Page 98 of Whispers of the Deep
She was ashamed at the sounds that came out of her mouth. She had always considered herself to be strong, enduring what others couldn’t. Engineers lived in pain. Her muscles always ached. She was constantly burning herself, hitting her fingers with a hammer, searing her skin with warm bolts. But never had she endured pain like this. Never had she felt her skin splitting and blood pouring down her arms, down her belly, into her lap.
She was going to pass out, she realized. The cold sensation rushed from the top of her head down to her toes, and her vision started to get a little hazy.
The man in front of her slapped her hard. The sudden strike woke her only for a few seconds, enough for her to hear him mutter, “Can’t have you dying just yet. Need to send a message, Mira. You’re the message.”
The message? What message did he want to send? That anyone who spoke or was around the undines would be killed by their own people? Delirious, she faded in and out of consciousness. She knew he was walking around and doing something, but she had no idea what he was doing. But then she got really lightheaded and had no idea what was happening.
No, she wasn’t light headed. She was being carried.
Lifted through the air and dumped into icy water that froze all the air in her lungs. Her initial reaction was to take in a deep breath, but she stopped herself right before she inhaled mouthfuls of water. This wasn’t right. She wasn’t supposed to drown. She had created a device to prevent this, and if they would just give her the rebreather, she could survive this.
But then the pain hit her all over again. The salt made all her wounds turn into searing pain, and it wasn’t possible for her to survive. She couldn’t. The pain was so great that her heart was going to explode.
Warm arms slid around her, pulling her away from that nightmare of a building and against a familiar chest with two hearts beating to calm her. “Hush now,” he said, and she could hear the regret in his voice as another ache joined the others in her neck. “Let me be your breath.”
Thirty-Eight
Arges
Rage made his hands shake as he brushed her hair away from her face and swam as fast as he could away from her home. He’d known they were hurting her. Despite what that man had said, he could smell her blood for miles. He knew exactly what they were doing to her and how long she had suffered. But he hadn’t been able to help her.
There wasn’t any way for him to get into the city. He knew better than to rush any attack, even a rescue mission.
The moon pools were the best way for them to get into the city. He’d looked over the one in the dome he’d brought Mira to, and he was quite certain he knew how they worked. The humans hadn’t upgraded many of their cities in a very long time. The functionality should be the same.
He and Maketes had gone back to the dome before they had headed to the city. Between the two of them, they had almost completely ripped it apart and then rebuilt it. They needed the welders. Those were the most important part of getting these open and being able to attack the achromos.
Thankfully, they had more welders. They were the older versions, like he had brought Mira, but there were enough of them for them to swarm the moon pools and start taking them apart.
He just hoped she would forgive his people for attacking her home. He’d already made it very clear to his warriors. They were not wiping out the achromos. The city would not be ruined or sunk like the other. They already knew what happened when that occurred. the achromos just multiplied.
What they were doing was sending a message. They could destroy the city whenever they wished. They could tear it apart and murder everyone inside of it. Instead, they were going to take technology. They were going to steal more welders, some weapons, terrify the people inside. They would flood one or two wings, just to give the achromos something to do, steal a few droids, and then they would someday return with the ability to understand what the achromos were saying.
Mira was necessary for this, though. She had to be the one to translate for them. He needed her to make more chips, so her people could understand what his were saying.
It was a start. Mitéra had only agreed to the violence. She knew nothing else of what he had said and what he had ordered. Arges had a feeling he would pay for that, but right now, he didn’t care what happened to him.
He had Mira in his arms. Though her blood coated his scales and floated around her like a plume of bright color, she was still alive. He was certain they would save her. Even with the wound in her belly.
Brushing his claws over her face, he drew her closer to him and held her tightly against his hearts. “You’re going to live,” he breathed. “You’re going to live, Mira. I will not let you go.”
He was pleased that Byte had been correct. He breathed for both of them, and this was the first time in the water he’d seen her without a mask. Her face was so beautiful, so peaceful, as she looked up at him. She lifted a hand, gently running her fingers down his neck. “I love you,” she said, her voice so quiet he almost didn’t hear it. “I love you so much, Arges. I don’t want to die without you knowing that.”
The words were a punch in his gut. “You’re not going to die.”
“I might.” She lifted her hands from her belly, and the weak stream of blood frightened him. There should have been more. So much more.
Cursing, he changed where he was going. He couldn’t bring her to the dome himself, not yet. His people would lose their focus. Daios might even lead them into another attack where they would die. He couldn’t afford the risk when he had finally gotten them to a point where his people would listen.
But his mate was dying, and he did not know what to do.
The two sides of him screamed two very different things. His heart wanted him to go with her. To be there while the life faded from her eyes. He knew she would want him there with her if anything happened. So he could hold her hand through the pain.
But his mind had always been stronger than his heart. He knew he wasn’t the fastest swimmer here. And if they could get her back to the dome, then they could save her life. The medkit was something he’d already explained to many of his people. They would press it to her belly and it would heal her.
She had to heal.
No one would take her from him. Especially not some weak, scrawny achromo who thought he was strong because there was a wall of glass between him and one of the People of Water.
