“I have not seen that human before,” the orange one growled.
“Why are you here, Kronus? You have no business near our dens,” Dracchus replied.
“Your den? Since when do you den with the humans?” Kronus demanded.
Dracchus’s muscles tensed and his skin lightened, displaying a crimson tinge. “Since you decided to threaten their lives.”
“They don’t belong here!” Neo snarled.
Something curled around Larkin’s waist and yanked her backward. She pulled her knife instinctually as another tentacle encircled her legs, lashing them together, and a clawed hand wrapped around her neck. She twisted and raised her arm, pressing her blade to the unknown kraken’s throat. He growled and tightened his grip.
“All it takes it one flick of my wrist, and you’ll bleed out in seconds,” Larkin grated.
Dracchus turned, looking back at Larkin, and his hearts froze. Orphus held her firmly, and she had her knife at the kraken’s throat. A drop of blood oozed from beneath her blade.
“That is the human slit from the boat!” Neo shouted. “Kill her!”
“You’ll die, too,” Larkin said. Her voice was strained, her face slowly reddening, but she didn’t show any fear.
Pressure built in Dracchus’s chest, pushing against his ribs and constricting his hearts, threatening to explode. He had no misconceptions about the fragility of humans — her life was in immediate danger.
Dracchus chanced a glance toward Neo and Kronus; they were advancing down the corridor, Neo’s skin crimson.
Fire burst through Dracchus’s veins, roiling and unbearably hot, and ignited the pressure within him. He roared. The sound rattled his chest and reverberated off metal and plastic to become something deafening.
Kronus and Neo halted, flashing yellow with eyes wide.
Dracchus turned toward Larkin, muscles aching with unreleased fury. Orphus still held her, but he wore a fearful expression. Even Larkin’s eyes were rounded.
Twisting, Dracchus slammed his fist into the wall. The metal buckled with the impact, and the wall panel sagged, its fasteners partially torn out.
“Release her,” he growled.
Orphus abruptly withdrew his tentacles and backed away. Larkin stumbled forward, and Dracchus took her in his arms immediately. His hand trembled as he cupped her cheek and tilted her head back, checking her neck for injury. It was red where Orphus had gripped her, with two small, shallow puncture wounds from the kraken’s claws.
It was less damage than Neo had done the night they escaped the ship.
That knowledge did nothing to calm Dracchus.
“What is this?” a familiar voice demanded from beyond Kronus and Neo.
Dracchus looked over his shoulder to see Jax and Arkon moving toward him.
“Why did you bring that slit here?” Neo asked, baring his teeth. “She is a hunter! The one who captured us!”
“She needs to die. We can’t allow her to remain here,” Orphus replied, glaring at Larkin. “She is our enemy, even more than the rest.”
Jax and Arkon shoved past Kronus and Neo, stopping beside Dracchus. Dracchus turned his back on Orphus, moving Larkin within the shelter of his arms. He bristled with rage, but he’d never let it be his master where she was involved, would never do her harm. He met Arkon’s gaze.
“Take her to Randall’s den,” Dracchus said.
Arkon’s eyes rounded with innumerable questions; he voiced only one. “Are you sure of this?”
Dracchus nodded.
“What’s going on?” Larkin asked, drawing his attention down to her.
“You betray your own kind!” Neo growled. Kronus hissed something to his companion, but Dracchus couldn’t make it out.
“A challenge,” Dracchus replied. “Go with Arkon. I will come to you soon.”
Larkin grabbed his wrist, her fingers barely wrapping halfway around it. “I stand with you, remember?”
She was a warrior, a huntress, formidable and fierce in her own right. But this was not her fight.
“Trust me, Larkin.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her to Arkon.
“Damnit, kraken, no!” she said, attempting to pull from Arkon’s hold.
Arkon held her firm, shifting to shield her body from Kronus and Neo with his own. “He will be fine, Larkin. Jax will remain at his side.”
Larkin growled, jabbing a finger at Dracchus. “You better come back in one piece, or I’ll tear the rest of you apart myself.”
