Chapter 10
10
“ W hat in the seas did she think she was doing?” Honour followed the path Kyree had taken, her trail through the upper soundings obvious. She hadn’t even tried to hide her tracks in the process. She’d simply left Reine and hadn’t stopped.
Honour straightened her shoulders and pushed forward. She had to be getting close, but she also knew she was getting close to Talon territory, and that could be dangerous enough without trying to find a wayward deep sounding mer in the process.
The humming was something she hadn’t expected, but it was a Talon lullaby. Honour frowned as she slowed her pace and peeked around a corner of stone. Following the sound, Honour swam as close as she dared.
Hudson sat against the base of the rock, her head thrown back, eyes closed. Kyree rested in her lap, head against Hudson’s tail as Hudson threaded her fingers through Kyree’s hair, pulling the tangles from it. If anyone else had seen them, they might actually think that Hudson and Kyree were lovers, that one was tending to the other.
But Honour knew better.
Hudson was a live wire. She was unpredictable, and from what Honour could tell, Hudson didn’t have a compassionate bone in her body. Honour stayed hidden, watching as Hudson continued to soothe Kyree, as they sat together in almost silence.
How was Honour going to rescue Kyree now?
Hudson’s men had to be around somewhere. She wouldn’t leave them too far away to fend for themselves. Honour glanced around the area, swimming the perimeter, but she didn’t find them. As far as she could tell, Hudson and Kyree were alone.
Honour had no way to approach them without being seen. It was a perfect hiding place in plain sight. Honour checked her weapons and then moved forward confidently. She wasn’t sure she could take Hudson, but she was in far better shape to do it now than she had been before. She’d at least be able to put up a fight.
Hudson made eye contact. Honour knew the instant Hudson saw her because the laugh was low and seductive. It was full of mirth and pleasure all in one. Honour could so easily remember the feel of Hudson’s body against hers, the way their scales rubbed together, their lips melded in an embrace.
“Well, look what the tuna’s dragged in.” Hudson laughed joyously, but Kyree didn’t seem to move at all.
Was she that sound asleep?
“I thought you were done kidnapping innocent mermaids.” Honour swam closer, keeping her pace slow. She wanted to make sure they were alone and no one was going to jump out and attack them. She wanted to also keep Hudson in her sights, because she wouldn’t be able to win a fight between the two of them if Hudson took her by surprise.
“She came to me.” Hudson’s eyes lit up brightly, like she had the golden platter that Honour wanted. Which, perhaps, she did.
Honour clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and dropped her gaze to Kyree. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing. I gave her a place to rest. Something you couldn’t even manage to do.” Hudson laughed again, the trill of her voice reverberating through the water.
Was this a competition between them? It was Honour’s job to take care of Kyree, to protect her, to keep her safe, and yet Honour couldn’t even manage that. She’d all but told Kyree she had to go it on her own. She had refused to listen. She’d been so scattered, so broken, and so torn down that she’d retreated instead of staying to make sure that Kyree had been taken care of.
“I’ll take her home.” Honour moved in, ready to scoop Kyree into her arms and take her back to Reine.
But Hudson snagged Honour’s wrist and held on tight. “Nuh-uh-uh. I wouldn’t touch her if I were you.”
“She’s not a possession for you to keep,” Honour whispered harshly.
“No, she’s a woman, full of desires and passions just like the rest of us.” Hudson pulled Honour down hard, nearly making Honour fall into both of them. “Isn’t that why you’re back?”
“No,” Honour stated firmly.
“Then why are you here? Surely it’s not to keep your honor with this one.” Hudson leaned in closer.
Honour could smell her breath, feel the movement of the water against her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered shut. Why was she there? She’d swum out of Reine as soon as Zendalia told her what had happened and the healers would release her. She’d swum until she’d found Kyree here, and she still didn’t know why her heart had pounded so hard not knowing where Kyree was.
“I need her to end this war.”
“No, you don’t.” Hudson shook her head, confident in her answer.
“Honour?” Kyree said from Hudson’s lap, her voice drifting up to them as if in a dream. “Is that really you?”
“Yes.” Honour wanted to shift down, to meet Kyree eye to eye, but Hudson still had such a grasp on her that she couldn’t move. “Are you well?”
“Well enough,” Kyree murmured.
She must have been moving, because Honor could feel the change in the water, the weight being lifted from Hudson’s body. But Hudson still didn’t let her go, keeping hold of Honour’s wrist in a tight grasp.
