Page 28 of Shattered Silence

Layla froze. Somehow, her wild, desperate thrust had managed to slash his neck. He was bleeding from his carotid artery—or whatever the Kordolian equivalent was—and there was lots of blood.

Still, he kept coming, swaying from side to side, reaching toward her like a fucking zombie, his face made all the more terrifying because of the dark metal fibers that wove beneath his silver skin. There was a pallor in his face now; his skin had gone from lustrous silver to ashen grey.

The scientist tried to shout, but his voice came out as a hoarse whisper. Battling the pain that racked her body from head to toe, Layla rose to her feet and tried to run, but the best she could do was hobble across the room in slow motion, her bare feet covered in sticky blood.

She didn’t look back, didn’t care what the monster behind her was doing. She just wanted to get away.

Madness.

In the space of a few minutes, she’d gone from terrified captive to cornered animal.

Thud.

She heard him fall. He gasped and wheezed, uttering something malevolent in his native tongue.

Then, nothing.

Is he… dead?

She risked a glance over her shoulder. The Kordolian lay on his back, unmoving, his white robes drenched in blood. His metal arm was outstretched, his claws extended.

Blank, sightless eyes stared back at her, the yellow of his irises appearing weirdly intense against his lifeless face.

Dead.

She’d killed him.

All the strength drained out of her limbs, leaving Layla feeling utterly exhausted. She dropped to her knees, trembling.

Holy hell. What have I done?

She’d just killed a guy, and yet she felt nothing. No remorse, no shock, no fear. She was just numb… and cold, tired, and all alone.

Was this Enki character ever going to come and take her away? A great sense of weariness swept over her, and Layla closed her eyes, fantasizing about a moment that would never come.

This relentless nightmare… it just went on and on and on, and she was fucking sick of it.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself, idiot. Move your ass or you’re dead.

She’d just killed a Kordolian scientist in his own lab. A high-ranking scientist, judging from the way he’d ordered that hateful Captain Pradon around. Sooner or later, someone was going to come looking for him. Surely he had assistants or subordinates to run around and do the mundane tasks for him… although Layla had got the distinct impression he’d enjoyed manhandling her.

Creep.

She wasn’t sorry she’d killed him. Not one single bit. But now she had to figure out how to hide, because she thought she could hear voices. Angry ones.

Fuck.

Kordolians weren’t known for being merciful. When they saw what she’d done, they would probably kill her.

Chapter Ten

Enki leaned on his Stealthstalker, hovering just outside the Ristval V’s main airlock. Set to idle, the Stalker made no sound at all as it suspended him in space, keeping him anchored to a single point. The machine was a sleek thing designed for swift, silent infiltration. Its tapered black body housed a small, powerful engine that was capable of propelling the rider through space at impossible speeds. A wide handlebar curved across the front, allowing the rider to control the throttle and navigation with both hands.

According to Nythian, the machine resembled a human land-vehicle called a motorbike.

Enki didn’t know much about human tech, apart from the fact that it was unsophisticated. He’d avoided mixing with the natives on Earth, because humans were irritatingly noisy, and he much preferred his own company.

He craved solitude, and he wished the fucking Tharian would understand that.

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