Echoes of the Tide (Deep Waters #3)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

M aketes watched her sleep. She probably didn’t think he could see her, especially not when he slid back into the water. But the much smaller room she’d chosen to sleep in had a window as well. It was easy for him to swim out into the dark waters and situate himself where he could watch her. Just in case anything went wrong.

And maybe just because he liked looking at her. He’d been right about her hair drying into a pretty color. There were streaks of lighter brown in it, and it was darker underneath, giving layers that made her hair shine now that it was clean.

He had half a mind to ask how it had gotten that greasy and unclean. Was there nowhere to bathe in Gamma? That couldn’t be right. There were so many places for her to bathe, considering they lived surrounded by the ocean. But everyone there had been dirty. Even the men that had been surrounding her had been grimy, just like her.

With his tail anchoring him to kelp, Maketes watched her. Sure, it had been a slight lie about traveling in the middle of the night. The depthstriders were a risk to swim through with a human, and one he wasn’t going to take. But the risk to himself? Nonexistent. None of the depthstriders attacked their own, although the other pods were fair game.

A human, though? He wasn’t sure they wouldn’t want to battle him for the right to rip her apart.

The moment she stirred, he quickly headed back to the opening. He was right where he should be the moment she staggered into the main room, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She had her glasses in her hand, and he marveled at the roundness of her features.

He was so used to his kind’s angular faces. The sharp edges and hard jawlines were strong and proud, and he was certain she must find him attractive in a way. But she had a face like the shape of the moon. Her cheeks were so soft looking, with a smattering of freckles and the rosy hues of a blush. And when she slid those glasses back in place, focusing on him where he waited for her to look at him, he felt like all the breath in his lungs was stolen.

An achromo that was all his own. Maybe that was all he’d been waiting for.

“Good morning,” he said, feeling his gills already standing straight out as he waited for her to notice him.

Her brows furrowed, and she winced. “Is it a good morning?”

“You seemed to sleep well.”

“What about this—” she waved up and down her body “—makes you think I slept well?”

He pillowed his chin on his fist, looking her up and down before saying, “You drool in your sleep.”

Immediately she wiped at her chin, but there wasn’t anything there for her to wipe. Her expression changed to one of confusion before she glared. “Were you watching me sleep?”

“Someone had to keep watch.”

“The door is barricaded, and I would hear anyone trying to get in. That’s so weird that you watched me sleep!”

He shrugged. “Anyway, we have a busy day together. You wanted to get to the top of the tower, right?”

As expected, his swift change in subject threw her. She stood there, staring at him in obvious confusion, and almost as though her body had stopped working. He had to hide a grin, because he knew it would only make things worse. But really, she was adorable, floundering to find something to say to him.

Maketes couldn’t help but prod just a little more. “You did want to go, right?”

“Yes,” she blurted out before muttering under her breath about meddlesome men.

He did grin then, watching as she yanked that ugly diving suit off a chair and started pulling it onto her legs. One by one. He watched her movements avidly, wondering if she’d let him touch them. She’d let him touch her hair, and that had been very enjoyable. Maybe if he asked really nicely, she wouldn’t mind if he explored that interesting bend in her back.

Really, he just wanted to touch her. It seemed like it would be pleasant.

“Would you stop staring?” she grumbled. “It is way too early to be dealing with your nonsense.”

“Unfortunately, I am the only undine who made the deal to work with you, so you do have to deal with me no matter how little you want to.” He smiled at her when she looked. “But I think you want to spend time with me.”

“What would ever give you that impression?”

He shrugged before pointing at her legs. “You put it on backwards.”

Ace looked down at herself before letting out a little growl that was impressively intimidating before pulling the whole thing off again. She made quick work of getting the entire suit on and then yanking the helmet down over her head. She fiddled with it a few times, again making those little grumbling noises that were adorable, before she huffed and held her hands out at her sides.

“Fine, I’m ready.” Those arms flopped up and down at her sides.

Did she want him to pick her up? How adorable. And he would gladly use any excuse to touch her, if only to feel how soft she was again.

Maketes surged out of the water, ignoring the splashing wave that rolled over the floor and soaked the chairs that were once pristine. He placed his hands on either side of her waist, waiting for her to relax and not be quite so tense before he lifted her up and then drew her into the water with him.

She made a long, sustained hissing noise the moment she touched the water. Likely because of the cold. He knew the achromos were a lot more sensitive than his people were. Of course, Mira and Anya were in a much higher area of the sea. The water there was warmer, and still they complained about the cold when they got into the water without their suits on.

“Are you cold?” he asked as they sank underneath the surface. A floating picture moved between them, sticking onto her helmet. It was once the image of a man’s face, and he couldn’t read what it said. But there were only four letters, bright red over his head as the man seemed to point at him.

She dashed the paper off the helmet while spluttering, “Of course I’m cold! It’s the ocean!”

He was coming to realize that his achromo was not a morning person. Which, unfortunately for her, he was. Maketes loved the morning and the adventure of a day left unplanned. It seemed Ace was not the same. Perhaps he had known that already, though. She never messaged him early in the day, but he had assumed that was because she had been busy.

Releasing her, Maketes held out a hand to guide her through the labyrinth of this building and out into the open sea. She was smart, though. His achromo knew not to shoot out into the sea blindly. She braced her hands above her head on the very edge of the cracked opening and stared out into the abyss.

He’d thought perhaps she would feel some sense of fear in it. But he didn’t taste that in the water at all. Instead, all he sensed from her was a determination as she watched the waters for any threat. If he were a depthstrider, he might not want to attack her. She was a fiercesome creature, and capable of biting back.

What a wondrous discovery.

Swimming up behind her, he smoothed his hand all the way up her spine until he could palm the back of her helmet. Gently, he nudged her out and used his grip to show her the upper levels of the building above them.

