Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Senses reeling, Jax plunged into the water. The initial blast of cold did little to clear his mind.
Sorrow had saturated Macy’s expression, her posture, her tone; their physical differences had not masked her emotions. Seeing her in such a state had made his chest ache, even as the water spilling from her eyes had piqued his curiosity.
Why had her eyes leaked? Was it something all humans did, or was something wrong with her?
Those questions were minor concerns compared to the sadness and desperation Macy had displayed. He’d been so close to relenting. So close to sinking down on the ground beside her and saying yes, yes, I will take you home. I will take you anywhere you want to go.
But he would not betray his people.
As he descended into the underwater tunnel, he changed his skin, causing it to emit a faint light. He used the uneven protrusions as handholds to pull himself through the narrow passage.
Macy was other; an enemy, dangerous and deceptive. Humans sought only two things — power over that which they did not control, and the destruction of what they could not control. That was what the only kraken ghost in the Facility taught, when he appeared.
Never trust a human.
But Macy’s blue eyes were so full of feeling, and though they were so different from a kraken’s, they held something he could not deny — a spark of life, of intelligence, of compassion. As strange as she looked, there was an exotic appeal to her features.
The feel of her, the smell, the taste…
His muscles burned with exertion as he sped through the tunnel. His urge to return to her was far stronger than he’d expected. For the first time in his life, Jax doubted his strength of will.
What would going back now accomplish? If he gave in, she’d be in control. How long before he gave away everything and put his people at risk?
Humans had only ever brought hardship to kraken.
She was with another human.
Within a few moments, he emerged into the all-encompassing blue of the open ocean.
Nearby fish scattered at the sight of him, flitting away in all directions.
Tendrils of grass swayed below, illuminated by shafts of sunlight pouring through the glittering surface above, and hard-shelled bottom feeders scuttled amongst the rocks and plants at the base of the cliffs.
Jax descended, swimming close to the rock face along the coast. From what little he’d seen of humans, they preferred the land, venturing into the water only on the floating platforms they called boats. Macy had thanked Jax for saving her, and had panicked when she fell into the water in the cave…
Perhaps the old stories were true — humans needed air to survive. If so, Macy’s companion had likely been claimed by the sea; anything that might have remained of the missing human after the storm would have been eaten by scavengers already.
When Jax rescued Macy, she was being pulled into the open sea. The current would’ve drawn her farther and farther from land, eventually into deeper water than most kraken dared swim. But the sea could be fickle; there was a chance the other human had been swept back to shore.
At the very least, Jax was likely to discover some sign of their boat.
He turned away from the cliffs and swam into deeper water, toward the place he’d found her the night before. When he reached the general area, he pushed up, breaking the surface.
The breeze was cool against his exposed skin. He rode the water, turning his gaze to the land; the shore was hazy in the distance, rising from the sea like a cresting wave frozen in time.
Curiosity had brought him onto land a few times in the past — as far as he knew, he was the only one of his kind to do so.
The others feared it because it was the unknown.
Because it was the domain of the near-mythical humans.
A cursed place. Though he’d never ventured far from the sea, Jax knew the truth — everything felt different on land, the textures alien and sometimes painful, but there was nothing more to fear there than in the ocean.
He swam forward, dipping just below the surface. The likelihood of finding Macy’s missing human was low, but it was an excuse to explore. An excuse to get away and sort his jumbled thoughts.
Jax lifted his eyes above water as he neared the shore.
Along much of the coast, the land was a wall of rock that stood against the ceaseless battering of the ocean, impossible to traverse without climbing.
But there were spots — often hidden — allowing easier access. The beach ahead was one such place.
There, the cliffs were broken up for a short span; they gave way to boulders, then to smaller rocks and pebbles, and finally the sand. Macy’s boat lay on its side, between the high tide line and the surf. The large cloth the humans used to catch the wind flapped in the breeze.
He advanced slowly, fighting a current that wanted nothing more than to sweep him ashore.
