Page 23 of Fractured Souls

So he squeezed her hand—the human one—and squatted down beside her.

“Hey,” he whispered. “We’re not going to let this thing destroy you.”

“We barely know each other. Why are you doing this?” Her barriers were up again.

Nythian shrugged. “I’m duty-bound to protect you.”

“You’re not like the other Kordolians I’ve encountered.”

“No,” Nythian agreed. “I’m nothing like them.”

He didn’t know who these other Kordolians were that she was talking about, but when this Tharian business was sorted out, he was going to find out.

Because someone had struck the fear of Kaiin into her, and he didn’t like that one bit.

Six

Suddenly, there wasn’t just one scowling Kordolian warrior standing in front of her.

There were three.

Zharek was locked in place, not daring to move in the face of death. His golden eyes darted around the room, seeking answers. His instruments were just out of reach, his holos spilling streams of blue data.

None of that could help him now.

Alexis looked at her hand, unable to believe that this shimmery blue alien thing was actually connected to her body. She still had sensation in her fingers, but her hand felt weird and cold and detached, as if she were wearing a frozen glove.

Maybe this was all just some crazy nightmare, and she’d be waking up soon.

No… couldn’t be.

Her nightmares were always in the forest, at night. The bitter smell of Kordolian blood always punctuated those dreams.

Would these Kordolians bleed the same if they were stabbed?

She looked up at the three powerful males looming over her. It was impossible to imagine any of them getting stabbed. They seemed so impenetrable, so formidable, like a silver-and-obsidian wall of muscle and dark armor.

Enki was intimidating as hell, but it was the alien standing next to him who really made her nervous. He looked vaguely familiar. Perhaps he’d been there when she’d first come out of the stasis tank, but she’d been delirious back then, and the mind-fog hadn’t cleared for quite a while.

Days, in fact.

This Kordolian was a fraction shorter than Nythian, with hard-yet-elegant features and a gaze that was more wine-red compared to Nythian’s striking ruby eyes. Unlike the other two, he was dressed casually, wearing a thin black robe that reminded her of a kimono, and loose black trousers.

Alexis had worked for the HPA long enough to be able to tell who was high up in the chain of command. The chiefs, the superintendents; there was just a certain vibe they gave off.

This guy was their commander, and he was definitely military of some stripe. He had that air of authority about him. The way he looked at her; his eyes cold and calculating… she felt like she were being dissected under a microscope.

Who the hell was this guy?

He might be a monster, but at least he is a noble one.

The voice rang out in her head, clearer than ever. She tried to talk back to it, but she couldn’t harness her own thoughts.

It was like trying to grab onto quicksand.

There was an alien inside her head. This thing was changing her body into something monstrous… and she couldn’t do a thing about it.

Suddenly, it was hard to breathe. The black walls started closing in. Alexis pushed back as a familiar feeling of dread threatened to engulf her. She was not going to give in to this shit again, not in front of these Kordolians.

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