Chapter 9

"So that's going to be a problem," Maketes muttered as Daios joined his brother again at their rendezvous point.

Daios filled him in on everything that he'd discovered. The lack of their ability to communicate with the General's daughter. The pipe systems. He showed his brother the map that he'd drawn, and told him of her threat that he would end up stuck in those pipes while hoards of robots descended upon him.

"Which part is going to be a problem?" he muttered, staring down at the map with a trouble expression.

"All of it."

"Which part the most?"

Maketes shrugged. "I mean, we can get over communication issues. Mira and Arges did in the beginning. We'll figure that out. The main problem is getting her now. How did you not realize they were watching you?"

"I knew they were." Daios stared at the stones on the sand, trying to will the solution to appear before his eyes. "I am uncertain what is the best way forward now."

"Why aren't you panicking? You should be panicking. You've seen her multiple times now and each time you failed to get her. Now there is no way for us to get in, and we're all screwed."

"What is that word?" He finally looked up from his project to frown at the yellow-finned pod mate. "Screwed?"

"Ah. It's something Mira says when there is no winning the situation." Maketes scrubbed the back of his neck. "I think I used it right."

The yellow glow from his body turned a sickly pale, as it always did when Maketes felt embarrassed. His brother had never gotten very good at controlling his colors.

Daios sighed. "There is nothing wrong with how you used it. I'm certain."

And there it went. All the colors turned bright yellow as the sun, just as it always did when his brother was reassured. "That's kind of you. Anyway, I thought you'd be more angry at me than you are."

"Why would I be angry at you?"

Then he smelled it. Or rather, them. The scent on the current was not one that should be in the ocean. At least, not this part of the ocean. Baring his teeth in a snarl, he cast his gaze behind them, where the darkness slowly parted around two figures. One he knew as well as he knew himself, the electric blue of his body lighting up the darkness of the ocean. The other was connected to him by a cord, her red hair as dark as blood in the dim light.

Mira and Arges.

He wasn't comfortable around her yet. He'd tried to kill her multiple times, and he was certain she'd never forgiven him for that. She shouldn't, anyway. The cruelty of his nature had nearly ended her life, and she had every right to hold that against him.

He preferred it that way. At least if everyone thought he was the villain, he could take the attention away from anyone who messed up as well. His broad shoulders could hold their hatred, and they could forgive others.

It was his place. And he intended to keep it that way.

He waited there, his hair floating and coiling around his shoulders as his clutch brother joined him. With a nod to his brother, and a slight tilt of his head to Mira, he pointed to the rocks. "I know where to go."

"Maketes already filled us in on that this morning." Arges narrowed his gaze. "I assume there is yet more information, now that I see you are here again without the woman."

He stared his brother in the eyes and hoped that he wasn't giving too much away. He had no intention of telling Arges anything, even though he knew his brother would most certainly try to get it out of him. And would likely succeed. They knew each other too well, and Arges knew when he was planning something.

Mira narrowed her eyes before turning her attention to Maketes. "What changed?"

Maketes might be their pod mate who enjoyed his fun, but he knew how to stay out of a fight. He held up his webbed hands, fingers spread wide, and shook his head. "I'm not getting in the middle of this. He's the one you gave the mission to. I'm just here to babysit."

"What does that mean?" Daios growled.

Sitting on babies didn't sound remotely close to what Maketes was doing here with him. Yes, his brother was watching him to make sure there were no surprises, but that was all it was.

Maketes only grinned and shrugged. "It's another term that Mira uses. She knows what I mean."

"It means he's watching over you because you cannot watch over yourself. Like a child," she said, her voice turning gritty with anger. "So what changed? I can see something has happened and neither of you wants to tell us."

He'd admit he was impressed by her ability to see straight through them. Arges had picked a rather terrifying shark of a mate, and that was the only way she would fit in with their people. Though there were some who were still very hesitant about her, a majority of the People of Water had accepted her. After all, she was Arges's mate. And they loved Arges.

