Chapter 13

13

W ater rippled over Honour’s body, waking her with a sudden shock. She didn’t gasp or move. She was too much a warrior for that. With eyes closed and breath forced back into a normal pattern, Honour checked her other senses to scope the world around her.

Her arm remained wrapped around Kyree, safe and secure. The rise and fall of Kyree’s breath eased Honour’s tension enough for her breath to slow further, matching Kyree’s rhythmic slumber. Honour didn’t need to open her eyes to know that Kyree’s tail had wriggled backward, pressing itself snuggly up against the front of Honour’s fluke.

She was hesitant to move or shift for fear of waking Kyree or causing another rush of arousal to flood through her if their scales brushed. The fear of both happening and her inability to control herself around this woman wrapped tightly around her chest and squeezed.

Not just this woman.

Honour remembered the feel of Hudson’s hand gripping her own and the majestic way the two of them moved together. In battle and with the spoils of battle as Hudson seemed determined to call Kyree. Another ripple of water, slow and gentle, washed over her. Honour forced her eyes open, following the ripple of water to its source.

A smile came unbidden to her lips as she watched Hudson.

She had never seen the mer so relaxed or at ease. Her shoulders, no longer squared as though perpetually ready to attack or defend, curved beautifully down to her arms. Honour focused on the movement of muscles as they rippled beneath Hudson’s skin to the small ray that flopped on her palm.

Those shoulders shook lightly as the ray danced about with Hudson’s waving fingers. She wasn’t sure who led, Hudson or the ray. The ray that she was certain had to be Nylah. It had to be.

Shifting carefully, Honour slipped away from Kyree. The cool water on her chest and tail made her shiver. She waited to see if Kyree would wake, but the long beautiful mer merely slept on, peaceful and a pacifist even in her sleep.

With gentle movements of her fluke, Honour made her way to where Hudson reclined.

“I guess you’ve met Nylah,” Honour spoke softly in the hopes of keeping Hudson in this gentle and relaxed state.

“I suppose I have.” Hudson glanced up at Honour for just a moment, but when their eyes met the idea of finding herself in Hudson’s eyes washed over Honour.

She pulled her eyes away quickly and focused her attention back on Nylah.

“Can I join you?” she asked and hated the way the question sounded far too much like pleading.

“Please,” Hudson replied, and though Honour waited for some remark to make her blush or flinch, none came as she settled herself beside Hudson. Her eyes remained on the ray, mesmerized by the way it moved, but more so, completely enthralled by the gentle brush of fingers from Hudson. Who knew she could be that tender with another creature?

“Can I ask you something?” What in Reine was she thinking? Where was she going with this?

“You can ask. But I don’t promise to answer.” Hudson’s words were honest, despite the gentle tone that rattled something loose inside of Honour.

She shook her head, dislodging whatever thoughts she was having and then quickly changed it to a nod as she felt Hudson’s eyes bore into the side of her face.

“Fair enough.” Honour took a deep breath, hoping the water running over her lips would eliminate the memory of Kyree’s lips on her own. “You want to defeat the Talons, yes?”

“I want to annihilate them.” Hudson’s words were so calm and yet fierce all at the same time. In this state, she’d never sounded more certain of something.

“Why?” Honour frowned. She’d never truly understood the Talon culture. She’d learned enough to make sure that she could communicate with them for her work, but beyond that, she’d never been invited into their world.

Hudson shifted, and Honour looked up. Their eyes met again. But this time something beyond a physical friction passed between then. Honour wasn’t certain what Hudson saw, but whatever it was made Hudson’s body sink farther into the sand where they rested.

Honour couldn’t take her eyes off of Hudson, even as she returned to playing with Nylah, her eyes focusing on the small ray and the corners of her mouth rising gently. It might be the first real smile she had seen on Hudson.

“Talon is a monstrous tribe. They’re brutes and they’re thieves.” Hudson’s smile disappeared, though she continued to play with Nylah as she spoke, a distant quality in her voice that caused a sharp pain in Honour’s chest.

