Chapter 8
When Ariella turned back, Lilani had calmed down and was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Valrek straightened, his gaze finding hers.
“I need to ask you something,” he said. “About the echo-pipe.”
“Of course.”
He glanced at Lilani, who was already distracted by a small beetle that had appeared on a nearby rock, then moved closer to Ariella. Close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his massive body, close enough that his wild, musky scent filled her lungs.
“You said the echo-pipe called to you. That it responded to your Song.”
“Yes. When I touched it in the trench, it was like… like it recognized me. Like it had been waiting.”
“That should be impossible. They are Vultor instruments and a human shouldn’t be able to activate one, let alone feel a connection to it.”
“I’m not exactly human.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them, and she felt her skin flush with embarrassment. But he just nodded, his expression thoughtful.
“No, you’re not. And perhaps that’s why…” He trailed off, seeming to wrestle with something. “My grandfather used to tell me stories when I was young, stories about the echo-pipes choosing their own players.”
“Choosing?”
“They were said to respond to certain individuals, resonating with their spirits in a way that couldn’t be explained by science or magic.”
She thought about the moment she’d first touched the pipe, the way it had seemed to welcome her. The way the music had felt like coming home. “It does feel like mine. Like it belongs to me, even though I know it’s not. Even though I know it’s a Vultor artifact and I have no right to—”
“It’s not about rights. If the old stories are true, the pipe chose you. That’s not something you can earn or deserve. It simply is.”
“But why would it choose me?”
“I don’t know.” He turned to look at her, and his golden eyes were soft in a way that made her heart stutter. “But I think we need to find out.”
“How?”
“I need to contact someone. Someone who might know more about the echo-pipes than I do.” His jaw tightened, and she saw a flash of pain cross his features. “I haven’t spoken to him in years. Not since… not since Lilani was rejected.”
“Your pack rejected her? But she’s just a child.”
“She’s a half-human child. To some of my people, that makes her an abomination.
” The word was bitter, edged with old fury.
“When her mother died giving birth to her, I tried to take her back home. I should have known it wouldn’t work.
I’d already disgraced myself by running away to the city.
They told me they’d take me back, but only if I abandoned her. ”
Horror washed through her. “That’s barbaric.”
“That’s tradition.” His lip curled. “I chose my daughter over my pack. They chose their prejudice over their blood. We’ve been alone ever since.”
“I’m sorry.” The words felt inadequate, but she didn’t know what else to say. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. My pack doesn’t deserve your sympathy. And Lilani…” He looked over at his daughter, who was now having an animated conversation with a beetle that was crawling over a rock. “Lilani is worth a thousand packs. She’s worth everything.”
The fierce love in his voice made her chest ache. This is what a father should be.
Her own father had never sacrificed anything for her. She was the one sacrificed to his research, his reputation, his debt. She was simply a tool to him.
“There’s one person from my old life who might still speak to me,” he continued.
“An elder named Torrath. He was a scholar, a keeper of the old ways. He disagreed with the council’s decision about Lilani, though he didn’t have the power to overrule them.
” He paused. “If anyone knows the truth about the echo-pipes, it would be him.”
“Will he help?”
“I don’t know. It’s been a long time, and I didn’t leave on good terms.” A ghost of dark humor crossed his face. “I may have threatened to rip out several throats before I went.”
“That seems… reasonable, under the circumstances.”
“You think so?”
“I think if anyone threatened to hurt my child, I would do far worse than threaten.”
His eyes widened slightly, and she realized what she’d said. My child. As if she had one. As if she ever could.
“I mean—”
“I know what you meant.” His voice had gone rough, and when he looked at her, there was something in his gaze that made her skin flush warm. “You have a warrior’s heart, Ariella. You’re someone who would fight for what she loves.”
“I’ve never had anything to fight for.”
“Maybe you just hadn’t found it yet.”
The words hung between them, heavy with implication. Her skin flushed a deep violet, betraying emotions she wasn’t ready to name. She looked away, her heart pounding.
“The pipe,” she said, her voice coming out slightly breathless. “You should keep it. Until we know more.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
The truth was, she didn’t want to let it go.
The echo-pipe felt like hers in a way that nothing else ever had—not her abilities, not her body, certainly not her future.
But keeping it at the lab was too risky.
If her father found it, he would want to study it.
If Merrick found it, he would want to sell it. Either way, it would be lost.
“I trust you,” she said, and watched his expression shift into something almost vulnerable. “I know that probably sounds strange, since we’ve only just met. But I do. I trust you with this.”
