Page 83 of May the Stars Have Mercy
Aphroditeeventuallypeeledherselfoff the floor as the lighting in the room softened again. Xexis slipped her back into her undershorts before tucking himself away. Buddy made a few irritated noises but said nothing as the two cleaned up quickly. Then Xexis tucked Aphrodite on his arm, leading her from the ballroom. “I apologize, my mate, I meant to ask prior to devouring you, did you and Kinsi have a good time planning the event?”
“Yes, actually,” Aphrodite beamed, leaning into him. She was still drunk off his pleasure, legs wobbling and goosebumps covering her arms. Her cheek pressed against his bicep; she let her mate lead them through massive hallways toward the center of the station. The station’s usual noise quieted to a soft hum around them. Buddy zipped closer to Aphrodite, her data pad lit up.
Something is wrong.
Aphrodite and Xexis shared a confused glance as they passed through a green film that covered a doorway. Two tall Vroz stood to the backside of the archway, armed and in full armor. Aphrodite clenched Xexis who nodded to the pair of guards. In the whole time of being inside the station, she’d never seen guards. The Vroz didn’t seem the kind to need guarding.He’s the king, kings are guarded…but then why was Kinsi left to lead her own parade if she’s the acting queen?Aphrodite’s skin chilled uncomfortably and she shivered.
“Buddy, please do a…” She trailed off as she looked around her. Buddy was gone. Aphrodite spun around, finding her drone caught on the other side of the film.
“Xexis?” she breathed.
“Strange, the Korzavic never leaves that shield up,” Xexis murmured, eyeing the guards. They did not move. Did not engage. Solely looked directly ahead. Aphrodite looked down to her data pad. A gray screen of mixed letters, numbers, and symbols filled the device.
“Someone’s scrambling the system.” She stormed up toward the guards only to have them immediately lurch. Xexis snatched her by the waist, narrowly avoiding Aphrodite catching the butt of a weapon to the forehead.
“Proceed to the inner chamber.” The two growled in ominous unison. Her stomach twisted up in horror as she stumbled back into Xexis’ chest.
“Let my drone in!” she barked.
“Proceed to the inner chamber!” The two guards repeated, eyes still pointed directly ahead and not at her.
“Xexis?” Aphrodite pivoted to face a pale Kannatch. His usual teal skin was mint around the edges as his eyes widened. He grabbed her by the hand and raced down the hall. Her sandals slapped against the tile, and she realized moments too late…the sensors were off. The lump in her throat grew three times too large for her esophagus. Panic turned the blood in her veins to sludge as the pair stumbled into an inner chamber. The wide hallway was unusually dark as it was without the sensors lighting up the floor. Until they stepped into a room with a singular light. A hologram at the center of the table, lit up in blue lights was a diagram of the Council station.
What would have been a massive dinning room with a long table to fit an army at the table, made of crystal panes and technology was now a pitch-black dungeon. And as the doors slammed shut behind her, Aphrodite realized all too late that she’d brought the enemy home with her.
“Aphrodite Kerso…” A raspy voice filled the air as an elderly Vroz dressed in heavy robes stepped out from the shadows of the room. One by one, strips of red lights lit up the room like they did the ballroom. The doors audibly locked behind her.
“Korzavic,” Xexis breathed, his fingers wrapping tight around Aphrodite’s hand.
He was hunched over a cane, the skin on his face practically falling off his skull. Drool fell from a wide mouth full of razor teeth. His pincers twitched erratically in painful directions. The left eye was puffy and red, oozing with infection.
Aphrodite scanned the room, finding the pair of them alone. It was strange finding it comforting there were no other victims in the room with them. Her shoulders squared as the panic threatened to take her resolve.No! Not this time! You don’t get to take him away from me again!
“Well…well…well…”
And then her legs wobbled as a familiar voice that haunted her dreams returned. Soft and raspy, like frosty air out of a dusty vent, Danny’s voice hit her ears. He stepped out, boots first from the other corner. He was dressed in fresh attire, like he’d never beencarved and ripped open in space. His boots glistened in the angry red lights.
“No…No!” Aphrodite choked on her words.
“Long time, no see, A.P.” Danny’s signature smirk curled on his lips. Flashes of his dead eyes staring at her from across the void of space filled her mind. The growl of him as he fought Xexis tooth and nail. The crack of the gun he shot in space…she replayed his death over and over. She could remember the nightmare, his hands wrapped around her throat.Traitor! You traitor!Tears welled in her eyes as every inch of her shook. Danny crept closer to the table. “Thank you for the ride here.”
Aphrodite’s lower lip trembled as she stared at him, frozen.We brought them here. I killed the king…I brought this infection to the station…to my mate’s home.The angry accusations stabbed at her chest as she spiraled out of control.
“I will have your—” Xexis disappeared from her grip. Black tendrils of shadow snatched Aphrodite by the arms and legs, dragging her to the wall. The red lights increased, a shrill alarm screaming over their heads, and she was able to see the wall writhing.
“Leave him alone!” she screeched, kicking and trashing with all her might. An angry snarl left her mouth as something wrapped around her neck.No.The wound. Panic pumped through her as she clawed at the tendril coming for her neck.No!Aphrodite screamed until blood coated the back of her tongue.
Xexis’ roar of fury filled the room as the pair strutted around the table. Danny stepped up in front of Aphrodite, still smirking. “I can’t wait to see your body back at the Council. The Korzavic and I are headed there now. But when you’re ready, you’ll join us. Too bad the Vroz don’t last long while infected. I would have liked toinfect the whole royal family before we went to kill the Council…but I’ll settle for this.”
Aphrodite spat a glob of spittle and blood onto his face. Danny growled, swiping it off his cheek with a jerking motion. She couldn’t speak, lest the tendril tugging at her skin or neck get access to an open wound.I won’t die. I won’t go down. I won’t let them win.
Danny’s corpse stormed away, the Korzavic shuffling after him as pieces of him drooped more. The doors swung open for only a moment. Her dead crewmate barked at someone in the hall. “Grab another, that body won’t last long!”
The light muffle of alarms going off within the station was the background music to Aphrodite’s struggle. A dark room lit up only by a singular hologram and soft, red lights that were slowly being snuffed out by the Brexzkit. Aphrodite cried out, thrashing with her weakening legs. They bit and clawed at her with their slimy tendrils, trying to break through her skin and dig into her wounds.
“Aphrodite!” Xexis called out but Aphrodite couldn’t see him. Only the sounds of him fighting off the tendrils and heavy, sluggish grunts to tell her he was alive. He was still fighting.You have to fight. You have to think.
They were in their natural form, their weakness was light now. She didn’t have any weapons… but that didn’t mean she didn’t have tech! Aphrodite snarled, pushing through this thick sludgy body and slapping her palm against the screen of her data pad. Years of fumbling in the dark for the flashlight on the touch screen taught her to nimbly slide her finger across the screen. Heart pounding, stomach clenched, and tears streaming down her face, she clenched up as tight as she could in their grip and unlocked the flashlight. Their screams bit into her ear drums. Aphrodite dropped to the floor, immediately scrambling as far as she could before scanning the room with the data pad flashlight. Xexis thudded to the floor, shaking the table behind her.
