Page 17 of Shattered Silence

She didn’t want to go through that again.

Holy shit. If this was how Kordolians controlled their slaves, then she wasn’t going to last long.

Once again, she was hauled to her feet. Once again, she met the Sergeant’s gaze. He said something in that strange, lyrical tongue of his, and from his tone, Layla interpreted his words to mean something like “now you know what we can do to you, so you had better obey, or else.”

And now she understood why Enki had told her to endure.

These Kordolians were fucking nuts.

The problem was, Layla didn’t know how much more of this she could take before she was pushed to breaking point.

Given everything that had happened to her, she feared it wouldn’t take much at all.

Chapter Six

Enki stared at the noble, and the noble stared back at him.

Neither of them spoke. Sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, Enki balanced Nythian’s slender black knife between his thumb and forefinger, silently contemplating the thousand-and-one ways he could inflict pain upon his captive.

He was frantic inside, but he wouldn’t ever let Relahek Alerak know that.

Time was running out. He had to find the human soon. Enki knew his own kind all too well. Daegan and his followers were relics of the old Empire. They believed all other species were inferior, and that it was their divine right to capture, own, torture, and generally do as they pleased.

Kordolian cruelty knew no bounds. They would turn Layla’s existence into a living hell.

Since returning from Tharos, Enki hadn’t really cared much about anything except fighting, carrying out his missions, and searching for a way to get rid of the passenger in his mind, but suddenly, he felt possessive. Protective. Territorial.

Humans were theirs to protect, and there was no way he was going to allow anyone to steal them, especially Kordolians.

Especially that idiot Daegan, who was descended from nobility. It was well known that the old Imperial military had been divided.

Two generals.

Two factions.

Those under Daegan’s command tended to be highborn. Daegan had always had first pick of the new recruits, and he tended to choose those with noble lineage.

The rest—the soori—went to Tarak al Akkadian.

Nobles and commoners. A divided battle force. One group to do the high-risk work, the off-planet work, the grueling missions to distant sectors—fighting, colonizing, killing—another to enjoy the privileges of rank and station.

Just another reason why Enki hated nobles.

As the metal-pierced lordling met Enki’s gaze, his lips curved into a scornful smile. Only a Kordolian could pull off such a look while imprisoned and utterly defenseless.

It made Enki want to strangle the bastard. This fool Relahek had no idea that Enki’s deep hatred of the noble class had been born in the plasma-fires on Tharos. If he knew, he wouldn’t be wearing that smug expression right now.

As if responding to Enki’s thoughts, the Tharian emerged with unusual fury, its hatred palpable inside the dark confines of Enki’s mind.

Kill him slowly. Let him look into your eyes and know that his life ends at your whim, that he is nothing more than a pathetic particle of cosmic dust in the infinite Universe. Give him just a taste of the pain he and his kind have inflicted upon us.

Huh. For once, Enki was in agreement with the Tharian, but he couldn’t allow it to get too comfortable. You talk too much. Shut up. With great effort, he silenced the passenger in his mind, resisting its vengeful desires, as tempting as they were.

The Tharian pulsed resentment at him, then retreated.

Insolent Tharian. Pain-in-the-ass.

Never mind, he would deal with it later.

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