Chapter 9 #2
He set the suit aside and resumed his search.
Four lockers later, he found the other piece she’d mentioned.
It was a thin, curved piece of glass with a metal frame.
At the bottom corners were two attachments that reminded him of gills.
The mask had no straps or fasteners of any kind; he didn’t know how she was meant to put the thing on, but this had to be it.
The remaining lockers each held one of the suits, and he found six more masks. He moved back to consider them. There was no guarantee they’d all function properly; he’d be best served by taking them all. The devices were wasted hanging here, forgotten, especially when someone had use for them.
Besides, Macy would never enter the Facility. No human would.
Jax frowned.
It didn’t feel right, taking all of them. Perhaps they’d never see use, like most items in the Facility, but this was where they belonged. They were as much ghosts as the holograms.
He laid one of the suits on the floor, placed a second suit and two masks atop it, and tied it into a bundle around one of his tentacles to ensure it would be close during his journey to the cave. As he turned to leave, the door opened.
There was nowhere — and no time — to hide; he was exposed. Straining for a natural way to begin a conversation with Arkon, he swung his attention to the doorway.
Jax clenched his jaw. Arkon had not come.
Dracchus halted just inside the room. His eyes met Jax’s, and he pushed up with his tentacles, raising himself high. He was slightly longer and broader than Jax, and heavily muscled; that struck fear into some of the others. Dracchus wasn’t hesitant to make use of his size and strength.
They stared at one another, locked in a silent struggle for which Jax had no patience. Dracchus’s normally black skin had a crimson undertone.
“You saw the signal outside.” Dracchus’s jaw muscles bulged as he rolled his shoulders. He looked over the room before settling his gaze back on Jax. “Where is your friend?”
“Somewhere else, Dracchus. His den may be a good place to begin the search.”
Brighter red seeped into Dracchus’s skin. “There is no time for these games, Wanderer. We mean to depart soon.”
“Do not allow me to delay you.” Jax lifted his hand, palm up, and gestured to the door.
Dracchus advanced. Jax rose up to meet him, holding his position.
The challenge was clear in Dracchus’s posture, coloring, and expression; his directness had always been admirable. There were no secrets with him, no attempts at subtlety. He always made his feelings clear — as often through actions as through words.
“We need our best out there, Wanderer. I will not deny you and Arkon your due as hunters.”
“I’ve other matters to attend.” Jax’s hearts thumped rapidly, and heat rippled through his limbs; his body was preparing for a battle, and he didn’t resist.
Eyes flaring, Dracchus moved closer, stopping just in front of Jax. “Do you mean to abandon our people entirely, now?”
“I have not abandoned our people. But I will not swim with you on this hunt.”
“Because you do not trust my judgment. Would you prefer to lead this hunt?”
“You are hunt leader, Dracchus, and I will not challenge you for it. I have other concerns to occupy my time.” Jax’s muscles felt like coiled springs, near trembling with the need to expend the stored energy.
Macy is likely asleep, by now. If I must take the time to remove Dracchus from my path, so be it…
“You have a duty to the kraken, Wanderer. We hunt together, we thrive together, as it has always been.”
“I ask for no share in your bounty. I will sustain myself during my absence.”
But, if the suits worked, and Macy could travel safely underwater, what reason would Jax have to return — apart from Arkon?
Dracchus narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze over the room again. “If Arkon is not here, why are you in this chamber?”
“For the same reason you’ve come.”
“Did you not say his den would be the best place to search?”
“Now that I know he is not here.”
The air between them buzzed with tension; Dracchus was just as on-edge as Jax, just as ready to act. This rivalry between them had started many years ago. Jax had been tired of it since the beginning.
Dracchus leaned close, nostrils flaring. Confusion skittered across his features. “There is an odd scent on you, Wanderer.”
Macy. Jax’s skin tingled with the remembrance of their contact.
“There are many scents in the ocean unfamiliar to you, Dracchus, because you do not venture beyond the hunting grounds.”
“You owe this duty to your people, Wanderer. We all do. Gather with the others in the Mess.”
Jax leaned in and locked his gaze with Dracchus’s. It would be simple to initiate a brawl. Despite both kraken anticipating it, Jax was just a little faster, and the first strike could be the one to turn the tide in his favor. “No.”
The cords on Dracchus’s neck stood out. “You betray us. Face my challenge, Wanderer, before our people. It is time you were made to answer to your selfishness.”
A formal challenge; it meant witnesses, a gathering outside, and the intricate, delicate motions of the dance.
And it would end in physical combat because neither would back down.
Dracchus wanted to best Jax before a crowd because no one would quite take his word if he claimed to have defeated Jax without anyone to support his claim.
“I refuse your challenge, Dracchus. Our people need food more than they need entertainment.” Jax moved around Dracchus and toward the door. “You need your strength for the hunt.”
Dracchus remained in place, shoulders rising and falling with his deep breaths, bristling with anger. “The things you could accomplish, Wanderer, if you cared…”
Jax pushed through the door, dropping a hand to ensure the bundle was still secure. He cared deeply about the kraken, despite the way they’d treated him and Arkon over the years, but they would survive, whether he helped or not, just as they always had.
Macy needed his aid, and he was beginning to suspect he needed her just as much.