“And all this time, you’ve been with him,” Camrin said, stopping in front of her.
“Camrin—”
“No. I’m not here to attack you, Macy. I’m here to say…I’m sorry.” He knelt and took her hands in his. “You’re my friend. Always have been. When I saw you in his arms, saw you alive, I was overjoyed. I wasn’t thinking about our future together, or what I’d say to you when you woke. I was just so damn thankful you were alive.”
Teardrops flowed over her cheeks, and she dropped her gaze, squeezing his hands. “I’ve wronged you, Camrin. So much…”
“I can’t lie and tell you it doesn’t hurt, Macy.”
“I know.” She met his eyes. “I should have told you years ago how I really felt. I’ve wasted so many…so many years, so many years of your life. You could’ve found someone worthy of your love.”
“Macy, you are—”
“No, I’m not. I never felt for you what I do for Jax. I loved you, but it was never the kind of love you wanted or needed from me. You were familiar. You were safe, and I used…used you horribly. I thought that maybe, after we joined, it would change — that I would change — but I know now it would’ve been a mistake.”
Camrin stared at their hands, silent.
“I’m so, so sorry, Camrin.”
He was silent for a long while before his tongue slipped out to wet his lips. “I think I’ve always known, deep down. I…I didn’t want it to be true, and I fought against it so damned hard because all I wanted…I wanted you, Macy, but more than that, I wanted to make you happy.”
“You did, Camrin. You were there for me through it all. You made my days a little brighter.” She cupped his face, forcing him to look at her. “You did nothing wrong. Nothing. It was me. What I needed, what I wanted…”
“Is locked in a tank in the warehouse.”
Macy frowned and looked away. This time, Camrin guided her to face him, curling a finger beneath her chin. “I’m jealous as hell of him, Macy, and I wish you felt that way about me…but I really do want you to be happy. Which is why I want to help you.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He smirked. “Do you think I don’t know you and Aymee have something planned? She’s not exactly the most subtle person around here, and I’ve known you both since we were little kids.”
“You’ll help us?”
“Whatever you need from me, Macy.”
Macy threw her arms around him. “Thank you!”
With Camrin’s support, she made several slow laps around the room, detailing the plan as she walked. Before long, the door opened, and Aymee entered with Breckett close behind.
“You’re walking,” Breckett said, grinning through his thick beard.
Macy smiled. “Barely, but it’s getting better.”
“How much longer do you think it’ll be before she can come home?” he asked.
“Well…” Aymee looked at Macy and raised her brows.
“I’m not coming home.”
Breckett frowned, his gaze moving from Macy to Aymee, then Camrin, and back again. “What are you talking about?”
“I need your help, dad.”
His frown deepened. “You two, out.”
Without a word, Aymee and Camrin departed.
Breckett stared at Macy for a long while after the door was closed, nostrils flaring with his heavy exhalations. “Just when I get you back, you’re going to leave again?” His eyes glistened.
Unable to hold back her tears, Macy stumbled forward and threw her arms around her father. He stepped forward and caught her, drawing her into the shelter of his embrace.
“Tell me you know what you’re doing, Macy girl,” he rasped. “Tell me you’re going to be okay.”
“I will be. Jax loves me, dad, and I love him. I know he’s different, that he’s not…not human, but if you could only spend time with him…”
“Damn it, I have. And all he did was ask after you. Wouldn’t tell me anything else…he just wanted to know if you were okay, if he could see you.” He sniffed and tilted his head down, kissing her atop her head and tickling her face with his beard. “I just want you to be safe and happy. I’ll still break his neck if he hurts you, doesn’t matter where you go.”
Macy laughed and squeezed him tighter; her laughter quickly faded. “What about mom?”
He pulled back and took hold of her upper arms with his big, rough hands. “She’ll…she’ll come to terms with it, in time. I need you to know, Macy girl, that she never really blamed you for your sister. Your mom…she broke that day, and she’s never been quite right since. But I’ll take care of her while you’re gone.”
Macy nodded. “You’ll tell her I love her?”
“Course I will. Now, what do you need my help with?”
“We’re leaving tonight, but there’s no way I can get down to the water on my own. Even if I use crutches…I don’t need anyone asking why I’m out there on my own in the middle of the night. If you’re with me, though…”
“I’ll take you, Macy.”
“You will?”
“I will. But how’re you going to get him out of the tank? The town council put a lock on it until they decide what to do about all this, and we don’t have the key.”
“We’ll…figure it out. Aymee is going to speak with him soon. But afterward… We need to make sure everyone understands this is my choice. That I left with him willingly. I don’t want anyone to hunt him — to hunt us. He’s not a danger to anyone.”
“I’ll tell them, but there’re fools in this town who’ll run their mouths regardless. What about the guards?”
“Camrin is going to lure them away. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“If those men aren’t far enough away when that tank is broken, they’re going to hear it, Macy. They’ll come.”
Macy frowned. “Jax will just have to be faster than them. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He never hurt me, either, even when I gave him cause to, but all of this… It’s put his people at risk, and now he’s exposed.”
