Page 26 of Hunter of the Tide

“I can still breathe,” he replied, “so it can’t be that bad, right?”

Something bumped his free hand. He glanced down to the bed him to see Ikaros. The prixxir nudged Randall’s palm with his snout, chirruping softly.

Randall crouched, lifted the prixxir into his arms, and stood up again. Ikaros made small, contented sounds. If it weren’t for Ikaros, Randall might never have woken up.

“Can I come in to check on them?” Aymee asked.

“Keep a wide distance,” Jax replied.

Volk began to speak, but Jax tightened his arm around the other kraken’s throat, cutting off the words.

Aymee stepped into the room, keeping as far from Jax and Volk as possible as she made her way toward Randall. She raised her hands to his chest.

Rhea growled, inserting herself between Randall and Aymee.

“Easy,” Randall soothed, settling a hand on Rhea’s shoulder and gently drawing her back. “It’s okay. She’s a healer, remember?”

Scowling, Rhea looked away.

“It’s okay, Rhea,” Aymee said with a smile. “Arkon gets this way, too. I’m just going to check him and make sure he’s not seriously injured.”

Randall lifted his palm from Rhea’s shoulder and took her hand in his, guiding her to stand at his side. “You already claimed me, Rhea. I’m yours. No need to worry.”

Lips pressed tightly together, Rhea nodded curtly, motioning for Melaina to join her. The child came immediately and tucked herself against her mother.

“Are you okay, Randall?” Melaina asked softly.

“I’ll be fine, kid.” He grunted and winced as Aymee’s prodded his ribs with her fingers.

“Some serious bruising, and it’s going to hurt for a while, but I don’t think anything is broken. We’ll have to look with the scanner to be sure,” Aymee said.

Voices from the hallway called everyone’s attention to the door. Arkon and Dracchus entered one after the other, both dripping wet. Several more kraken filled the doorway a moment later, but Arkon blocked their entry.

Dracchus moved to Rhea without so much as a glance at Volk. “How badly are you wounded?”

Rhea lifted her chin, meeting Dracchus’s gaze. “I will heal.”

The large kraken studied her carefully, assessing the damage. Randall did the same. There was a faint trembling in her hands now, suggesting that her pain was greater than she’d let on, and her skin seemed a shade paler than usual.

Dracchus’s fury was plain; it radiated from him like waves of roiling heat and shaped his expression into something murderous. He glanced at Randall, an unspoken question in his eyes.

“I’ll heal, too. Just slower,” Randall said.

Rhea and Dracchus met one another’s gazes, and the large male nodded.

“Volk has invaded this den,” Rhea said, voice raised, “endangering myself and my youngling, and attacked my mate.”

Based on the hushed voices in the hallway, there were more kraken gathered than Randall had realized. A tense silence followed the torrent of whispers.

Volk strained against Jax’s hold, but Jax only tightened his grip.

Dracchus turned toward the doorway, through which numerous kraken peered into the room. “Volk has betrayed our people by disregarding the things we hold most important,” he said. He moved to the pinned kraken, and he and Jax dragged Volk off the floor. “Rhea has made her accusation. The proof of it is plain. Volk has—”

“Enough!” someone shouted from the corridor. There was a brief commotion as Kronus shoved his way through the crowd and came face-to-face with Arkon. Dracchus and Jax dragged Volk in front of the doorway, blocking it from Randall’s view.

Rhea growled, muscles tensing. Randall gave her hand a squeeze. He hoped the gesture was enough to communicate with her —I’m here; we’re okay; we made it through this one.

“What is the meaning of this?” Kronus demanded. “Allow me to pass!”

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