Chapter 23

He let her leave his grip, and it was one of the hardest things he'd ever done in his life. Him, a terrifying warrior who had spent his entire life defending the People of Water from whatever beast hunted them. Daios had fought sharks with his bare hands. Tore achromos apart with his claws and watched them bleed to death in the waters as giant squid fed upon them. He had fought and battled his entire life.

But his fingers wanted to lock around her tiny form. He hated seeing her rise to the surface without him. He hated even more taking that tentacle out of her neck where they were connected.

He pulled it slowly, making sure there was no pain for her as he did so. And with that connection severed, he knew he should leave.

Now was the time for him to go back to his life before Anya. Most of the others here had set up a temporary home for themselves. Some in the old homes of the achromos, others making nests in the sand with stones that they hauled from all over the seas. But he had done none of that yet.

The only way he felt like he could control himself was when he was moving. So he would let her go into the arms of her own kind, and then he would turn his attention to the next job where he had to risk his life. The next mission where he might die. But that was all right. If he died saving his people, then that was a worthy death.

The watery surface above him reflected the image of Mira walking over to the edge of the moon pool. That achromo would take care of his. Mira was a feisty little thing with more bite than most, but she would fiercely protect those that were hers.

She'd wanted Anya, after all. All of them had. They truly believed that the daughter of the General was the key piece in their puzzle. Perhaps they would ransom her to her father. Or perhaps they would pretend to kill her, so the General made a mistake in his anger. There were many options, and he was certain Arges had already thought about all of them.

"Psst." The clicking noise interrupted his thoughts.

Frowning, he glanced down to see Maketes was poking his head underneath the moon pool as well. His brother stared up at Anya's legs kicking in the water above their heads.

"Is she up there?" His yellow finned brother's eyes gleamed. "Sure is pretty."

"She can hear you."

"I thought you said she couldn't hear?" Maketes's gills flared wide, faking a flutter, although it was almost convincing. "Pretty enough for someone like you or me to find tempting enough. How long do you think it'll take for her to settle in?"

Thoughts pushed through his mind. Maketes might be smaller than him, but that was what all women liked. Smooth scales, fewer fins that were poking out in all directions. Handsome to both achromos and to the People of Water, Maketes was a good mate. No one knew why he hadn't chosen one of their own people for his own, although Daios had a feeling it was that Maketes didn't think he could survive a mating.

Still, it made him uncomfortable. Maketes wanted to give Anya attention, and that made him nervous.

This was someone she could make a life with. Someone who would treat her kindly. Maketes would make her laugh. It wouldn't be so hard for her to feel like she knew him, even though Daios had done everything that he could to share bits of himself. He had told her about himself, but he wasn't a man of words. He didn't know how to tell her that he...

Baring his teeth in an angry snarl, he shot up into the air above the moon pool. Too fast, really. Water sprayed from around him and he knew he wore a nasty glare which would make everyone in the dome nervous. Even Anya's eyes widened for a moment before her brows drew down in a frown.

"Daios?" she asked, her voice a little uncertain.

Now that he was up here, he didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he was so angry at the thought of Maketes gaining some of her attention. He didn't want anyone to know the little smiles she gave him, or the way her eyes wrinkled at the corners when she was happiest. He didn't want them to know her favorite food or what she sounded like when she hummed so off key.

He wanted her all to himself, and that was selfish. Daios knew that. But he wasn't willing to share any of her joy with others.

"I—" Struggling to find the words, he grunted instead. He placed his hand on her back underneath the water, hoping that the warmth of his palm would ease her fears.

Mira had changed a few things since the last time he'd stuck his head into her domain. There were more plants than ever, hanging from the ceiling and creating tendrils of vines that dripped above their head. The bed was hidden now in its own little room, a sheet hanging off of the ceiling that looked as though the sea had worn it down. Someone must have found that in the water for her, or stolen it from one of the city's trash heaps.

Metal bits and bobs were everywhere. Thrown about in every direction that he could see, along with the tools she used to mend them. He could see at least four welders from where he was, and he was sure there were more if he looked a little harder.