Baring his teeth in a wince that likely only his brother would recognize, he turned back to the stones. "There are three entrances. The achromos have been watching me go in and out, unfortunately, which means I will need to be quick about this. The one you sent me to steal away has informed me that they will drain the pipes soon. Closing the city off from water for an undetermined amount of time."

Mira joined him, looking down at the stones with a frown. "Unless they have a considerable store of fresh water somewhere, they can't cut off the entire city from water. Humans need that to live."

He shrugged. "It is what she told me."

"You have spoken with the General's daughter?" Arges swam to his other side, his fins scattering sand over the stones. "Why did you not take her when you had the chance?"

There was a muffled laugh and cough that came from a short distance away, and Daios glared at the yellow finned brother who knew better than to snicker at times like these. "Yes, I have spoken with her."

"And why did you not take her then? You knew what you were there for."

He met his brother's gaze and knew that perhaps something passed between them that he didn't want Arges to know. Not just yet, at least. His brother's tail came around his, shoving him away from the other two.

"Come," Arges said, his voice low and guttural. "We need to talk."

What Daios did not expect was for Arges to hand Mira off to Maketes. Even she looked surprised, but quickly disconnected from Arges and took Maketes's offered tendril. All People of Water had this tendril, though its purpose had long been a mystery. Daios had one. All of them did. The tendrils were a part of their bodies for which they had no explanation, until Mira.

Once Arges was satisfied that his mate was still breathing, they took off closer to Alpha. The two of them settled into the sand on their bellies, watching the city move, and the pillars flare bright and hot as fish swam too close. They'd done this a hundred times in their lives, but their ease together was not the same. Never would be after what had transpired.

"You are different," Arges finally said. "You have a purpose, it seems, and I don't think it was the one we gave you."

Again he winced, his teeth bared to the icy sea before he replied, "I do not know what it is."

"I can see it in your coloring, you know. Your body is making decisions for you, is that it?"

He'd tried to understand what was happening for many nights. Daios had hardly slept as he tried to convince the urges to disappear. After all, he had a mission. This woman had to be delivered to Arges and Mira. That was the only choice.

But again, even the thought made something in him rebel. His entire body tightened, seizing against the very idea of bringing her to their home where he knew others would take her away from him. She would be in that pod with Mira. He would be able to see her every day and not do... something that his body seemed to understand.

"I never thought it would happen to you," Arges said, his eyes following the trailing red lights that illuminated Daios's entire body. "Of all our people, you hate them the most."

"I have the most reason to hate them," Daios replied.

"After all that you have done? I think you may be right."

How did he tell his brother that he could still hear all the people he had failed? All of their people who had died because of the achromos? He still dreamed in bright flashing lights and blood coating the water. His arm still ached when he woke, a constant reminder that no matter what he did, no matter how much he paid for his penance, he had still led them to slaughter.

Then he blinked, and he could see them all again. Floating behind Arges, this time a delicate tail with holes all through the fluke, just drifting through the sea. A tail that had once belonged to someone so wonderful, even if he hadn't known them. All of his people were special in their own way, and he had ruined so many of them.

"Daios," Arges said, drawing his eyes back to his brother even though he could still see the carnage behind him. "What are you planning to do with her?"

"I do not know."

"Are you going to bring her back to the pod?"

"No."

"Will you harm her?"

As much as he wanted to kill her and end his own suffering, he wasn't certain he could bring himself to do it. Something deep inside him rebelled at the thought of her coming to harm, and that was as much a warning sign as anything else.

He sneered before replying, "No."

Arges slowly nodded, his gaze returning to the city as though he might be able to see her from here. "They are delicate. Keep an eye on what she eats and drinks. Make sure she is not in the water for too long, because it is very cold for them."

"I have seen you with Mira."

"You don't know what it's like to have one of them as a mate. The constant fear that they will die on your watch. The nervousness that comes with knowing anything could kill them. They have no natural way to protect themselves and they are being forced to give up their world due to our own desires for them. It is not easy." Arges cleared his throat, his eyes still not on Daios. "I don't think you're ready for what it will make you feel."

Neither did he.

