Chapter 33

Anya was terrified. It was a risk to go back into Alpha. A risk to even think her father would let her walk around the city without immediately throwing her into a prison. Daios hadn't argued with her too much. And yet, he swam with her crushed so tightly to his chest that it wasn't hard to guess what his innermost thoughts were.

He didn't want her to do this any more than she wanted to. They both knew this might be the last time they ever see each other. And they'd just found each other.

Some part of her wanted to turn right around. She wanted to tell him to bring her back to his home and then they could leave all this behind. There were other abandoned facilities out there. Maybe they could even investigate to see if the land above was more habitable now that there had been centuries between when humans lived above and not. She didn't know.

All of these thoughts were fantasies, though. Because she knew they couldn't live with themselves if they left their people behind.

His arms tightened around her, his feelings likely turning in the same direction as her own as they neared Alpha.

She still wasn't used to the sensation of the metal arm around her back. It wasn't quite an unnatural feeling. She couldn't tell that it was any different from his other arm with her borrowed wetsuit on. But she was so used to knowing that he only had half an arm on that side. It felt... different.

On top of the arm, Mira had given them both more than enough gear to complete their mission. Byte and Bitsy had gone through the systems that once would have stumped Anya's droid. But Byte had been upgraded too, and because he was a research drone, he had a lot more access than Bitsy did. Together, and with some help from Ace, they'd given enough information for Mira to create something she called a jammer.

It was big and bulky, a square box that was unwieldy at best. She currently carried it so Daios could carry her. The giant block had turned to ice the moment they'd hit the water, and it had been burning her hands since.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his voice deep and guttural. The words flickered in front of her face as Bitsy reacted to the cold as well.

She'd noticed the droid slowing down. It took longer for her to translate the words, and she wasn't sure if she should be worried about that or not. Considering there was a lot more for her to worry about, she had to focus on the moment and not on what might happen afterward.

Still, she found it hard to lie to him. "No," she replied with a soft laugh. "I'm not ready at all. But we're here and I have to do this."

"We can leave."

She looked up at him and that strong jaw that had already sharpened with frustration. "You know we can't. I have to do this for everyone in that city and for your people. There is no other choice, Daios."

The muscles of his jaw jumped even more until he looked down at her. Then everything in him seemed to freeze. Pausing as his eyes danced over her features.

"If we do not see each other again, my kalon, I wish for you to know that I have never been more honored than to have a woman like you at my side." He swallowed hard again, his eyes still flicking over hers. "I do not know how your people say this."

Oh, this sweet, wonderful man who had no idea how much he had wriggled his way into her heart. She reached up and framed his face with both of her hands, staring into those black eyes that showed so much more than he knew how to say. "We say I love you."

"I have heard this from Mira before."

"From Mira?" she repeated with a laugh.

He shook his head. "She has said it to Arges. Tell me what this word means."

"It's not about the word itself. It's about the feeling in here." She moved one of her hands to his chest. "It means that living without you feels wrong. That to be parted from your side makes me miss you more than I miss breathing fresh air. And that I will always think of you, no matter how far I am from you."

"This feels right," he said. His hand scooped underneath her hair and drew her close to him, breathing in the scent of her. "Know as you dive into danger that I love you, my kalon. I will hold you in my heart until you return to my side."

She kissed him fiercely, because there were no words she could say to tell him how much she loved him. How much she admired his strength and his valor. And how, even now, he was letting her do what was right, even though it could take everything away from them both.

Daios was a warrior himself. He was the one who fixed things when they went wrong and he was the one who went into danger for others. He allowed her to do this with no argument, no fighting, just a tension radiating in his body and his claws clutching at her sides as though he would have to force himself to let her go.

"I will find my way back to you," she whispered against his lips, almost desperately. "I will come home, Daios."

"Home," he replied, that deep voice radiating through her entire body. "That is what you have given me, kalon. Wherever you are, I am home."