Mira stood just beyond reach. With her arms crossed over her chest and her bright red hair billowing around her head, she was an intimidating creature to look at. That scowl reached deep into his soul, letting him know she thought he was nothing more than a nuisance.

She had a few more freckles dusted across her nose, a sight he found intensely uncomfortable. Humans shouldn't be able to change their colors that easily. His kind couldn't.

"Daios," Mira said, her voice rusty even to his ears. "I see you actually brought her back. Do you have any idea how pissed I was when Arges told me your plan?"

"No more than you always are."

"Okay, asshole. Listen to me. Next time you want to fuck up the plan that we have, maybe consider that you're fucking up a lot more than just my personal life. Since you seem to enjoy doing that more than anyone else?—"

At least Mira's rant stopped when a rusty squeak filled the room. Without thinking, he leaned over to nudge Anya's chin so she looked over at the sound she couldn't hear.

Byte rolled into the room. He'd gotten new wheels a while ago, some bigger ones that Arges had found on the bottom of the sea floor. But they were squeakier than the last ones, and that was saying something.

"Oh," Anya breathed, her voice a little too loud. "You don't say?"

Obviously, she wasn't talking to him or Mira. Bracing himself on the lip of the moon pool with his bad arm, he reached for her droid and gently pulled it off her head.

The words on the glass were a hundred rainbow marks, all dancing up and down with a single word. Byte's name. It danced around the lens, bumping off all the rainbows and sending them scattering in her excitement.

"She knows the droid?" he asked, before realizing that he was holding Bitsy, so Anya couldn't understand him.

Handing Bitsy back, he flashed a few of the signs she'd taught him. He still knew very little of her language, but he knew enough to gesture between the two droids and then signed half of the word "friend". He completed the word by miming what his other hand should have done afterward.

The pleased smile on Anya's face was worth every ounce of brain power it took to remember that word.

Affixing Bitsy back onto her head, she adjusted the lens before saying, "Yes, I think Bitsy knows him. Is your droid's name Byte?"

Mira looked between the two of them, clearly confused. "Yes, that's his name."

"They must have known each other from a long time ago." Anya smiled, then patted her hand onto Bitsy where her body rested on top of her head. "She's sweet on him, it seems, so we should let them have a chat when they can."

Byte rolled to a stop in the middle of the room, and his little binocular eyes rose to blink at the droid on top of her head. "All of her models were decommissioned years ago," the droid advised.

"Not all of them." Anya grinned. "Besides, Bitsy's had a few upgrades in the time since."

Daios leaned, peering through the lens from behind Anya's head to see bright pink hearts radiating around Byte's little body.

He wasn't sure how to feel about this. The droids were already abominations in his eyes. Metal creations with souls were somehow even harder to swallow.

"Well," Mira muttered. "That's unexpected. Regardless, my name is Mira and I'm happy to welcome you to our home. We haven't named it yet, but maybe you'll be helpful in that. Let's get you out of the water first, shall we?"

She took a step closer to Anya, but he didn't like that either. With a low growl rumbling in his chest, he planted his hand underneath Anya's thighs and lifted her out of the water himself. She was so light, he didn't need someone else helping her.

The little squeak that came out of her when he did so was decidedly satisfying, anyway. It was worth every ounce of pressure it put on his shoulder.

With an arched brow, he watched her sit at the edge of the moon pool and glare at him. "I could do it myself."

"I know."

She tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowing. "You're acting strange."

Mira snorted from behind her. "You're not kidding. I've never seen the big lug talk this much."

"He talks." Anya's tone was almost... defensive. She glared at the woman behind her before getting to her feet. Water rushed out of her wetsuit, splashing on the floor and rolling into the water around his rib gills.

He wasn't so prideful that he didn't suck that water into himself, coating his gills with her scent for later. For when he would no longer be permitted to see her.

"He talks?" Mira repeated, before another snort followed her words. "The man doesn't talk. He barely even breathes in my direction."

"That's because I don't like you," he growled before turning his attention to Anya. "Are you well?"

She was still looking at him with that shocked expression. Like she didn't know why he was asking, or that she hadn't expected him to come up with her. And it made him feel... awful. She shouldn't expect him to drop her off in a place she'd never been before, with people she hadn't ever met, and then just leave.

