But his mind had always been stronger than his heart. He knew he wasn’t the fastest swimmer here. And if they could get her back to the dome, then they could save her life. The medkit was something he’d already explained to many of his people. They would press it to her belly and it would heal her.
She had to heal.
No one would take her from him. Especially not some weak, scrawny achromo who thought he was strong because there was a wall of glass between him and one of the People of Water.
“You’re not going to die,” he snarled. “I forbid it.”
“You may have stolen me for the last time.” Water flowed over her mouth as she spoke, bubbles of air filtering off her tongue and jittering as they rose toward the surface. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I should have fought harder.”
“Mira!” he shouted, his voice echoing as loud as a whale call. “You’re not going to die. Stop apologizing for something you did not do. I was the one who failed you.”
“You didn’t fail me.”
He did.
He had.
He probably would again.
But not this time. This time, he would save her. He would keep her alive and he wouldn’t make the choice that his heart wanted him to make. He had a mind, a quick-witted mind, and this was the best time for him to use it.
Whipping his fluke, he shot toward one of the larger females in his group. She had scars decorating her arms and dark splotches of deep purple that spread all along her tail and arms. She’d cut her hair very short, cropped close to her skull. The female was obviously surprised when he swam up to her and reached for a long tendril at the back of her skull.
“What are you doing, Arges?” she asked.
“You’re taking her to the dome.”
“I am here to fight.”
“You’re taking her to the dome and using the medkit like I taught you.” He looked down at Mira, at the pale flesh that had turned almost as gray as his own. “Mira, hold your breath.”
He couldn’t feel her breathing. He exhaled long and hard, feeling it go through the tube that came out of him and watching her own chest expand. Then he ripped the tendril out of her neck and quickly replaced it with the one that came out of the female of his own kind.
She hissed, the sound echoing through the water as the strange feeling overtook her. “What have you done to me, Arges?”
“Something that we are all capable of doing and none of us were aware of it until now.” He made sure the goo around her tendril was thick before handing Mira over to her. “You breathe for her now, Melete. I need you to bring her to the dome, heal her. Save her life.”
“The life of an achromo?” Melete winced, her lips drawing up over her teeth in disgust.
He swam closer, their faces almost touching as he loomed over the much larger female. “The life of my mate, Melete.”
That did it. She nodded, turning to leave and only stopping when he grabbed her arm so he could take one last look at the tiny achromo in her arms.
Mira looked even smaller when she was held by a female of his kind. She looked like a child, with her legs drawn up to her chest and tremors shaking her body as she endured the pain.
He leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. “You stay alive for me. Do you hear me, Mira? Fight. You have to fight like you’ve never fought before.”
She brushed her lips against his in a weak kiss. “I love you.”
Arges reached out his hand and laid it between her breasts. “You hold my soul, kairos. Keep it safe for me.”
With a quick nod to Melete, he let another one of his people take his heart through the sea. He couldn’t think of her just yet. He couldn’t let the worry and the fear swell over his head like a wave and break everything he had worked so hard to get.
Right now, he had to focus on leading his people and making the achromos pay for what they had done to the woman he loved. Right now, there was only one achromo he wanted to kill.
Cracking his neck, he turned his attention back to the city. Already his people were working on dismantling the moon pools. They would tear the metal apart once the bolts were melted, just like Mira had done to help him all those months ago. They would rip into the city and they would bring the achromos true nightmares to life.
Joining his pod, he turned his attention to them. “Find what we need. There should be plenty of weapons in the tubes I showed you before. I have seen them while I watched the achromos. It is the most important thing that we will find. Weapons will help us be able to stand a chance against these people.”
“People,” Daios repeated with a snort. “That’s what you are calling them now, brother?”
Turning with a snarl, he grabbed Daios by the neck and dragged his brother so close he could see the filaments of the gills on his neck flaring for breath. “Listen to me very closely. You will kill whoever you want. You will get your blood. But I am the one getting you into the city and I am the one who can understand them. Do not test me now, Daios.”
Another hand settled on his back, trying to stop the anger that surged in his veins. “We are with you, Arges. Despite what your brother says.”
“Watch him closely, Maketes.” Arges released his blood brother and turned his attention to the first open moon pool. “Whatever mess he causes is your responsibility as well.”
As for him, it was time to hunt. Arges would find that achromo who had laid his hands on Mira and he would destroy him.
As one, his pod turned toward the first open moon pool. He was the first to launch himself out of the water and drag himself into the home of the achromos. Even having been here before, it was difficult for him once inside. The colors were so bleak. White walls, lights that were far too bright, and two technicians who stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. Before they could reach for the weapons at their hips, he batted them aside.
One of the men hit their head against the edge of a console and blood splattered on the floor. The other tripped and fell into the water where Arges did not watch to see what happened. He did not say his people couldn’t kill, and they needed this. They deserved to have blood underneath their claws after all they had endured.
Dragging himself out of the door, pushing it open with his shoulders and barely fitting through it, he expelled all the water from his gills and started forward. The halls were still tight. He couldn’t quite touch either side with outstretched arms, but it was close.
Achromos scattered. Screams filled the hall, and he knew soon enough there would be soldiers with powerful weapons. His pod would never see the soldiers, because he was the bait.
His warriors turned a corner behind him, and then another. They all slithered down the halls, dragging themselves on their bellies and ignoring everything but what they sought. Soon they would have weapons. They would be able to fight back.
Arges was focused only on one achromo. And that man had been deeper in the city.
He crawled quickly, his tail lashing out behind him and catching any achromos stupid enough to get close. They fired their weapons at him, the sound of them pinging against his scales and digging into his flesh. He didn’t stop. Not even when his black blood left streaks behind him.
Because he had seen the man. He watched as the achromo ran from him, but there was no terror in the man’s eyes. Only a realization that he was being hunted. And perhaps a thrill in that.
He tracked him through the city. Past massive rooms with glass ceilings, beyond rooms that were filled with so much shit, he couldn’t guess what it all was. Deeper and deeper into the heart of the city. Perhaps this was a trap, but he highly doubted it.