Page 1 of Hunter of the Tide

Chapter 1

361 Years After Landing

Rhea swam ahead of the search party, pulling Melaina along beside her. Her fingers flexed on the youngling’s wrist, and it took all her willpower to keep from squeezing tighter. Embarrassment and anger blazed at the surface, but those emotions weren’t what had her hearts pounding in a hollow chest, those weren’t what made her throat feel tight and her limbs tremble. Fear and helplessness dominated Rhea.

I might have lost her.

This wasn’t the first time Melaina had disappeared, or the second or third. Rhea was fast losing numbers to count her daughter’sexpeditions. It didn’t seem to matter how often or vehemently Rhea explained to the child the many dangers of the sea — Melaina wouldn’t be deterred. How many times could they go through this before it ended in tragedy?

Rhea turned her head to look at her daughter.

Melaina struggled to keep up with the pace set by her mother and was being dragged more than she was swimming. She held a sealed container against her chest with her free arm, undoubtedly holding some newtreasurethe girl had found — a pretty rock, or a shell, or a broken chunk of coral. Besides Melaina’s gray eyes, the youngling shared her mother’s looks — the same gray skin, the same delicate facial features, even a similar build, all presented in miniature — but seemed to have nothing of Rhea’s temperament.

Though he was not Melaina’s sire, the girl was much more like Jax, whose restless nature had earned him the namethe Wanderer.

For a moment, Melaina met Rhea’s eyes, and then looked away with discouragement and shame in her expression.

Rhea’s chest constricted with guilt. Melaina was heeding some inner calling, a voice Rhea couldn’t hear, an urge beyond her understanding, but it was too dangerous to allow the youngling to follow that call.

Rhea looked to her other side, where Dracchus swam nearby. He was the largest of the kraken, the strongest, and he’d been the one to lead the search for Melaina — this time, and many times before.

Noticing her attention, he turned his head toward her.

She signed with her free hand and altered her color to emphasize her sincerity.

Thank you.

Dracchus’s brow creased. Females did not give thanks; it was for the males to protect and provide, especially with so few females, and why would any thanks be given to a male for merely fulfilling his duty? Appreciation could be shown in other ways when warranted. Ways that had the potential — however small — to produce younglings.

But Rhea’s relief at having her daughter safe outweighed all of that, and Dracchus’s willingness to search without hesitation or complaint, despite having done so countless times, meant more than Rhea could adequately express.

Finally, Dracchus dipped his head in acknowledgment and looked forward.

Rhea let her gaze linger, sweeping it over his broad shoulders and muscular arms, past his narrow hips, and along the length of his thick tentacles. Dracchus would make an excellent mate. Once, she might have considered pursuing him.

But now…now there was another who’d caught her interest.

Rhea blew through her siphons, expelling those thoughts as the Facility came into view. The main building’s exterior lights illuminated only a small portion of its manmade walls, leaving the rest of the structure nothing more than a shadow amidst the gloom. The other buildings, connected to the first by tunnels, were dark smudges to either side.

The other kraken broke their loose formation, swimming toward their dens in the other buildings. Only Dracchus remained. He went to the keypad beside the door and entered the sequence all kraken were taught as younglings. The light over the door shifted from red to green, and the door slid open.

Rhea tugged Melaina into the pressurization chamber. And Dracchus followed.

Dracchus followed them inside, closing the door behind him. The water drained.

The transition from water to air was always slightly disorienting for Rhea. Her body grew heavier, felt bulkier, and her siphons gaped uselessly until her lungs expanded with their first breath. The sensation of floating always lingered for a time afterward, which only heightened how sluggish her limbs felt outside of water.

The light above the interior door went green.

“Pressurization normalized,” said the computer’s disembodied voice.

“Mother—” Melaina began.

“How many times must I tell you never to leave?” Rhea growled, spinning to face her daughter. Melaina flinched back. “Did you learn nothing when you were nearly killed by the razorback? When Macy nearly died to save you?” Rhea’s tentacles writhed.

Melaina ducked her head, lips turned down into a frown. Her small shoulders sagged. The human, Macy, was Jax’s mate, the female who finally eased his restlessness. Her arrival had thrown the kraken’s world into a state of change, and the devotion she and Jax showed to one another had forced Rhea to confront her own loneliness, her own desires for lasting companionship. Rhea had come to consider Macy a friend, and Melaina was extremely fond of the human.

Rhea’s stomach twisted. Had she fallen so low as to use Melaina’s adoration of Macy to guilt the youngling into compliance? It hurt to see her child look so small, so defeated, but Melaina’s safety was more important than anything else. Younglings were precious among the kraken because they were so rare, and females rarer still.

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