When a figure rose from the sand beside the boat, Jax’s hearts thumped. Macy’s human was alive.
And — even from this distance — Jax knew it was a male.
The human moved to the long pole that held the wind-cloth, squatted, and lifted. He walked forward, sliding his hands as he moved, until the boat lay on its belly. The cloth billowed in the wind. Scrambling over the side, the human manipulated some ropes until the cloth hung limp.
Jax altered his color to match his surroundings as he eased closer. The human, shoulders heaving, sat in the boat with his head bowed. He remained that way for a time, oblivious to his surroundings.
Soon, Jax was close enough to make out the male’s features; his short, orange hair, the reddish hue to his skin, his wide nose and thick brows.
He was larger than Macy, with a heavier build.
The sand around the boat was dotted with tracks leading back forth along the beach and winding up toward the rocks beyond.
The human dragged his hands over his face, dropped them to his legs, and pushed himself up.
“Macy!” he shouted into the wind. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he repeated his call, louder than before. His voice broke as he dragged out the last part of her name.
Was this Macy’s mate?
Heat spread through Jax’s abdomen. She was Jax’s, now; he’d taken her from the sea, had brought her to safety, had — if she was to be believed — saved her life.
Climbing out of the boat, the human walked to its front, leaned down, and pushed. The boat began a slow journey toward the water.
Jax dug the tips of two tentacles into the soft sand beneath him, anchoring himself in place as he watched the human’s progress.
The risk in keeping Macy was already too great; he shouldn’t allow this human to get away.
If they were anything like kraken — and they seemed to be, in more ways than he was comfortable with — this one would report Macy missing.
More would come, searching, and if they passed the area near the cave at the right moment, and Macy called out…
The human plunged into the water, walked alongside the boat until he was waist-deep, and swung himself up into the craft. It rocked as he moved to the pole. He tugged on the ropes, and the wind-cloth rose, filling with the sea breeze.
On land, humans were likely more dangerous, but the sea belonged to the kraken. It would be a simple thing to kill the male in the water.
Still, Jax didn’t make his move. For some reason, the look of utter sadness on Macy’s face came to the forefront of his mind.
The male manipulated the horizontal pole to alter the wind-cloth’s direction. His boat turned, riding the wind back toward the place the humans came from. Away from the cave. Away from Macy.
As the boat grew smaller with distance, Jax hoped he wouldn’t regret his hesitation.
It was difficult for Jax not to see the Facility with new eyes as he approached; having encountered a living human up-close, having talked to her and touched her, he was reminded that her kind had built the place.
Many, many years had passed since humans dwelled in the Facility, but their mark was all over it.
Their hands had crafted the metal walls and doorways, had placed the clear windows and put up the lights, had shaped the hallways and installed the strange devices.
The Facility had always sparked Jax’s curiosity, but it held only so much for him to explore.
Though the Computer possessed a wealth of information, it only responded to certain requests, and generations of kraken hadn’t been able to unlock its secrets.
The mysteries of the Facility were alluring…
but the mysteries of the surrounding sea were far easier — if more dangerous — to solve.
Was it possible that Macy held the key? Did she know how to access the Facility’s secrets, would she understand the way it worked?
The place was a wonder; five individual structures nestled on the seafloor, interconnected by a series of human-built tunnels.
Three of the structures had suffered damage during the Uprising and were fully flooded.
They served as den space for the kraken — the safest, most secure shelter in the entire ocean.
Jax angled himself toward the glow of the exterior lights. They were beacons of hope in the vastness of the sea, a steady reminder that the kraken had a home, that the wrongs done to them in the past had not gone unpunished.
Two lights stood apart from the main building, a few body lengths from the door.
When hunting parties left, they draped a net between the two posts.
It signified their absence, and was meant as encouragement for those who remained — should we not return, you have the means to hunt, and we know you will be successful.
There was no net today; Arkon would be somewhere inside.