“I’ll protect it.” The promise was solemn, weighted with meaning that went beyond the simple words. “I’ll protect it as if it were my own.”
She believed him.
Leaving was harder than she’d expected. Lilani clung to her waist and extracted a promise that she would come back soon, and she found herself agreeing without hesitation. He walked her to the edge of the cliff path, his massive presence warm at her side.
“Be careful,” he said, and the gruff words felt like a caress. “The currents can be treacherous near the base of the cliffs.”
“I was born for the water.”
“I know. But still.” He hesitated, then reached out and brushed a strand of wet hair from her cheek. The touch was feather-light, barely there, but it sent a jolt of electricity through her entire body. Her skin flared deep purple, and she saw his eyes widen in response. “Be careful.”
She dove before she could do something foolish, like lean into his touch or ask him to give her a reason to stay.
She swam hard and fast, trying to outrun the confusing tangle of emotions that had taken root in her chest. Hope and fear and longing and a thousand other things she couldn’t name, all twisted together.
You can’t have this, she told herself. You’re promised to Merrick. Your father’s debts won’t pay themselves. This morning was a gift, but gifts don’t last. They get taken away.
But even as she thought it, she knew that something had changed.
The empty space inside her—the one she’d carried her whole life, the one she’d thought would never be filled—didn’t feel quite so empty anymore.
For a few hours, she’d belonged somewhere.
She’d been wanted. And that taste of belonging was going to make everything that came next so much harder.
She surfaced near the lab and climbed up onto the dock.
The sun was high now, the morning gone, and she knew her father would be wondering where she was.
She knew she should go in, but instead she stood on the dock for a long moment, staring back towards the distant cliffs where Valrek’s cave was hidden.
I’ll come back, she promised silently. I don’t know when, but I’ll come back.
Then she turned and stepped into the dry, climate-controlled interior of the lab.
The main room was quiet. Her father must be in his private workroom, lost in whatever project currently consumed him.
Good. She could slip to her quarters, change out of her diving suit, and avoid any uncomfortable questions about—
“There you are.”
The voice stopped her cold.
Merrick Bane stood in the entrance to the main room, elegant and predatory in another expensive suit. His flint-colored eyes traveled over her wet form with proprietary interest, and his thin lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach them.
“I was beginning to think you’d drowned.”
Her skin flickered, then went deliberately dim as she suppressed her instinctive revulsion. “I was checking the deep sensors. The storm shifted some of the equipment.”
“Mm.” He didn’t believe her—she could see it in the slight narrowing of his eyes—but he didn’t press. Not yet. “Your father mentioned you’ve been spending a lot of time in the water lately.”
“It’s my job.”
“Your job is to be an asset to this operation.” He moved closer, and she had to fight the urge to step back. “An asset that will soon belong to me, as we both know. I’d hate to think you were… damaging the merchandise.”
The word made her skin crawl. Merchandise. That’s all she was to him. A rare specimen, valuable for her abilities and her strangeness, something to be owned and displayed.
“I’m fine,” she said flatly. “The water doesn’t damage me. It’s where I belong.”
“For now.” His smile widened. “But soon you’ll belong somewhere else entirely. Won’t you, my dear?”
She didn’t answer. She couldn’t, because any answer would be either a lie or a death sentence for her father’s freedom. So she just stood there, dripping onto the floor, as Merrick’s cold eyes surveyed her.
“The wedding is in three weeks,” he said. “I trust you’ll be prepared.”
“My father and I have discussed it.”
“Good. Because I’ve invested a great deal in this arrangement, Ariella. A great deal of money, a great deal of patience, and a great deal of…” He reached out and caught her chin in his cold dead fingers, tilting her face towards the light. “…anticipation.”
Her gills flared with the urge to pull away, but she forced herself to remain still. This was the bargain. This was the price. She’d known it for years, and she’d accepted it, and she couldn’t let one morning with a grumpy Vultor and his adorable daughter undo all of that.
But I want to, whispered a treacherous voice in her head. I want to run back to that cave and never leave.
“Three weeks,” he repeated, releasing her chin. “Don’t disappoint me.”
He swept past her and out the door, leaving behind only the lingering chill of his touch and the faint scent of expensive cologne.
She stood frozen for a long moment, her heart racing. Then, slowly, she raised a hand to her cheek—the same cheek Valrek had touched with such care.
Three weeks.
The clock was ticking.