Page 71 of Shattered Silence

She was naked, and her last memory was of falling asleep in Enki’s arms, listening to the slow cadence of his breathing as he embraced her from behind. She remembered the feel of his bare skin against hers, his chest and abdomen curving against her back, their legs entwined. She remembered being surrounded by his intoxicating male scent and feeling warm and gooey inside as she basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

He’d nuzzled her neck…

And at some point, she’d fallen asleep, and so had he.

Wait… what?

He wasn’t beside her anymore. She looked up and saw him sitting across from her, fully dressed in his dark Kordolian robes.

His eyes were closed.

“Enki?” Something about the way he looked made her cautious as she said his name. There was an eerie stillness about him; his face was completely expressionless, as if he were a statue carved from silver.

His eyes snapped open.

Layla froze.

They were green. Not an ordinary human-looking green, but a deep, unnatural shade of emerald that glowed faintly in the dim light. Instinctively, Layla knew this wasn’t Enki. The way this being sat—stiff, awkward, as if it didn’t fit the body it was in—was so unlike the deadly, graceful warrior she knew.

“Layla. I beg of you, listen to me carefully. I do not have much time. He will be awake soon.” The voice that issued from his throat sounded strange; high-pitched and stilted, speaking Universal in a thick alien accent. Impossibly, Enki’s hard features twisted into an expression of fear, confirming to Layla that the being controlling his body right now was definitely not Enki.

The effect was unnerving. She gathered the sheets around herself, suddenly aware that she was naked in front of a stranger. “Wh-who the hell are you? What are you?” Her voice turned sharp. “What have you done to him?”

“My name is Anuk ik Arenhel Nimhara the Third. I am a daughter of the Tharian Empire.”

“Anuk…” Layla’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re inside his body? How is that even possible?”

“When one’s heart gets eaten by an indestructible Kordolian warrior just as one is about to transition into the second stage of the life-cycle, this is what happens.” Using Enki’s features, the Tharian somehow managed to convey wryness. God, that expression looked so weird on his face. “But there isn’t time for me to explain the details, and it’s probably better that you don’t hear them from me. I need to get out of this body.” Enki—Anuk—grimaced. “Being trapped inside him is absolute torture. I can’t move, I can’t breathe, I can’t think. He is far too strong; a monster. Please help me to escape, Layla. It will be better for the both of us.”

“What do you need me to do?” Sensing the Tharian’s urgency, Layla leaned forward, all ears, even as she wondered about Enki’s habit of eating hearts. But she couldn’t be afraid of him, not after what they’d shared. Layla would do anything to help, because she’d knew the Tharian’s presence greatly disturbed him. Even though he never talked about it, she’d seen the anguish on his face; she’d seen him wage internal battles with this strange green-eyed creature.

“I’ve found a suitable host,” Anuk said. “Back there on the Kordolian warship, where you were captured… there were two human bodies inside those tanks.”

Horror coursed through Layla. “The dead humans… You want to inhabit one of those bodies? You’ll leave Enki alone if you can transfer to a human host?”

“I felt the pull, Layla. One of them is my true host.”

Layla’s thoughts whirled. The death of the other passengers was still fresh in her mind, and a strange kind of guilt pricked her chest. What fucked-up twist of fate had allowed her to live while the others perished? And who the hell was she to decide what happened to the bodies of those unfortunate souls?

But Enki needed to be free of this Tharian… ghost, or whatever she was, and Layla would move heaven and Earth for him.

“What do I need to do to get this to work?” she asked as Enki’s eyes began to change, tiny gold flecks spearing through brilliant green.

“Just make him understand what I have told you. He has not given me the opportunity to…” Anuk awkwardly shook Enki’s head, conveying her frustration. “He just needs to make skin contact with the host-body.” She spoke rapidly now, the words spilling from Enki’s lips in a frantic, almost incomprehensible stream. “Make him calm, like you always do. You are the only one who has that effect on him. He must let go, must give up control for just a moment, otherwise it’s never going to wor—”

Abruptly, Anuk stopped speaking, a faint choking sound escaping her—Enki’s—throat.

Green turned to amber. Enki’s eyes widened, his eyes becoming glazed and unfocused as his features twisted into an expression of pure rage.

Enki was back, but he was confused, and dangerous.

“What have you done?” he roared. Dark claws extended from his fingers. He looked straight ahead, straight through Layla, as if he didn’t recognize her at all.

He raked one hand across his chest, drawing blood, digging those vicious claws deeper and deeper, as if he intended to tear his very own heart from his body.

“Enki, stop it! Nothing happened.” Terrified for him, Layla shot off the bed, not caring that she left the covers behind, not caring that Enki had previously told her to stay away whenever the Tharian invaded his mind.

He’s dangerous. She knew that.

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