Page 30 of Heart of the Deep

“What’s wrong?” she repeated, turning to face him. “What’s wrong?” She marched toward him, ignoring the discomfort of her wet boots. “You took me away and brought mehere!”

“You are alive and safe.” He tilted his head to the side very slightly, brow dipping.

She jabbed her finger at him, opened her mouth to admonish him only to snap it shut, gritting her teeth. With a frustrated growl, she stormed past him, heading for the higher ground a little farther inland.

He’s right, damnit! How can I be angry at him for that?

Because he refused to take me back.

The sound of vegetation flattening under his tentacles as he followed her was whisper-soft, especially against the wind. He didn’t have any right being so quiet on land. He didn’t have any right to follow her, either. She pressed her lips into a tight line and continued up the small rise. The grass and trees yielded to bare rock. Her muscles ached in protest as she climbed.

By the time she reached the top her chest was tight, her breath ragged, and her limbs weak. She swallowed, bringing fresh discomfort to her dry throat.

“What are you doing?” Dracchus asked.

Larkin ignored him as she shaded her eyes with a hand and surveyed her surroundings. She stood on a small island, perhaps two hundred meters from one tip to the other. Rock, sand, and grass dominated the landscape, broken by several scattered copses of windblown trees. The shallows around the island teemed with sea life. That meant potential food, but without rain, there’d be no fresh water.

She could improvise a primitive means of collecting rainwater in the meantime, but no immediate access to water and adequate shelter would quickly take its toll.

Dracchus’s hand — massive but surprisingly gentle — settled on her shoulder and guided her to turn toward him.

“What are you looking for, Larkin?”

She lowered her brows. “Why are you here?”

“I swam here,” he said without a hint of irony, “with you.”

“You know what I mean!” She shrugged his hand off. “Why are you here? I released you. You should be gone.” Her anger returned in a flash. “You should have taken me back!”

“Your people were shooting at us.”

“You could have waited. I could have called out to them and they would have stopped.”

He shook his head, frowning. “The sea would have swallowed your voice, and then taken you, too.”

“Then take me back now,” she said.

“If your people captured me again, do you think any would let me free?”

“Take me to the mainland, then. To The Watch.”

He turned his head toward the far beach, setting his gaze on something far off. Larkin squinted as she searched for what he was looking at.

Her heart leapt. A lumpy sliver of blue-gray lay along the horizon; ithadto be the mainland. Though distance was difficult to judge on the open ocean, she guessed it was at least six or seven kilometers away.

Larkin couldn’t stay here, but she wasn’t foolish enough to believe she could make that sort of journey. She wasn’t the strongest swimmer to begin with, and attempting to cross such a distance through open water was suicide.

ButDracchuscould make it.

“Take me there,” she said.

He was silent, amber eyes fixed on her.

“Damnit, Dracchus, I can’t survive here!” She swept her hand outward. “There’s food, but that’s it. No shelter, no drinkable water. Between the sun and thirst, I’ll be a scorched husk in two days.”

“If I bring you there, you will attempt to return to your people.”

Larkin scowled. “Of course I would. Why wouldn’t I?”

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