Page 7 of Rising from the Depths

Kronus lifted his gaze. Beyond the crowd, the two men were carrying Eva up the ramp leading from the dock into town. Would she survive her wound, or had he reached her too late? If he’d acted faster, perhaps these people wouldn’t be dead. Perhaps…

Two years ago, he wouldn’t have cared. Dead humans were of no consequence so long as the kraken were safe and prosperous. He lowered his gaze to the bodies laid atop the bloody sand.

Wasn’t this what he’d advocated? Wouldn’t this have been the result of what he’d wanted when Macy, the first human to have entered the home of the kraken people in hundreds of years, had been brought into the Facility? Dead humans. Even if he hadn’t intended direct violence, he’d argued to have her exiled, to leave her at the mercy of the sea — as good as death, for a lone human. And all that he’d done afterward — all the words he’d spoken, the hatred he’d spewed — had inspired a group of his people to act upon his implied threats. To call for the deaths of innocent females and younglings.

But after everything that had happened, after the bloody battle in the Facility...

“We need to get back into the water,” Kronus said, turning to face the other kraken.

“That was all of them,” said Brexes. “All that remains out there are pieces.”

“And a dead razorback,” Vasil replied.

Kronus nodded. “We need to get it out of the water before anything else gets to it. We cannot allow that much meat to go to waste.”

Chapter 3

Aheavy sensation pressed upon Eva when she woke, weighing down her body. She felt strange, groggy, disconnected, as though she were floating on the border between dreams and reality. It was an unpleasant sensation that left her confused and anxious. Voices came and went, voices she didn’t recognize, all muffled and far-off like she was hearing them underwater.

Awareness came slowly as the fog receded. It was quiet by the time she could open her eyes; she flinched and squeezed them shut immediately, blinded by a bright light.

How much did I drink yesterday?

She lifted a hand, which felt ten times heavier than normal, and rubbed her eyes. Her mind was still fuzzy. She couldn’t recall drinking wine the night before, but she had the dry mouth, headache, and muscle pain of a terrible hangover.

Why does my leg hurt so much?

I must have banged it against something.

If that was the case, she must’ve been pretty drunk to have forgotten. The pain was sharp enough to suggest a serious bruise, if not a fracture.

Eva dropped her hand to the side of the bed and reached for Blake.

Her arm dangled off the edge, hanging in air. He wasn’t there. The rest of the bed wasn’t there.

“Blake?” she rasped, her voice cracking. She opened her eyes to slits. The light wasn’t so bad this time, but it didn’t seem right. Their room was never this bright, and they always kept the windows covered, blocking out the morning sunlight. Grunting against the effort, she lifted her head to look around.

The room was small. A counter ran the length of one wall, with numerous covered containers lined up atop it. A large potted plant was tucked in the corner. The ceiling was pure white, but the walls were covered in vibrant greens, purples, and browns that depicted the jungle surrounding The Watch. There were two plain chairs nearby, a standing tray with wheels, and several machines on either side of the bed.

This wasn’t her bedroom. She was at the clinic.

“Blake?” she called again.

Why wasn’t he here with her?

Eva slowly pushed herself up, wincing and gritting her teeth against the pain radiating from every muscle in her body — her left leg especially. A wave of dizziness struck her. She stilled for a moment, breathing slowly, and tried to concentrate, tried to remember.

Why am I here? Why am I so weak?

Carefully, she turned, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and pushed herself off the edge to stand.

The world tilted around her. She hit the floor hard, her hip taking the brunt of the impact, but again it was her left leg serving as the main source of her pain. She cried out and grasped her thigh, just above the knee, digging her fingers into her flesh.

But her fingertips met cloth instead of flesh.

A bandage?

Twisting, Eva sat up and looked at her leg.

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