Page 67 of Rising from the Depths

Rage fanned the flames of his panic. Eva was gone, but she hadn’t left of her own will. He wadded the blankets and hurled them aside, arms trembling with impotent fury. Turning, he stalked toward the door only to halt abruptly on the other side of the bed. His tentacle had touched something moist and sticky, something with a metallic tang.

He raised his tentacle into the moonlight. The blood coating it glistened in the silver glow.

A sudden, immense pressure in his chest stilled his hearts and stole his breath. His blood seemed colder than the air in the storage rooms of the Facility, where water turned solid. He’d tasted her blood before, when he pulled her out of the water after the attack. There was no question this was hers, too.

A thousand thoughts blasted through his mind in that instant — guesses about where his mate had been taken, about what fate might have befallen her, torrents of guilt for having left her alone, dozens of actions to consider. He rejected all of it.

Instinct, fury, and love; those were what he clung to, those were all that could help him find Eva and make her safe again. He would not allow himself to imagine what harm she might have come to, not now. Without wasting another moment, he burst out of the dwelling, nearly knocking the door off its hinges, and roared into the night.

The sound exploded from his burning chest, tore apart his throat, and reverberated through the night sky, so powerful it seemed likely to shake the moons and drown the ocean’s whispers forever.

He hoped Blake heard it. Hoped the man was shaking with fear of what would be hunting him.

Chapter 19

Moonlight shone on the grass along the ridge, granting the illusion of countless thin, gleaming knives jutting from the dirt. Were they as dangerous as the night made them appear, Kronus would have plucked each and every blade with the intent of driving their points into Blake’s flesh one by one.

Ghostly lantern lights bobbed on the path ahead, held aloft by dark figures — his neighbors, hispeople, but they were not who he wanted to see. He needed to find Eva, to take her in his arms and never release her. He needed to find Blake and draw the man into a different sort of embrace, one that would be relinquished only after the final, rattling breath escaped his frail human lungs.

But where are they? Where has he taken her? Where is his home?

A fresh wave of fury swept through him, adding to the churning sea of rage and fear inside his hearts. The Watch had dozens of buildings, perhapshundredsof homes. It would take hours to locate Blake and Eva if they were even in town at all. His gaze flicked to the thicker inland vegetation, some of which cast its own soft, eerie light. Blake could have taken heranywhere.

“Kronus?” someone called from just ahead, raising a lantern. The light momentarily blinded him.

He growled and lifted a hand to shield his eyes. “Move aside. I must find her.”

“What is wrong?” another person asked; Kronus recognized the voice as Vasil’s.

“He took her, and I must go!” Kronus shouted. His skin was red, with fire coursing over its surface, and his hearts beat hard enough that they threatened to break his ribs. “She is hurt.”

“Kronus, you must calm down,” Ector said, hands raised in a placating manner.

“I willnotbe calm,” Kronus grated through clenched teeth. “She ismine, and she has been taken! Now move aside.”

Two more figures raced to join Ector and Vasil. Macy and Jax.

“What’s going on?” Macy asked, worry etched on her features. “I heard yelling.”

“Eva is gone,” Ector replied with a deep frown.

“Gone? I just walked her home a couple hours ago.”

“Taken,” Kronus growled.

Why wouldn’t they stand aside? Why were they leaving him no choice but to go through them?

“But that can’t… I just saw her!” Macy’s eyes widened. “Blake! We had a run in with him on the way home. He was confrontational and kept trying to grab her. He was drunk, but I didn’t think he’d do something likethis.”

Kronus surged forward. Macy started and flinched back, but not before he clasped his hands on her upper arms. His muscles were tense with desperation. “Where is he?”

Macy cried out, hissing through her teeth as her features tightened in pain.

Jax moved in a blur. His fist connected with Kronus’s jaw hard enough to send the ochre kraken reeling. Kronus’s hands slipped from Macy’s arms, but he recovered quickly; the pain on his face was distant and unimportant, little more than a dull throb.

Before he could reach for Macy again, strong arms looped around his own from behind, hauling him backward. Jax charged at him, but Macy stepped between them, putting her hands against Jax’s chest. He halted as though he’d hit a cliff.

“Jax, stop!” Macy yelled.

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