Page 28 of Call of the Fathoms (Deep Waters #4)

Twenty-Eight

Fortis

T wo weeks. That’s how long it took for the other achromos to bring her back from the dead, and the entire time Fortis argued with himself that it wasn’t necessary to see her. He didn’t need to look at her still form, count the breaths that rose in her chest, or linger in the water to make sure she was still alive.

His people had done everything they could to save her. They weren’t certain they could do it, but it was better than nothing. They hadn’t treated her any differently than one of their own, even though they had good reason to hate her.

He hated feeling so helpless. But he had trusted that his people would succeed. And they had.

She pulled through the pain and the endless torment of death standing beside her, and then he could breathe again. Of course, he couldn’t see her after that. She was still healing. He didn’t want to get in the way. So he stayed in the water, seeing her only when he was certain she was resting. It allowed him to check and make sure she was alive, but also to know that he didn’t bother her.

On one of those occasions, Arges found him. He scented his brother long before the blue fin was in his sight, but he didn’t warn Arges away. Some part of him wanted to talk.

No matter how hard such a conversation was bound to be. His feelings were all jumbled, and it was so wrong to even have the thoughts he was thinking of. But also...

“Brother,” he said as Arges swam closer. Together, they headed away from the infirmary dome. Fortis found he didn’t like anyone else looking at her.

From what he had been told, Alexia had fixed herself. She’d stolen all the steroids they had and then injected herself with them. The drugs had made her flesh heal quickly, but exhausted her. She’d told everyone that she needed some time to sleep, and after that, she would be ready to answer any and all of their questions. He wasn’t sure if that was a good plan or not.

Tau was difficult. He knew the others wouldn’t understand many of the things she was going to tell them. He didn’t want them to think less of Alexia for the life she had lived. She’d fought too hard for his people to judge her.

Arges crossed his arms over his chest as they floated above the abyss together, far enough away from the village for a private conversation. “You have feelings for her.”

“Feelings are irrelevant. And I do not.” But that was a lie, and he knew it.

Arges knew it too. His brother scowled, obviously disappointed that Fortis denied his feelings. “Fortis. If anyone could understand how you’re feeling, it is me. I know my other brothers are difficult to speak with about... well, anything. But I have felt the same thing you are going through.”

“And what do you believe I am feeling?”

“Curiosity. The difficult and disgusting experience of being attracted to one of them when you have hated them your entire life. The knowledge that nothing will ever be the same because you found one of them, but that truth also makes you want to claw your eyes out.”

That about summed it up, but it wasn’t something Fortis wanted to admit. He did hate that he found her interesting, and that was the most difficult part of all of this.

“I do not enjoy achromos,” he hissed. “They are a plague upon this sea, and I wish to see the waters run red with their blood. The world will never be the same if they remain as they are.”

“I agree.”

“You are mated to one, Arges. That has to change things.”

“It doesn’t, though.” Arges shrugged. “I can hate Mira’s people without hating her. Is it difficult? Yes, of course. The conversations surrounding how I feel about her people will never be easy. She doesn’t like that I want to hunt them and kill them. I don’t like that she wants to save them. It’ll be difficult, especially considering where yours are from. But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from such difficulties.”

Grumbling, Fortis shook his head. “I have no interest in her. What more do I need to say to convince you?”

“Give me a reason you don’t like her.”

He shrugged. “Everything about her is a reason to not like her. She is the enemy. Every interaction with her thus far has been a fight, both physically and in words. It is not the kind of relationship that can be lasting.”

“Relationship?”

Fortis glanced over and saw Arges had raised his brow. Clearly, his brother saw something that he did not, and Fortis hated that. He would not admit that there was anything going on between him and Alexia. He did not wish for there to be anything going on between them, either. These complicated feelings would eventually subside.

He hoped now it would be easier to deny her. She was with others of her own kind, not stuck in the depths with him. Soon enough, they would both forget each other because there were others for them to speak with.

