Page 8 of Hunter of the Tide

“That’s good to hear, too.”

Once she’d left, he shifted his attention to Ikaros. The prixxir glanced up at him with half-lidded eyes.

“Let’s get you some food,” Randall said.

Oddly, his mind drifted to Rhea as he walked to the mess hall; she’d barely left his side during his recovery, and he’d even woken on several occasions to find her leaning on the bed, asleep.

Perhaps Aymee was correct. Hewasn’talone.

But was that what he wanted?

Chapter 3

“It’s been two days. Do you think Ikaros remembers me?” Melaina asked, bouncing with excitement as she and her mother moved along the corridor.

Rhea smiled at the youngling. “Perhaps.”

Melaina had begged ceaselessly to visit the creature over those two days. Rhea had been tempted to give in — though it wasn’t the prixxir she wanted to see — but she knew the creature needed time to heal and adjust to its new environment.

They passed door after door on their way through the cabins. They’d come often to visit Macy and her youngling, Sarina, but this was their first time going to Randall’s room. Rhea’s hearts thumped as they reached his door. A strange anxiousness tightened her chest at the prospect of seeing him again, this time in his den.

Before humans came to the Facility, kraken rarely went to one another’s dens unless they were mating.

Melaina moved in front of her mother and raised her fist. She knocked rapidly on the door, tentacles shifting restlessly beneath her.

After several moments — each of which felt impossibly long — the door slid open. Randall stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and lips parted as he looked from Rhea to Melaina and back again.

Rhea skimmed her gaze over Randall’s half-naked body. Since leaving the infirmary, he’d kept himself fully covered, usually in form-fitting jumpsuits. Now, he wore only pants, leaving his torso bare. His shoulders rose and fell with his heavy breaths and a sheen of sweat coated his skin. Rhea’s nostrils flared as she inhaled his masculine scent.

“Can I see Ikaros?” Melaina asked.

Broken from her distraction by her daughter’s voice, Rhea lifted her eyes to Randall’s.

“Yeah,” he said, seeming to shake off his own stupor. “He’s roaming around some—” Randall glanced down as the prixxir, limping slightly, walked between his legs and brushed its long, flat tail over his ankle. “He’s right here, apparently. There’s some food over on the desk if you want to feed him.”

“I do! Thank you!” Melaina bent down and wrapped her arms around the creature, cuddling it to her chest as she straightened. She closed her eyes and brushed her cheek against Ikaros’s head. Offering Randall a smile, she slipped past him and into his room.

“The creature appears gentle,” Rhea said.

Randall twisted to glance over his shoulder. “Ikaros is young. I’m no expert on prixxir, but I don’t think he’s more than a couple months old. He’d still be with his parents right now, under normal circumstances, so I guess I’m taking their place.”

“And he is well?”

“He’s not at a hundred percent yet, but he can move around well enough, and I swear he eats twice his body weight in fish every day.”

Rhea smirked. “As do all younglings.”

“I guess now I understand why my father used to say he could barely keep enough food in the house while I was growing up.” He looked down at his bare chest. “If you give me a minute, I’ll go get cleaned up. I didn’t expect anyone to stop by.”

Her gaze dipped to his body again, and her smirk faded. She took in the contours of his musculature, followed the patch of dark hair on his chest as it flowed toward his waistband, narrowing in its descent. Her fingers twitched with the memory of how his hair had felt beneath her palm.

“I do not mind,” she said.

He chuckled, running a hand over his head. “That makes sense.”

Rhea raised a brow. “In what way?”

“I haven’t seen a kraken with clothes on yet, and I’ve been here for weeks. I get the sense that nudity doesn’t really bother you.”

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