Page 37 of Call of the Fathoms (Deep Waters #4)

Thirty-Seven

Alexia

S he hated being back in this ship. It felt so wrong. She’d come so far from the person who had first chased him down, and yet, all Alexia could think about was who she used to be.

Soon enough, she would have to pretend to be that woman again. She would need to convince the people of Tau that she was the same Alexia who had left. She would need to be emotionless, capable of anything, unaffected by the world around herself because she knew that a little drug would take away any fear or anxiety she might have.

An icy feeling trailed between her shoulder blades. She’d have to take the drug again. Bracing herself against the control panel, she stared at the dusty glass at the front of the ship. She breathed out, seeing the steam of her own breath.

Of all the things she had prepared herself to do, she hadn’t thought about the injections. That’s the first thing they would do to her. A quick jab in the side of the neck, just to keep her calm and make sure that everything moved forward normally. She hadn’t had the drug in many weeks, at least as far as they knew. All the scientists would want to poke and prod at her. No one knew how someone like her would react to not having their “medicine” regularly.

The geneticists didn’t realize the people who were enhanced could even have feelings like she did. They chose not to believe because it was so much easier than the truth.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she started hitting buttons on the ship to wake it up. The first thing she heard was the sound of the computer coming back online.

“State your designation.”

“It’s the same person as before, computer. Alexia, personal guard to Original Harlow. I have completed my mission and would like to return home.”

“Running diagnostics.”

Of course it was. She could hear the soft clinks of droids attaching themselves to the top of the ship. They got to work in no time, drilling into pieces of the ship where they would implant trackers, so Mira knew where she was at all times.

And of course, there were the droids in her pockets. Tiny droids the size of beads, made by Ace. She said they would do what no other droid could. They’d get in and out of the city, making sure to film every single detail so that the undines who entered the city would know where to go by sight and not just by reading a map.

These people had thought of everything, and now it all came down to her. Could she betray her own people? Absolutely. She needed her revenge like she needed breath. But whether or not she could convince the Originals she hadn’t changed, that would be the greatest and most difficult task of her life.

“Ship online,” the computer stated. “Protocol is to remain until the guard has completed duty.”

“I told you, I already did,” Alexia muttered as she started hitting override buttons.

“The nets and transport holds are all empty. Please seek out the target again.”

Fuck, she hated computers. They were always arguing at the worst of times, and she needed to go. “Ace, why didn’t you send me with a droid that could override this talkative bitch?” she muttered as she tried to get into the main system.

The problem was that she had to show up with something. A large squid, or perhaps a small whale would trick the computer to let her return to Tau, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to find one of those. They didn’t have a lot of time. The depthstriders were already getting antsy.

She couldn’t think with the damn glass covered like it was. She needed breathing room and space and all the other things that were required for her mind to think. Even if that ended up being a few moments of her staring into the abyss before she figured this out.

Maybe she needed a few moments with the darkness. Just to get her head back on straight.

“Computer, clear the front glass of all debris.”

A loud rumble started throughout the ship, and then it shook itself. She hung onto the back of her pilot’s chair and waited for the dust to settle.

There was something out there. Lurking in the gloom. Alexia could barely make out the shape, but it was there. Waiting for her to see it. Unsettled, she reached for the button that would flick on the headlights.

The lights came on and illuminated the massive undine in front of her ship. She gasped, already berating herself for having any sort of reaction when she should be practicing for Tau. But then she realized it was Fortis.

“You didn’t leave,” she said, a little stumped as to why.

But then he swam a little closer, those dark eyes seeing far too much. “I couldn’t let you go alone, virago. You know you’re going to need me.”

“Fortis, it’s too dangerous for you to come back with me. I know that. You know that. It’s just not safe.”

“You need a reason to return. They won’t let you back into that city without a good reason.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been thinking about this plan and why it made me nervous. It ends with them trusting that you didn’t leave for your own reasons. They won’t believe you. They won’t trust you. The moment you walk into that city, they are going to put a bullet in your head.”

He wasn’t entirely wrong. The risk was there. But she couldn’t have him coming with her and risk himself as well.

“They will tear you apart,” she said. “The only way to make sure there is no suspicion at all when I return is to come back with you, Fortis. Not with you following me. Not with anything other than your dead body, or your incapacitated being ready for them to dissect.”

His head tilted to the side, a curious gesture that she recognized all too well. “You knew this.”

“I did.”

“You didn’t tell the others because you didn’t want to risk my life.” He almost looked angry. “I thought we’d already talked about this. You know you are supposed to kill me.”

“And I’m willing to do everything I can to not kill you, you stubborn bastard.” She gripped the back of her chair so hard the leather squeaked. “I don’t like being painted as the villain in your story.”

“You are not the villain! You are just the end.” He reached out his hand and touched the glass. “I am going to leave the living realm, Alexia. You are going to be the weapon that takes me out. I have come to terms with this and I am comfortable with it. But you cannot fight fate. It’s not possible.”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“And it is something you cannot stop from happening. Let me do this last thing for you. Let me know that in the end, I helped to keep you safe.”

Her heart twisted at the words. She knew why he wanted to keep her safe. She understood that he was struggling with this as much as her, and that part of her knew she couldn’t fight fate, just as he was saying.

But she didn’t want to see this happen. She wasn’t sure she would survive it to see them tear into him like they had all the other undines they had in their grasp.