“Why are you here?” Kyree asked, flicking her gaze from Honour to Hudson and back again. “Have you decided to help me find Nylah?”
Honour scoffed before she could stop herself. She looked directly into Kyree’s dark eyes and shook her head. “That’s a fool’s errand.”
Kyree’s face hardened instantly, a defense against what she saw as an attack, and Honour was completely at fault for it. She should have chosen her words better. She should have prevented the hurt but also her damn reaction.
“Kyree,” Honour started, her voice tinged with a plea.
Kyree shook her head and backed away. “No. I need to find Nylah.”
“It’s ridiculous!” Honour shouted.
Hudson let go of her instantly, clapping her hands together with a fit of giggles. “Oh, a fight. I wasn’t expecting this kind of show today.”
Honour snapped a glare in her direction before focusing on Kyree again. Convince Kyree to leave with her so it wasn’t a fight, and then they could leave Hudson behind in the sand. “We can go back to Reine and discuss this.”
“I won’t be going back with you,” Kyree said firmly. She wasn’t going to budge on this one, was she?
Honour winced. “Fine, we can go look for Nylah. Then when we don’t find them, we can go back to Reine and join the other search.”
Honour wasn’t going to say out loud anything about Soulara for Hudson’s ears. She needed to keep some things secret, especially because she wasn’t entirely sure how Hudson and the Talons related to each other, and if there was a traitor in Hudson’s midst or not. The fact that Soulara was missing needed to be kept as under wraps as possible.
“I won’t stop until I find Nylah. They’re the key to winning this war, to finding Soulara.”
Curse Kyree for not having the same need for protection of information as Honour did. “Then let’s go.”
“I won’t be going with you.” Kyree planted her fists on her hips. “I’ll go it alone.”
“No, you won’t!” Hudson and Honour shouted at the same time.
Kyree’s eyes widened in surprise at that. Why would Hudson be so damn protective now of all times? Honour flicked her gaze to Hudson in curiosity.
“I can do this by myself.”
“No, you can’t,” Honour said, her voice raised to just under a shout. She really needed to get herself under control if she was going to convince Kyree to return to Reine. She was a general, she knew how to keep her temper under pressure. So why couldn’t she keep it under Kyree’s stubborn attitude and dismissal for her own safety?
“I’m with Honour on this one, Kyree.” Hudson slid up next to Honour, their shoulders bumping as they faced Kyree down. “Despite enjoying this lover’s quarrel, I won’t let you go out into the ocean on your own again.”
“You won’t let me?” Kyree’s laugh turned maniacal, anger pitted right in the middle of all of it. “You don’t have a choice! You don’t own me. I’m not your slave!”
“Well, that’s a pleasant idea.” Hudson’s cheeks reddened. “Don’t you agree, Honour?”
“Hardly,” Honour muttered. She focused on Kyree again. “It’s not safe for you out there.”
“I can handle myself!”
“You can’t,” Hudson agreed. “You wandered into Talon territory multiple times before I stopped you, right when there was a battalion ready to strike. If they’d caught you, you’d have been ripped to a million pieces by now. Blood pouring everywhere. Even my own healing skills wouldn’t be able to sew you back together after that.”
Kyree’s face turned ashen. Despite the cruel way Hudson explained it, if she told the truth about Kyree’s wandering past the boundaries, then her conclusion definitely hadn’t been wrong.
And despite her tumultuous feelings surrounding Hudson, she couldn’t deny the relief that her words seemed to make Kyree finally understand. The world they were facing was not kind. Not every tribe was pacifist like hers, and not every tribe was willing to work with others for the betterment of the ocean. While the Talons were currently their allies, as soon as the war with the humans were over, that would be the end to the uneasy alliance. They’d be back to the way they were before.
“You don’t trust me. Neither of you!” Kyree narrowed her eyes at them both.
“We don’t,” Honour and Hudson said at the same time again.
How did they think so similarly? The thought haunted Honour.
“You’re too weak on your own,” Honour added.
Kyree scoffed loudly. “And you’re not? Who was it that rescued you!?”
Honour couldn’t fault her for that one. She had been weak lately. She’d not paid enough attention to Soulara and what she was doing behind the King’s back, where she was sneaking off to and why. She hadn’t paid close attention to the war that had been brewing and the fact that they should have started their defenses and fighting back well before they did. She’d been on her own too many times, forgetting that any battle could only be won when there was trust between the people fighting it.