“And you can’t much blame a man — or whatever he is — for fighting for his life when his back’s in the corner.” He lifted a hand and tugged his fingers through his beard. “All right. When do I need to be here?”
“Come at sunset. It’ll…it’ll give us a little more time to talk.”
He wrapped her in a strong, secure embrace. “Love you, Macy girl.”
“I love you too, dad.”
Jax watched the guard leaning against the next tank over; the man’s head bobbed as he drifted toward sleep. The other guard sat on the floor near the entrance, back against the wall, and was using the tip of a knife to pick at a chunk of wood. Their conversation had died off long before, and idleness was taking a toll on them.
For five days, Jax had been trapped inside this damned tank, with no idea of where Macy was, or what she was doing. The guards changed twice each day and once every night. Most of them couldn’t help but walk up to the tank and ogle Jax with wonder at some point during their vigil; their faces were becoming familiar to him. A few had even attempted to talk with him; Jax wasn’t interested.
He trusted Aymee, but he wasn’t happy about the situation.
His muscles bristled with tension, with the need to move, to stretch, to swim. They gave him fresh fish several times a day, and though they tasted fine, there was no satisfaction in eating them. Not without the preceding hunt. He missed the open water. Missed exploring. Missed freedom.
More than all that, he missed Macy — the smile on her face, the sound of her laughter, sharing meals with her and lying beside her in the open air, admiring the stars.
Just as the sleepy guard began to tip forward, the door opened. The light was bright enough that Jax was momentarily blinded. After his eyes had adjusted, he watched as a newcomer — clearly Aymee, once she drew nearer — spoke with the guards, who had both moved to meet her.
Jax didn’t bother surfacing yet. After a brief conver
sation, the guards picked up their long guns and left, one of them raising his arms overhead and stretching as he moved. Only when the door was closed and Aymee stood in front of the tank did Jax rise.
“We don’t have much time,” she said. “We’re going to make our move tonight. Macy will be ready to leave, and we need to figure out how to get you out of this tank.”
His hearts quickened, and excitement swept through him, heightened by his need for action. “How?”
“We’re not really sure how it’ll play out. Macy’s father is going to take her to the docks to wait for you, and Camrin is going to lure the guards away.” Her eyes strayed to the crack in the glass. “The main thing is we want to keep anyone from getting hurt, so we need to be quick and quiet.”
“You need to try to call Arkon and Dracchus.”
Her eyes widened. “They’re here?”
“Arkon said he would wait and watch. He is in the water, not far offshore. He and Dracchus will help, if you can contact them and lead them to this place.”
“How do I contact them?”
“A sign.” Jax ducked under the surface and showed her the quick series of arm and hand movements. She repeated them with him several times until she got them right.
“What does that mean?” she asked when he came back up.
“Swim with me.”
“Swim with you? Not help? Or danger?”
“It is the only sign I can think of that doesn’t require tentacles or a color change, but still holds enough meaning to catch their attention.”
“What do you want me to tell—”
The door opened.
Aymee glanced over her shoulder. “I need to go. Tonight.”
She turned and went to meet the guards. Their voices were too muffled by distance for Jax to make out, so he sank down and closed his eyes. His tentacles twitched with anticipation, but all he could do was wait.
Tonight.
Chapter 24
“It has been five days,” Dracchus growled.
Arkon exhaled through his siphons and dropped his forehead to the rock he was leaning against. “I am aware.”
“How long do you intend to wait?”
“I will not leave them behind, Dracchus.”
Grunting, Dracchus moved forward along the stone, shifting his gaze to the human settlement. “That is not what I was implying. It is past time for us to go and get them.”
The idea was appealing; the two kraken had waited in the water since Jax returned Macy to her people, lurking along the cliffs as the tide rose and fell. Dracchus had very nearly charged in when the humans took up weapons and led Jax away, but Arkon had managed to stop him. Jax had been calm, and that was a good sign.
Or a very, very bad one.
“What do you propose?” Arkon asked. “Do you know where either of them are? Do you know what structures they have up on the cliffs, their layouts, their defenses? We don’t even know how many humans are up there.”
“Perhaps if you spent as much time thinking about what we can do, rather than why we shouldn’t do anything, you would have come up with a plan of your own.” Dracchus’s scowl was deep; even after everything that had transpired, Arkon couldn’t deny his satisfaction at seeing it.
“I would love nothing more than to go in there and see my friends again.” Arkon lifted his head and looked at the dock.
Most of the ships that had departed with the dawn had already returned, just ahead of the sunset. Humans moved in and out of the vessels, hauling barrels and netfuls of fish. Arkon couldn’t help his fascination as he watched them.
The kraken hunted together, survived together, but their society — if it could be called that — was comprised of staunch individuals. They congregated and worked together when necessary, but rarely displayed the warmth and familiarity the humans showed to one another.
The humans touched frequently — slapping each other on the back, clasping hands, even embracing. When they were near each other, they seemed to speak incessantly. They worked hard, males and females together, utilizing many devices — deceptively simple devices — as aids. They weren’t without their clashes, but those seemed few and far between.
“There is a female on the dock I have not seen before,” Dracchus said.
