Chapter 16 #2
“There have been no humans since the uprising,” shouted Kronus over the din. The crowd quieted.
“If any of you had listened to me,” Jax said, “you would know there are humans, less than half a day’s swim away.”
“Why have they not come, then?”
“Because they are as ignorant of our existence as you are of theirs.”
“How do you know this?” Vander asked.
“Part of Dracchus’s claim is true. I have spent better than two weeks in the company of a female human.” Jax’s hearts pounded against his ribs, and his skin was ablaze, but he held his ground against the other kraken’s outbursts.
They shouted amongst themselves, arguing whether humans were even real, whether Jax’s word could be trusted. The kraken were nothing if not individuals; each had his or her own opinion on the matter and was convinced it was correct.
“Enough!” Jax yelled over their noise.
The kraken fell silent. Jax looked over his shoulder. Macy’s eyes were wide, her face pale; fear was written upon her features. “I will be right beside you, Macy.”
Twisting, he extended a hand to her.
She swallowed and took his hand, slowly stepping forward. Jax moved aside to allow her out of the nook.
The silence in the room was broken by several exhalations through siphons, and numerous kraken retreated reflexively.
“Though it was against my wishes, this human — Macy — insisted she face you. To show that she means no harm and that she is not an enemy to our people,” Jax said.
“Humans are forever enemies to our people,” Dracchus insisted.
“I’m not your enemy, Dracchus,” Macy said, then looked toward the others. “I’m not an enemy to any of you.”
“We should do to her as we did her ancestors!” one of the males shouted.
“She is not her ancestors, any more than we are ours.” Jax moved forward and stopped in front of Macy, raking his gaze over the crowd. “She has done nothing to any of us. The wrongs of the past are not hers to answer for.”
Kronus advanced. “She is human! She doesn’t belong here. Not anymore. I say we throw her out to sea and let the razorbacks have her.”
Macy’s hands fell on Jax’s back, and a tremor ran through them.
Arkon drew up on Jax’s right side.
Dracchus dragged himself into place to Jax’s left. “There is no cause to do her harm, Kronus.”
“You made these claims against the Wanderer, and now you defend his human?” Kronus’s skin darkened.
“She is not the one who has done wrong.” Dracchus folded his arms across his chest and stared at Kronus.
Jax was grateful for Dracchus’s defense of Macy, but he knew what those words meant — Jax had committed the crime. He was the one who deserved punishment.
Perhaps he did deserve it, for allowing Macy to come here.
“We cannot simply let her out,” another kraken said.
“Why not let the razorbacks have her? Kronus is right; humans have no place here.”
“She knows this place, now. What if she makes it back to her kind and leads them here?”
“I won’t speak a word about this place, or about any of you,” Macy said. “And I'm not returning to my people. My place is with Jax.”
My place is with Jax.
Those words sent a wave of warmth through Jax and nearly stopped his hearts. He would have turned and pulled Macy against him, would have crushed his mouth over hers to taste her, would have reveled in all that was her…if not for the threat posed by the other kraken.
“We cannot trust the word of a human!” Kronus snarled, moving forward, raising himself high on his tentacles. A red undertone crept into his skin.
Jax shifted to block Kronus’s view of Macy. “If you mean to challenge me, do so. But you—” he ran his gaze over the others “—none of you — will lay neither hand nor tentacle upon her.”
Kronus thrust a clawed finger at Jax. “That thing does not belong here, and if we cannot risk it telling others, it needs to be killed!”
“I will kill anyone, human or kraken, who means to harm my mate!” Jax roared. His skin flared red as he lunged forward; Kronus fell back, fear in his eyes.
The room was utterly silent. The other kraken stared at Jax, and he met each of their gazes one at a time, unwavering.
“She is mine,” he growled.
Ector dragged himself closer, past the stunned Kronus, and slowly looked from Jax to Macy. His demeanor was calm, his coloring neutral.
Fire flowed through Jax’s veins. He would fight any of them, all of them, without a second thought.
