Mira slowly scooted upright, leaning her back against the stairs as he slid back into the water. They stared at each other, neither trusting the other, but she knew she had to make this leap. She had to do something or this undine would kill her.
"Where is Arges?" she asked.
"Not coming back."
Her stomach flipped and sudden nausea pressed against the back of her throat. "Is he..."
"He's alive." The undine shook his head. "He chose me to come after you. Our council wants you dead. I was supposed to get it over with already. I shouldn't have stopped even when I heard you speak. I should have cut your throat and left you for the sharks. That's what... That's what I'm supposed to do."
There it was.
A spark of guilt that flashed in his eyes before he squeezed them shut. She was so much better at reading undine expressions now that she'd been around Arges. She could see from the flat gills on the sides of his head that he didn't want to do this. He didn't want to hurt her.
"But you're not going to kill me, are you?" she breathed. "You don't agree with killing me. With killing someone you can clearly see is a person, not just your enemy."
"You don't have to rub it in," he grumbled. Something dark flashed in his gaze before he jerked his head toward the back of the room. "Gather what you need. You're not staying here."
"Where are we going?"
"Home."
"Home?" She launched to her feet, racing for her wetsuit and rebreather. It had been a little clunky lately, but it would have to work. The wetsuit had seen better days as well. It wasn't going to keep her warm for much longer. The rip in the back had only gotten bigger, and she didn't have her gloves or fins anymore. The head piece was nearly coming off, but it would work. "Are we going to where your home is?"
"Not my home." He said nothing else until she got close to the edge of the moon pool, tugging her wet suit so it fit better and fixing the rebreather to her mouth. "I'm bringing you home, achromo."
Bringing her home? To Beta?
"Byte," she said, turning for the box.
But she didn't get a chance to grab the droid, who had said absolutely nothing thus far, before the undine grabbed her around the waist. She let out a little shriek of fear before she hit the water hard. Apparently him understanding that she didn't deserve to die didn't mean he was going to be gentle with her.
He grabbed her by the arm, yanking a little too hard as he dragged her through the water. Her shoulder screamed in protest, and she shouted a few times for him to slow down.
He either couldn't hear her, or didn't care to. The undine plunged into the darkness of the sea and the only thing she could do was hope he didn't rip her arm off on the way.
She didn't know how long they traveled, only that eventually she reached with her free hand to grab onto his wrist. Instead of giving her any reprieve, he wrapped his hand around both of her wrists.
The journey was long and painful. Everything in her ached, from her head to her toes. She didn't think all of it was entirely physical, though. Part of the pain came from knowing that in saving her own life, she was giving up so much more.
Arges had to know where they were taking her. Maybe he would come for her, and maybe he wouldn't. She had no idea what his own people would do to him for the abomination of their romance. Byte would remain alone in that tomb for the rest of time, now. No human was going to find him in that dome, because no one ever ventured out of the safety of their own homes. She had doomed him. Completely and utterly doomed the little creature who didn't deserve to be alone again.
Tears burned in her eyes, but she couldn't open them. So the tears just streamed out of her squeezed lids, until she found herself in some kind of strange trance. She stayed drifting in the water, her body limp and her muscles finally easing.
She let the current carry her and the undine who dragged her. She let the ocean know that she forgave it. She was angry, so angry, but there was no more fight left in her. She had fought for a very long time.
And now, she wanted to just rest. With the soul of her father and mother, the people who had raised her to never give up. Maybe they would be disappointed in her right now. But she liked to think they would understand.
The undine dragged her closer to him, and she felt a strong arm band around her waist. Then she finally opened her eyes and saw Beta in front of her. The glowing lights. The neverending expanse of the city that stretched so far and looked so out of place in the sea now that she had seen so much more of it.
"Your home," the undine said. "Get inside."
"I don't know how to get inside," she said. "There is no easy way to get into Beta from the outside."
He shoved her toward it. "That's your problem, achromo. I got you here. Now get yourself inside."
Was this a trick? Did he want to see how she got back into the city? Because she'd already used the service elevator once, and the damn thing had barely gotten her into the city the first time. Maybe if she found another one, she'd get lucky. But she really didn't think there were any exciting new ways to get into her old home.
Her rebreather kicked against her face.
Every fiber of her being froze in horror. It had never done that before. Not once. And then the air she was breathing got real thin, a little like it had in the tunnels when Arges had cut off their air supply.
She pointed to the rebreather on her face. "My air. I think it's broken."
He swam a little farther away from her, lifting his hands and looking like he was incapable of helping. "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do. I said I would get you home. This is as close as I can get to the city without your people attacking me."
"But I can't–” She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to still the anxiety. "I can't breathe."
"The sea is no place for your kind, achromo. This is proof of that."
And then he was gone. He spun around, flicked that tail, and left her all alone where she was clearly going to drown.
Fuck.
"Fucking hell," she repeated out loud before swimming as fast as she could toward the nearest window.
There was nothing she could do now except stay alive. Maybe, if she was lucky, her own people could get her inside. So she swam, harder than she ever had before, with numb fingers and toes that she was afraid she would lose. And then she attached herself to the glass, holding on for dear life as she pounded on it. Again and again. Hitting the glass with all her rage, fear, and sadness that life would never be the same again.
Not without him.
Thirty-Six
Arges
He stayed there, lying in the sand, for weeks. Staring up at the darkness of the sea and swearing that he would get revenge for what they had done to him. For what they had done to them.
He had no idea where she was. He’d heard the moment Maketes returned. His brother had come home to much fanfare, but Maketes had remained quiet. Even when people asked him what he had done. So many of his people wanted the dirty details of how badly she had screamed. Had she writhed in the water while she died, trying her best to get a hint of air that her kind could not breathe?
It hurt to listen to them be so cruel. He knew that their limited knowledge claimed that her people were monsters. They were taught from the day they were born that the achromos were the enemy.
But none of them had spoken with her. They didn’t know what it was like to see her expression soften every time she saw something beautiful, nor did they know the tears that always welled in her eyes when he brought her a fish to eat. They didn’t see the bravery or the heart that burned so hot in her core sometimes he swore he could see it glowing in her chest.