They stared at each other for a few more moments before she felt his arm reach in between them. He clicked the small button that would turn on the device that Mira had built, and she knew it was time.

Time to let him go. To move forward with this plan. To put her life on the line to save his people and her own. Would it be easy? Absolutely not. Would she do everything possible to get back to him? She sure would.

Together, they raced through the towers that had shot at him the first time he'd done this. But Mira's jammer seemed to work. The towers didn't activate close to them, and the ones in the distance didn't react either. Perhaps whatever signal the box in his arms was giving off had worked. Or maybe her father just didn't want to show that he knew they were coming.

Either way, they made it to the original tunnel they had escaped from. And there she could see someone had capped it. A massive metal door stood in the way of their plan.

Daios put her down on the ground with the box beside her. He slid her rebreather over her face and detached the cord from her neck, leaving her feeling bereft without his breath.

The current here was unusually strong, so she had to hold on to the side of the building and sink her legs into the muck as she watched him move above her. His tail flicked, and then he was grabbing both sides of that metal cap.

It was welded into the building. She could see how much metal they had poured onto it. The bolts dug deep into the concrete that made up Alpha's exterior. Muscles bulging, teeth bared, Daios heaved.

His entire body lit up with his efforts. All of his form was bared, those muscles straining with effort, and she could see the cords as his pectorals strained. The metal arm of his was reacting better than his natural one. But even those wires sparked in the water. And then the cap gave. She watched in shock and a bit of horror as he peeled it back enough that air rushed out of it.

The bubbles erupted and they would give up their position easier with that white flag of bubbles. He held out his hand for her to take, and she kicked off the bottom, reaching for him.

The current threatened to whip her away from the building and out into the middle of nowhere. But he grabbed onto her wrist and hauled her right up against him. He held onto Alpha with that metal arm that didn't seem to budge, even though they were both flung against the side of the building until he yanked them both closer to the opening.

"Come back to me," he growled, before shoving the rebreather aside with his nose and kissing her once again. It felt like a brand. Like he knew this could be the last time either of them saw each other, and he refused to let this end without her knowing how much he wanted her.

Heart thundering in her chest, she kissed him back with every ounce of hope in her chest. She would get back to him, no matter how hard that was.

Daios shoved her closer to the pressure coming out of the vent. She knew there were only a few moments for her to get through this gap before he had to close it. Anya yanked the rebreather back over her face, focusing on her new obstacle. She could see in his eyes that he was going to seal her inside the city she'd come from, and then it was up to her.

Her. A girl who had been pampered her entire life and liked to pretend hero. They were all hoping that nothing went wrong and that she could figure all this out, with no one else helping her.

Swallowing hard, she grabbed onto the edge of the vent and yanked with him. The two of them shoved her right through the wall of air and into the vent. On her hands and knees in the now empty tunnel, she ripped the rebreather off before whirling around.

The suction from the tunnel threatened to throw her back into the sea. But she wanted to see him. Needed to see the heat in his eyes, the passion that burned there even now. And the hope that flared in his chest as all his muscles bunched again.

She crab walked away from him, watching until the last second. But then the vent closed, and all the lights went out.

She was alone. Cold and freezing in the tunnels underneath Alpha, where she knew so many terrible things had happened.

With a shuddering breath, she reached up to tap Bitsy. "Do you have any lights?"

Her lens flickered to life again, this time with a little more force. "So cold."

The words floated in pitch black and lanced through her heart. She hated that this was hurting her oldest friend as well, but there were only so many things she could do to help the little droid.

She should hurry. Someone might be wondering what had happened.

But she took the time to remove her droid from her head and to press the little one to her chest. Carefully breathing onto Bitsy, she warmed up the droid until she felt her fidgeting in her grip. Only then did she put her back on her head and read the messages on the lens.

"Ok," Bitsy put on the lens. "I am ok."

"Good," she whispered. "Light?"

