Page 39 of Fractured Souls

Only Nythian’s presence kept her from going completely insane. Right now, he was watching her with a thunderous frown, his broad arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m going to start the procedure now,” Zharek said, his voice cold and detached, as if he’d suddenly gone into some sort of weird trance.

“Okay.” She closed her eyes as a weird sensation enveloped her right hand. It felt like millions of tiny hot needles were piercing her skin.

At first, it was just a tickle, but then it started to hurt a little.

And suddenly, she was in agony.

“A-ah!” she cried as the pain became almost too much to bear. She writhed and twisted, swearing viciously in her native creole. “Goddamnit, Zharek! You didn’t… tell… me… it was going to be… this fucking painful.” Her voice was a weak echo in her own ears, contained in a tiny pocket of air, suppressed by thick layers of stasis fluid.

The last time she’d hurt this badly was after the attack on Earth. She’d woken up from microsurgery with the most excruciating pain in her side…

And then they’d pumped her full of drugs, again and again and again.

Alexis was almost glad that she was fully conscious for this. She didn’t want to be put under again. Not now.

That would remind her too much of death.

Death.

White-hot pain.

She screamed…

And felt the Tharian surface.

It’s only pain. It can’t kill you. Anuk’s voice was a gentle caress in her mind, so different to before. Her tone was softer, fainter. I am sorry for putting you through this. I did not intend to lose control of the transformation.

Suddenly, the pain abated. “Wh-what are you exactly, Anuk?”

“How you doing in there, Alexis?” Zharek’s controlled voice came through her ear-pods.

Nythian was uncharacteristically silent.

I am energy. Energy has an imprint, a rhythm, a consciousness. Energy is life. My energy flows through your veins, rearranges the genetic code in your cells, transforms your human flesh into Tharian. I pulsate through the cells and synapses in your brain, flowing through your so-called neurons. This should not happen. It is an illogical improbability. We should not be compatible, but here we are. Life is strange and unexpected, Alexis Carter.

Alexis focused on the sound of Anuk’s voice. It distracted from the pain somewhat.

I did not intend to remake you in my image. I am not your enemy, Alexis Carter. My earlier heavy-handedness, my recklessness, was borne out of desperation, but I do not regret it. I need to get back to Tharos as a matter of urgency. You must help me.

Something in the Tharian’s tone cut through Alexis’s pain, and for a moment she was able to detach from her own private hell. “You’ve been away for so long,” she said softly. “What’s with the sudden urgency?”

Things are not as they were before, human. Anuk’s voice grew faint.

What?

I am… tired. Exhausted. Existing inside an incompatible being has taken its toll. I never should have bonded with Enki. Soon I will need to sleep. But I feel that… something is wrong on Tharos. Something terrible has happened. I have been away from my people for far too long. Please, help me to return home.

“I’m going to increase your analgesia,” Zharek said quietly, but Alexis barely heard him.

She was floating in darkness again, caught up in Anuk’s suffering. The pain returned, devouring her right arm. It felt like her hand was being severed. She gasped, tears leaking from her eyes.

Then the Tharian’s presence sputtered out. Strange drugs coursed through her system.

Pain was everywhere.

Panic rose in her chest.

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