Chapter 31
Honour eyed Autumn like she was a bug to be squashed.
Autumn didn’t want Honour to like her only because Soulara had told her to. She hated that. It was forced and unnatural, and that had been her entire life. That had been the military for her. She’d never been able to escape that suffocating sense that the only reason people cared for her was because they were required to.
Scooting in closer to Soulara, Autumn stayed right by her side. That was true love. Because it felt so different from the look Honour gave her now.
“Honour is my general and one of my oldest friends.” Soulara seemed practically giddy.
Was that because all her worlds were colliding? Because there weren’t secrets to be held anymore? That still didn’t mean Autumn could live under the water with them. She was trading a life of loneliness on the surface with her troop to a life of aloneness on the surface with no one but Soulara, when she had time. What if she couldn’t handle it?
“I’ll still kill you if you hurt her.” Honour pointed to Soulara but kept her glare aimed at Autumn.
“That’s fair,” Autumn said, a tremble in her tone. “I think I need to head back.”
Soulara nodded, tightening her grasp on Autumn’s side a bit more. “Are you sure you want to go back?”
“No.” Autumn sucked in a sharp breath. It was almost a death sentence if she did go, but she didn’t exactly have another option, did she? This island was stunning, but there wasn’t any shelter here. She had nothing to help her survive, and Soulara had a war to fight. She couldn’t be worried about Autumn. “But I can at least help you from there. Anywhere else and I’ll be useless.”
“I’m not going to take you if you’re not sure.”
“I know.” Autumn rested her head on Soulara’s shoulder. “Trust me on this one. If there’s anything I can find out while I’m there, I’ll let Nylah know.”
“Deal.” Soulara kissed Autumn’s lips. She started her transformation, her legs knitting together into one solid and formidable tail.
Soulara was amazing in every form. Autumn clung to Soulara and breathed deeply. That first moment she went under the water was always a shock to her system. Autumn braced herself for it. Honour moved in closer, whispering something in Soulara’s ear, something that Autumn couldn’t understand.
The sound was unmistakable.
The hair on the back of Autumn’s neck raised up.
Autumn bit her lip and froze in time. This couldn’t be happening. She knew the risks of war. She wasn’t so stupid that she thought it would be clear sailing. But not yet. How had they found them already? Why were they even looking?
A shadow crossed over her face, blocking out the sunshine. They were only waist deep in the water. Above them, a stealth ship hovered, its black sleek lines monstrous in the normally bright blue sky. It was so close to the surface, too close. It lowered, elongating its shadows, drawing closer to the water, closer to them. Autumn’s heart lodged in her throat. She tightened her grasp on Soulara.
“Swim,” Autumn whispered, praying her voice was loud enough for Soulara to hear her.
“What?” Soulara asked.
“Swim now.” Autumn’s words came out in a guttural plea.
Soulara looked to Autumn and then straight up. The black vessel was foreboding. Autumn dug her nails into Soulara’s back, clinging on for her life.
“Swim, Soulara!” Her words came out as a command. They held a power she’d never known.
“Princess!” Honour yelled.
Soulara dove under the water, cradling Autumn in her arms with all her strength. Autumn held onto Soulara as tightly as she could. She closed her eyes and held her breath, no idea how long it would be until they could surface again.
Metal claws clashed around them. Autumn panicked, gasping in water and forgetting to hold the air she needed. One of the fingers dug into her belly, and she cringed in pain. Letting go of Soulara, she flailed in the water, unable to keep herself at the surface. The claw surrounded her, sucked her down into the depths as she was left with no one holding her any longer. Nothing but the cold hard metal of claws.
Autumn tried to move as best as she could. She tried to make herself go toward the surface, but she couldn’t figure out which way was up and which way was down. She didn’t know where the island was, which way the camp was, and she definitely couldn’t go back to the camp. They would slit her throat now.
The panic that was so near moments before wrapped her in its grasp again. Its grasp tightened on her, suffocated her. Autumn ran her hands along her body, trying to push it off, but she was only met with water. There was nothing there.
Her lungs burned.
Her eyes stung.
Soulara was gone.
Autumn was going to drown.
Relaxing into that understanding, Autumn closed her eyes and listened to the water around her. It was filled with noise, with bubbles, with sea life. It would soon hold her corpse. At least Honour had been there. At least Honour had the plans for the machine. At least Honour could save Soulara.
The weight under her was heavy. Autumn’s body seemed to be pushed upward, rapidly. The water moved against her body, pulling at her clothes and her hair. She breached the surface and automatically gasped for air. It was like shards of ice inside her body. Opening her eyes, she found Honour’s face right next to hers.
“Where have they taken her?”