Taking a deep breath, she readied herself to tell him no. That she would have to disappoint him and he would have to keep living, even though he wanted to see his dead wife. She hated to be the person to make him live, but he had to.

“Alexia,” he said, his tones almost begging. “Do this for me.”

She hated every second of this and she hated even more knowing that she would let him convince her. Because that meant she was one step closer to having to kill him, and here she had been, thinking she could avoid all of it.

Taking in a shuddering breath, she nodded. “Your last memories of me are not going to be good. They’re going to be of the person you worked so hard to get me to no longer be. I hate that you won’t even be able to see the real me while all of this happens.”

“I will always know who you are, virago. I will see you struggle to do what is right and be victorious. I know, without a doubt, that you will lead our people toward a better future.” He planted his hand flat on the glass, waiting until she did the same. “I adore you, Alexia. But even more than that, I believe in you.”

He couldn’t have said a worse or better thing.

“Damn it,” she hissed. “You foolish, wonderful man. I will never forget you.”

Because there wasn’t much more she could argue. She had to slam her hand down on the computer, and said, “Computer, lock target in front of ship. Net him.”

The ship came alive at that. After all, it was a ship meant to hunt and to maim. The net speared through the water, making it almost impossible for Fortis to even try to dodge it. Not that he did. He remained still, ready for anything to happen as it wrapped around him and dragged him toward the belly of the ship.

At the same time, all the engines fired. Her small ship lifted through the water so that it could gather him up with metal arms against the belly, and then they were off. That easily.

She hoped the droids had time to put the trackers on the ship. Alexia would need those later.

Her stomach churned, though. As they hurtled toward Tau, all she could think about was how difficult this would be. She didn’t want to hand him over to them. She was signing his death warrant, and it would be a painful death.

“Computer, approximate time until we reach Tau?”

“Six hours and twenty-three minutes.”

So they hadn’t been that far from Tau. Fortis had led her on a multi day chase, but that didn’t mean that Tau had ever been out of reach. She was only a six-hour journey away. They could have found her at any point, and yet, they hadn’t.

Settling into the pilot’s chair, she started working through all her training to keep her emotions in check. What she wanted to do was lash out, though. The Originals had done everything they could to make her an asset and then they left her to rot at the bottom of the ocean? How dare they? She was a fucking person, and they didn’t give a shit!

“Computer?” she asked, her breathing already a little ragged. “Can you please play whale sounds?”

“Affirmative.”

With that sound in her ear, she tilted her head back and tried to meditate for the rest of the journey. All she had to do was believe good things could happen. She was going to go in there, the plan was going to work, and everyone would realize that Tau was the villain after all. The cities would thrive without the added influence of evil people who had been alive for far too long, and this would work.

All she had to do was sell this as a believable entrance.

It took her all six hours to calm herself. And when the computer announced they had reached Tau, she was ready.

This would be fine. She was going to give the performance of her life.

Grabbing the headset where it hung on a hook above her head, she brought it down to her ears and turned it on. “Alexia to Tau. Alexia to Tau.”

There were a few moments of crackling silence before another voice said, “Alexia? Confirm Original name.”

“Harlow.”

More silence, then crackles as though someone on the other side was trying to get a higher up. Then came a voice she recognized. “Sargent Russell here. Are you claiming to be Alexia?”

She sighed. “I am returning with the undine. My apologies that it took so long. He was a wily bastard. Took me all over the ocean before I finally got him.”

That would stump them. They certainly weren’t sure what to do with that, and she knew for damn certain that they were going to try to figure out a way to deny her entry.

But Harlow wanted Fortis. And if an Original wanted something, the entire city did what they could to provide it.

The Sargent came back online. “Please head to the scanning dock. You must understand, we didn’t expect your return.”

“Affirmative. Heading to docking bay four now.”

She hung the headphones up and told herself everything would be fine. This was the only way any of it was going to work. She could do this.

But as the bright green scanning lights hovered over her ship, checking to make sure that everything was exactly how she said it was, she wasn’t all that certain that she was ready. What if she lost it? What if she fought with them to keep Fortis safe? She should have made the infuriating man go get the damned drugs that he had dropped into the ocean and she could have injected herself with it to start.

“Alexia?” She could just barely hear the voice on her headphones, but quickly grabbed them again.

“Here.”

“Why is there an unrecognized battery on the top of your ship?”

“You know our batteries wouldn’t last me two months, Sargent. I found another one in an abandoned facility. Damned lucky it had any juice in it, and only enough to get me home. The undine tore one of the other ones off my ship.” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, then took a steadying breath and continued. “Sargent, I have been without my medication for too long. If your scanning is complete, please collect the undine and bring me back inside. I need to be reviewed by medical. I have completed my mission and I will not be treated like an animal.”

That seemed to do it. The docking bay door opened over her head and she readied herself to let him go. It was how it had to be. He would die so everyone else could live.

“Fuck,” she whispered as tears burned her eyes. She needed to get her shit together, and fast.

The doors of the ship opened, and she squared her shoulders. She would be fine. This was for the betterment of all people, not just herself.

She turned with a cool expression to face the army of scientists and soldiers. Six guns were pointed at her, and already there were medical staff ready to stick her with whatever they could.

She lifted her hands with a wry grin. “What a welcome home.”