Echoes of the Tide (Deep Waters #3)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

A ce really should have paid attention to what was being said, but she couldn’t pull her attention away from the undine in front of her. She’d always heard they were big. She’d seen them outside the glass and knew they were big, but to see them right here? Right in front of her?

This was an entirely different circumstance than seeing them from beyond the safety of glass and sea.

The male who spoke, the one that pulled out the box as well, was massive. His hair had been slicked back from his head, revealing twin gills that abutted the sharp edge of his jaw. Yellow and lined with black details, they were so thin she could see his hair through them from where they were flat against his head. His webbed, clawed hands were massive where they rested against the floor. But her eyes were drawn to his pale chest, where more golden color streaked down in rivers from his shoulders to the scales that started at his waist and then disappeared under the water.

And then there was his tail. It was huge, like a giant eel undulating underneath the water, but she couldn’t stop staring at it. It was so big! Thick and powerful, the massive fluke at the end churned up the water into foam that soon gathered around his waist.

He was an ocean god before them, and every part of her seized in fear. What would he ask of them? She knew the undine wouldn’t help humans without getting something in return.

She’d been more than a little furious when fucking Jacob handed over her newest weapon and then lied right to their faces. That bolt drone wouldn’t fire underwater. Maybe a couple of times, but the electricity wouldn’t work underwater. She’d never tested it, and frankly, she had a feeling it would electrocute everyone within a fair distance.

Gregor nudged her hard, then nodded at the boss. Right, she had been gestured forward. She was the one who was supposed to get the translation chip. Already she could see the rage on her boss’s face. Jacob didn’t like anyone being more important than him. He used his fists to make that point very clear for all who worked for him, and she was certain she’d be hearing about this the moment the undine swam away from the room.

But for now, she let herself feel a little thrill. She hadn’t expected to get access to their language. Even as the yellow undine before her spoke, all she could hear was a loud, whale-like sound. The low, rumbling tones were captivating.

Breathing out, she made her way to stand before him and saw surprise in his eyes. Maybe he hadn’t expected a woman to be here. Maybe he hadn’t realized that she’d been a woman this whole time.

A lot of people didn’t. Any of their contacts considered her genderless, as she sometimes wanted to be. The world didn’t need to know what was between her legs to respect her.

The undine held up a chip for her, and she knew it was going to hurt. She’d only gotten one before when someone had moved in next door to her and spoke a different language. The screaming pain had been more than enough to convince her to never get another one of these again. Of course, she didn’t have a choice this time. It was either one of those electric bolts to the head, or she was going to get this translation chip.

Not really much of a difference, if she was being honest.

She took the chip and then sank it behind her ear before she could second guess herself. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she stood there and stared into Maketes’s eyes. All the others were talking around them. Jacob was saying something about a deal that would benefit both of them. The undine were murmuring behind Maketes, even the chattering of other people seemed so loud as the translation chip did its job.

But she was stuck staring into Maketes’s eyes. The dark orbs reflected her own pained expression, the lank hair that clung to her face, because she was already sweating. When had she become this monstrous creature who stood before him? She’d never been pretty, but she’d never thought of herself as particularly ugly either.

What she wouldn’t give for a bath. Or even just dunking herself in the ocean, so she didn’t have to suffer with the grime on her skin anymore. And then the pain stopped, flipped like a switch, and she could breathe again.

Ace pressed her hands to her stomach, willing the meager bile to stay in her belly. She wanted to eat today, and she definitely didn’t want to vomit up the rest of her stomach contents.

The yellow undine in front of her reached out his hand. The webs were more than just black, she realized. They glimmered in the light, like an oil slick. Countless colors all caught between his fingers and surrounded by deadly claws.

A trap, just like the angler fish she’d seen once before. A pretty thing caught in the midst of all those deadly claws.

“You are Ace?” he asked, and she understood him. It was a slow conversation, but it was there. Words.

“And you are Maketes.”

Right here in front of her. It was the undine she’d been talking to for so many weeks now. Over a month, perhaps. She knew this monster in front of her, and it was hard to envision him like... this. Everything in her said he was just a man. She’d talked with him before, she knew who he was. He had a shrewd mind that saw a significant amount of details when he was planning quite literally anything. He had a funny sense of humor that never ceased to entertain her. He’d even told her about his life outside of destroying Alpha. But in her head, even though she knew what he was, she’d always imagined him as a human.