“We go up there. I believe there are other structural issues with this tower. We should be able to get inside.”

“There’s an office up there that I need to focus our efforts on.”

“Understood.” Although, he wasn’t all that certain what an office was. Mira had a few rooms that she kept for herself in the larger floating home they had built for the humans. Perhaps that was what Ace referred to.

Gathering her up in his arms, he pressed her tightly against his chest and started off. It was a slow journey, one he didn’t quite like. But if they were to get inside, he needed them to be far enough away from the building so that anyone inside couldn’t see them, but also so that they could see any rips or tears in the metal and glass.

It only impeded what they were able to see. Still, she clutched onto his shoulders and every inch of her was pressed against him. That was a good enough reason for him to take his time.

Her legs were tight around his waist, tucked up against his rib gills and making it a little difficult to breathe. But he didn’t mind so much, because all he could smell was the faintest hint of her scent. It filtered through his gills, giving him the sensation of bright places above the surface. She’d never been, but he was certain her scent was what it was to smell sunshine. Those tiny hands were pressed against his chest, and he could easily feel the strength of her thighs against him.

Already he could feel his gills starting to shake. Which was foolish. He knew he was here on a job, and she hadn’t shown any inclination that she was interested in him at all. In fact, he would suggest that she was anything but interested. Ace had made it very clear that she wanted to stay far away from him and just get this over with.

Unfortunately for them both, his gills that had never moved in his life were starting to wake up.

Clearing his throat, he tried very hard to distract himself. “Why did they send you, of all people?”

She looked up at him, her nose wrinkled in confusion. “What?”

“Why did they send you? There were plenty of other people.”

She shrugged. “I assume because I was the only one who was offered the translation device.”

He doubted that. There was a calculating look in her leader’s eyes that clearly stated the man had more of a plan than just to send off the only person who the People of Water had picked.

“No,” he murmured. “I don’t think it was just that.”

Perhaps it was the serious tone in his voice that made her tense up. Or maybe it was just the sea itself. Everything was rather quiet in the ocean today, a detail he hadn’t noticed until Ace started climbing his body like she was terrified.

And then the scent of her fear stank up the water. There was a balloon of it covering him, cloying and awful in its need to assert there was something terribly, dreadfully wrong.

“Swim!” she shouted, though her voice was muffled by the helmet. “Please, for the love of god, swim!”

He had no idea what god she was talking about, and likely would need clarification on that soon enough. But first, he wanted to understand why she was so frightened.

“What is happening?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her and flaring his gills wide so he looked bigger to any other of his kind that might try to attack them.

“Shark!”

Shark? He hadn’t seen any... oh. There it was. The massive female was longer than he was. A great white of her size likely had traveled the seas for sixty years, and she was a beauty. Her massive belly was stuffed full already, suggesting she’d had a meal around here recently. Although, the closer he looked, the more he thought perhaps she was pregnant. Shark pups took a long time to grow in their bellies.

Black eyes looked back at him as the great white started toward them. He could read the curiosity in her movements, and that there was no intent in her to harm them. She just wanted to see what the fuss was about.

“You’re scared of sharks?” he murmured, moving his hands up and down her back reassuringly.

“Maketes, now is not the time for questions. Why aren’t you swimming?”

“Because a shark loves to chase, and no one is going to beat her in a race. They are some of the best hunters in the sea.” With some difficulty, he turned her in his arms. She had her back against his chest now, facing the giant shark that meandered toward them.

The beauty wasn’t moving fast. She was just gliding toward them. Ace shook in his arms, shrinking back into him as though she might melt into his skin.

“I don’t like this, Maketes.” The poor achromo was shaking. But he knew he could challenge her fear in this moment. Why should she fear anything in the ocean when she was with him?

“Watch,” he murmured, leaning down so his words were soft against the side of her helmet. “There is nothing to fear from the creatures of the deep.”

As soon as the shark got close enough, he reached out his hand. He gently palmed her nose and turned her in the other direction. As the great white passed them, she looked them over with those dark eyes and then flicked her tail. He held Ace in his arms as the shark brushed against both of their sides, and then he turned with her.

“She wants to show us something,” he said as Ace protested.

“Following her will only provoke her to attack!”

“No, it won’t.” He placed his hand along the shark’s side, flicking his tail until they were almost even with her mouth.

And she didn’t. The beauty guided them through the sea, side by side. She didn’t seem nervous about the smaller fish who swam beside her, nor was she all that interested in the strange creature he held in his arms. She just moved gracefully and with purpose, flicking her tail every now and then but maintaining a slow pace.

The shark was letting Ace get used to her, he realized. Neither of the females were pushing the other. But after a long moment, Ace reached out her hand as well.

“You want to touch her?” he asked.

“Well I—” A soft chuckle interrupted her words. “I guess when else would I have another chance like this?”

“Never.” He reached down and pulled the glove off her hand. Ace gasped, likely with cold water rushing into her suit, but they were going to be inside again soon.

He cupped her hand in his and then drew both of their palms to the shark’s side. Together they stroked the smooth flesh, feeling her gills flare beneath their fingers and the steady beat of her massive heart. And in that instant, he felt all the fear in Ace drift away.

“There,” he said quietly. “You can feel her, now.”

“She’s so soft and strong.”

“Like you.” He hadn’t meant to say that. It revealed far too much about his thoughts and how he was feeling. In a distraction, he looked up at the building and pointed at where the shark had brought them. “Ah, she brought us to the next hole in the wall.”

“What?” Craning her neck, Ace looked where he had pointed. “Well, would you look at that?”

“I’m looking.” He patted the shark’s side one more time and then turned them to head up toward the crack in the tower, hoping she didn’t think too much about what he’d said.