Page 43 of Command

The human side of the dock flinched collectively when Threxin’s voice reverberated in guttural Uhyreish. He spoke for several tense minutes and though Alina could only make out a few words, the sentiment was clear: someone had disobeyed him, and he wasn’t happy about it.

Once he was done, a confused mutter rose from the humans. Whispers turned to gasps as Threxin jerked the first alien shackled behind him forward.

“Syllahrra,” he said, and Alina recognized it as a name. He spoke more as the uhyre, a female, stared at him through dull golden eyes and tightened apertures. The spikes atop her scalp were doing this weird little pulsing motion. Something told Alina it was fear.

Threxin repeated the same string of gurgles twice, and slowly the uhyre Syllahrra opened her mouth, revealing a set of white teeth and two pitch black fangs the length of Alina’s pinky finger. Alina could picture just what those things would be capable of when the uhyre got violent.

Threxin reached up, grabbing one of the female’s fangs between his thumb and forefinger. He remained calm andunresponsive to the female alien’s rising hiss-scream as he pinched the fang and pulled.

“What the fuck?” Kaia whispered up ahead.

Alina registered another hushed voice behind her. “Aren’t they supposed to be crazy unstable? This… this looks robotic.”

In front of her, Orion turned his head a little, listening with a furrowed brow.

The shriek that tore from the female alien’s throat when the fang was ripped from its socket seemed never-ending. It might haunt Alina’s ears forever.

Why?Alina realized she mouthed the word. She might have said it out loud if black liquid—exorin—hadn’t started to gush from the female’s mouth, spilling over her lip to splatter on the floor. The humans recoiled, a body of water repelled by deadly black oil.

“I see the rest of you have a healthy aversion,” Threxin said coolly in Universal.

Threxin unshackled Silarra and shoved her toward the uhyre side of the dock. The two humans still swinging in Renza’s grip sobbed, their wide eyes darting among the crowd and finally honing in on Orion. For help. For something.

Orion was rigid as he stepped forward, separating himself from the crowd. “What the fuck is going on?”

“This,” Threxin pulled the next uhyre, a male, forward and issued the same command, “treck aktten…is a lesson.”

Another fang came out, tossed into the black puddle on the floor before another male was dragged forth. There was something wrong with them. They weren’t fighting—they didn’t even look that scared. Shouldn’t this be triggering something in them? For a moment Alina thought she saw a flash of fury in the third uhyre’s eyes, but just as quickly it dulled to nothing. He opened his mouth and offered his teeth, adding his exorin to the expanding lake.

He was done with the aliens, and Alina’s attention was drawn once more to the humans dangling from Renza’s arms behind him. Was he gonna pull their teeth out too? Forwhat?

Renza released the woman. She crumpled to the floor in a sniveling heap. Someone in the back screamed as her face landed in the puddle of exorin. Shit, it was on her mouth, in her hair—everywhere. A few humans started forward as though to drag her out. But whatever brave souls there may have been in the crowd drew back when instead of scrambling out of the way, the woman pressed her tongue flat into the nightmarish puddle. She emitted a perverse whimper as she lapped at the exorin.

Heads around her turned away at the sight, but not Alina. It was very cold. She shivered inside her mother’s jacket, drawing it tighter around herself, but she did not look away. There was such longing in the woman’s moans and the way she cupped the terrible liquid to bring it to her mouth. This was what this whole thing was about, Alina realized… What Threxin was punishing them for.

No, Alina did not look away with the others. She looked good and hard. She watched the girl writhe in the poison pool and remembered herself last night, parting her lips for the source.

If Threxin hadn’t been careful and put a stop to it, she might’ve been that girl. When Alina finally tore her eyes away, her gaze slid straight to Threxin without thinking. He was already there, watching her. His hard stare scorched her from across the room, and she tried to look away but he wouldn’t let her.

Why wouldn’t he let her? People were going to see. Kaia wasright there, and she’d see Alina’s betrayal. If she hadn’t saved him, none of this would be happening.

Only it would… Just without anybody to stop it.

Her ears pounded as Alina gasped for air. The backs of her eyes stung, but she couldn’t even blink the tears away as theweight of Threxin’s gaze swallowed her up. All she could do was fall toward the blue drawing her in.

Threxin looked away and an invisible rubber band between them pulled and snapped, sending Alina stumbling forward, right into Kaia’s back. Kaia jerked her shoulder, shoving Alina back into her place. That was where she was supposed to be: behind her charge and the man who was meant to be their rightful commander.

But still Alina’s eyes gravitated tohim. That was when she noticed the stain seeping through Threxin’s shirt. It didn’t look too obvious, the blood masked by the dark brown fabric, but Alina knew. His wound had opened. How bad was it?

“These humans have fraternized with my kind,” she jumped when Threxin finally spoke once more in Universal. “They have turned themselves into addicts.”

The woman still kneeling in the pool of exorin looked up at him, brow furrowing. She only lasted a few seconds before going back to licking her blackened tongue along the floor.

“There is no cure,” Threxin continued. “No help for them. This must be culled at the root.”

The crowd shuffled, but no one spoke up. Kaia glared at Orion, willing him to say something. When he remained silent she opened her mouth to speak, but he shot her a stern glare, jerked her against his side, and slapped a firm palm over her lips.

Threxin looked at him. If Alina hadn’t been right there behind him, she could’ve pretended not to see Orion nod at the uhyre, but denial wasn’t her strong suit. From her position, Alina saw the spikes on the back of Orion’s neck rise. His body was statue still, not even having to struggle against Kaia’s efforts to break free, but something about him vibrated.

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