So seeing that he was right here in front of her, finally, but he wasn’t the man she had imagined?

It was messing with her head.

Jacob stood behind her, a wall of muscle and angry energy. “What did he say?”

“He was just confirming I am who I say I am.”

Jacob sighed. “I need you to give me an answer, undine. Weapons for your help.”

She could see the mistrust in the undine’s eyes. All of them. None of them believed the humans would stay true to their word. And she supposed that was fair enough. They’d been fighting with each other for a long time.

“He’s telling the truth,” she interjected, worrying only slightly that Jacob would consider her to be stepping out of line. “He’s not lying. I’m sure there are some humans who would lie to you, and they would try to do anything they could to get you to work for them. But the weapons are real. I helped make them myself.”

She omitted that the weapons wouldn’t work exactly as Jacob had said, but she could clarify that later. Right now, she needed this deal to go through. Because if it didn’t? She was the person who would be beaten.

Jacob clapped a hand on her shoulder. “That’s right. And it’s a good thing you already talked with Ace, because she’ll be helping you get what I want.”

Wait, what?

She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. Ace had her spot in this tower, and that was fixing the droids and making weapons whenever those were necessary. She didn’t go on missions. She didn’t risk her life or do any of the other stupid things that everyone else did. Ace stayed home. Safe, sound, and useful. That was her job.

Until, she realized, Jacob decided it wasn’t any longer. She never should have trusted this lint licker.

Maketes eyed her and then looked back at Jacob. “You will not wish to repeat this to him. This man is lying. We can smell it in the air, and whatever he wants, it’s not worth the risk. I would prefer that you risked your life with me, because I can keep you safe in this sea. However, you need to know that this man does not mean well. He feeds you to the sea, knowing that you may not return.”

She knew Jacob expected her to say something. She had to repeat and translate. “He asks what kind of mission you’re going to send them on.”

“Seemed like an awful lot of words for so little meaning.” Jacob’s hand on her shoulder tightened. “You telling me everything, Ace?”

“They speak very slowly.” It was a shit excuse, but it was the only one she had.

Maketes shifted in front of her, his gills flaring at her lie. “Good. Now you’re going to tell him that I will agree to nothing without more answers from him.”

A significantly larger undine swam up behind Maketes. This one had vague breasts on her chest, although they were not the same color or shape as humans. They were much more flat, like swollen pectorals. Almost as though she merely had more fat there for some warming reason, rather than just for feeding their children.

“You do not make the decisions here, Maketes,” the new undine spat.

“I do when it comes to matters of these achromos.”

Achromo. She’d read the word he’d sent her before, but she hadn’t realized what it meant. Achromo must mean human.

They were already bickering again, both of them sending jabs at each other until she interjected, “Jacob, why don’t you tell them what you want?”

Both of the undine stopped talking and glared. They were intimidating when they did that. Otherworldly and monstrous in a way she hadn’t realized could exist outside of story books. One of the undine behind the other two bared its teeth, and she stared into the razor sharp maw with dread. If Jacob made one mistake, just one, then everything really was going to shit.

Jacob cleared his throat, obviously a little uncomfortable. “There is a key in another tower that I need you to get. The problem is that we can’t get into the other towers, and we aren’t sure which tower it’s in to begin with. But that key is vital to us being safe and living where we are. It holds a great amount of power in Gamma, and I want it.”

She hadn’t ever heard about a key. A key to what?

“All we need from you is transportation. You will bring Ace to the main tower where I believe the key was last seen, and then you will pick her back up and bring her here. We even have a dive suit that will suffice for travel, so the only thing you have to worry about is getting her in and out of a building.” Jacob spread his hands wide with a grin that was far too smarmy for comfort. “It’s an easy job to do, and in return, I’ll give you the best weapons you’ll ever have.”

That was a stretch. She didn’t have to say it though, because Maketes was quick to reply, “The best weapons are my own hands, achromo. I could rip your head off and toss it into the crowd of your people before you take your next breath. Let’s not pretend you can create any weapon more deadly than me.”

She felt faint. She knew her face had turned white at the same time she felt dizzy because Jacob immediately snarled, “What did he say?”