“I don’t know,” Autumn spluttered. She looked up into the sky and the vessel was still there. Hovering. Threatening. “Why aren’t they leaving?”
“They’re not done yet.” Honour clutched the metal cylinder in her hand tightly and Autumn in her arms. “She’d kill me if I let you die.”
“What?”
“Breathe!” Honour commanded.
Autumn barely had a moment to think before Honour dove under the water with Autumn in her arms. Honour was so much stronger than Soulara. They moved faster than she ever had with Soulara. They must be going at speeds that she would have thought impossible. Before she came to this planet, before she met Soulara and finally understood what it was her fellow soldiers fought for. They fought to save people they loved. Autumn knew the feeling all too well now. And the thought of that bastard having his hands on Soulara burned a rage inside her body, equal to the burning of her lungs as they ached for more air.
The claw crashed down into the water, and Honour turned sharply to the side. She dove out the way. Autumn clutched Honour close, keeping her eyes open as best as she could. She wanted to see what was happening. She wanted to know when she was going to find sweet solace in her death.
The claw speared down again.
Honour grunted in Autumn’s ear. Had she been hurt?
Autumn’s lungs burned, begging for air. They screamed at her to let go and let Honour survive. She was dead weight. She would kill them both. Fighting Honour off, Autumn pushed as hard as she could away from Honour. Kicking her legs and moving her arms, she fought against the mer. She’d get to the surface eventually, she had to. She wouldn’t give in to dying, not until she knew Honour would survive to save Soulara.
The claw struck again, this time hitting Autumn square in the hip. She clasped onto the edge of it, her fingers slipping in the wetness of the water and smoothness of the metal. Honour grabbed her and pulled her deeper into the water.
Autumn screamed out, bubbles escaping her lips. They swam a little way off before resurfacing. Autumn gasped for air again. “Let me go!”
“I can’t,” Honour answered. “Breathe.”
Autumn sucked in a large breath of air as Honour pulled her under again. They shouldn’t be doing this. How had Chalmers even found them? It better not have been Marshall. Autumn would skin him herself if it was. If that sob story about Joe was a lie, then she would find out, and she would haunt Marshall into his grave.
They dodged again.
And again.
But the claw came back down, splattering into the water and latching onto Autumn’s shirt. It pulled upward, retracting back into the ship from above. Honour tried to grasp onto her and the cylinder. She was being pulled in both directions. The cylinder fell out of Honour’s hands and dropped into the water.
“Autumn!” Honour yelled.
“Just let me go.” Autumn went lax, letting Honour’s hand slip from her body. “Find the cylinder and save them.”
Autumn was hoisted into the frigid air. The wind from the engines blew down on her, freezing her in an instant. She clung onto the machine, scared she would fall to her death and then drown. When the doors closed under her body, she breathed a sigh of relief until the claws opened up and she landed heavily on the cold metal floor.
Coughing, Autumn turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. The air in here was so cold. She wasn’t sure how she would be able to survive it when she was soaking wet. The gears grinding underneath her came to a halt. And she only had a moment of silence before the stomping of boots reverberated toward her.
They were coming.
She swallowed down the bile in her throat. She pulled herself into a sitting position. She would face them full on. She wouldn’t hide. She wouldn’t cower. This was her war too. When the hatch opened, clanging loudly as it hit the wall, Autumn stared up.
Chalmers.
No Marshall in sight.
“Of all my soldiers, Walton.” Chalmers walked closer, spittle spewing from his lips as he said her name. His steps were heavy enough to make the metal shudder beneath her. “I never thought you would be the one to commit treason.”
Autumn kept her mouth shut. Nothing was going to change his mind at this point. Not to mention, he was right. She had committed treason. She had switched sides at some point, and she’d barely even looked back.
“Prepare yourself for the consequences.”
Two soldiers stomped in next to him and grabbed her by the arms. They dragged her upward. Autumn remained limp. She wasn’t going to fight them. She wouldn’t win. They were both easily twice her size.
They took her down a long corridor, down three levels, and into another corridor. From there, Autumn was shoved into the brig, the door sealed shut behind her. Closing her eyes, Autumn remained lying still on the floor.
She didn’t have the energy to fight.
Not right now.
Smoke filled the small room. Its heavy weight dragged it to the floor so it covered her. Autumn coughed. She dragged in a ragged breath. She cringed as it burned. What was this? Drowning by smoke?
Her head spun.
She couldn’t breathe. Gasping, her head spun. She was so dizzy. She couldn’t figure out which way was up or down again. But the floor was solid and cold against her back. She closed her eyes, gagging on the taste of the smoke.
This was it.
This was when she was going to die.