Whispers of the Deep

So I will end this quickly, not because you deserve it, but because she needs me more than I need my vengeance.

I would have turned the waters black with their blood. I don’t care that he’s my brother, or that the others have been in my pod for years. They do not understand the value or the worth of your life, kairos, and I will not stand for their mistreatment of you.

Sorry, you pretty bastard. Better luck next time.

Let me be your breath.

Right,” she muttered to herself, working on pulling the welder apart. “This is normal. Just another afternoon spent with my undine friend while he prepares dinner and I work on some lost trash that he apparently thinks is a gift. Nothing to see here at all.

Fuck, woman. You shouldn’t react like that when I tell you I murdered someone for you.

I will find this daughter,” he growled. “And she will be mine.

Well, I did want to blow your mind.” “Indeed, you did.” He gathered her a little closer, arranging her legs on either side of him so she was comfortable. “You are a gift from the sea, Mira. A rare pearl I am so lucky to have found. I do love you, you know. More than anything else in this world. You hold my soul in your chest. Wherever you go, I will never be far from you.” Her hair billowed around them, red tangling around the electric blue of his body. “I love you,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to his gills. “No matter how different we are or where we came from. You are mine, Arges. And I am yours.

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.

Fucking hell!” she shouted, yanking the blanket even tighter around her shoulders as she backed toward the console table. “I just told you I’m useless, Arges! So fuck off. Clearly, there is nothing I can do for you, and there’s nothing you can do for me, so just leave me to rot here! I’ll make it a couple of days, but that was the whole point of taking me, wasn’t it? I was never getting out of this alive. So stop toying with your food and let me fucking die.

The damn thing was outside. Hissing caught her attention. Another leak? That would explain the emergency protocol, but... She turned just in time to see the massive black tail that hit her in the chest and sent her skidding across the floor. Her hip hit first, sending a bright spark of pain up her spine until she slid to a stop ten feet away. And her jaw fell open as she stared at the massive undine crouched on the floor. His clawed hands scraped the metal, the screeching making her wince almost more than the glare on his strange features. “You,” she hissed.

Mira saw the dark mass out of the corner of her eye just moments before it struck her. She hadn’t expected anything to move that fast through the water, let alone attack her. They’d already searched the area with drones to make sure there wasn’t anything large in the general vicinity. Three other men were joining her. She had the belated thought as she was smashed against the side of the tunnel. She just had to make it until they got here. Mira reached to the belt around her waist and tried to grab her serrated knife. It wouldn’t do much against a shark, but it might keep her alive. Or at least, make the creature think twice. Whipping out the blade, she blindly struck but soon realized that every one of her attempts to hit something vital was stopped by what felt like a... forearm? Twisting, she tried to turn in the water, but the damned deep sea flippers on her feet made that hard. They were built for long, graceful movements.

He inhaled deeply, those gills fluttering against her stomach, where he was suddenly very obviously excited. “Fuck, woman. You shouldn’t react like that when I tell you I murdered someone for you.

Troubled, he swam through the crevice into the cave. But as he took a deep breath to steady himself, he froze at the bottom. He could smell someone else had been here. One of his own people, with the faintest hint of sulfur and ash. A depthstrider? Certainly not. Their kind rarely came out of the deep, and they wouldn’t dare overstep their bounds when they could smell his scent here. Arges had made certain it was very clear whose cave this was. Which only left one other person. There was only one in his tribe who reeked of the depths, of the endless layer of gasses that hid yet another layer of the ocean from prying eyes. “Daios,” he snarled. His brother had been here. He had stared up at the achromo through the currents, and she likely didn’t even know he’d been there. Lurking in the depths, like the predator he wasn’t supposed to be, Daios had likely thought about stealing what was Arges’s. And then his blood turned icy. What if his brother had killed the achromo? What if he hadn’t been here and his enraged brother had ended this job for Arges? His gills flared wide in worry and all the lights along his tail flashed bright and hot. He wouldn’t stand for it. No one would take Mira from him, not this soon, not when she had just ignited the spark of interest in his chest. With a flick of his tail, he launched himself to the surface. Splashing loudly, he whipped his head around in the air. Searching for her. Hoping and praying to every ocean god out there that would listen that she be right where he left her. A startled shriek echoed through the cave, and he had to dodge a launched rock that would have bludgeoned him. Though the projectile should have angered him, all he could muster was a relieved sigh.

There are hot springs that come out of the vents in the sea. Many of the creatures there are startling, but they will leave us alone if I am close to you. You can get warm there, but we cannot take the heat with us.” Her brow furrowed in confusion, but then she smiled at him and he forgot how to breathe. “I trust you, Arges. Wherever you plan to take me, I will go.

