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And then he sank beneath the waves as she forced herself to her feet and staggered toward her home. There was a side door she could slip into if she was careful and quiet.
Then maybe she could find her father.
Chapter
Fourteen
Everything was a whirlwind after that. Imber watched from below the dock as she slipped into the house and there was very little he could see from the water. But her father was a sneaky man, far more than his daughter likely realized. Imber could watch him far easier than he could his mate.
The professor had built himself more than just the one facility to keep all the items from Imber’s people. His sister had come here to investigate after he’d told her what Alys had told him. It didn’t take very long for them to put two and two together.
Obviously, Alys’s father hadn’t told her everything.
Which meant it was up to him and his people to find out the whole truth about what this man didn’t want Alys to see. Easily enough, really, because her father had built himself a tank underneath the ocean to sit in.
Or something like that. Virago had only explained it in simple terms, and he thought it was long pastime for him to see it himself. It wasn’t hidden, not really. Alys had never swum near their home or she would have seen it. Anyone could see it.
Her father had added another level underneath their home, and the majority of it was glass. Imber could see right throughthe walls and track every step the professor made. Though the man was deep in thought, he really should look up at the glass more often. If he had, then he would see Imber floating right beyond it.
Alys had said her people were dangerous. She told him about the many risks and how nervous she was about all of it. In some sense, he knew there was logic to her fear. He had seen what their machines had done to his home and how those creations had eaten up rock and mountains of land that stood in their way. He knew there were likely other creations they had made as well.
But if he were to meet one alone, without any of their metal warriors, Imber had no question he was the stronger creature.
So he stayed where he was. Unafraid that her father would see him on the other side of the glass, watching him. If he was being honest with himself, he wanted the old man to see him. To feel the fear that surely he should feel.
Eventually, however, he got nervous. Alys had gone into the home a while ago and still her father was down here. The old man surely could hear her upstairs, or at the very least, she had to be shouting for him.
His mate needed help. And this was the only person who could give her that help.
Angry now, he slapped his fluke against the glass. Hard. That made the old man jump high enough that all the papers in his hands were flung into the air. They fell like the ash and dust that remained of his home before the man realized there was someone outside his window. Someone who was much larger and significantly more dangerous.
Imber bared his teeth in a pleased grin as he watched all the blood drain from the old man’s face. Fear flickered in his movements, and he looked over at the door before looking back at Imber. As though he thought the monster at his windows was about to break in and flood the entire place.
But Imber did not want to harm the old man. Not yet. Instead, he pressed a finger to his lips, as Alys had done to him once when he was talking too much, and then pointed up.
The professor clearly had no idea what that meant. Somehow his face turned even paler, like the inside of a clam shell. What a shame, really, because Imber enjoyed seeing the sun-kissed burnish of the achromo’s skin.
Again, he pointed up, then gestured for the old man to leave.
That seemed to get the professor moving, because he bolted from the room like it was about to implode at any minute. Rolling his eyes, Imber made sure he was tucked away and out of sight from anyone above the water.
He should return home. He should go back to his people and make sure they were well. But he couldn’t leave. Not yet, at least. He had to make sure that Alys was getting treated for whatever ailment bothered her, and then he could return to his people.
All he knew was that it felt as though he’d ripped out his heart when she walked away from him. He had seen the way she stumbled, the way pain had been laced in every single step, and he’d known in that moment he couldn’t leave.
Not yet.
Soon, he would convince himself that she was in good hands.
He had no idea how long he waited. Coiled around the base of the building, he could have been there for days on end. Likely was, considering how stiff his tail was. Eventually, though, he peeled himself away from the cold stone and looked through the glass.
There was a sound there, and one that he’d been waiting to hear.
The clipped footsteps coming down the stairs were too many to just be one person. Which meant the professor was returning with another person at his side. Imber knew he should dart away from the glass and hide. Who knew who the professor wasbringing? The other person could easily be someone who was meant to fight against Imber, to attack him or burn him as they had his people before.
It was a risk he was willing to take. Just in case the person on the other side of the glass was... was...
Alys came down the stairs and filled the room like a ray of sunshine. Her golden hair had been washed and brushed, and he could see it was just as beautiful as it had been when he’d first seen her. Those locks were shiny and smooth, falling around her head in a cascade of golden curls like a waterfall. Her skin was nearly back to normal, although there were still a few red lines at her joints that clearly hadn’t healed just yet. But the dark circles under her lovely eyes were gone, and the bright expression on her face was full of life.