Only the flames rampant inside Dracchus prevented him from smiling; their heat was scorching, uncomfortable, driving. The last thing he wanted was to have her out of his sight, but he could not adequately protect her and settle this matter at the same time.
Jax served as a living barrier between Arkon and the other kraken as Larkin was escorted past them. Neo scintillated red and black, and Kronus physically restrained his companion as the others went by.
Soon, Arkon and Larkin turned the corner. She glanced back once, face hard with anger and concern, before she was out of Dracchus’s sight.
Dracchus’s skin prickled; he could feel Orphus behind him, could feel the hatred in Neo’s glare.
“You will all pay the price for betraying us!” Neo yelled. “You will die the deaths of traitors, and then every human will—”
“Orphus. Neo. Kronus.” Dracchus’s deep voice cut through Neo’s shouting, silencing the angry kraken. “You received your final warning. I issue my challenge.”
Jax eased closer, arms spread slightly and claws at the ready. “None of you seem to learn.”
“You have disrespected the ways of our people enough,” Kronus spat. “Your challenge is no longer valid.”
“My challenge is not optional.”
The air behind Dracchus shifted, whispering across his back. He lashed out with his rear tentacles, wrapping them around Orphus’s waist, and slammed the other kraken into the wall. Before Orphus could recover, Dracchus spun and hammered his fist into his foe’s face.
Bone crunched, and metal groaned. Orphus sagged. Dracchus grasped him by the neck and arm, swung him around, and threw him toward Kronus and Neo.
Caught off-guard, Neo was too slow to do the same. He and Orphus tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
Kronus caught himself against the wall before he could be dragged down with his followers. He clenched his jaw, eyes blazing, and turned red. Bunching his tentacles, he sprang at Jax. The Wanderer was ready, meeting Kronus’s ferocious assault with equal speed and intensity. Blood splattered the wall and floor from fresh cuts.
Dracchus advanced on Neo and Orphus as they pulled themselves up, the latter moving unsteadily.
Neo recovered as Dracchus drew near, and launched into an attack, pushing off the wall with his tentacles to speed his charge.
Dracchus accepted the full force of Neo’s strike. Claws sank into his sides, and he swayed back slightly, but remained upright. The sharp pain of his wounds strengthened his focus; Neo wouldn’t have hesitated to bury these claws in Larkin’s pale skin, wouldn’t have shown her any mercy.
Growling, Dracchus wrapped his arms around Neo’s chest, clasped his hands together, and squeezed.
Neo’s hands scrambled in panic, raking fresh gouges over Dracchus’s ribs and back. His tentacles curled, battling to wedge under Dracchus’s arms and pry them open. Dracchus flexed his muscles in response. When Neo exhaled, Dracchus tightened his hold.
The captive kraken’s struggles weakened.
Orphus, steadying himself against the wall, shook his head sharply. Blood trickled from one of his nostrils, and his eyes were glassy, but he staggered forward all the same.
Jax and Kronus continued their battle at the edge of Dracchus’s vision; more blood seemed to glisten on the skin of the latter than the former.
Fingers curled, Orphus lunged, swiping at Dracchus. His claws caught the big kraken’s shoulder. Warm blood flowed over Dracchus’s skin.
Dracchus roared and hea
ved Neo to the side, slamming him into Orphus like an oversized, unwieldy club. Orphus fell toward the opposite wall, halting himself only by latching two of his tentacles around one of Dracchus’s.
Dracchus widened his stance and gripped the floor and wall with his suction cups, anchoring himself as he dragged Neo away from Orphus. Neo renewed his struggles, jabbing his claws into Dracchus repeatedly.
When Dracchus swung this time, he released Neo, launching him directly into Orphus. The pair hit the wall together, Orphus losing his grip on Dracchus’s tentacles.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Dracchus raised himself up and reached over his head, grasping the ceiling rails. He swung back and, using his arms to add momentum, hurled his lower half at his foes. He spread his tentacles wide just before impact, closing them around Neo.
Neo fell to the floor, arms pinned to his sides and tentacles restrained. Dracchus settled all of his weight onto his captive and shifted his attention to his remaining foe.
