Page 33 of Rising from the Depths

There was a familiar, faint dragging sound behind her, and Eva watched expectantly for Kronus, her heart suddenly fluttering. Except it wasn’t Kronus who entered the room behind Aymee. Though this kraken looked about as tall as Kronus, he had a leaner build, and his skin was blue-gray with dark stripes on his head, shoulders, and tentacles. He had a long, black container in his hands. Eva couldn’t tell by looking at it if it was plastic or metal.

“Eva, this is my mate, Arkon,” Aymee said, turning her head to smile at the male. The adoration was clear in her eyes.

A voice — Hailey’s voice — echoed in Eva’s mind.

How cananyonestand to be touched by those things? They’re disgusting. It’s probably like being touched by a bunch of worms, all cold and slimy.

But the kraken’s tentacles weren’t cold and slimy, and Kronus’s touches hadn’t made Eva think of worms at all. The kraken were justpeople, with likes and dislikes, with feelings that could be hurt just like her own. And they were capable oflove.

Eva saw it as she looked at Arkon — the light in Aymee’s eyes was reflected in his, and a warm, gentle smile played on his lips. Eva couldn’t recall Blake looking at herlike that during their time together. With lust, yes, but never such raw, pure affection.

She clutched the fabric of the gown over her heart. “Hi.”

Arkon turned his attention to her. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Eva.”

Eva furrowed her brow. “Finally?”

“Aymee has spoken of you often. We’ve been trying to come up with something to help you get back to some semblance of normalcy.” He moved to the bed and set the container down atop it, facing her, and hurriedly unlatched the clasps. “Now, this was built using technology we do not fully understand and records that are centuries old, and it will likely require adjustment over time, but…I think it will prove useful to you.”

The excitement in his words piqued Eva’s curiosity.

Arkon moved aside and gestured to the container. “Go ahead, Eva. Open it.”

She glanced at Aymee. The woman smiled encouragingly.

Scooting closer to the container, Eva raised the lid and peered in. It took her several moments to understand what she was looking at.

The object within was long and black, gracefully shaped. Its inside appeared hollow, visible through the intricate patterns forming it — twisting, spiraling shapes ran around the not-quite-cylindrical object, flowing in such a way that made it impossible to tell where they began or ended.

Were it not for the foot — which was no less graceful despite its relative simplicity — at the narrower end, she might not have realized it was aleg.

She looked up at Arkon and Aymee. “This is for me? You…did this?”

Arkon nodded. The smile he’d worn for Aymee had widened into a delighted grin. “I hope you don’t mind the embellishments I made. They shouldn’t compromise its structural integrity at all, but I did not find the original design appealing.”

“Youmadethis?”

“To be fair, I only designed it based on existing plans,” Arkon replied. He leaned forward and carefully lifted the leg out of the container, presenting it to her on flattened palms. “It was made by a machine in the Facility.”

Eva stared at the limb in his hands. “Facility?”

“It’s an underwater building off-shore,” Aymee said, stepping closer to Eva. “It’s where the kraken are from. Where they were created, actually.” She raised the end of Eva’s gown just enough to uncover her left leg mid-thigh. Her fingers probed around Eva’s knee, then down to the stump. “How does this feel?”

“A little sore, but not terrible.” Eva returned her gaze to the artificial leg; she was completely floored by what they’d done for her.

“It’s healing wonderfully. The boosters really helped.” Aymee reached toward the container and removed a couple other items from within. She held them up for Eva’s inspection. One of the items looked like an oversized sock, while the other was made of a rubbery material with a metal pin at the end. Aymee placed the sock on the bed and took the rubbery thing in both hands. “This is a liner. You’ll wear this to keep the prosthesis in place.”

Eva felt like she was in a dream as Aymee crouched in front of her, gently lifted Eva’s left leg, and eased the liner onto the stump and up to Eva’s thigh.

“Wear this over your leg to make it a snugger fit,” Aymee said as she rolled the sock on over the liner. “Millie, one of the weavers, is going to have a few more of these ready for you in a few days.”

“As I said, we will have to make adjustment as time progresses,” Arkon said. “The musculature of your leg will alter as you grow accustomed to it, so it will take some tinkering to get everything to fit properly for the long term.”

Aymee glanced up at Eva and grinned. “I kind of…scanned and measured your leg while you were sleeping for this one.”

Eva didn’t know what to say. The lengths to which they’d gone for her — Kronus, Aymee, and Arkon — left her speechless.

Arkon handed over the prosthesis, which Aymee slid into place.

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