Fathom (Mermaids of Montana #3) - Elsa Jade Page 0,92
tide. But we can’t go to the Tritonesse. To them, we’re monsters, and they aren’t going to forget that just because we’ve come to save the day. And we can’t call on the intergalactic community, not when the council rep is watching to see if Tritona is salvageable at all.” She spread her hands. “It’s just us, Sting. But if anyone would remember what the switch charge was meant to be—and how we might stop it—it’d be the Abyssa.”
She held her breath as he considered.
“I only went once to the Abyssa’s shrine to receive an omen, as most Tritonyri do before their first battle. I saw her light, but never her voice. She gave me no words as a warrior to carry into battle. I don’t know that she would help us now.”
“Now or never,” Lana reminded him grimly.
After a moment, he inclined his head. “If we don’t want the Cretarni to stop us, we can’t risk a message to Coriolis and the others. We can send one burst before we submerge, but the signal may be intercepted by the Cretarni as well. What should we tell them?”
What would she tell the women who were like sisters she’d never had, knowing that she might be overheard by those who had never accepted her and those who sought to kill her?
She thought for a moment. “I guess there’s not much to say except… The Phantom and the fire-witch are coming home.”
He huffed out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Message recorded. It will transmit before we vanish under the waves.”
She gazed at him. “You’re very handsome when you smile, did you know?”
He did it again, and she would’ve sworn she caught a glimpse of dimples. “No one has ever said that to me before,” he admitted. “Most don’t like to see my teeth.” His smile faded. “Once you see them inflicted the way I was meant to be, maybe you won’t think I’m handsome anymore.”
“You never minded when I was a monster,” she reminded him.
“Or when you weren’t,” he murmured. Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he continued brusquely, “One more deep breath. Then all power to our descent. If we avoid Cretarni detection, survive impact with the water’s surface, and maintain life-support for our dive, we’ll be at the Abyssa’s shrine before the Cretarni launch another round.”
Her breaths sounded loud and fearful in her own ears, as if she was already underwater. Suddenly, the lack of energy from the Space Invader icons on the screen seemed ominous. If they were saving up all that firepower, they could easily aim some of it at the runabout. Relying on being too small and obsolete seemed like a questionable plan. But it was what they had.
She watched, tense, her breaths so shallow she didn’t even notice that the air was fading. The runabout was a tiny blip on the screen, plunging rapidly toward the seemingly flat line that marked the surface of the Tritona sea. But she knew from her previous visit that those waters were anything but calm. The runabout had only one small viewport, and the transparent plasteel showed the black void turning to fire as they plunged through the atmosphere and started to burn.
But they’d be extinguished soon enough...
Even though it didn’t matter—hadn’t mattered the last two times she’d crashed either—she held her breath and clenched her butt cheeks as if that would stop her ship from coming apart around her. Instead they pierced the transition between sky and water without incident, like a shooting star fading without a wish.
The view out the small round viewport went instantly from the white of spray and steam to the blue-green of sunlit water—and Tritonan blood—to the darker blue of deeper water.
And a heartbeat after that, it was black as space again.
“That was easier than I’d planned,” Sting murmured. “All indicators look good, and we’ll have enough power to make it to the Abyssa’s shrine.” He slanted a glance at her, those unlikely dimples flashing again. “And back.”
For the first time, the runabout creaked, as the pressure intensified. Lana stared uneasily at the systems panel. On the screen, all the Space Invader ships had disappeared; the mineralized water interfered with the runabout’s sensors. As if they were alone in all the universe.
“Sting?”
His pale gaze shifted to her. “Your tone makes me want to run away, even here in the deeps with an enemy armada lurking above.”
She wrinkled her nose at the dimple peeking out. “Why didn’t you abduct