But she wasn’t about to admit that to Kyree either, not right now, not in front of Hudson.
“I don’t need you!” Kyree said, quietly but so firmly that there was no doubt of her intentions.
“You do need me!” Honour shouted back. She swam forward, getting right in Kyree’s face. This worked on her trainees and grunts, surely it would work on Kyree, right? “You can’t be out here on your own. You’ll get yourself killed.”
“What does it even matter to you?”
Again Hudson was clapping her hands together, giggling. “Oh, this is picking up now.”
“Shut up, Hudson!” Honour smarted. “Kyree, you have to come with me.”
“I’m going to find Nylah. On my own.”
“No, you’re not!” Honour swam forward again and grabbed Kyree’s wrist. She couldn’t let her go out there again, not alone, not when it was so dangerous. “Forget the Talon, there’s still the humans out there, and they can attack at any point. We can’t predict that. Our inside lead is gone. The Talons will attack if you stay with Hudson. They want her dead as much as she wants them dead.”
Hudson raised an eyebrow in their direction, as if surprised that Honour had figured that out. But Honour pushed through.
“The ocean is too dangerous right now. Nylah will find their way back to you if they want to.” Honour flipped her hand, grasping Kyree’s and lacing their fingers. “You can’t leave.”
“You can’t make me stay.” Kyree’s words held such pain and pleading.
“I can’t lose you, too,” Honour whispered, her voice breaking on the last word. She hadn’t meant to say that either. It seemed that coming here had been a mistake. She was spilling secrets left and right, but this one she had refused to even admit to herself.
Kyree halted. She raised her gaze up to meet Honour’s. “I have to find Nylah.”
“I don’t understand why they’re so important.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Kyree whispered back. “Because you’re not from the deep soundings.”
“Explain it to me then. Teach me,” Honour pleaded. Perhaps that would be a way to get Kyree to stay around. “I want to understand.”
But did she? Or was it simply a ploy to keep Kyree right where she wanted her? Honour wasn’t sure, and if she wasn’t sure, then she knew that her genuineness hadn’t gotten across to Kyree.
Honour tugged Kyree a little closer and took a deep breath. She was sure of one thing. She wanted to get to know Kyree better. She wanted to understand her.
“Teach me.” Honour’s voice was a rumble as her breath increased. “Please?”
“That sounds like a plea for something else,” Hudson interrupted. “You should teach Honour what it is you do with your mouth when in the throes of passion.” Hudson moved behind Kyree, skimming her hands down Kyree’s shoulders and arms. “Because that’s not something they do in Reine.”
Kyree’s cheeks darkened, as did Honour’s. Even though Honour had no real idea what Hudson was talking about. She knew it was sexual, that wasn’t hard to pin down. When wasn’t Hudson implying something sexual, or violent?
Sometimes both at the same time. And then there was the reaction of her body. Already her arousal heated and pooled in hidden places at the mere suggestion of anything sexual with Kyree.
The mechanical clicking sent a shiver through Honour’s body. The heat of desire disappearing in an instant.
She looked at Hudson, hoping that she hadn’t been the only one to hear it.
Hudson cocked her head back at Honour and then turned to face the open ocean in front of them.
“How many?” Hudson asked.
“At least one,” Honour answered. Her heart was in her throat, the argument with Kyree already forgotten.
“I think two, at least.”
“Then we’re already dead.” Honour pulled Kyree toward the edge of the rock cliff, where there was some coral and plant life that might keep her hidden. Hell, who was she kidding, they were all dead.
“Let’s go!” Hudson flapped her fluke hard, pushing into the ocean.
“Hudson!” Honour screamed, her voice lost as the mechanical sounds increased, and vibrations in the water started to hit them. “Fuck.”
“Krakens,” Kyree mumbled.
“Stay hidden,” Honour ordered. “And if you see a chance to swim away, do it. Don’t look back.”
Honour didn’t wait. She let go of Kyree’s hand and swam after Hudson. This mer was a lunatic. Running after krakens like they were the sweetest fish in the sea to eat, the best treat out there, like she was about to have the adventure of a lifetime simply by chasing after a mechanical bull.
Honour was going to kill Hudson first, if she got a chance.
“Fucking lunatic,” Honour muttered as she swam as fast as possible.
Why was she doing this again?