Wait. No, he didn't want her as a mate. That wasn't what this was. It couldn't be. His body was his own to control and tell what to do, and he would not let biology make his choices.

"I am not keeping her," he growled.

"Really?" Arges replied with a laugh. "I see the way your body is reacting to a single word about her. You're going to keep her, Daios, and it won't be easy."

"I have no interest in achromos." He spat the words. "You fell to that folly. I will not."

"So many words to defend a male who has already lost the fight." Arges pushed his hands on the sand, sending his body careening upright. "Bring her somewhere safe for a time. Do whatever it is that you need to get this out of your system. But I know you, brother. I know you well. You can fight against this all you want, just as I did. But soon enough, you will find yourself completing the mating rituals."

Curling his fist in the sands, he told himself he wouldn't. But he already knew that was a lie. Some part of him wanted to keep this little gemstone he'd found in the depths of the ocean. It was a covetous need inside of him, a flexing beast that writhed in his chest and pushed his body to do things he did not understand.

"I do not want her," he said, looking up at his brother, who floated in the dark above him.

A few flickering blue lights glimmered along Arges's tail. Then Arges looked farther off, at Mira and Maketes where the two of them were arguing about some form of the achromos language, most likely. Those lights flared brighter for a moment before he got them under control.

"Neither did I," Arges murmured. "I did not want her, and she did not want me. But the longer I was with her, the more I realized there was a strength in her heart that I admired. A kindness in her soul that I did not have. A wit in her mind that matched my own. She was unexpected and resilient in a way I had never attributed to their kind before."

"I know your respect for her." He really did. Daios just didn't see the achromo the way his brother did.

"Then you will soon find you see something in this human that you did not realize. And by then, it will already be too late for you. Just as it was for me." Arges slapped his back with the flat of his tail. "Good luck, even if I don't think you're cut out for this. Just keep her alive. Yeah?"

"I will," he grumbled.

"From your mouth to the ancient's ears. Let them punish you if you fail us all again."

The words echoed in his mind long after Arges gathered Mira up. He could tell the achromo was staring at him. Her gaze was like a physical touch that lifted the deadly spines along his back. He wished he could send them out into the sea like daggers, just to give him a small moment where he could feel as though he was at peace.

Instead, he laid there in the sands. His gaze never leaving the city of Alpha, but he didn't see the city. Instead, he saw bodies. He heard the whispers of the dead in his ears.

Even his brother didn't think he could keep a measly little achromo alive. Even his clutch mate, the one who had shared an egg with him, believed he was too careless to keep someone else alive.

His touch was death.

His body was made to be a weapon or a shield, nothing more. A destructive tsunami that killed any and everything in his wake.

The water stirred beside him, and Maketes paused beside the rise. "I'm returning with them."

He grunted.

"Arges said it would take you a little longer to get her back? He made excuses for you, although I don't think Mira believed them. Soon enough, you'll have to deal with her."

Another grunt. Let the achromo try to stop him. He was not afraid of Mira.

A small current kicked up, as though Maketes was leaving. But then he heard one last thing from the yellow finned brother.

"There is an abandoned facility nearby. The achromos never go there anymore. I explored it a while ago, and there is still air if she needs it. Of course, there are only so many pockets that I've seen but... Well, I think it will be a good enough spot. It's closer to the ledge. Big drop off. You can't miss it."

He knew the general area of which his brother spoke. It was easy enough for him to find, even if it would be a terrifying swim for her.

He had to shake the thoughts out of his mind. Why did it matter if she was afraid? He was taking her away, and this was about getting rid of these urges. Not indulging them.

At least, that's what he told himself.

A mask thudded onto the sand near his shoulder. "Mira left this for her. I almost didn't give it to you, since I think you should at least try to make a connection with something else living. Still. I'd feel bad if you drowned the poor thing because you refused to breathe for her."

He waited until Maketes was gone before he curled his fingers around the straps of the mask. He wasn't doing this to convince her to be his mate. He hadn't tried to do that in years and had told himself he'd never do it again.

But he couldn't make himself let go of the mask.