. They make the wrong move, and there won’t be any of them left.”

Dracchus balled his fists and bared his teeth.

“Does that piss you off?” the commander asked.

Clenching his jaw, Dracchus maintained his silence. He longed to act upon the fury roiling inside him. He wouldn’t tolerate even the vaguest threats against his people, but the complexity of this situation extended well beyond the fact that he was currently immobilized by his bonds.

“I know you understand me,” the commander continued. “I see it in your eyes. You want to kill me. Imagine how much I’d love to gutyou, right here, right now, and force you to watch the whole thing.”

Ranger Dane glanced up at the commander. His tongue slipped out and ran over his downturned lips before he stood up and backed away a step, keeping the light on Dracchus.

“Maybe I should start with your friends.” The commander gestured toward Neo and Vasil.

Neo growled and thrashed against his bonds.

“Look at how red that one is,” Ranger Dane said, staring over his shoulder.

“We have made no move against you,” Dracchus said, calling the humans’ attention back to him.

“So, you know how to speakandhow to lie.” The commander’s eyes gleamed with reflections of Ranger Dane’s light. “Six of my men are missing. You’re going to tell me where they are.”

“I only cast four into the water.”

The commander grasped the bars and leaned forward. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about! They came looking foryou, andyouknow where they are now!”

“I cannot help you,” Dracchus said, keeping his tone as even. Despite his restraints, his instinct was to meet this human’s aggression with aggression of his own, to rise to the unspoken challenge that had been issued.

The commander gritted his teeth. “You have information about them. All of you do. And we will extract that information by any means necessary. If you cooperate, we’ll be merciful. I understand the value of that. But this is your only chance for it.”

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