"None of them are particularly reasonable when it comes to their mates," Alexia said with a snort. "And he's got his sights set on you."
"He just likes me."
"Does he, now? What does a sea god like about a clone?"
Ellie took her time thinking over the answer. For some reason, she wanted to tell Alexia the right story. "Well, for one, he said that he likes how smart I am."
"That's a good reason to like a person."
"Oh, and he thinks that I'm very resilient." She was quite proud of that. "He calls me Sisu. He said that's because I show grace under adversity."
"It's a good name," Alexia said. "Fortis gifted me Virago. It means a war-like woman."
Ellie wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure that's a compliment."
"For me? It absolutely is." Alexia chuckled, and even that sound had so much power in it that it was hard to deny that the name fit her. "Now, what else do you want to talk about? I cantell you everything I know about the People of Water, but I don't think the man you've got wrapped around your finger is exactly that."
"He's not. Not really." Then common sense stopped her tongue. "I'm not sure we should keep talking about him. Can you tell me more about the cities?"
She'd say too much, and then Proteus would really be angry at her. If she blurted out all of his secrets or weaknesses, then he'd likely bring her right back to that kraken and tell it that he'd brought the creature a tiny snack.
Alexia did something with her hands, and suddenly the lights dimmed in the room. One moment they were on and the next, it was only the meager light from the blue sea around them. It turned the entire room into a secret place, as though everything they said wasn't real, anyway.
Dreamy already, Ellie felt her eyes closing as Alexia spoke about Beta.
She said that the remaining city was still impressive. It was where most of the engineers had lived, but no one from Tau other than the clones had survived. There were quite a few refugees from Alpha. Apparently, that city had also been destroyed.
She drifted off to sleep thinking about all these different people smashed together in a city that wasn't built for them. People who wore pretty dresses and jewels dripping down their arms, mingling with those who were soot covered and still working hard to keep a city running while it was slowly wheezing. And then clones. People like her. Trying to pass themselves off as twins, when they knew they were so much more than that. They were people who had been forgotten. People who were hoping for another chance at life.
Sleep claimed her as Alexia started telling her about Tau. How she had grown up there too, and that there had been beauty in the cold metal.
Just as much as there had been cruelty.
Thirty-Four
Ellie
She woke hours later, in the darkest part of the night, uncertain of where she was. A strange clicking sound had woken her. Something that she knew wasn't the quiet sounds of Alexia, who had fallen asleep next to the bed.
Ellie wasn't a very deep sleeper. She was always waking up at some sound, from shifts in Proteus’s breathing, to a rumble of thunder overhead. But then she heard the sound again, and she knew it wasn't a natural noise in this room. The slight tapping was too rhythmic.
Finally, rolling onto her back after scanning the entire room for anything out of the ordinary, she almost screamed when she saw the crab-like creature on the glass above her.
Clapping her hands over her mouth, she froze as she waited for Alexia to wake up. But maybe the big woman could use some rest too, because she only shifted a bit before falling back into a deep slumber. Ellie waited for her breathing to even out before she took her hands off her mouth and glared up at Pilot.
The little droid pointed with a leg, clearly indicating for Ellie to leave the room.
The door was loud, though. The hissing sound was bound to wake someone up. She gestured with her hands, trying to show that it was a manual door that would be loud. Again, Pilot pointed at it. This time, he did so with a little more sass than was necessary.
Grumbling under her breath, she eased out of the bed and stepped over Alexia. The other woman didn't wake up, not even when she pressed the button and the door hissed open. Maybe it wasn't as loud as she remembered, but it still made her flinch and freeze.
Alexia snorted in her sleep and threw an arm over her eyes. Clearly, the light from the hallway was too bright.
A softness burned in Ellie's chest. In another life, perhaps, she would have met Alexia under very different circumstances. They might have spoken more regularly, and maybe even Alexia would have helped Ellie not be such a people pleaser. They'd have become fast friends. She was certain of that.
But maybe every clone felt that way when they met the giant of a woman.
More taps sounded from above her head as Pilot led her somewhere in this labyrinth of a domed city. She followed along from hallway to hallway, tip toeing through what looked like a kitchen, then into a garden that was so lush it was almost mind boggling to see. Ellie got a little distracted in there before Pilot led her into a workshop.