It had been… exquisite. The pleasure before the pain. He’d arched into her touch, wanting more, needing more, and the heat of her body had called to him worse than any siren song his kind had released into the sea. She was every temptation he’d ever had, all wrapped up in a body he should hate and a mind that was far too devious. Mira was dangerous, he knew that. And yet, some part of him still wanted to keep her as his own. Punish her? Absolutely. He would punish her for what she had done, but even as he uncoiled his knotted tail and started back toward the cavern, those dark thoughts turned into something far more pleasurable. She would know what it felt like for his kind to dominate hers. He would make them fit together, if that’s what it took. Because he had seen the heat in her eyes, and he had seen the way her soft lips parted when she looked at him writhing in her grip. She’d wanted him, just as much as he’d wanted her. For now, that was enough.

Tell me when to stop,” he murmured, slowly turning her in his arms, so she was facing the warm vents. “And I will keep us where you find it most comfortable.” She shivered, and he could assume it was the depth of his voice in her ear that affected her so. “Arges?” “Yes, kairos?” Perhaps he leaned a little too close. Perhaps he slightly nuzzled his lips against her ear as he said the words. “I’m going to remove my suit. It keeps me warm in cold water, but keeps me cool in warm water. Just the top, but... Will you not look?” She asked the impossible. He had to hold on to her. The currents were far too strong for her to stay in one place without them whipping her away from him. So that meant she would be pressed against him, skin to skin, for the first time. He would surely die remaining still and not looking or touching everything he’d never seen bare. Still, she had asked. And he had promised that he would take care of her.

Kairos,” he murmured, gently dragging his finger down her cheek. She interrupted him. “You’ve called me that for a long time. What does it mean? My translator doesn’t know what to do with that one.” “It is a word with many meanings,” he replied. His throat closed a bit, knowing he was about to reveal maybe too much. “For us, it is a fleeting but crucial moment. An ephemeral rightness of time and place. A moment that brings you to where you were supposed to be.

They had interrupted him. He had found a mate, a true burning light that even now warmed his chest. He’d almost had her, and now they tried to take her away. She was his. His to take, to steal, to kiss. And oh, what a kiss. He’d seen humans do it before, but he had never thought devouring another person would make him feel so complete. He had only wanted her more. Wanted to dig himself into her skin and coil around her heart until he was wrapped so firmly around it that he knew it would only beat for him. Then his brothers had to ruin things. The other warriors that he’d led for years, the ones he had taught to track and hunt, had used what he’d taught them against him.

Though his fluke was still in the water, he had her pinned in every other sense. Both of her wrists were trapped by his webbed hands, high over her head. It arched her body into his, much like he had done only moments ago. Her strange tails were parted on either side of his body and he hadn’t realized they could spread so wide. It tucked him against her core, so unlike his own kind and yet strangely... compelling. The heat that had been between them before flared bright and hot again. He could feel it coursing through his veins, turning all his colors on like she’d lit him from within. The blues flared, and his gills rose again. No matter how hard he tried to keep them down.

Why do your kind touch mouths?” he asked, knowing that she had no idea what he was talking about. “I always saw it through the glass and wondered why you were doing it. Was it to pass food between the two of you? It disgusted me. But now I find myself looking at you, and I am curious what your people were doing.” She almost... reacted to his words? He couldn’t really tell. Her pupils dilated until he stared into a black-eyed gaze, and he thought she shifted a little closer to him. It was a strange reaction from a woman who could not understand him. Did it matter, though? He was already so deep into this that he couldn’t remember what he had planned before. He didn’t even notice that he’d rocked against her, pressing them a little closer as he got dangerously close to showing her everything that his people hid underneath their scales. Already he could feel his cock pressing against the backs of the armored plates, wanting to release and take her. He hadn’t taken a woman in ages. He hadn’t felt the bite of their claws or the gnashing of their teeth. Mating for his people was not a kind event. The male frequently left the interaction with scars that he’d carry with him for the rest of his life.

Voice guttural with desire, he leaned forward to murmur in her ear, “I have to draw this down your arms. If you wish to continue facing away from me, then I will have to touch you.” With no way for her to confirm if she understood, all he could do was reach his arms forward and gently slid the suit down her front. It was difficult to remove. She’d said before that it was tight to maintain her body pressure or something along those lines.

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t think it was normal for her to be so turned on by that answer, but fuck, she wanted him. He inhaled deeply, those gills fluttering against her stomach, where he was suddenly very obviously excited. “Fuck, woman. You shouldn’t react like that when I tell you I murdered someone for you.” “How else am I supposed to react? I thought for weeks that you didn’t care about me anymore. You disappeared, and I thought I was some pet you put back in the carrier and was having people take care of you while you lived your life.