Orphus pushed off the wall in another off-balance lunge, putting all his weight behind a wild punch.
Dracchus batted Orphus’s blow aside with his forearm and followed the deflection with a cross, catching Orphus’s cheek with his fist. The already dazed kraken went down hard.
“I will rip out her eyes and—” Neo’s threat ended in a pained grunt as Dracchus’s tentacles coiled tighter.
For good measure, Dracchus pounded his fists — right, left, right — into Neo’s face in quick succession.
“She is the only reason we did not burn on that boat,” Dracchus growled.
The captive kraken groaned, head lolling to the side, but he retained consciousness.
Dracchus turned to Jax; the Wanderer had restrained his opponent in a similar fashion, save that Kronus was face-down, neck bent at an awkward angle to glare up at Dracchus.
Kronus’s skin changed to yellow. “You have bested us, traitors. We yield.”
“I grant your lives as a gift on this day,” Dracchus said. A little more pressure, a little more time, and he’d crush Neo’s body. “And I give you a choice: live here in peace with all the Facility’s inhabitants or leave forever. My tolerance for your hatred has ended.”
Neo raised his head, baring his bloody teeth, and began to speak. Dracchus silenced him with a blow strong enough to make Neo’s head bounce off the floor.
“No more words,” Dracchus said. “Your actions have spoken loudly enough. Hold your tongue and remain here in peace or seek refuge in the open ocean. Do not give me the satisfaction of killing you.”
Neo’s head lolled again, and the tension in his body eased. Dracchus slowly released his hold and pushed himself up. Orphus, sprawled on the floor nearby, remained unmoving.
Once Dracchus was up, Jax freed Kronus. The defeated kraken propped himself up on his arms, head bowed, and did not revert his skin to its normal shade.
“You have chosen them over us,” Kronus said. Blood dripped from numerous cuts on his body; Jax wasn’t in much better a state.
“I have chosen us at every turn,” Dracchus replied. “Perhaps you will come to understand that, in time.”
He and Jax turned away together and moved down the corridor toward the Cabins.
Rage gnawed at Dracchus’s gut; he’d not satisfied his urge to destroy, to kill, and its lingering intensity was worrisome. He’d have battled to defend any of the humans here, any of the kraken, especially when they’d done no wrong, but this was beyond the straightforward defense of a friend.
They’d threatened his mate directly today. Dracchus had forgiven much in his life, but this would not be forgotten.
“They’ll only be angrier, now,” Jax said as they passed through the tunnel.
Dracchus grunted. “Should they choose to act upon it again, I will show them what true anger is.
Chapter 16
Larkin paced across the small floor space of Randall’s room, shooting glares at Arkon and her brother, who stood sentry at the door. They’d refused to let her go help Dracchus. It felt like she’d already waited an eternity, though she knew in her heart that only a few minutes had passed.
The others — Rhea, Aymee, and Macy — sat in the back of the room with the children, talking nonchalantly, but their expressions bore hints of their worry.
She rounded on Randall and Arkon. “I told him I would stand with him! What help am I in here?”
“You’ve seen what they can do, Elle,” Randall said. “Unless you were going to start shooting—”
“And if I was?”
“Our numbers are relatively few,” Arkon said with a frown. “Despite the difficulties some of our brethren have caused, Dracchus does not want to kill anyone.”
“I didn’t say I would kill them.” Larkin scowled. “But I could have done something to fend them off.”
“There’s nothing we can do,” Macy said gently. “Not against them.”
Larkin clenched her fists. “It’s my fault he’s having to deal with it to begin with.”
“Damnit, Elle, you know this isn’t your fault.” Randall’s frustration was clear; despite the tension between him and Dracchus since Larkin’s arrival, they appeared to be close friends, and he couldn’t be any happier about waiting here idly than she was.
Dracchus and Jax could be fighting for their lives out there.
“You are not responsible for the actions of others.” Arkon’s voice was calm, but he turned his head toward the door often, as though listening for some sign. “The blame lies solely upon Kronus, Neo, and Orphus in this case.”
Halting, Larkin ran a hand through her hair. She hated feeling so damned useless. “Just…let me out. Let me help him.”
