“I want to see the human.”

“She is resting, Rhea. Leave.”

It hadn’t been the voices that woke Macy, but the pain radiating from her leg, blazing along every nerve. Her throat was parched, and she was too warm. She afraid to move, even to open her eyes, and longed for the oblivion that had claimed her before.

“I will not. I want to see the human,” Rhea said again, voice hard with authority. “Let me pass.”

“No.” Jax’s tone was equally firm. “I will send for you when she is awake, so she can turn you away by her own choice.”

“I don’t want to fight,” Macy said. She opened her eyes and slowly turned her head toward the doorway, where Jax barred Rhea’s entry.

Jax twisted to look at Macy. His features eased with relief, but he didn’t move. “There is no fight. Rhea is leaving.”

Rhea met Macy’s eyes. “Will you let me speak, human?”

“Her name is Macy.”

Macy stared at the female kraken and gave a small nod; it was all the motion she could stand. Now that she’d regained consciousness, her leg throbbed, each beat a new wave of agony.

Frowning, Jax shifted aside. Rhea entered, with Melaina close behind. The girl hurried past her mother and grasped the low rail on the edge of the bed, bringing her face close to Macy’s.

“Hi.” Macy forced a smile.

Melaina smiled, too, but it quickly faded. “Why are you still in bed?”

Jax took up a position beside Rhea, folded his arms over his chest, and watched silently.

“My leg doesn’t want to work right now.”

“When it does, can we dance again? I like your music. I like dancing with you, too. I am sorry this is my fault.”

“Melaina,” Rhea intoned.

“I would love to dance with you again.” Macy glanced at Rhea. “It was the best fun I’ve ever had.”

“Me, too,” Melaina grinned and lifted a tentacle, brushing it over Macy’s arm.

“If you wanted your youngling to see Macy, you should have said so,” Jax grumbled. “I would have let her through.”

Rhea glared at Jax. “It is not Melaina alone who wishes to speak to her. I…have a few words.” The female turned her attention back to Macy, and the heat went out of her gaze. “I was wrong. At least about you. If you hadn’t found my Melaina, she…”

“It’s okay,” Macy said, and despite her discomfort, slipped a hand through the railing and brushed the backs of her fingers against Rhea’s forearm.

The female kraken flinched, but her expression was more confused than alarmed.

“Thank you,” Rhea said. She settled a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Come, Melaina. We must allow her to rest.”

Melaina opened her mouth to protest, but she snapped it shut when she met her mother’s stern gaze. “You promise we can dance again, Macy?” she asked as she was led away.

“I promise. As soon as I’m better.”

After Rhea and Melaina exited, Jax moved to the bedside, sank down, and took Macy’s hand. “How do you feel?”

“It hurts so much, Jax.” There was no reason to pretend, with Melaina gone.

He frowned deeply, brow falling low, and touched her cheek. “You are warmer than normal, Macy, and you have not regained your color.”

She closed her eyes. His palm was cool against her heated skin. “Do you remember what I said about infections?”

“That infections prevent wounds from healing.”

“And could get worse.” She opened her eyes. “I have a fever. My wound is likely infected, and there’s a good chance this will get worse before it gets better.”

Somehow, his expression grew even more distressed. “And if it does?”

Macy searched his face. She hated to worry him, hated that her recklessness was doing this to him…but if she hadn’t gone out, who could say if the kraken would’ve found Melaina in time?

“It… The infection could get into my bloodstream…and I could die if it’s not treated properly.”

The look on his face hurt worse than her leg, if only briefly. She couldn’t imagine what he was feeling — he’d likely thought her as good as dead when he found her with the razorback, and after the frantic return to the Facility and his desperate attempts to care for her injuries, she was still in danger of death.

“How do we treat it?” His voice was surprisingly steady.

“Antibiotics. Medicine. That’s the only way to be sure.”

“Medicine,” he repeated, glancing past her. “There are countless bottles in the cabinets. Some of that must be medicine.”

“But I don’t know which to use, or how much to take, or if any of it is still good.” She covered his hands with hers, drawing his attention back. “If I get worse…I need to go back to The Watch.”

His jaw muscles bulged, and he nodded. “Anything it takes to keep you safe.”

“I love you.”

“And I, you.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “What do you need? What can I do, now?”

“Water.”

His touch lingered, and their eyes held. So much passed between them in that moment — love, fear, desperation, and determination. Macy watched silently as he went to retrieve her water.

All those times she’d asked to be taken back to The Watch, all those times he’d denied her, and only now — when she didn’t want to return — would he bring her without hesitation. Because her life was on the line, and that was more important to him than anything else.