She’d fooled herself into thinking this was an adventure when it was just an elaborate prison. “Sorry to disappoint,” she replied, her tone perhaps a little sullen. “But you picked someone who knows the least about anything. I’m not some high up leader who makes the decisions and knows every secret about Beta. I grew up in the base of the city, with barely enough food and water to survive. And then even less when I was orphaned and sent to live with all the other kids without families. Trust me. If you wanted secrets about Beta? You should have picked someone else. I’m a nobody, Arges. I know nothing useful.” Perhaps her words shocked him. He stared at her with wide eyes, like she’d told him that the humans were planning on setting the entire ocean on fire. But it was the truth.

A shadow passed over her hand. Strange, because she hadn’t seen any large animals since she’d started welding. Every now and then, she was treated to the sight of a massive whale in the distance. And sometimes at night she listened to their haunting songs as they swam by the city. It was beautiful, and for some reason, it always made tears sting in her eyes. Mouth full, still chewing, she looked up to find the source of the shadow and froze. A monster hovered in front of the glass. His black tail, so long it tangled in the kelp, was at least ten feet long. Blue slashes of fins, so deep they blended in with the water, undulated all along the black scales. It stretched up to his waist, seamlessly turning into that pale, almost gray skin. His body was as all the rumors claimed. So handsome it was painful to look at, and eerily like the gold sculptures that surrounded her.

I don’t want this to end so soon,” he scolded. “Why not?” she asked, lifting a brow. “You have two.

Byte sighed, and a few clunks echoed from inside the box before its projector appeared. On the glass of the dome, and emitting out into the water, it showed the blonde woman it had before. "You remember her?" "Alys Fairweather, the woman you served before she disappeared." "This was her home." Mira felt her jaw drop open as the droid said that with such ease. "Excuse me?" "This was her home. It was built for her by her father, after she supposedly disappeared. My programming initiative was to tell everyone that she'd died, but we were not programmed to lie well. So I was sent into the ocean because I couldn't keep the secret about... him." Another click and a new image appeared, floating like he was just outside the window. A green finned undine, just like the legends always said. He wasn't nearly as different as Arges, but perhaps he was from a different clan. He certainly looked like he wasn't a deep sea creature. With tiger stripes of green scales that glimmered on his skin, and gills behind his long pointed ears, some along his ribs as well, he was just as massive as Arges but so much softer looking. This new undine pressed his fingers against the glass, and the love in his eyes hurt to look at. He loved her so much. She could see it in his eyes, in the way that he lingered at the window, draping his tail over it as the image of Alys danced through the room. She reached up for him, wiggling her fingers and laughing at the way he shook his head. They were so in love. So very in love. The images faded, and she found her throat had closed up with emotion. Licking her lips, she asked, "So you wanted me to come here? Why?" "I didn't know you would end up here. In her home. But I saw the way you two looked at each other and I couldn't let you go back home without realizing the truth." "What truth?" she croaked. Byte's projector crunched back into the box. "That it was possible for your two to be together. Because I have seen it happen, and I know that it can work. Alys and her undine were together until she was very old. They lived here, and no one bothered them. He was an outcast to his people but he... he loved her. Very much. And she loved him in return." It was possible. They weren't the first. She

Still. He laughed at her when she’d been worried about him. “I should toss you back into the sea, you beast.” “Why’s that?” “I was actually worried about you.” “I know you were.” He smoothed his hand down her back, tugging her a little closer until she had no option but to straddle him. Then he did the strangest thing yet. He arranged her legs on either side of his tail, then snuggled her against his odd heartbeat. Resting her cheek on his chest, she toyed with his rib gills. “Are you really okay now?” “I’ll be fine. I just need rest.” He never stopped touching her. Gently moving his thumbs over her spine, sometimes coiling his fingers through her hair. She even felt him touch the lobe of her ear once. And when she was almost drifting off to sleep, she muttered, “This can’t be comfortable for you. You’re laying on a hard floor.” “You’d be surprised, Mira.” Then she swore he added, “Having you in my arms is the most comfortable I’ve ever been.

You have no idea what that touch does to me,” he murmured, his hands flexing against her hips and drawing her tighter against him. “It is a private touch, and you give it so freely. I can count on one hand the amount of people daring enough to touch those fins, let alone with such confidence and ease.” He wanted to explain to her how personal it was. How touching him like that was an advance by females of his kind. That she was telling his body that she was ready to mate, that he should release the cock he hid beneath a panel of scales. But she did not mean to do that, and he should not antagonize himself with such thoughts.

Mira ghosted her fingers over the gills at his neck. Gently, of course. She could only guess how sensitive they were. But the moment her fingers touched those soft gills, she was struck by how much they felt like velvet. The longer frills seemed to reach back, curving around her fingers and sliding through them. He arched into her touch, that strong thick neck bowing as though he couldn’t quite handle the touch. She thought maybe she’d hurt him, and then she heard him groan.