A small light appeared out of one of Bitsy's arms. They'd only had to use it once when the power had gone out in Alpha, and she'd never thought to use it again. The beam of light illuminated the tunnels that clearly no one had been taking care of. They'd just sealed it off and filled it with air. She couldn't imagine the strain on the filtration systems.

The tunnels were bone dry now. And as she started walking up them, the bodies of dead crabs crunched underneath her feet. So much death, all because her father had been mad at her.

Anya glanced down and saw the little wave pattern carved into their shells. These were the ones who had helped her find Daios, all those weeks ago. And they had died because of her.

Determination settled on her shoulders like a heavy weight. She would not let anyone else die because of her. Not if she could get her hands around the throat of this situation.

"Contact Ace," she said, bracing herself against the concrete walls.

Bitsy made quick work of it, and Ace had been waiting for her.

"You in?"

"I'm in. Show me the map to get back to my old rooms."

A map projected right in front of her. The blue lines showed her which tunnels to trace her way back to her old room, although there would likely be an issue as soon as she got there. After all, there was no entrance into the pool systems anymore.

"Have you gotten anywhere in draining the pool?" she asked, turning left and almost slipping on some left over algae.

"No. Looks like they sealed off the entrance to your pool. I don't know if there's even water in it. But there seem to be service tunnels that might be of use."

"Just let me know which ones to break into."

"You have the tools Mira gave you?"

Yes, but she wasn't very good at using them. Mira had given her the run down on how to use all the tools themselves, but now that she was freezing with shaking hands and absolute terror dogging her steps, she wasn't sure if she could do it.

"Yes," she replied, turning again. "I have the tools."

"Good."

"I'm not sure I can..." she trailed off, not sure what to say.

There were a few blinking lights before Ace replied, "You have to."

Of course she did. Because no one else could do this as easily as she could. No more lives deserved to be risked because she was afraid to face her father.

Anya steeled herself and kept moving. There was a service entrance, just like Ace had suggested. The short ladder took her right up to the small hatch that had apparently been hidden behind a wall near her pool her entire life. How many times had someone come in here? Had her father ever had someone spy on her?

It took her four times to get the screwdriver into the marks that Mira had told her to put them in. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped the automatic tool.

With a deep breath, she let the hatch drop and then released Bitsy into the room. Even though her droid was a little worse for wear, and moving slower than she should, she made quick work of her job. Climbing up the wall, she scrambled the camera long enough for Anya to get out of the hatch and step into her old bathing room.

As she shucked her wetsuit off, she marveled at how nothing had changed. If she stood still, she could almost pretend that nothing had happened. She had been here her entire life. Maybe she'd fallen and clocked her head on the side of the pool and dreamt all of this up. But then she felt the aching bruise on her neck where Daios's tentacle sank underneath her skin, and she knew it had been real.

And she had a job to do.

Mira had offered her one of her few dresses that was still in good shape. The bright blue fabric was pretty and almost looked like it fit Anya. It was still dry enough to convince her father that she had been here for a while.

"Come on," she said, reaching her arm out so Bitsy could jump onto it. "It's show time."

Smoothing her hair back, she made one more check to make sure she didn't have a drop of water on her, and then strode into her bedroom. Nothing had changed here, either. All of it was exactly where she had left it. Like she'd just walked out yesterday.

That would only make it easier for her argument. Sitting down at her dresser, she started pulling out small pieces of makeup. Lipstick. Eyeliner. Pieces she hadn't had at her disposal for a while.

It took exactly three minutes and forty-two seconds before the door to her bedroom slammed open and her father strode through with rage turning his face ugly. "Where have you been?"

She pretended to look startled, not even struggling when two of her father's men stomped in after him and grabbed her by the arms. "Dad? What is going on? You said you knew where I was going! I told you I was spending a few days with my friend."

"Days? You've been gone for weeks!"

Of course she had. She knew that. But she blinked up at him, making her eyes a little wider and even more innocent. "I lost track of time, Daddy! I'm so sorry to have worried you. I've been back for a while, though. Surely you noticed?"

Let the games begin.