Jax woke to Macy’s moaning. He pushed himself upright — he’d fallen asleep leaning on the side of the bed — and shook away his grogginess. He hadn’t intended to sleep. Hadn’t wanted to take his eyes off her, for even a moment.

Her face glistened with a sheen of sweat, and the sheet Arkon had laid atop her was damp and bunched around her legs. Though her eyes were shut, and she appeared to be sleeping, she shifted from side to side, her expression drawn.

He pressed his palm to her forehead and frowned. She was hotter than before.

By the dimness of the overhead lights, it was night — many rooms in the Facility darkened automatically after sunset — and morning could be hours away. Her words lingered at the forefront of his mind.

If I get worse…I need to go back to The Watch.

Jax turned his attention to her leg; she’d kicked it from beneath the sheet, leaving her calf exposed. The faint, pale scars where Arkon had sealed her wounds were barely visible in the low light, but the thin, red veins snaking outward from them were unmistakable. Though he knew little about the way humans healed, this was clearly not normal.

This was worse.

He spread the sheet out over her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I will return as quickly as I can,” he whispered.

If Macy heard, she made no indication.

He hurried out of the infirmary and down the corridor. He checked the computer room first; Arkon was not there. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed his rising panic. It would do him no good. He went to the pool next, where he gathered a diving suit and a mask. There was still no sign of his friend.

That left only two other likely places — Arkon’s den, or the Mess. Jax moved toward the latter.

The voices from inside the Mess carried to him from down the corridor. He’d had little contact with his people since returning with Macy; he’d not sought them out, and no one had spoken to him about what had happened. There was no doubt word had already spread.

But he couldn’t know how any of them would take the story.

He ignored the quickening of his hearts and entered the Mess without hesitation.

“We can’t let this happen again. We need to keep a closer eye on our younglings, especially the females,” one of the kraken said.

The group was smaller than when Jax had brought Macy to the Facility, but a similar tension thickened the air. They were clustered together near the far wall; Arkon, Dracchus, Kronus, and Ector were visible in the crowd.

“This does not often happen. Melaina is restless. She isn’t the first, and she won’t be the last,” Ector said. His eyes shifted at that moment, falling on Jax.

The others responded to Ector’s change in attention. Their conversation ended, and all eyes turned to Jax; he couldn’t read their expressions, couldn’t gauge their moods, save for Arkon’s. There was an expectancy in the set of his brow, in the tight line of his lips, in his flattened pupils.

“I need your assistance, Arkon. We need to bring Macy back to her people,” Jax said.

Without hesitation, Arkon moved to Jax’s side.

“What?” Kronus moved forward, scowling. “She’s already broken our terms once, Wanderer. We cannot allow it again.”

“Whether with our people’s approval or not, Kronus, I am taking her from this place.”

“She stays,” Kronus growled. “We cannot allow you to expose us for a human!”

Dracchus pushed through the others and loomed before Kronus; the two locked gazes and their skin flickered crimson.

“That human has earned her right to be considered one of us,” Dracchus said. “She slew a razorback on her own, saving the life of a youngling and providing us ample meat in the process, at great risk to herself. She is one of us. If we can come and go at will, so can she.”

“But he means to bring her back to her kind!”

“She will die if I do not,” Jax said.

“So let her die,” Kronus spat.

Jax advanced on Kronus; the group backed away. “If you are standing between me and the life of my mate, Kronus, I will kill you here.”

“She is no proper mate. She is an unnatural, dis—”

Leaping the remaining distance between them, Jax hammered his fist into Kronus’s jaw.

Kronus twisted aside with the force. Before the kraken fell, Jax wrapped his tentacles around Kronus’s neck and took his face between both hands, holding his claws over Kronus’s eyes.

“Speak of her again, and I will end you,” Jax growled through bared teeth. “I will take you apart one piece at a time and spread you across the sea as I return her to her people.”

Kronus stared, wide-eyed, at the claws hovering above him, body twitching as he fought to breathe.

“She is one of us,” Jax said. When Kronus did not reply, Jax roared. “She is one of us!”

Frantically, Kronus nodded, though his range of motion was limited by the tentacles coiled around his neck.

“I am taking her away from here.” Relinquishing his hold, Jax shoved Kronus away.

Kronus tumbled into the group behind him; most of them were the same kraken who’d followed him out after Ector had spared Macy’s life in this very room.

Jax ran his gaze over the others slowly. “Do I have any other challenges to my intent?”

“I will accompany you,” Dracchus said. He met Jax’s eyes and held them.

“I do not know how the humans will react if they see us.”

Dracchus shrugged his broad shoulders. “She did not know how we would react when she first came here. I would honor her courage.”

“Thank you,” Jax said.

“Her condition is poor?” Ector asked.

Jax nodded, pressing his lips into a tight line.

“Then go. Quickly.”