He had no intention of doing that. He would not put the male down when he had been lurking, leering, looming above Ellie like he had any right whatsoever to do that. This male encroached upon what was Proteus’s.
Even if he was uncertain that he was worthy to keep Ellie with him for all eternity, he knew damn well this male wasn't.
The undine flopped in his grip, writhing and wriggling just like the tuna had done before he killed them too. "Release me," he wheezed, his breath reedy now that he was out of the water. "I beg you! I beg of you, god of the sea. Spare my life."
For a moment, Proteus remembered how it had once been. He saw so many other undine in his grasp, just like this one. He had killed them too, even after they'd begged. He had seen the oceans turn black as night while they still cried out for his mercy. But he had no mercy to give them. Never had.
They were tools to be used. Tools that would listen to him or not, and if they didn't, then he would replace them with tools that would. This newer generation would learn. Proteus had proven time and time again that the death of a few undine was the greatest way to get the others to listen to him.
But then he heard her. The quiet sound of a sob. And when he glanced in Ellie's direction, all he could see were her hands pressed against her mouth as she stared at him and the grip he had on the male in his hand.
"Please," she whispered. "We've worked so hard to get here."
Grunting, he looked once more at the pained expression on the male's face. Leaning close, he growled, "Now all I can smell is your fear."
Dropping the undine into the water, he climbed out and headed toward Ellie. She backed away from him, those eyes wide once more. But he didn't think it was terror in her eyes. She knew better than to fear him now. But there was something in her that recognized a predator when she saw one.
"Proteus?" she asked, breathless and stumbling. "What are you doing?"
He didn't have it in him to say a single word. There were no words that would fall from his tongue for what she had encouraged. She should have known to stay away from the other undine who came here.
Males looked at her, and they wanted her. That was all he knew. Because the moment he had seen her, frosted inside her pod, a gift from the sea itself, he knew damn well that he would think of nothing but her for a while yet.
He backed her farther away, ignoring the murmured questions from so many people who watched what he was doing.
"Should we intervene?" someone asked, a male voice that made Proteus snarl in response.
"Nope," a woman replied. "Sorry, clone. Not my problem."
That made him snarl too, but for an entirely different reason. Ellie was so much more than a clone. She was a thinking, living, breathing person with thoughts of her own. She was impressive and kind, and she had seen more in him than anyone else ever had. Not even his parents.
Creators.
Ancients.
Memories burst in his skull of all the times he had been here. Of how long it had taken him to convince the humans that he wasn't a monster, and even then, so few of them believed him. The scientists here had wanted to get rid of him at first. They saw him as the abomination he was.
But not Ellie. She had never once cowered away from him, and for that, he would always reward her.
Her spine hit a wall, but he now remembered that wasn't a wall at all. It had once been something else.
Proteus lifted a hand and hit the emergency button over her head. No one would know that's what it was. The flat panel didn't want to be depressed, likely from sand caught in it. But eventually it gave, and she tumbled into a new room.
He followed her.
The darkness surrounding them was nearly oppressive. It was warmer here, too. He had a feeling some part of the building had torn off, perhaps the roof above their heads. He didn't look. Instead, he crawled on top of her as the door behind them sealed.
He didn't need light to see her. Proteus could smell her, and that's all that mattered. She was within his grasp. So easy for him to pin down beneath him and devour whole.
But no, that wasn't what he was doing. His mind was all scrambled even as little, icy pricks attacked his spine.
Growling, he shook himself, freeing the little daggers that had been thrown at him. Had one of the humans followed them? Were they trying to protect her from him? Such was an honorable choice, but it would lead to their demise.
Snarling once again, he shook himself and turned to look at the door. But it was sealed. No one had trailed after them, andeven as he scanned the remnants of the room, he found there wasn't another living soul here with them.
Only sand. Mounds and mounds of sand.
Small hands framed his face, forcing him to look down at the woman he had pinned. All of his focus suddenly turned to her. Like a predator who had found the prey he had been searching ages for, he filled his lungs with her scent. Every detail of the room disappeared, his entire focus narrowing until there was only her.
