Page 60 of Fallen from the Stars

“And those things wouldn’t work because they fail when they get close to halorium,” she said.

Vasil nodded. His deep frown hadn’t eased since she woke.

“Hey.” She reached up and smoothed her fingers over his brow. “It’s okay. I’m still alive, right?”

“You are, but what if it had been worse? What if I —we— had lost you?”

“You didn’t.”

“The possibility of it was…jarring, to say the least,” Kane said.

Vasil lifted his hand to cup her cheek, brushing the pads of his fingers over her skin. “We were frightened, Theodora.”

Theo turned her head and kissed the center of his palm. “I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention to the signs. It felt like something was off, but I kept pushing forward. You may not believe this, but I have a bit of a stubborn streak.”

Vasil smiled, though the expression was still tinged with sorrow. “I understand the want for exploration and adventure, but we must maintain some caution.”

“All of this is new to me, and I let myself get swept up in that.” She covered his hand with her own and closed her eyes. “I threw my training out the window and acted like a child. I won’t let it happen again.”

“You have…opened up since we first met,” Vasil said. “You seemfreer. I do not want you to give that up. As Kane said to me before, weallmade mistakes today. Do not hold yourself solely responsible. None of us could have known what was going to happen with any certainty. I just…do not want to lose you, Theo.”

Vasil’s words, spoken with such sincerity, such depth and emotion, produced a flutter in her stomach and a warmth in her chest. She opened her eyes, ignoring the lingering discomfort from the light, and met his gaze. Slipping a hand to the back of his neck, she tugged him down. He came willingly. She kissed him softly, and he returned it, wrapping an arm around her to draw her body closer.

“You won’t,” she said against his mouth. Tilting her head back, she brushed the tip of her nose against his.

“Never,” he growled. The promise and power he instilled that simple word send a thrill down her spine.

“I like him,” Kane said through the neural link.

Me too.

Though she had a feeling the wordlikewasn’t adequate to describe what she felt for the kraken.

Chapter 11

Vasil wondered if his eyes were deceiving him when the lights on the sea floor, reduced to a ghostly glow by distance, first came into view. He knew the surrounding seascape well — he’d followed its familiar features to this spot, the beating of his hearts echoing in his chest like stones banging on a metal drum — but it had been so long since he’d been here that it seemed a place existent only in his memory. A projection of his own imagination.

The Facility took shape in the gloom as he neared it — several large buildings, defined by clashing light and shadow, gathered upon the sea floor, each older than the kraken people; the place of his birth. Relief eased his tension and dulled the ache in his muscles. The journey from the pod to this place had taken most of the day, but it was not yet completed.

He would allow himself rest only when Theo was beside him again.

Was she all right? She’d managed to keep herself safe every other time he’d gone searching, but he’d normally return to the pod at about this time of day to share their evening meal, and the incident in the cave three days before had left him shaken. He wasn’t likely to return to her until nearly sunrise the next day if he moved as fast as possible. He’d never left her alone for that long.

Though she was intelligent, tough, and capable, he couldn’t help his worry. Between her gun, her training, and Kane, she should’ve been fine, but that wasn’t enough to ease his nerves. He needed to be with her, needed to be certain.

And how must she feel with me gone, not knowing whether I am safe, not knowing when, if ever, I will return?

Two posts topped with white lights materialized in the darkness ahead, set about half a body length apart in the sandy bottom. There was no net stretched between them, which meant there was no hunt in progress; he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not — more of his people present meant more potential questions. The last thing he wanted as any further delay in returning to Theo, especially if that delay was unnecessary.

He continued forward, and the shadows on the main building receded with his nearness. He knew those walls instinctively. Ever since he’d been deemed old enough to be given into the care of the male kraken — the hunters — the sight of the Facility’s exterior had held great meaning to Vasil. This had beenhome. It had meant safety, security, comfort, and community, even if that sense of community often felt strained. The kraken had always worked together for mutual survival, but socialization was limited before human influence had offered a different way of life.

Now…he wasn’t entirely sure whatthe Facility meant to him. Perhaps it maintained much of its old meaning, though not in the same fashion. It was safety, security, comfort, and the possibility of community not for himself, but for Theodora.

Vasil swam to the entry door, where he tapped the buttons on the keypad —081305— and waited for the red light over the door to change. Once the light switched to green, the door slid open, and he entered the chamber beyond. The door closed when he pressed the button on the interior wall, and the room thrummed gently as the water drained. The sensation of his body gradually growing heavier was as jarring as always; he found it strange how the transition seemed normal when emerging onto the land from the sea but remained somehow unsettling when it was so slow and deliberate.

Not important, he reminded himself, spreading his tentacles to support his weight as the water dipped below his waist.I am hereonlyto help Theo.

Though that wasn’t entirely true — he missed his friends, human and kraken alike — it was his primary motivation. She might have died in that cave because of the halorium, and that was but one of many threats to her safety. A swelling tide; a violent storm; a roving predator; the place they’d been staying held more potential threats than he could count. The Facility and The Watch were the only places where many of those dangers were reduced and, in some cases, all but eliminated. Nowhere guaranteed safety, but Theo deserved better than she had on that beach.

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