Page 2 of The Demons in the Deep: Extended Edition
Jewel’s breath dragged heavy through his lungs. None of the surviving males or spawn had golden tails. That was a trait he and his father shared.
But perhaps some other sea creature had such a tail.
Perhaps some other creature was driving through the sea, shedding long ripples in the surface, aiming straight for the place where the sea-wall of Kiken Island had once stood.
Perhaps some other creature arced out of the water, pale skin gleaming and dark blue hair whipping free, golden scales flashing—
Jewel let out a whimper. With shaking fingers he shucked off his pants. He unclasped the golden belt around his middle and laid it carefully aside. Instantly his lower body dissolved into particulates, which reformed in the shape of a sleek golden tail, ending in a broad fin.
The tail jerked Jewel to the ground, a sodden weight on land—but he barely noticed. He rolled and lurched, flinging himself off the cliff’s edge.
He flew through soft sunlit air, with the salt breeze whistling through his hair and past his ears.
Then he crashed into the surf, submerging, drinking in the ocean through his gills. None of his salt baths on the island felt quite as delicious as putting his whole self into the sea. His pores soaked up the liquid, reviving, relaxing.
But his heartbeat quickened, because he could hear something now—a voice calling his name. A voice he’d thought he would never hear again.
Joy blazed through him, incandescent. And for a moment, Jewel wished he could bleed salt from his eyes like the black-haired girls.
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Rake heard the answering cry, a thrilling lance piercing his chest. He shot forward, propelled by frantic lashes of his tail, until he saw a small figure streaking toward him. His heart pulsed with agonized delight, with a desperate ache to close the distance, to hold his Jewel close—
Jewel slammed into his chest and Rake wrapped him up tight.
They hovered there, halfway between the black deep below and the glimmering gold above. The restless, haunting hunger inside Rake’s chest was sated. He could breathe, clasping his small son in his arms.
“They said you were dead,” Jewel muttered. “Kestra told me the great Entity ate you.”
“It did. But the creature who dealt in memories—the Horror from the Bone Trench—it saved me from being consumed. It pulled me into itself and encased me in some sort of healing sac.” He shuddered briefly, recalling the slimy, suffocating existence he’d been forced to endure for days, until the deep wounds on his body were healed. “Have you been well, my Jewel? Are the humans treating you kindly?”
“Yes.” But Jewel pulled away slightly, frowning. “You left me for a long time. Don’t leave me again.”
Rake’s insides curled with guilt. “I don’t want to, little one. But I have learned something from the Horror, something that may be important for both the humans and our kind. I need to pass the information to Kestra and Flay. Are they still on the island?”
Even as he spoke the words, he suspected what the answer would be. He wasn’t sure how many days he’d spent in the gut of the Horror, but he knew Flay had been in a hurry to leave Kiken Island as soon as the mermaid problem was resolved. Flay had people to whom he was responsible—a father, a brother.
“They left,” Jewel said. “With Mai. On the big spiked ship.”
“Ah.” Rake tugged him close again, setting his chin atop Jewel’s indigo curls.
“I miss Mai,” Jewel said. “Before they sailed away, she read to me at night. And she held me sometimes, like this. Like you do. She’s my favorite, and she left. Are you going after them?”
“Maybe.”
“Can I come?”
Rake struggled for an answer. At last he said, “I need to speak with the others on the island first. Then I will decide what to do. But Jewel, you must understand that many dangers exist in the ocean, dangers you and I never faced because the females did all the fighting. There are sharks, poisonous creatures, and monsters—I’ve seen some of them in the memories of the Horror and its counterparts.”
“Counterparts?”
“The Horror is but one of many beings, melded together into the great Entity you saw,” Rake explained. “They each have their own will, but they are a joint consciousness, a collective. They share resources, food, energy, and memory.”
“Will they come back?”
“I don’t think so. They swallowed an enormous amount of food, and will likely rest for a long time, maybe as long as a century.” He swirled Jewel around to his back so the spawn could hold onto his shoulders as they swam. “Enough questions for now. I want to walk again.”
“Mai took some of the belts and things with her,” said Jewel. “But Shale has a few.”