But still, the words bubbled out of his lips. “The ghost of my wife visited me. She told me to live, but I have no interest in doing so.”

Arges seemed to think about the words for a long time. The lull in their conversation gave the sea time to swirl around them. Eddies drifted around his body and toyed with his hair, filtering through his gills. It was nice to feel the sea supporting him, as though she whispered whatever he chose would be the right current to follow.

Finally, Arges asked, “How long has it been since you’ve shown interest in any woman?”

“Since my wife.”

“And how long has she been with the ancestors?”

He swallowed. “Many, many years. But I have been faithful to her for all that time.”

Arges hummed out a low breath. “You have been faithful and loyal to a memory. It is an honorable thing you have done, but a memory does not care that you are loyal, Fortis. That loyalty was for you. Not her.”

The words stung. He had been everything he was supposed to be for his wife, even after he lost her. To hear that, maybe, it hadn’t been the right thing to do? He refused to believe it. Admitting all that would mean admitting he was wrong. And that he had wasted so much time in his life when he could have spent all those years being happy.

Shaking his head, he tried to think of an argument that would justify his actions, but then he was saved. Aulax appeared, his lights all flaring in happiness as he approached the two of them. This was just the excuse he’d been looking for.

Clearing his throat, he nodded toward his son. “I need to see to my boy.”

“He’s a man now, Fortis.”

“He’ll always be a boy to me.”

No matter how old his son aged, he would always be Fortis’s boy. That was how it went. Aulax was the most important child in his life, and he refused to see him as anything other than that. Unfortunately, Aulax found that exceedingly annoying.

Was Fortis using his son as an excuse? Yes, absolutely. He knew that. But as he left Arges floating there with more complicated questions that Fortis didn’t want to answer, he at least was blessed with a few moments of peace with his son.

Aulax grinned as he approached, opening his arms wide and grabbing Fortis the moment he got close. “She’s well enough to see, father!”

“Who?”

Immediately, that grin faded from his son’s face. “Your... your woman. The woman you brought back with you on the brink of death? They said we could speak with her today.”

“Why would I speak with her?”

It was the wrong thing to say. His son’s expression shuttered in disappointment before he pulled himself back together and tried to smile again. This time, the expression was harder to believe. “Because you were the one who brought her here. They thought you would wish to talk with her. While being recorded, of course.”

“I don’t know what they expect me to get out of her.”

“They expect you to get information about Tau. That was why you brought her here. You said she would help us.” Aulax cleared his throat. “And I assumed, since you have never shown any concern for any achromo, that you thought highly of her.”

“You thought wrong.” He was so tired of lying to everyone.

And it appeared his son understood that. Aulax’s grin became very, very real as he looked his father over and said, “Then you won’t mind if I talk with her? Perhaps she would be more interested in one of our people who is interested in their kind. I’d love to have a long chat with her about whatever it is she wishes to speak of.”

Rage burned hot and fierce in his chest. He didn’t want his son to talk to her at all. It was wrong to even think of Aulax flirting with the woman he had... had...

Done nothing with. He’d done nothing with her, and therein lay the issue. He wanted to do so much more, and he had not been able to do so.

Frustrated bubbles blew out of his gills before he turned away from the infirmary and toward the area where they usually met with the achromos within their safe village. “Come, son. We will speak with her together.”

“As I thought.”

He’d fallen right into that trap. Fortis tried to tell himself that he could do this without giving away how he felt. He would meet with her again, see her after she had almost died. He could hold himself together in front of the others who did not think that he would.

The rumors would be over, then. They would all leave him alone, and he could lick his wounds in silence after severing the connection with Alexia.

But then he popped his head up in the meeting room and waited for what felt like forever. She was supposed to come here, wasn’t she? She should be here by now.

What if Aulax had been wrong? What if she was still very injured, and no one wanted to tell him? What if she’d taken a turn for the worse and they were all rushing back to the infirmary now?

