Page 51 of Fractured Souls

She held up her obsidian hand. It glistened under the bright artificial lights. “This is supposed to do all the damage, right?”

“Precisely.”

“I don’t know how to use it, and Anuk isn’t able to help me right now.” Ever since she’d undergone the procedure in Zharek’s labs, the Tharian had been silent.

A terrible sense of urgency rose up inside her. She had to get the Tharian home. Anuk was part of her now, and if she didn’t do the right thing, it would haunt her forever.

Nythian removed his hand from her chest, and part of her wanted to beg him to put it back, to hold her like he had before.

“Zharek captured the entire incident on his physiological monitoring streams,” he said. “He is currently dissecting the data and logging the exact physical changes that occurred in your body at that time. Sooner or later, he will understand the exact physiological mechanism behind it. You will harness this power, Alexis, with or without the Tharian.”

“What if I can’t?”

“That is not an option,” he growled, suddenly looking very severe and intimidating. “You are going to master this, Alexis. Do not even try and think otherwise. Let’s try again.”

She had to give it to him, he could be damn persuasive when he wanted. The strength in his words flowed into her, and she found a sliver of her old confidence.

He moved, and this time she put her arm up, blocking his first as she darted in and curled her fingers around his neck. His skin was impossibly warm, and now she was so close she could see the pulse in his neck, his carotid artery—or whatever the Kordolian equivalent was—beating steadily, evidence that just like her, he had a heart, a mortal body.

“That’s better.” Nythian smiled, his approval washing over her like warmth from the sun.

She basked in it. “So, if I knew how to activate this thing, theoretically, I could kill you.”

“Not me, but to some human or Kordolian enemy, you could do a lot of damage, yes.”

“What are you… immortal or something?”

“I’m very hard to kill,” he said, and she believed him. “I will be at your side the whole time, but it is vitally important that you learn to defend yourself. These situations tend to get… unpredictable, believe me.”

“I know,” she said dryly, remembering the countless times she’d turned up to a police raid only to have the situation spin wildly out of control. Three times, she’d been injured in the line of duty. “What if they’re wearing some sort of armor, though? What if I can’t get skin on skin?”

“That’s why I’m going to teach you to shoot plasma. You already shoot, yes?”

“A little.” In fact, she’d won the Agency’s short weapons tournament three years in a row. The idea that these Kordolians would actually entrust her with powerful plasma weapons was a little bit… daunting, but also exciting. “Do the other humans get this sort of training, too?”

“Not quite, but we’re planning on extending the program for certain others, depending on how this goes.”

“So I’m a test subject?” She didn’t know how to feel about that.

“That’s why it’s so important that you and I succeed.” She thought he almost smiled then, but he was still in stern instructor mode, so different to how he’d been the day before…

When he’d kissed her.

“So you’re going to train me up… and then what? What’s your endpoint with all this, Kordolian?” Even with her transformed, Callidum-bound fingers, she could feel the steady beat of his pulse.

He leaned in. “I have many desired endpoints. One of those is to see you become strong.”

“And the others?”

“One of them includes this.” He leaned in and kissed her on the lips again! It was a bold, possessive kiss. His lips were warm and insistent, and he slid his hand down her neck, her back, pulling her close.

Their bodies touched. She felt his hard body through the thin material of his shirt. She wanted more, wanted to feel his bare skin against hers, wanted to run her hands along the planes and ridges of his torso, wanted to appreciate every single hard inch of him…

She responded to his lips with hungry kisses of her own, unable to control herself any longer.

This can’t be happening.

In past relationships, she’d always been the one in control.

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