“Hmm?” Arkon shifted his gaze toward the land.
The female looked over her shoulder before stepping off the side of the dock; with the tide low, the narrow stretch of beach wrapping around the inside cure of the cliffs was exposed, ending near the rocks where Arkon and Dracchus waited. She moved along the sand, toward the kraken. As she walked, she did something that gave Arkon pause.
“Do you see that?” he asked.
“Perhaps it is a mistake. There is no way she would know that sign.”
But the female, after glancing behind her once more, repeated the arm motions exactly. She swept her gaze across the water.
“She would know it if Jax showed her. I will move closer. Speak to her,” Arkon said.
“If the men on the dock are alerted to our presence, they will be more watchful from now on. We will lose any opportunity we might have had to rescue Jax.”
“She’s repeating the sign deliberately. Jax must have taught her and sent her to look for us.”
Dracchus looked back at the woman, his frown, somehow, deepening. “Fine. Keep low and keep hidden.”
Arkon pushed off the rock and dipped below the surface, swimming toward the woman. As the water grew shallower, he altered his skin to match the bottom and slowed, digging his claws and the tips of his tentacles into the soft sand to anchor himself from the tide. He lifted his head above the surface, and his breath caught in his throat.
The wind had swept the female’s long, brown hair — its spiraling strands so unlike Macy’s — into her face. She slipped her fingers into her hair and tugged it back, revealing a delicate face with dark eyes and pink lips. Her features were similar to Macy’s only in that she was also human. Her skin was darker, and she was taller, with long, graceful limbs.
She was beautiful.
The female made the sign again.
“Where are they?” she asked.
“Here.”
The female leapt backward. When her feet hit the sand, she fell, landing on her rear. She searched the nearby water with rounded eyes, moving them directly over Arkon twice.
“Where are you?”
“I am here.” Arkon allowed a flash of his normal color to pass across his face.
Her lips parted as she met his gaze. “Macy said you changed color, but I guess I just didn’t expect this.” She moved onto her hands and knees and crawled toward him.
“You know Macy? Is she all right?”
She stopped as the surf rolled in, running over her wrists and dampening her clothes. “She’s got a long recovery ahead, but she’s doing well. My name is Aymee. Are you…Arkon?”
His eyes widened. This was Aymee, the friend Macy had spoken of? His wildest imaginings hadn’t done her justice.
“I…yes. Yes, I am. Arkon.”
“Do you not speak English as well as Jax does?”
Surprise skittered over Aymee’s face as Arkon’s camouflage faltered; he was suddenly quite nervous, more than ever in his life, and his tongue felt somehow dry. Less than a body’s length of distance lay between them, just a bit of sand and water. “I, uh…yes. I mean…no. I speak well enough, thank you. I’m just a bit weary?”
Arkon squeezed his eyes shut and gave himself a mental shake. She’d sought him for a reason; Jax and Macy had sent her, and that was more important right now.
“If you’ve been waiting out here all this time, I’m sure you are.” Her eyes moved over him slowly. “You are fascinating.”
He smiled as warmth spread over his skin. “Why have you come to find us, Aymee? What is happening?”
“Is Dracchus here, too?”
Arkon’s gaze flicked toward the rocks for a moment. “He is close by…but he’s not very good company.”
He was suddenly glad Dracchus had stayed behind; he didn’t want anyone else to see this female, for fear they’d desire her. Arkon wanted Aymee to be his alone.
She grinned. “So Macy told me.” A wave crashed over Arkon, forcing Aymee to turn her face away as she was sprayed. “They’re leaving tonight, but Jax needs your help.”
His smile faded. “They are okay, are they not?”
“They’re fine.” Aymee turned toward the dock, watching silently, then looked back to Arkon. “That building up there with the crane, do you see it?” she asked, pointing over her shoulder.
He followed her gesture with his eyes; he felt it safe to assume that the large device hanging over the edge of the cliff was the crane. One end of a large building was visible nearby it. “I do.”
“He’s in there, but he’s locked in a tank. No one has hurt him, though. It’s just a precaution.”
“How do we get inside to get him out?”
“The warehouse doors themselves aren’t locked. It’s just a place where the fishermen store catches and their supplies. Someone’s going to lead the guards away for a little while, so you have a chance to slip inside to get him out.” She frowned. “We don’t want anyone hurt, including you.”
Arkon glanced toward the rocks again; Dracchus’s body was mostly hidden by his camouflage, but Arkon could just make out orange, staring eyes. “That should not be an issue.”
“Macy’s father is going to carry her to the docks to wait, so you and Dracchus need to be ready and waiting tonight for our friend to lead the guards away.” Her gaze moved over him again. “With that camouflage, you should be able to get up there once it’s dark and wait nearby. Right?”
“We will manage, Aymee. Are your people armed?”
“The guards are, which is why we’re going to get them as far from the warehouse as we can.”
“We’ll be especially careful, then.”
She turned her head toward the dock for a moment before looking back at Arkon. “Can you show me your normal color, one more time?”
Almost without thinking, he shifted his face to its natural coloring; he was unable to look away from her.
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