Page 86 of Shattered Silence

The warm desert wind whipped around her as Layla set foot on solid Earth ground for the first time in months. She looked up at the cloudless blue sky and blinked furiously, reaching for her shades. After seeing nothing but artificial light for so many months, her eyes struggled to adjust to the brightness.

Beside her, Enki was already equipped for the harsh conditions, wearing a pair of dark glasses that hid his eyes. With his flawless silver skin, aristocratic features, and cropped white hair, the shades gave him a slightly rakish appearance. He would have been absolutely dazzling as a leading man in a Virtuariwood production.

Apparently, Kordolians were highly sensitive to ultraviolet light. It actually made their skin burn. Zharek had devised a workaround by inventing an invisible gel that adhered to their skin, covering every exposed inch with a UV-blocking nanolayer.

Advanced sunscreen for aliens. That’s what it was, enabling them to go around uncovered in broad daylight.

It was just another quirk she’d discovered about these strange and dangerous silver creatures. To think that they’d arrived in Earth’s orbit and quietly established strategic networks and even their own bases, right under the noses of Earth’s unsuspecting human population.

Really, they could pull the trigger and take over Earth at any time if they wished, but they were playing a sneaky long game, pulling the strings of power from the shadows.

If she weren’t mated to one of them, Layla would be absolutely terrified of what these Kordolians were capable of, but everything was different now.

Before she’d left for Miridian-7, Layla had known very little about Kordolians. The never-ending news cycle had reported their sudden appearance in Earth’s orbit, but very little was known about them, and wild speculation had lit up the Networks.

Layla had been insulated from it all, swimming in a world of high-profile celebrities and designer clothes and mega-budget production shoots, until Damien had pulled the fucking trigger and blown her life apart.

Vindictive bastard. She’d trusted him with her career and he’d used her. If only she could run into him now. She’d probably punch him in the face.

“Welcome to The Ranch.” Enki’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts as he took her hand, leading her away from the Kordolian stealth cruiser that had brought them here. “This is one of our entry points to Earth. Insufferable place, but this vast tract of land is owned by a relative of the General’s wife, and she has granted us indefinite use. It is a strategic location.” He frowned, clearly unhappy about the hot, sun-baked environment.

“Meanwhile, back at The Ranch,” Layla quipped, looking around. In the distance, she could make out the shimmering outline of a low-set house, and beyond…

Black domes, hundreds of them.

“Some of our people have settled here,” Enki said, following the direction of her gaze. “They rest by day and take advantage of the cold, clear nights. There is plenty of food in the form of those large jumping creatures. Also, the large long-legged feathered ones are good eating. I believe some of the settlers from Kythia have come to view this place as home.”

Layla didn’t say anything. She was too busy taking it all in, because although Abbey had described the place to her in great detail back on the Fleet Station, nothing could have prepared her for seeing it in real life.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

She was on Earth.

She was home.

And it occurred to her that she hadn’t passed through the usual Federation immigration checkpoints. Technically, nobody knew she was here, except the Kordolians.

Enki squeezed her hand.

Layla’s boots kicked up red dust as she strode across the dry ground, passing clumps of dry spinifex. Eventually, they came to a gravelly path that joined a sandy road. Fresh tyre tracks were imprinted in the red dust.

Huh. Someone around here must be using an old land-vehicle. The irony wasn’t lost on her. Behind them were the impossibly sleek jet-black ships of the Kordolian fleet. In front of them was an old house, with old-fashioned tyre tracks leading to it.

It was a bit of a walk, and it was hot and dry and dusty, but Layla reveled in the feeling of solid Earth beneath her feet.

As they stepped off the cruiser, Enki had offered to summon a hover-thing for her, but Layla had insisted on walking. She wanted to feel the solid Earth beneath her feet. The roughness. The gravelly crunch. The sun-baked realness.

The two weeks it had taken them to travel from the Fleet Station to Earth had passed by like a surreal dream, filled with Enki—a sensual, insatiable beast—and quiet conversations about the past, future, and present. It was no coincidence that Layla, with her newfound relish for life, was a perfect match for this quiet, deliberate, and complicated man.

Two survivors, hardened in different ways by the inevitable forces of the Universe.

Crap, was she really choking up right now? She brought a hand to her eye, trying to discreetly wipe away the single tear that threatened to fall down her cheek. “Hey, Enki,” she whispered, her voice stolen by the wind.

“Yes, Layla?” But he heard. Of course he heard.

“Thanks.”

“Oh?” He inclined his head, his expression perfectly inscrutable behind those dark glasses.

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