Page 42 of My Alien Sunshine

Chapter 22

Nala

As much as I was happy to see Faelin alive and unharmed, I couldn’t wait for him. Not when Ellen is still trapped somewhere on this ship, frightened and alone.

I’m racing down the stairs in such a hurry that my foot misses a step, sending me stumbling into the railing, pain tearing through my bruised ribs.

Shaking off the momentary dizziness and nausea I shout, “ELLEN!” not caring if anyone hears me. Some of the cells I rush past are occupied, aliens of all shapes and sizes staring at me as I run past them. If all goes well, they’ll be free soon. I wish them all the best but I need to focus on finding my daughter. “ELLEN!!!”

Rounding the corner, I crash straight into something hard. Well, someone, I discover as we both tumble onto the floor.

My heart stops. Terror overwhelms me at my stupidity, for running into a guard. Looking up, I realize that the Syndoran male I just collided with isn’t a guard. Nor is he a slave given the lack of collar around his elegant looking neck. He looks somewhat sophisticated, definitely out of place in this circle of hell where people are being sold like cattle.

Noticing my collar, the Syndoran looks behind me, frowning. “Where’s your master?”

I open my mouth to mumble out some half-cocked response, but the package he dropped when we collided catches my eye. The powder pink tulle sticking out from the garment bag is enough to send my heart racing. Then I notice the male Syndoran doll, a perfect replica of this male slowly gathering himself in front of me.

“‘Uncle’ Krell?” I practically snarl through my gritted teeth. Like I need confirmation of who this child molesting bastard is.

His thick brows draw together, confused by my tone, most likely. “Yes? Well, I’m not an uncle. Not yet.” He smiles. The pedo fucking smiles! “Soon, I’ll have an adorable little girl all to myself.” His smile is dreamy but it’s the bulge forming in his fancy dress pants that makes me lose my mind.

With a feral scream, I lunge at him, my mind overrun by a single thought—to erase this fucking pervert from existence. He’s taller and stronger than me, but my attack catches him by surprise.

My fingernails gouge chunks out of his face. Blood wells.

Krell howls as one of my nails digs into his eye. Pulling himself together, he uses his weight advantage to throw me off him. That’s not enough to stop me. I lunge forward, screaming like a banshee. When he grabs my wrists in a crushing grip, I simply bite down on the first thing I reach.

The skin on his neck is too thick for me to bite through. Biting down harder, I shake my head side to side like a dog trying to tear a piece of raw meat away from a bone. I want this fucker dead and no one’s going to stop me.

A punch to my solar plexus expels all of the air from my lungs, but I still don’t stop. Who the fuck needs air? I yank harder and this time, it’s Krell shrieking as his blood fills my mouth. Bile rises in my throat at the thought of having any piece of him inside of me. Pulling back, I spit out this kiddy fiddler’s blood.

“Fucking bitch!” he screams, punching the side of my head. My ears ring and my vision blurs. Shoving me away from him, Krell stands up, glaring down at me as he tries to stem the bleeding. There’s not as much blood as I’d hoped. I must have missed the artery.

He levers his foot back, intending to kick me hard in the guts. I brace for impact, but it never comes.

To my surprised relief, Lyriana appears behind Krell, twisting his arm back. I hear a satisfying crack as the bone she’s twisting snaps, then quicker than my eyes can register, Lyriana has Krell shoved face first into a wall. “What are you doing?” she growls at me impatiently. “We don’t have time for this!”

Ignoring her, I crawl over to Krell’s bag and pull out the doll that looks so much like him. “This,” I croak, spitting out more blood, “this creeper is the male that was going to buy my daughter.”

Lyriana’s expression darkens. Did I seriously think she was scary before? Well, now she’s absolutely terrifying. So much so, I’m trembling in fear even though her hatred isn’t directed my way.

Forcing Krell down to his knees, she takes the doll from me, her fingers gripping it tighter and tighter until the plastic crumples. “In that case,” she says, the words an icy cold whisper, “my turn.”

From the folds of her slaver disguise, Lyriana pulls out a small knife and crouches over Krell. I force myself to watch as she literally butchers him, piece by piece. Not even bothering to stop when the bastard blacks out from the pain. When she finally cuts off his now limp cock and wedges it deep into his throat, Krell’s eyes fly open one final time as he starts choking. It doesn’t take long for Krell’s body to give up. I’m shocked the bastard lasted as long as he did given the level of blood loss he sustained.

“Wish I had more time,” Lyriana says, wiping her knife onto what little remains of Krell’s shirt. “I can do much better.”

Swallowing roughly, I will the contents of my stomach to stay down. I’m determined not to waste any more precious time by vomiting. “At least he’s dead. Um, thanks?” Do you thank someone who just brutally murdered your enemy?

“My pleasure,” she replies, grinning. I start to walk down the hallway, but Lyriana grabs my arm to stop me, pointing at my mouth. “You better clean that up. I don’t think children like to see their parents covered in blood.”

“Oh, yeah, right. No, they don’t.” I can’t do anything about the blood now staining my clothes or the bruise blooming from where Krell’s fist hit my face, but I use my arm to at least wipe the blood away from my chin and lips the best I can. It would be better if I had something to rinse the metallic taste out of my mouth, but I’m yet to find a slave market equipped with drinking fountains.

Tripping over thin air, my feet struggle to hold me upright. I’m not surprised by my lack of balance. Given everything I’ve been through in the last few hours, it’s a miracle I’m still standing at all. I suspect Nikolai mixed something into that concoction of painkillers he gave me earlier to keep me alert. I make a mental note to ask him later.

“ELLEN!” I scream out along the hallway.

Unlike before, this time, a tiny voice answers back, “Mama?”

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