Page 118 of Rebirth

The whole camp is watching me now and I stand alone, swallowing hard, the weight of what I just did on my shoulders. I attacked the soldiers. But just when I believe this is all on me, He’rox steps up beside me, his own tentacles writhing in a display of power.

“We have stopped you from making a grave mistake,” he says. “The Corrupted are not the threat here—the true enemy approaches even now.”

As if on cue, several large vehicles smash through the perimeter of Unity, skidding to a stop amidst a shower of immediate gunfire. Men pour out, firing indiscriminately at anything that moves.

“Fuck!” someone screams and my eyes widen as before me, one, two, three Corrupted fall to the barrage of bullets.

Anger rises within me at the same time that He’rox wraps his arms around me and I realize he’s pulling me back, away from the chaos.

“No!” I scream. “We have to help them!”

“I will not lose you again!”

His face meets mine, presses into mine till all I can see is the darkness in his eyes, and my heart aches. I clutch on to him, hands grasping his head as I crash my lips against his.

At first, he doesn’t respond, and then he’s kissing me like I’m the air he needs to breathe.

“Then come with me,” I whisper.

I know he won’t deny me. I know that despite all this, he won’t tell me no, and I feel some shame for using his love for me like this, but there are lives at stake.

He’rox growls at me, enough that my ba’clan form spikes, irritated at his aggression.

My gaze snaps the way we’d come and I realize the devastation that’s occurred in just a few seconds.

The sound of gunfire erupts across the space, hitting the Corrupted, taking them down one by one, and the soldiers, now having grasped their guns, are firing back, taking down some of the attackers, but not enough. They aren’t shooting to kill.

Enough of humanity has died.

That’s when I see Vullan moving. Like dark shadows, they move with speed among the group of attackers, snatching away guns and splitting the weapons in two, but there are too many of them. Over two hundred, maybe.

These people must have traveled for miles. Met up. Organized this.

That’s when I see the flags. Soiled white cloth raised high above their vehicles. Crude alien faces drawn with red Xs slashed through them and my belly bottoms out.

This is all because of ignorance. Hatred. Fear.

It’s clear we don’t want to kill them, but they’re giving us no choice. Some of them will die.

In the chaos, the first sail of smoke going through the air catches my attention as a bottle bomb smashes into one of the tents and I scream as it bursts into flames.

They’re destroying everything.

I struggle in He’rox’s arms, willing him to let me go. “The people! We have to get them to safety.” But as soon as the words leave my lips, I realize the tents are empty. I sense nothing inside them.

“In the ship…” He’rox says, reading my mind.

I nod, meeting his gaze before I smash my lips against his in a kiss that tells him that he means everything to me. “We have to stop this.”

He’rox stiffens, clearly not agreeing, but he nods anyway.

And so we turn. Together we move like one unit, racing back across the ground toward the fray.

A few of the attackers break through, raising their guns to fire at He’rox and me. Before they can pull their triggers, black veins erupt from my back, ensnaring them in an unbreakable grip and I stagger to a halt, blinking at the sight before me. It happened even without me really thinking, but I embrace it.

The people struggle helplessly as I stride toward them, my expression grim.

“Find cover!” I scream at the Corrupted and they finally move, scrambling on weak legs to various sections of the camp.

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