Page 96 of Rebirth

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

HE’ROX

My gaze snaps to the vein pulsing down Soh’fee’s spine, visible even under the ba’clan.

Even facing the Gryken alone on Edooria. Capturing one. Experimenting on it. On myself. Never have I felt such fear.

My ba’clan are slowing the corruption’s spread, but their power is weak. Having sustained me for so long, there is not much they can give, and at the rate it is progressing, Soh’fee’s system will be entirely corroded before long.

I am running out of time.

And now a new threat approaches.

Everything within me wants to retreat to the inner room within the lab. To start working on a cure. To find it. To save my Soh’fee. But she turns and looks up at me, the blue still shining through amidst black specks encroaching in her eyes. She knows the truth.

She can feel the abyss. The end approaching.

And I no longer hide. Not from myself. Not even from my brothers.

My tentacles curl around me, brushing against her back in a soothing caress as my mind races, grasping for solutions. There must be something that can be done to save her, to protect these hyu’mans and the fragile Unity they have forged.

“We have to go,” Soh’fee says and once again I’m impressed by her resilience. Her bravery even though she is terrified within. “We have to go down.”

My head tilts toward the inner lab, my thoughts moving to the Gryken and the female floating there.

I will use them if I must. Use myself.

I will find a way.

Soh’fee must realize where my mind’s gone because she grips my claw. “Come with me. We’ll deal with this later.”

No. I must go to the lab. Find a way to end this. But I cannot dismiss her from my sight either. So I pray to the gods of Edooria. I pray my ba’clan can stave away the corruption as they did for me. I pray they grant me time.

I don’t know how I move. How I follow her, my brothers, and their mates through the corridors of our ship. Into the lift. Down to the surface.

In the distance, shouts echo through the trees, and the camp becomes alert. The scent of panic begins to taint the air, grating against my senses and I growl, fists clenching.

Unity will stand.

These hyu’mans did not come this far, survive this long, only to fall now.

Beside me, Soh’fee stiffens. Her head tilts as she listens to sounds only she can detect, my gut coils at the changes already evident in her. Changes that fill me with equal parts despair and thirst I dare not dwell upon.

I clench my fist tighter, ready for the onslaught of fear scent that will fill the air as soon as we hit the ground and the camp devolves into utter panic. Moving closer to Soh’fee, I inhale her scent, her warmth. Using her as my anchor.

For I cannot lose her. Not to the Corrupted, not to this sinister thing transforming her from within. But even as I lean into her, the hyu’mans within the camp do not do as I expect.

It is only when we hit the ground that I am brought back to the fact that I have revealed for all to see. This part of me that I hid for so long is now visible to their scrutiny. And the hyu’mans gathered in the camp stop what they are doing. Tasks forgotten, they stare.

I expect fear. Terror.

I am their greatest enemy and savior combined.

Soft mumbles rise among them, and all turn to face us.

One comes forward, a weapon in hand. I recognize him as a young male, one of the first to have come to our haven in Base Zero. Bih-lee.

“Ok, so what are we killing?” His gaze snaps to mine. “Nice upgrade, man.” He grins, teeth baring in the friendly hyu’man gesture.

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