He couldn’t breathe until he saw her shadow moving across the floor. No one could mistake that shadow for anyone else.

And then there she was. Strong, confident, far more than any achromo he had ever met. She had been so limp when he’d brought her here. Her face pale, her features drawn. But now she walked with a straight spine and broad shoulders as she had before.

It made pride swell in his chest. He wanted to grab onto her, to hold her against his hearts and feel her own strange single heart pounding against his own. Fortis hadn’t wanted to touch someone else in such a long time. But her?

He wanted to hold her. He wanted just a few moments where he didn’t feel guilty for touching her.

Breathing out, Fortis tried not to show how affected he was by her beauty. But the breathless way he asked, “You are well?” must have given him away.

“Fortis,” she said, and her voice was soft and quiet. “It’s good to see you.”

They stared at each other like no one else existed. And in that moment, no one did. It was just him and her, staring at each other, trying so hard to make sure that the other was okay.

His eyes danced over the pulse at her throat, the breath that filled her ribs and lifted her shoulders, the way her hands flexed into fists. And then he looked into her eyes and felt every part of him freeze in wonder. Life burned in that gaze, so beautifully that it made his entire body feel strange.

The gills at his sides lifted, shaking just slightly at her stare. He wanted her to look at him all the time like that. He wanted her to praise him, to breathe out his name as she had before. None of this was possible, though. Not for them. Not here.

Clearing his throat, he tried to pull them both out of this moment.

“This is Aulax,” he said. “My son.”

Her gaze flicked to the younger version of him, and he watched the softness spread even further over her features. “Aulax. I have heard about you and all the fun you and your father got into when you were young.”

“Fun?” Aulax repeated. “I don’t remember it like that. My father certainly embellished that story.”

“I don’t think your father knows how to embellish anything.”

“You would be right in that.” His boy leaned against the edge of the moon pool, looking far too comfortable and flirty. “I didn’t realize you were going to be quite so impressive in stature. The others mentioned you were larger than average, but you look like a match for our people. And beautiful at that.”

“You are far too young for me.”

He was pleased to hear her at least argue with Aulax. Because he was too young for her. That was a better argument than the words that had been boiling on his tongue like, “Get your eyes off her or I will remove them for you.”

Aulax chuckled at her words. “Oh, I don’t think age has much to do with anything. You came here with my father, and he’s an old man.”

“I don’t think of him as an old man.” She looked at him again and his world burst into flame.

Scorching hot heat swelled throughout his entire body. She made him want to grab onto her and see what other passion he could wring from her body.

Every time he thought about it, he knew it was wrong. Devious. He should be better than the others of his people who had fallen under the spell of an achromo. He knew better than to do what he was doing.

His son was still flirting with her. “You should see what it’s like with the others. The People of Water have many kinds, but the depthstriders are the most terrifying of the lot. You’ll find there are a lot of different people under the sea. All of us are slightly different. There are the waveriders, those people usually live in the shallows. They don’t look quite so different from you, to be honest. Although the gills usually give us away. And the tail, of course.”

What was Aulax prattling on about? Alexia didn’t care about the differences between their people. She needed to give her information about Tau and then move on. That was all this conversation was, and it certainly wasn’t an opportunity for her to flirt with his son.

Except, maybe she should meet more of their people. Alexia wanted proof. That was why she had argued with him for weeks on end while he had her trapped. She wanted a reason to go against Tau. And even though she had agreed to help him, that didn’t mean she would continue to do so without needing more proof.

A voice in his head screamed he was just trying to get her alone again, but he ignored it. “That is a good idea, son. She should meet the rest of the depthstriders. Perhaps it would be more helpful for her to explain our situation to them than even our own people.”

Alexia’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “You want me to what?”

“Meet the depthstriders,” he replied. “In the fathoms of the sea unlike any achromo has ever experienced before.”