“Living things shouldn’t be used solely for someone else’s gain. It shouldn’t matter what sex you’re born or how different you might be. No one has the right to enslave others.”

“Enslave?” Honour’s eyebrows furrowed at the word. “That’s a very heavy word.”

“It is.” Hudson nodded and chuckled as the ray on her hand did a flip backward, flicking out their fins at the end as though it were taking a bow. “It’s more accurate than you might imagine.”

“Who do they enslave?” Honour suspected she knew, but she wanted the confirmation. She didn’t want there to be any doubt in her mind. She needed the words, and she needed Hudson to say it out loud, to understand fully what pulled Hudson from her people.

“Us,” Hudson said, that distance in her voice once more. “They enslave women.”

“The women aren’t free to leave?”

Hudson’s laugh was a little louder and filled with a hard edge that all but cut Honour.

“Women are free to leave if they win a fight against the chief.”

“Okay.” Honour was certain she missed something, but she wasn’t sure how to address it.

“We aren’t shown how to fight. Women aren’t even allowed to watch the men train. We’re trained to be as passive as a piece of seaweed in the current. We go where we’re told to go.”

“But you aren’t.” Honour commented on the only thing she could think of. She’d seen Hudson fight, and those weren’t new skills she’d just learned. She’d been training for years to be as good as she was at destroying the krakens, and Honour doubted Talon started training her recently.

Hudson pressed her lips into a thin line. “No, I’m not.”

There was a long pause, Nylah rubbing their back against Hudson’s shoulder and cheek before moving back to her hand. Honour waited patiently. She didn’t feel right about speaking, not just yet, not with the heaviness that weighed them down.

“I want to show you something.” Hudson reached out with her free hand and gently placed it over Honour’s. After a moment, where Honour could have pulled away from the touch, Hudson lifted Honour’s hand with her own and moved it to her ribs.

At the first touch of Hudson’s skin, Honour quickly stifled a groan. Soft skin over the top of hard earned muscles—it was seductive and beautiful. A small chuckle from Hudson let Honour know she hadn’t quite stifled the moan as effectively as she had hoped.

“Focus, General.” Hudson said, and for the first time ever, the honorific didn’t sound like vitriol on Hudson’s tongue.

Honour forced herself to focus. She wasn’t tempted to moan now. Horror filled her. There were so many raised lines on Hudson’s skin. Scars, thin and hard, covered the skin over her ribs.

“Who did this?” Honour splayed her fingers, brushing them gently across Hudson’s body in a sweet caress.

Hudson dropped her hand away and played with Nylah. Honour continued to run the tips of her fingers over the thin pale scars. She couldn’t stop touching Hudson, now that she had permission to feel, to embrace, to explore.

“I did,” Hudson answered simply.

“You?” Honour furrowed her brow, stopping her gentle motion.

“I fought for them, mostly because I didn’t believe I had another choice. I won them wars.” Hudson sounded so damn proud of herself. “But when I had my first taste of freedom, I knew I had to leave.”

The urge to wrap Hudson tightly and pull her close was strong. But Honour resisted. “What freedom?”

“Khai.”

“Your deep sounding mer?”

Hudson nodded slowly. “Khai gave me the one thing Talon never did.”

“What was that?” Honour found another long scar right along Hudson’s hip. She traced it before drawing her hand back to herself.

“A choice.”

“I’m so sorry,” Honour murmured. “I never knew what kind of world Talon was, but I don’t think I’d care to know now anyway.”

“Don’t.” Hudson met her eyes. “I don’t want your pity. I’ve earned my life, and the right of my body, and I will fight so every other Talon mermaid has the same choice I have.”

“Oh, Hudson.” Honour’s eyes stung, warmth right in front of her face. When had she started crying? When had Hudson become such a broken soul clawing her way back to strength? When had Honour earned the right to her vulnerability?

Hudson was so much stronger than Honour ever was. She was the one who deserved their attention and time and effort, not the Talon. And here they were, stuck in a war none of them wanted that was going to distract from the real problems that needed solving.

