She hissed again.You dare lie to me!
He sniffed with indifference, as if this was an entire waste of his time, and that enraged her.
You raid my memories for proof, taking whatever you want. You saw they have one with the gift of telepathy. You knew what to look for this time. Tell me, did you plunder his mind? Did you get what you were after?
Hadeom smiled, because he had, yes.
She raged, her body trying to morph out of the chemical binds they had subdued her with.You saw him! You saw Salem in his mind.
Hadeom checked his watch.Goodbye, Lusca.
She sneered at him.I’ll be back again for him, now I know where he is. Salem will be mine. He will give me offspring, the descendants of the gods?—
And right on cue, the water shifted and cracked open like a gaping, jagged mouth, revealing a darkness so bleak, so austere, Hadeom almost had to look away. He felt the horrors of it seeping through, coldness reaching out like a sickening tongue.
Lusca shot him a wild look, shrieking as she tried to back away. It took her like a frog would take a fly, the mouth of horrors snapping closed. She was gone.
The water stilled as if none of this had happened, and Hadeom took a moment to relish the quietness, the silence.
“You won’t be back this time,” he said out loud to absolutely no one. “Fucking weirdo.”
Then he turned and, looking directly into the camera he knew was watching, said, “Level nine, containment cell four is now empty.”
There was a blip of static, then a voice said, “Acknowledged.”
Hadeom gave a nod and went to continue on his way.
“Inspector Hadeom,” the voice then said, and Hadeom stopped. “You have a call.”
Hadeom looked up at the camera again. “Who is it?”
“Dirk Bridges. Cephamorph. Leader of the Bass Strait consortium.”
Hadeom made a sound of distaste. “On my way up.”
He made his way up directly, the elevator pulsing with every floor it passed. He walked into his office and sat at his desk. He took the document he’d been staring at earlier and read the name Tobin Tiller one more time before he fed the document to the shredder.
The he picked up his phone and pressed the blinking button. “Inspector Hadeom speaking.”
Chapter
Twelve
AURIN
Aurin curled into Salem,their tentacles lazily entwined, and they watched their eggs. Their four perfect little eggs.
They hung carefully from the ceiling of the den, each one no larger than a plum, translucent and pale blue. Inside, faint shapes stirred now and then, little flickers of life not yet ready for the sea.
Salem reached out first, brushing the nearest egg with the gentlest tip of his tentacle, and he hummed a soft song. His skin bloomed dark with affection.
They wiggle when they hear your voice,Aurin whispered, his hearts impossibly full.
Salem laughed softly, the sound echoing low through the water.That’s because they already know I’m the fun parent.
Oh, obviously,Aurin teased.You’ll teach them terrible things. Like how to morph into clams and pretend they can’t hear me.
I did thatone timeas a joke.
