Page 41 of Heart of the Deep

He pressed in the button sequence at the primary entrance and entered the pressurization chamber. His preoccupation deafened him to the computer’s voice; he reacted only to the light over the interior door shifting from red to green, reaching forward to slap the button and open the entryway.

Dracchus hauled himself through the corridors, using every available handhold to increase his speed. He passed the chamber in which he’d hidden most of the diving suits and guns after Randall had been brought to the Facility. Larkin needed a suit, and a weapon would grant her another layer of security. Ferocity alone would not save her from a razorback or a sandseeker.

He would return to the room as he departed the Facility.

He hurried through the tunnel into the Cabins, where Macy, Aymee, and Randall kept dens with their kraken mates and younglings.

Jax and Macy were in their den, the latter playing some sort of game with Sarina involving colored squares and little round pieces.

Sarina sat across from her mother at the table, staring down at the game with her little tongue sticking out between her lips. Her gaze flickered up to Dracchus and fell again as she reached for one of the pieces. Her hand stopped in mid-air and she looked at him again, wide-eyed.

“Uncle Drak!” She bumped the table as she leapt off her seat, rattling the game pieces, and darted toward him.

The youngling jumped at Dracchus. He caught Sarina and wrapped his arms around her as she squeezed his neck, ignoring the tightness in his chest; it was likely the result of overexertion and lacking nourishment.

“Thank God!” Macy hurried over with Jax close behind. She threw her arms around Dracchus’s waist and embraced him. “What happened to you? When the others returned, and you—”

“He’s the strongest,” Sarina explained as though it were a given. “Nothing can stop him.”

“Has Vasil returned?” Dracchus asked.

“Two days ago,” Jax replied.

“And Neo?”

Macy frowned, and Jax’s features darkened.

“Yesterday.” Jax encircled Macy with his arms when she stepped back from Dracchus, drawing her close. “Vasil had already given an account of what happened. Neo’s story was similar, but he was far more vocal about the cruelty of the humans on board, and thewarbetween our people. It worked Kronus and the rest of their followers into a frenzy. They have made more threats, but there’s been no violence thus far.”

Dracchus nodded. Having seen Neo’s state the night they escaped the ship, Dracchus’s only surprise was that the enraged kraken hadn’t yet acted on those threats. “I trust Vasil was truthful.”

“This situation is moving beyond a point at which we can maintain our tenuous control.” Jax leaned his head down and pressed his lips to Macy’s hair.

Dracchus had fault in that — he’d already been involved, even before Larkin, but his recent actions had likely heightened the tensions. He would not stand down. Change was difficult, uncomfortable, and taxing, but it was the only means of securing a future for the generations to come.

“Is Arkon in his den?” Dracchus asked. “We three must speak.”

“He and Aymee were resting while Jace naps,” Macy replied, “but I can go get them. Everyone’s going to be so happy to see you home safe!”

“No.” Dracchus’s voice halted Macy as she was moving toward the door. She met his gaze with concern in her eyes. “No one else must know. Not until I return.”

“Everyone was ready to go out and rescue you,” she said, “to risk themselves to save you. Now you don’t even want them to know you’re okay? And what do you mean not until you return? You’re leaving again?”

Her words hit him with surprising strength, creating an ache in his chest. Dracchus hadn’t expected anyone to come for him, hadn’twantedthem to; all the individuals he cared about most had mates and young to look after. He was not worth putting the safety of females and younglings at risk. That they’d even consider searching for him had never crossed his mind.

“I am going to bring the human who shot us with sleeping bullets to the Facility. She is Randall’s sister.”

Sarina climbed along Dracchus’s arm and shoulders, seemingly oblivious to her parents’ stunned silence.

“Bring Arkon,” Dracchus said, “butonlyArkon. I will tell you all I can before I leave, but haste is necessary.”

Jax opened his mouth only to close it a few moments later without uttering a word. He nodded and drifted out of the room.

Little Sarina mounted Dracchus’s shoulders, wrapping her arms around his forehead, and rested her chin on his head.

“She’s the one you saved from Neo,” Macy finally said. “He wants to…” She looked up at her daughter and frowned.

“He will end every human he can find, if he has his way,” Dracchus said.

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