“Dracchus is correct,” Ector said, meeting Jax’s eyes. “The human is not at fault here, and she has not yet proven worthy of either our scorn or our punishment. But Jax the Wanderer has forsaken his duty to his people.”
Jax searched for sorrow in Ector’s expression, or anger, or disappointment — for anything. But he couldn’t read the old kraken’s face.
Ector turned to the others. “If Jax has taken her as his mate, she has a place here, like any of us. As strange as it may be, we must honor his choice in that. But she cannot leave.”
A confused combination of relief and resentment struck Jax with the nods and calls of assent from the other kraken. They were sparing her life and stealing her freedom in a single decision.
“Jax trusts this human, Ector,” Arkon said. “Should that not be enough for us? He has always served our people selflessly, despite his wanderings.”
“His judgment cannot be trusted, now that he has mated a human.” The fear in Kronus’s eyes had been overcome by disgust.
“Do we have an agreement on my terms?” Ector asked. “She stays, and is not to be harmed.”
Most everyone seemed to agree. Kronus didn’t look away from Jax, and didn’t offer an answer. Were he not already flooded with emotion, Jax would’ve been amused at himself; he’d thought Dracchus would prove the biggest obstacle.
Kronus turned and left. Several other kraken — all males — followed.
Ector twisted back to look at Jax. “She is not our enemy. Unless she leaves.”
Jax clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together, and held any response he might have given. Ector had diffused a situation that may well have ended in bloodshed, but the cost… There had to be another way.
As Ector departed, Jax faced Macy.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I should have listened to you.”
Shaking his head, Jax raised his hand to cup her cheek and wrapped his tentacles around her waist to draw her close. “You are safe. That is enough, for now. We will figure out what to do, from here.”
“They’ve trapped you as much as they’ve trapped me.”
“Is it better to be alive and caged, or dead and free?” he asked. The answer should have been simple, but he realized he didn’t have one. “They’ve wronged you, Macy.”
“I did not intend for their judgment to be passed upon you, human,” Dracchus said.
“What did you expect, bringing her here?” Jax demanded. “That they would welcome her with open arms and slit me open to pay for my supposed crimes? They might have killed her, were it not for Ector.”
Dracchus frowned, studying Macy. “I want what is best for our people. Nothing more nor less than that. Our numbers are few, Wanderer, and you are needed as much as I, or Arkon.”
“I refused a single hunt, Dracchus. And you play it as the ultimate betrayal.”
“You refused a single hunt, yes,” Dracchus said through bared teeth, “but you have been missing during countless others! Your whims do not change our need for food and protection.”
“I am not responsible for all of us!” Jax released his hold on Macy and turned fully toward Dracchus. “You have ever sought to prove yourself against me, to show everyone you are better than me, and you have finally won. Does it satisfy you?”
Macy grabbed hold of Jax’s arm, tugging him back, though he didn’t budge. “Jax...”
“It gives me no satisfaction,” Dracchus shouted. “You have been gifted more so than any of us, and you waste your skills by wandering aimlessly. For what? What good does it do our people? What good does it do you? That the best of us should be so selfish brings shame upon us all!”
“What makes me better than you, Dracchus?” Jax’s hearts thundered.
He clenched his fists at his sides and forced his tentacles to still; Macy’s touch was cold compared to the heat in his blood.
“You lead the hunts that sustain our people. You give everything of yourself to protect them and feed them. I am no better than any of us, and my place has never been here. Is that enough to earn your hatred?”
Arkon took hold of Jax’s other arm. “There is no more reason to fight, my friend.”
“You are the one who should lead, Wanderer.” The fury was gone from Dracchus’s voice.
More than the restraining hands upon his arms, Dracchus’s tone broke through Jax’s anger. They stared at each other for a long while.
“I cannot,” Jax finally said. He dropped his gaze to Macy’s hand and clasped it in his own. Without further word to Dracchus, he led Macy out of the Mess and into her new life.