Jaw clenched, Randall turned away.
Arkon settled his thoughtful gaze on her and, after several moments, exhaled through his siphons. “He will not be happy about it.”
“No!” Randall shouted, spinning to face Arkon. “The whole point of this is to keep her safe, it has nothing to do with him!”
“I can protect myself,” Larkin said.
“Listen to me, Elle.” Randall closed the distance between them and grabbed her hand, desperation strengthening his grip. He pointed at Arkon. “He was shot three times, and he was still able to tackle Cyrus and rip him to shreds. I’m friends with these kraken, and I still have fucking nightmares about how quickly they took apart those rangers. For them, it’s just a brawl at the pub. For us, it’s life or death.”
Larkin glanced from Randall to Arkon, frowning.
“He is not alone,” Arkon said. “Jax is there, too, and he is the only one who’s ever bested Dracchus. They will not lose now.”
“Uncle Dracchus is the strongest, and Daddy is the fastest!” Sarina declared.
“They are,” Macy agreed.
Sarina’s words eased Larkin somewhat, but the tightness in Macy’s voice was unmistakable. Until Dracchus was here, alive and well, for her to see with her own eyes, Larkin would be restless. She cared about the big kraken. A lot.
“Come, human.” Rhea gestured for Larkin to join them. “We must wait. Your male will conquer.”
My male.
Larkin trailed her gaze over everyone else. There was no question of the affection they all held for one another. This was a family born not of blood, but circumstance, its bonds only strengthened by its origins.
And they’d made her one of their own.
They passed the time in tense silence, which was broken only by the innocent sounds of the young ones playing. Unable to sit still, Larkin paced throughout, drumming her fingers against the holster at her hip.
Someone pounded on the door three times in rapid succession. Larkin’s heart fluttered in anticipation, but her tumultuous emotions weren’t enough to make her careless.
She drew her pistol. Randall pulled his own and fell into place beside her. Grasping the firearm with both hands, she watched as Arkon opened the door.
Jax entered first. At least a dozen cuts glistened on his bl
ood-smeared skin, but his movements seemed unhindered.
“Jax!” Macy leapt up with Sarina in her arms, ran to him, and wrapped an arm around his torso without hesitation.
Both Larkin and Randall holstered their weapons. Randall exhaled shakily as Larkin crept forward, awaiting a glimpse of Dracchus.
“Daddy’s hurt,” Sarina said, looking at her father with huge, sad eyes.
Jax embraced his mate and child. If the movement hurt his open wounds, he made no sign of it. “I am fine.”
The trio moved aside to allow Dracchus entry.
The big kraken’s chest swelled with a slow inhalation, and fresh blood oozed from gashes and puncture wounds on his sides. His gaze fell upon Larkin immediately, blazing with intensity; for an instant, they were the only two people in existence, and her breath caught in her throat.
The depth in his eyes compelled her to move closer.
She stopped in front of him, running her gaze over his many wounds, and her heart pounded. So much blood. Many of his injuries would require stitching. She looked up and raised her hands, cupping his jaw to draw him down.
Meeting her gaze, he allowed her to guide him.
“Don’t you ever, ever, send me away again,” she said.
He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. “I will do as I must to keep you safe, female.”
She felt suddenly like she’d come home, like all her life before had just been a lead up to this moment, and this was where she was always meant to be, where she belonged. With her big, fierce, krullheaded kraken.
But all too soon, he pulled away.
It’s for the best. I can’t…I can’t let myself care too deeply.
He wrapped a tentacle securely around her waist, as though he couldn’t bear to sever contact with her for long, and drew her close as he straightened to face the others.
Jax, Macy, and Sarina remained nearby, but Arkon had moved to Aymee and Jace, and Randall sat on the bed beside Rhea and Melaina, with Ikaros curled on the floor in front of them.
“You are all my people,” Dracchus said, “my family, and I will no longer allow anyone to threaten what is mine. I have given Kronus, Neo, and Orphus a choice today. Live with us in peace, leave this place forever, or die. Their next attack will be their last.”
Heart of the Deep (The Kraken Book 3) Page 17