Page 43 of Shattered Silence

Enki gently removed Layla’s hands from his chest, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

Shit, he didn’t know how to behave around humans.

The footsteps were louder now, faster. They were running.

“Time to go,” he whispered, dropping to one knee. “Stay right there and don’t move. This won’t take long.” He began sawing, his arms straining as he pushed the ultraforged blade through the very bones of the ship itself. At the same time, he activated his comm, reaching through the vacuum of space to his brothers on the Virdan X. “Cover’s blown,” he grunted.

“That didn’t take long,” Nythian drawled, sounding completely unsurprised. “You got the prize?”

“Yes.”

“I’m coming in.” The eagerness in Nythian’s voice earned a snort from Enki. The big warrior was addicted to brawling. He liked his fights loud and messy; stealth wasn’t exactly his strong point. “No need for subtlety anymore. Which docking bay are you heading out of?”

“Lower.”

“I’ll be there.”

The comm went silent. Behind him, Layla shifted on her feet. “Enki, I’m terrified, and I have no idea what you’re doing right now, but somehow, I trust you.”

“That is the correct answer.” He smashed his fist into the center of the circle he’d just carved out of the floor.

Boom.

The dark core fell away, leaving a two-person-sized hole. Faint blue light emanated from below, allowing Layla to see.

“Holy moly,” she whispered, peering through the hole, then staring at Enki with barely concealed surprise. “You weren’t joking when you said you would get me out of here.”

“I never joke,” Enki said solemnly as he sheathed his sword. The quiet patter of footsteps invaded his senses. Daegan’s warriors were almost upon them, slowing down in a clumsy attempt to be stealthy.

But their exo-armor wasn’t bonded to their bodies, and they lacked the fluidity of movement that came so naturally to Enki and his brothers.

Didn’t they realize? Enki had heard their movements from a long way off. As the soldiers caught sight of Enki and Layla, he shot them a threatening glare, wrapped one arm around her waist and stepped through the hole, drawing his plasma gun.

Blamblamblam!

As they hit the ground, he fired through the hole, a warning to any who thought to follow. A soldier fell through, hitting the floor with an unsavory thud.

Dead.

Layla gasped, then swore under her breath in her native tongue.

“Layla,” he said quietly, uttering the words he never thought he’d have to say to anyone, “I need your help.”

Chapter Fifteen

Enki didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice. If his mental map of the Ristval V served him correctly, they were three levels above the lower docking bay, where an array of escape-vessels were his for the taking.

Cut your way through the entire ship?

In the end, the solution was ridiculously simple.

Why not? It was the quickest and most direct route. He should have done this from the very beginning, instead of trying all that subterfuge nonsense with the fucking Imperial uniform.

How foolish he was to believe he could have fooled them, could have slipped Layla out of here undetected. Perhaps too many easy kills had made him arrogant.

Enki fired a few more rounds of plasma into the hole, hoping to make the soldiers above hesitate. Terse voices drifted to him, and he heard someone order several of the soldiers to run down to the lower level.

Shit.

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