And then he gave her a strangely knowing look before he pointed at one of the bells.

Nodding, she gave the octopus one last lingering glance before swimming toward the nearest bell. It seemed to be even larger up close, perhaps two of her own height. And there were things swimming in it. A tiny school of fish the same color as the bell, as far as she could tell, at least. They swirled in the middle of the bell, a tiny whirlwind of fish that scattered from underneath and raced to other plants at their approach.

It was so magical. Every bit of this made her hold her breath as she watched something new and wondrous happen. Then she looked over at Arges and saw him watching her. The soft expression on his face was eerily close to pride.

She was glad there were masks over her face and the water was cold. Because Mira was quite certain she turned a rather embarrassing shade of red. Kicking her feet, she watched him as he watched her. Their eyes locked. Her breath fogged the inside of the rebreather only to clear every time she inhaled.

She must look so monstrous to him compared to the beauty of his own kind. She’d only seen a few undines in her day, but they were all like him. Born to be in the water. Their gills and fins delicately waving with each movement, floating there like they didn’t have to fight to stay upright. They just were in the ocean.

And oh, she was so envious of them.

His gills flickered, slowly lifting around his neck as he looked her up and down before he pointed at the bell shaped plant.

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” she said.

He scooped his hand, motioning for her to go inside the plant.

“That’s not happening,” she muttered, pinwheeling her hands to shove herself farther away from the plant. “Here I was thinking you were just moving me somewhere safer, but I see now that I am just supposed to be food for one of your other pets. I’m good, Arges. I’ll just go to the surface or back to my own home rather than be turned into goo for a plant. Deal?”

He let out another one of those melodious chuckles before gesturing for her to go inside the bell again. Under no circumstances was she going to do that. She wasn’t going to be plant food at the end of her life. She’d rather try her luck with a deep sea squid than that.

A mere flick of his tail, a twitch really, and he was at her side again. He placed a hand against her back and shoved. No matter how hard she tried to swim away from him, and no matter how long she struggled, he somehow just kept bumping her closer and closer to the damn plant.

“If we were on land, this would be a totally different dynamic,” she wheezed through heavy breathing. “I’d be pushing you around. Rolling you on the ground like a giant seal.”

Again, he made that gorgeous sounding laugh, and it was hard to not get distracted. Besides, there was no way she could fight him.

And would he be laughing if he intended to kill her? Maybe. Probably, actually considering the history between their people but... Well, she chose to trust him. Because what else was she supposed to do?

It wasn’t like she had a choice in any of this.

He guided her through the water and shoved her underneath the bell. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for the sickly feeling of the plant closing over her body. Perhaps dragging slime in its wake as it mashed her or dissolved her with acid.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, all she felt were warm, webbed hands that slid up her sides until they rested against her ribs. Waiting, she supposed, for her to open her eyes.

Peeling first one open, then the other, she was startled to see only his face. Arges hovered so close to her that it would only take a slight tilt of her head and she’d bonk him with her forehead. And those eyes of his were narrowed with amusement.

“What?” she asked. “Clearly you were feeding me to the giant plant.”

In a startlingly human gesture, he rolled his eyes and then pointed above her head.

And there was... air. Above them.

“Can I...” It sounded stupid to even voice the words, but she muttered, “Can I breathe in here?”

He quirked a brow as if to say, I don’t know, can you? And then shoved her up a little higher.

She had her rebreather. The worst-case scenario was that she couldn’t breathe that air, and she had to put the breather back on. And that was a hell of a lot easier to do in maybe not breathable air, but still not water.

Kicking her feet, she made it up to the surface and pulled the rebreather off. There was plenty of room above her head, and even a few tendrils hanging down from the inside. Perhaps stamens, she thought, like plants that needed to be pollinated.

Arges joined her, looking very pleased that she could breathe.

He spoke, his hands moving quickly along with each word, and she got the general idea of what he was saying. The plants made a kind of oxygen, and it was breathable for her kind. Then he reached up and grabbed one of the tendrils, gently looping it around her waist and then making a motion like he was sleeping.

So he wanted her to sleep in here? Why?

“I don’t understand,” she said slowly. “Why do you want me to sleep in here? I could drown in my sleep. Wasn’t the cave better than this?”

He spoke, his words like a song, as he gestured so quickly that she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. Did he want her to stay here? She wouldn’t survive alone in the water for that long. Surely he knew that.

“Food?” she asked. “Fresh water?”

He pointed to the tiny fish, reaching his hands out slowly and cupping one between his fingers. It was easy to catch them, apparently. Maybe because they didn’t have natural hunters. Then he spoke, that voice going on and on before he dragged her down into the water for a few moments so she could see the floating seed pods were actually similar to the ones he’d brought her. There was water in them, apparently, that she could drink.

She shook her head when he brought her back up into the glowing blue light of the bell. “No. It’s too cold.”

The damned undine faked shivering, then pointed to her. Clearly, she wasn’t shivering anymore, and the water was warmer here. Despite the rip in the back of her suit, she wasn’t as cold as she might expect.

But that didn’t mean this was a good idea. “What about sharks? Squid? All the other creatures in the ocean that would love an easy meal?”

He said something that sounded familiar, then gestured around them like this place was safe.

“And what if I run out of air to breathe?”

He gently lifted the rebreather still attached to her neck and then pointed to the other bell plants. Like it was obvious. She had options for air, it just wasn’t the best option she might have.

And then, to her absolute horror, he sank out of the bell and swam away before she could catch him.

OceanofPDF.com

Eighteen

Arges

Arges hated to leave her undefended in a strange new world that likely she was terrified of. He understood how scary it must be for her to be underwater where she could not breathe, and now there was no one else there to help her. It was... horrible what he had chosen to do.

But he had no other option. Daios had come to the cave, and he couldn’t leave her where his most dangerous brother had found her. So he had to move her. He had to bring her elsewhere until he could find a more permanent place for her.

In the meantime, he had to return home. He needed to show his face to the others, so they knew he had not run. He hadn’t turned to the depthstriders in shame and asked them to take him in.

Arges was still the leader of his pod. He was still the favored son of their Mitéra and no mission with the achromos would change that.