Of course, that is what he had planned to do. But he didn't want to do that anymore.

Maybe it was because he'd thought he had seen her curl into him a little. Like she hadn't wanted to release him from her grip, either. But right now, she seemed fine. She stood on her own two feet, looking down at him with surprise, but not with fear. She wasn't begging him to take her back into the water.

Maybe he had read this situation wrong.

Her little brows furrowed at his question. "I'm fine," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's not so different from Alpha, just a lot smaller."

"Is it?" Mira walked forward and held out her hand. "Sorry, again, I'm Mira."

"Anya." The two women shook hands, all while he narrowed his eyes and couldn't stop looking at where Mira was touching her.

Was she gripping Anya too hard? She wasn't so delicate that she couldn't handle a firm handshake, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable here. He didn't want her to be afraid of anyone here.

The water stirred beside him and Arges lifted himself onto the mats beside the moon pool. The graceful movement didn't startle the other two women in the slightest, not like Daios had. Instead, Arges shook his hair back and grinned at Anya.

"Making friends, yet?"

"I don't know." Anya replied with a laugh. She adjusted Bitsy again, the only sign that she was slightly nervous. "I'm still not sure what you want me to do here."

"We're not either." Arges shrugged. "I think there's a lot you could do for us, but we want to talk with you about that first. We'll let you get settled before we fill your mind with all the possibilities. We don't want you to think you're stuck here."

Right. Because they were all still under the impression that he had kidnapped her. Stolen her away from her home like a creature who had snuck out of the depths to drag her into the undercurrents with him.

He awkwardly yanked himself out of the water as well, having to brace himself on his good arm as his gills flared a little wider. "She's not afraid of us," he growled.

Mira crossed her arms in front of her chest and he noticed how she moved just slightly in between him and Anya. "Daios. It's a lot for anyone to process, especially someone who grew up in Alpha. I know you think you're helping, but you're very large and intimidating."

"She's not afraid of me," he hissed.

All his fins flared even more. He wanted to puff himself up even larger. Intimidate the hell out of this achromo who thought she had the right to stand between him and Anya.

He knew this was ridiculous. Anya was somewhere safe. He should be happy and satisfied knowing that nothing would happen to her here. But he wanted... something. Something that he couldn't figure out and that was so frustrating.

Anya stepped around Mira, walking over to him until she was all that he could see. She blocked out everyone else in the room, with her sweet face and golden hair that always reminded him of sunlight. Her expression was soft, not like the others, who looked at him with distrust and sometimes disgust on their features.

He knew he was lacking in many things. Kindness, softness, the ability to see what other people were feeling and react accordingly. His outside now matched that monstrous interior, and some days he was ashamed of that.

But when she placed her hand on his wounded shoulder, so covered with scars that some of his scales had lifted over the worn skin, he didn't feel so ugly. Daios forgot what he looked like when she touched him like that.

"I'm going to be fine here," she said, a soft smile on her face. "But they are right. You are very large and you take up quite a bit of room."

He didn't mind it so much when she said that. In fact, it almost felt like a compliment. Especially when her fingers squeezed the broad muscles of his shoulders and danced up to the side of his neck.

The slightest brush against his gills had his eyes rolling back in his head. In mixed company, she shouldn't touch him like this. But she didn't know... couldn't know...

When he finally opened his eyes again, he saw a vixen smile on her lips. She knew what she did to him. And she liked having that control.

"I promise, I won't talk about too much while you aren't here," she said. "But I think that I want to settle in, and perhaps let Bitsy and Byte catch up. I'd like to get warm, change out of this wetsuit into something more comfortable. Then we'll call you back so we can all talk together. How does that sound?"

Even though he didn't love it, he nodded all the same. "I'll find you something to eat."

"I think she has food here."

"Nothing like what I can get you." He brushed his shorter arm down hers, gently tracing the soft skin there. And he imagined that his phantom hand also slid down her back. "Be safe, kalon."

He saw his brother twitch at the word, but then Daios was already sinking into the water of the moon pool. He had to pretend he didn't overhear Mira's exclaimed, "Well, you're a beast tamer, aren't you?"