Page 90 of Fractured Souls

“Do it, Rucha. That is my command.”

Rucha fell to his knees and began to sob. He touched both hands to his forehead and bowed his head. “My Queen.”

Queen?

What else had Anuk been keeping from her?

Nythian, Lodan and the other Kordolian warriors watched impassively, not looking in the least bit surprised. Hands rested on weapons, ready to explode into action in a heartbeat…

And yet they were showing a surprising amount of restraint, even though they couldn’t understand a word of Tharian.

Anuk placed her hand on Rucha’s bald head. “My time is close now, but all will be well. I can’t keep this form for long, but once I pass through, our people will know what has to be done.”

“You have no heir,” Rucha lamented. “We need your guidance now more than ever. The Acolytes have betrayed us. They are capturing our ithari and trading them for weapons. Kordolian weapons!” He clenched his fists, his blue knuckles turning white with rage. “They taint their own hands with that filth. They are no better than these bloodthirsty shadowkin.” He glared at the Kordolians.

Ithari… Did he mean those like Anuk, who needed a physical body to inhabit?

“Why do they do this?”Alexis trembled as the full force of Anuk’s rage hit her. Her voice was low and cold and deadly.

“The Acolytes have made a deal with them in exchange for their own safety. They want weapons. Power. Domination over us. They want to return us to the old ways.”

Alexis didn’t know a thing about Tharian politics, but she understood the value of a creature like Anuk, who had the power to bring the dead back to life.

The detective in her burned with questions. Why would Kordolians of all people want second-stage Tharians?

Were they trying to use the Tharians to resurrect their own dead?

A chill passed through her, but then she thought of the woman who’d hung lifeless beside her in Zharek’s stasis chamber. She’d only caught a split-second glimpse of her, but she knew without a doubt that it was Sian, the secretive-but-pleasant Canadian who’d happily shared a bunch of delicious orbit-cakes with the rest of the passengers on the Malachi.

Sian was dead.

It was a long shot, but what if there was a second-stage Tharian that could bond with her?

What if she could be brought back?

Shit. She had to get out of this state. She had to tell Nythian everything.

Anuk, let me in. The pain was still there, pounding at her temples. She reached for her body, seeking that familiar feeling.

Home.

I want to go home.

Abruptly, Anuk yielded, and their souls swapped position.

Alexis blinked. She took a deep breath. She flexed her obsidian hand. She was back.

It is done. Rucha will take us there.

And then the Tharian took a deep, shuddering gasp in her mind and withdrew back into her sleeping state.

Anuk was exhausted.

Her time was close.

“Alexis.” Nythian came up behind her, curving his arms around her waist. Somehow, he just knew that they’d switched. “Do not do that again.”

She leaned into him. He was still tense. “I had to do something. It felt like the right thing to do.”

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