Looking deep into Hudson’s pale blue eyes, Honour lost herself in them. Hudson could seem weak, she could seem like a pretty mermaid that anyone would chase tail after, but she was so much more than that. And she wasn’t the strong, stoic—or psychotic—warrior that she wanted everyone to perceive her as either. Honour’s lips parted, when Hudson reached toward her.

“Nylah!” Kyree’s squeal jerked both of them up off their seats. “You found Nylah!”

If Kyree saw or felt any of the new level of connection between Honour and Hudson, she gave no indication as she focused solely on the ray that now nuzzled between her shoulder and cheek. Hudson and Honour stayed back, letting Kyree reunite with her companion.

Honour’s hand jerked a little at the sudden touch of Hudson’s small finger wrapped around her own. Before Hudson could remove it or think Honour’s reaction was more than shock, Honour squeezed their fingers together and was rewarded with a gentle squeeze back. She didn’t know what it all meant. Not really. But hope lit up inside of her in a way she’d never known to even dream about.

“It’s going to be all right.” Kyree pulled her attention away from Nylah, though her hands continued to stroke the back of the ray as she spoke, “We’re going to find Soulara.”

“How?” Honour let go of Hudson’s finger and swam closer to Kyree and Nylah. “How does finding Nylah have anything to do with Soulara?”

“You don’t know.” Kyree tilted her head and looked closer at Honour. “I wasn’t sure if you didn't know, or you didn’t believe, or you just didn’t care.”

“Know what?” A sliver of pain cut through Honour’s chest. But she supposed she couldn’t blame Kyree. Honour never had been all that good at expressing her reasons or emotions.

“My tribe have an affinity with the animals. They aren’t just friends or pets to us, not like other tribes think of them. Animals are our companions. Mentally and spiritually.”

“What does that mean?” Hudson asked before Honour got a chance. There was comfort in knowing she wasn’t the only one still lost by Kyree’s enthusiasm and optimism.

“It means we talk to them. And they talk to us.” Kyree smiled and rubbed her cheek along Nylah once more. The smile that spread over her face made her entire body suddenly seem so much brighter than her dark coloring. “They can show us where they are from such distances away. Of course, it’s easier with a soul stone. But when I saw Soulara had Nylah’s stone, I couldn’t keep Nylah away from the other half of herself.”

“Wait. Soulara’s stone?” Honour was piecing things together, but no, she had to be wrong. “Soul stone? Are you telling me the stones are the animals’ souls?”

“Yes.” Kyree twirled around in front of Honour.

“So we can contact Soulara?” Honour asked slowly, the information still dawning in her mind.

“If she still has the stone.” But Kyree bit her bottom lip. “If she can still see Nylah’s soul.”

“Why wouldn’t she be able to?” Hudson asked.

Honour and Hudson had both drawn closer to Kyree as she spoke. Honour hadn’t noticed just how close they had gotten until Hudson reached out a hand and trailed her fingers over Kyree’s arm.

“There are many reasons. If the soul is pulled from the water. Or if Soulara is out of the water. I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never heard a story that matches these circumstances. But we can try.”

“Yes.” Honour and Hudson spoke together.

Honour reached out and placed her own fingers lightly on Kyree’s hip. She needed the connection with Kyree and with Hudson. She moved her other hand just enough to offer it to Hudson without forcing it on her.

Hudson’s fingers interlocked with Honour’s almost instantly. The connection was complete.

A rush of hope and strength filled her. They could find Soulara.

Right now, they had to focus on contacting Soulara and ensuring she was safe. But this connection with the sea life—that was something beyond Honour’s imagination. It was a power entirely unknown to her own people. Her mind reeled with the potential, and she found her energy renewed for the battle they were already in the midst of, and for the war they wouldn’t lose without a damn good fight.

“Are you with us, Hudson?” Honour asked. She needed to know. Would Hudson hold off her battle to win the war? Facing those pale blue eyes, Honour held her breath as she waited for an answer.

“Fuck yes.”