Page 69 of Battle Fluke
“Where will you be?” Cryloc asked, moving forward slightly from the rest of them.
“I’ll be following another path into the enemy. We’ll be making sure to attack the enemy from all sides and in all ways possible. They’ll regret the moment they thought our world could be stolen from us, that we were nothing more than a grain of sand to be washed away.” Hudson’s voice rose as she swam back and forth in front of her men. The need for movement, to build the energy and electric buzz that popped around her, was too much to remain hovering.
“We joining the Talons then?”
“No!” Hudson might know what she needed to do, what she and Kyree had to do. But she wouldn’t bow down to those monsters who had tried to break her and every single one of these men. “You won’t join them. You’ll join with the army of Reine, under the leadership of General Honour. You’ll pass the information they need and follow her as you would me.”
“They won’t even let us through the gates of Reine.” One man scoffed, not raising himself up enough to be singled out in the crowd. But Hudson would be a terrible leader if she didn’t recognize the voice of every single one of these men.
“They will!” Hudson roared and stopped in the middle of her back-and-forth swim. “Because I say they will. And have I ever told you a lie?”
“No, Hudson,” the chorus of voices replied, and it filled her with the power she had adored. But a sadness lingered at the edges. She would miss her men. They had been a means to an end. But somehow, along the way, they had become an unexpected family.
“Follow Honour as you would me. If I hear of a single fin against her, I will hunt the mer down and make them wish for death.”
“Yes, Hudson!”
“At ease, soldiers.” Hudson let her own shoulders relax as she motioned for Cryloc to swim forward.
“Where are you going? I never thought you would let anyone else lead, especially in sight of Talons.” He looked more curious than worried, which was a good sign. He had been ready for longer than Hudson had wanted to admit, and instead of expanding her troops, she’d held them frozen where they were. She hadn’t been prepared for battle against the Talons at all. And it was this war that was pushing her to make those changes.
“Some things are more important.” Hudson flicked her gaze from Cryloc to Kyree, beautiful, stunning Kyree, who stayed put a little way off, watching the entire interaction with her wide, observant eyes. Nothing ever got by that mermaid, did it?
“Putting strategy over show? You’ve grown up.” Cryloc chuckled lightly, his voice carrying through the water to Hudson’s ears.
“Ha!” Hudson punched the man in the shoulder. The smile on her face said more than she would ever be able or willing to speak aloud. “Even battle-wrought mers can learn new tricks, can’t they?”
Hudson finished filling Cryloc in on the plan, giving him exactly what he needed to know in order to get through the gates of Reine and pledge their lives to Honour. As her men swam on ahead of them, Hudson breathed a sigh of relief. Kyree had been right all along.
This battle was going to take every single mer available.
And that meant her.
It meant them.
“Hudson?” Kyree had remained quiet, moving in the periphery of Hudson’s vision as though trying to hide.
As if Hudson could ever be less than hyperaware of Kyree’s every movement.
“Kyree.” Hudson let the wall fall as the name left her lips in a far more natural tone than she ever had before. She didn’t hide from the emotion or pull back from the need.
“What are you doing?”
Just the warmth of Kyree’s body next to hers, even though her skin was still colder to touch than Honour’s, was enough to tell Hudson she had made the right decision. “You were right.”
“Can you repeat that?” Kyree’s smirk made Hudson bark out a peal of laughter.
“You. Were. Right.” Hudson didn’t hesitate as she flipped around, grasping Kyree’s cheeks and pressing their mouths together. That one kiss before had been everything she’d needed and more. She hadn’t realized how much she craved it—the connection, the touch, the love that emanated from it. Their bodies pressed together, chest to tail as Hudson held Kyree tightly. Eventually, she slowed and pulled away, the water against her skin tingling through her arousal and promising all the touches that she wanted and more.
“I like that.” Kyree’s eyelids fluttered half-closed.
“Mmmm.” Hudson groaned, wishing she had time to enjoy Kyree before they moved out, but time wasn’t on their side. At least, not for her to enjoy one of the mermaids she loved.
She hadn’t known what this feeling was until Kyree had come to find her. She hadn’t thought about its name, but as it came to her she knew it for what it was. It made her heart speed and the bubbles push from her mouth in small rapid clusters.
“Hudson?” Kyree’s voice filled with concern this time.
“It’s okay.” Hudson nodded, forcing her body back under control. “We’re going to make it right.”