She didn’t know how to lie about that one. All she could envision were these undine crawling out of the water and starting to tear limbs off. She’d seen them do it the one time, and she didn’t want to see them do it again. She couldn’t protect herself. Not from that amount of power and speed. They would kill her so quickly?—

Jacob shook her. “Ace, what did he say?”

Before she could try to make up something that wouldn’t cause Jacob to tell everyone to open fire, Maketes spoke again. This time, he scratched his claws down the metal floor as well, making a horrible sound that all the humans winced at.

“We will accept this deal of his. We will take you to the tower you speak of, and we will provide you with whatever else you need.”

The other, larger undine hissed, “We need to talk about this.”

“Tell him now, Ace.”

She respected that the bigger undine might have a little more say in this situation, but she wasn’t going to risk ignoring a direct order. She looked at Jacob and said, “They accept.”

“Unwillingly, it seems.”

“There’s some back and forth between them, but it seems like the overall consensus is that they accept.” Which was a lie. But she knew it was the only decision she could make, considering the threat of death right in front of her.

“Good achromo,” Maketes said with a grin, all of his sharp teeth on display. “I will be back for you soon."

“When?”

The undine were already sinking back underneath the water, one by one. Her yellow finned devil was the last one to go. His dark eyes watched her every second that he moved away. “Tomorrow. Be ready in the same place. I will not wait long.”

And then he disappeared, too. Just sinking into the black water and then... gone. Like they were never here. Like everyone in this room had shared a fever dream that would leave them forever changed.

“The fuck was that?” Gregor muttered. “I don’t like it, boss. I don’t like having them so close to our home.”

“It’s the best chance we’ve got,” Jacob said. Then his hand clamped down on her shoulder again, squeezing so tightly she swore she could feel her bones creaking. “Come on, Ace. You and me need to have a chat about what you’re going to do.”

No one stopped him. No one even offered to help. They all just watched the two of them walk out of the room with worried expressions on their faces and pitying glances that told her everything she needed to know.

This wouldn’t be a good meeting. Nor would it be an easy one.

She held her breath until they made it out into the semi private hall. Jacob threw her against the nearest wall the moment no one could see. Dust rained down on her head, and the sign above her rattled against the metal wall with an ominous threat. He didn’t care, though. If it fell on his big ass head, then he would just shake it off like an enraged bull.

“Listen to me, you little lying sneak. I know your kind. You got here because you snuck through the shadows, fucking around with whatever you wanted until you got caught. You think you’re smarter than everyone else, but let me tell you, you’re not smarter than me. I get even a hint that you’re out of line, I have a direct way to kill your sister. You hear me, Ace?”

Her blood ran cold. But her sister was in Beta, not here. Her sister was safe. Her sister was untouchable by anyone in this horrible place.

“I can see those thoughts going through your head. But you’ve been sending a droid to go check on her, and I’ve known about that since the first day you built it a year ago. I know where she is. I have friends in low places, and I will not hesitate to kill her. Now nod your head to say you understand.”

She nodded. He had her by the throat and he knew it. She would never let anyone take her sister away from her. Never.

“Good. Now that key unlocks a vault in the main tower. The one where all the security is. We can get to that tower if we want to, but the key still stands in our way. According to the logs in the maintenance area of our tower, there is a key that unlocks it. The last known person to have it was in the medical pavilion. That’s where you’re going. His name was Doctor Kraus. Get in, get the key from his office, and then come back here. Got it?”

“Doctor Kraus’s office in the medical pavilion, look for a key. Got it.”

“It’s not...” Jacob hissed out an angry breath and then seemed to pull himself back together. “It won’t be a door key, you idiot. It’ll be something like a chip or a card. They didn’t live like we do. So figure out what the key is, get it, and your sister stays alive.”

She nodded again, her mind fraying at the edges. He was too close. Too big. Too angry.

And then he lunged even closer, pressing his forehead against hers and grinding the back of her skull into the wall. Rusted metal bit through her hair, and she could feel the thin skin shredding open with the movement.

“I need you to understand the risk, Ace. You fuck up one time, and your pretty little sister is mine. Let’s just say that. I’ll kill her, but I’ll make her wish she was dead long before I hand her a knife.”

She felt her entire body go numb as he leaned away from her. Fear made her knees weak, but she remained standing. Because there was nothing else for her to live for other than her sister.