Page 51 of Shattered Silence

Shit.

It reminded her of the much larger escape pod she’d been trapped inside for weeks.

Layla’s old instincts awakened, and suddenly, fear threatened to destroy her mind. What if he was about to betray her?

“Layla, trust me. You are not going to die. I will be with you every step of the way, but there is only room inside here for one. I will be on the outside. There is no time to explain. We have to leave this ship now.”

She was at a crossroads. She could choose to give in to her fear, to believe Enki was doing something terrible, or she could really listen to him and hear the tenderness in his voice, an emotion she would not think this man to be capable of at all if she hadn’t gotten to know him a little.

She could trust him.

Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

Layla took a deep breath, and suddenly the world closed in around her, filling her vision with darkness, and she realized the door of the pod-thing was closed.

Panic rose in her chest. Her heart hammered. Her palms went clammy. She struggled to breathe. A feeling of impending doom rose up inside her, and for a split-second, she felt certain she was going to die.

Once again, Layla drew on her depleted reserves and summoned the fragile, desperate strength that had gotten her this far. It wasn’t anything special. It was simply the desire to keep going, to survive.

Stop it. Enki knows what he’s doing. He didn’t go to all that trouble of getting you out of there just so he could sell you out. He might be brutal, but he’s never done wrong by you.

So she took a deep breath, and decided to trust, even though she didn’t understand a fucking thing, and suddenly, her world turned black and there was a sensation of great speed and her stomach dropping and then the total absence of gravity…

And it was cold.

And quiet.

And she could see the stars.

He’s ejected me!

Out into space.

What the motherfucking hell have you done, Enki?

Confusion reigned over her thoughts, but before doubt could take hold, a great shockwave buffeted the pod, followed by a distant boom. For a brief moment, a blue flare of light spread across her vision, before dissipating into the infinite starry void.

What was that? Did something explode just now?

And then a chill ran through her, because she hadn’t seen Enki getting into any escape pod, and what if he was…

Taptap. A black-gloved hand knocked on the clear window of the pod, and Enki’s head appeared in her vision, only his face was hidden behind that armor-helm thing that he seemed to be able summon from beneath his very own skin.

The first time she’d seen it happen, she’d actually pinched herself.

Layla shook her head. Too much. Every time she thought she had a handle on the weirdness of it all, something even more unbelievable happened. What choice did she have but to roll with it?

And now Enki was on the outside of her floating escape-pod, tapping on the window. He raised a single finger. Wait. Be patient.

“It’s not like I have any choice,” she mouthed, wondering if he could lip-read. “Why didn’t you warn me about this part?”

Lip-reading skills on point, he shrugged.

“And… somebody’s coming to get us, right?”

Enki nodded, and instant relief coursed through her.

“Why aren’t you in here with me?” Layla blurted the words before she realized what she was saying. In truth, she wouldn’t mind being in close quarters with Enki. She’d been picked up, carried, and held tightly by him countless times already, and she’d gotten used to the feeling of his strong, hard body pressing against hers, of his arms around her waist, of his hands on her hips, of the way he lifted her so effortlessly, making her feel safe.

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