Page 1 of Heart of the Deep

Chapter 1

362 Years After Landing

“We’re finally going to bring the fight to those slippery bastards,” said Commander Nicholas Laster.

Larkin had no response for her father as she watched the workers hoist the sails and put the finishing touches on the rigging.

It was complete. After ten months of labor, which had seen almost every able body in The Watch assist at one point or another, the ship was finally complete. That fact produced a heavy weight in her stomach, a blend of anticipation and fear — shewantedto get out there and find her brother, Randall by any means necessary, but what if all they found was his body?

Worse, what if they never foundanything?

There was still hope of him being alive out there, somewhere, even if it was as a captive of the monsters lurking beneath the waves.

No one had believed the rumors of sea monsters, but Larkin’s father had sent her brother to The Watch over a year ago to investigate the stories. When Jon Mason, one of Randall’s men, had returned to Fort Culver with drawings of the kraken and a letter from Cyrus Taylor, a longtime friend of their father’s and Randall’s second-in-command, attesting to the monsters’ existence, the commander couldn’t ignore the evidence.

The hurried journey across hundreds of kilometers between Fort Culver and The Watch had been the longest of Larkin’s life. She’d never been so far from home. But the hardest part had come after they arrived in The Watch.

The locals had informed them that Randall and his entire party of rangers had been missing for months.

“She’s finally ready to sail!” Michael, one of the local laborers, called as he descended the gangplank. “Might be the biggest ship ever built on Halora.”

“Will the cages hold them?” Nicholas asked. He’d been adamant that a brig be included below deck for the sole purpose of containing the kraken they intended to hunt. The monster’s strength was rumored to be immense.

“If they can’t, nothing will.”

“Good.” Nicholas turned toward the rangers standing nearby. “We sail at dawn, gentlemen.”

The rangers — there were twenty gathered here, with two more parties of six out patrolling in smaller ships — wore mixed expressions. Everyone had been sent out on expeditions of varying length during their time here, but these men weren’t comfortable remaining in one place for so long, pretending to be shipwrights and sailors. They were restless. Demoralized. Eager for a change of pace.

Ready to kill.

“Load her up. We’re due for a month’s worth of provisions. Bring the equipment we pulled out from under the lighthouse, too,” the commander said.

The rangers dispersed quietly.

Nicholas faced Larkin and grasped her upper arms. “We’re going to find him, Elle.”

Larkin searched her father’s face. He was a handsome man with a wide, square jaw covered in black-and-gray stubble. His hair, also streaked with gray, was cut close to his scalp. But he’d aged too much over the last year, and the gleam in his eyes reminded her of the stare he’d worn for so long after her mother died. She feared she was losing him; it would only take one more push to send him over the edge.

HeneededRandall to be alive.

His facial hair scraped at her palms as she put her hands on his cheeks. “Of course we are, Dad.”

They’d find Randall; hewasalive. Larkin wasn’t sure how, but she’dknowif Randall passed, she’d feel it. They’d always been close. Four-year-old Randall had declared himself Larkin’s protector on the day she was born, had treated it as his duty to look out for her, and that hadn’t changed even as they grew into adulthood.

He’s not dead.

Nicholas smiled and kissed her hair before releasing her. “I’m going to need you out there, Elle. You’re the best shot in all Halora. You going to be ready to take it when the time comes? For your brother?”

“Yes.” Whatever these creatures were, she wouldn’t miss.

Her father faced the ship again. The locals streamed across the gangplank and gathered briefly in a cluster on the dock, many staring back at the three towering masts as though in awe of what they’d built. The ship was massive compared to the others moored nearby.

Larkin guessed the locals’ relief was equal to their awe. This project had disrupted their lives, altered their routines, dominated their town. Its completion was a chance to reclaim normalcy.

“We should head back,” Nicholas said as the last of the workers walked past. “Tomorrow’s an important day. We’re going to findthem, and then we’re going to find your brother.”

They followed the locals up the paved ramp leading into town, passing rangers hauling varied equipment toward the dock. Larkin tugged at her clothes to peel her undershirt away from the sweat-dampened skin around her collar, on her back, and between her breasts.

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