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Chapter
Twelve
He didn’t want to wake her, so he didn’t.
Imber laid there with her draped across his chest, trying to keep his breathing slow and quiet so she wouldn’t wake herself just because of the way he was breathing. He wanted her to sleep for as long as she needed.
She’d earned her rest. Even now, he could feel his cocks twitching at the memory. He would love nothing more than to wake her with a slow stroke between her legs, to see her eyes widen with desire and passion.
But he wasn’t an animal, as much as his form suggested that he might be. He couldn’t wake her up with expectations. Instead, he would allow her to continue to sleep because she trusted him. And this was enough for now.
Her hair laid across his shoulder, the silken feel of it so different from his own people’s. Her tails on either side of his hips made him worry she might wake a bit uncomfortable. At some point during the night, she had straightened them. When he noticed they drifted a bit in the currents, every time she stirred a bit in her sleep, he’d wrapped his tail around her. Giving her a brace against the sea she wasn’t yet used to.
Then she’d fallen into such a deep sleep, he almost felt as though he was breathing for her. Of course, he was, but he worried that she wouldn’t be breathing at all if he hadn’t been pushing air into her lungs with every deep breath of his own.
He just worried in general. She wasn’t built to live in the ocean like he was, and there were many reasons for him to be afraid for her. It hadn’t even been a full day yet since she’d been in the water, and already her fingertips were... wrong.
He was used to seeing them smooth like his own skin. But he’d lifted her hand to his lips just a few hours ago and noticed that her skin was waterlogged and wrinkly.
Wrong. It was wrong. He needed to ask her what was happening to her while she was in the water, and what they could do to stop it from happening.
A ripple of movement caught his attention above their heads. A shadow passing in front of the sun, a long tail and a sleek body that was designed for hunting. His sister. He would know Virago in any shape or form, at any distance.
Why would she be coming out here? Hadn’t she been the one to tease him that he should take his mate and attend to her? Frowning, he closed his arms a little more tightly around his little achromos.
A low sound echoed through his chest, not quite loud enough to wake Alys but enough for his sister to hear. And she did. Quickly changing directions, his sister dove toward them. When she was closer, he could smell the fear drifting off her body in waves.
“What happened?” he asked, noting that her daughter was not attached to her hip.
“The achromos have come.” Virago’s eyes skated over Alys, curled up in his arms, and she hadn’t even stirred yet. “You’ve made quick work of your mate, I see.”
“Virago,” he growled.
“We knew they were coming for our home, brother. We knew they were going to arrive sooner rather than later.”
“Where is my niece?”
“Safe, with the others. We need to gather all the things that we can, and those who were too weak to do so have already moved. I tried to give you time with her, but there is no more time left.” Virago’s gills spread wide around her face and ribs, and he knew then that the situation was dire.
They weren’t ever getting their home back. It was just like Alys said. Her people didn’t care what they were doing to the ocean. This was the spot they had chosen, and they would destroy it.
Alys stirred against him, her tails squeezing tight as she slowly came awake. She took a deep breath, sucking all the air out of his lungs in what he thought might be a yawn before she blinked her eyes open and looked up at him.
She was so adorable. Tucked up against him, all soft and warm and completely unaware of what was happening. Her nightmares were so far away in the dreaming world, but she had no way of knowing they had chased her into the real world.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice a little raspy with sleep and so quiet he almost didn’t hear her.
“We have to wake, my wave song.”
“No sleeping in today, hm?”
Virago’s voice cut through their quiet conversation. “Your people have come to destroy ours, Alys of the achromos. I know this is not what you want to hear after the night you had with my brother, but you are able-bodied. If nothing, you can carry whatever we need.”
He felt his hearts turn over in his chest as her eyes widened. With a sharp slap of her hands against his chest, she sat up. Her hair billowed in front of her face and she had to shove all thegolden locks out of her way to glare at his sister. “What do you mean?”
He repeated the words to his sister. And Virago sighed. “I mean there are metal beasts clearing the ocean. They approach our home and we need all the help we can get to move out of their way.”
Alys looked at him, then back at his sister. She spoke to him, but he had a feeling the words were for Virago as well, if his sister could have understood her. “I’m so sorry. I knew they were going to be coming, but I didn’t know it would be this soon. I thought you all had more time.”
