Page 99 of Fractured Souls

He stepped into the circle, and for a moment, his darkness obliterated the sunlight. “Told you I wasn’t going anywhere.” Now his voice turned gentle.

She couldn’t see his face behind that menacing obsidian helm, but it didn’t matter. He was solid and real, the perfect antidote to the madness that had overwhelmed her.

Nythian bent down and scooped her into his arms, and she felt light as a feather against all that hard, Callidum-encased muscle. He retreated into the shadows, finding a sheltered spot against the pale walls. Then he allowed his exo-helm to retract, the black stuff dissolving like pixels, disappearing into his smooth silver skin.

She’d never get used to that sight. He was just as alien as the Tharians, only he was their polar opposite;

Alexis relaxed into his arms as exhaustion flooded her. She felt completely drained, as if she’d just run a marathon.

Her emotions were a mess. Her thoughts were scattered. The things she’d seen were too vast and complicated for her simple mind to process.

“Welcome back.” Nythian said softly, caressing the side of her face. “You did it. She’s gone, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.” A sense of emptiness grew inside her, but then Nythian pulled her close, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

He filled her void.

Nythian stared at her intensely, his ruby eyes depthless and unreadable. He wore a strange expression, one she’d never seen before; perhaps it was that laser-hyper-focus thing Abbey talked about.

It made her feel terribly vulnerable and exposed.

Not that she minded.

“You’re beautiful,” he said at last. “Really fucking beautiful.”

“Huh,” she said softly, wondering what she’d done to deserve this.

But she didn’t have time to ask, because Nythian inclined his head, his gaze turning distant for a split-second.

Someone was communicating with him.

“Trouble?” she rasped, just wanting to curl up in his arms and let him transport her away from all this. She wasn’t used to being vulnerable like this, and ordinarily she wouldn’t have tolerated it, but when it was Nythian who held her, it was so easy to just let him take over.

A dark speck shot across the sky, then another, so fast she almost missed it.

Was that… a ship? With another in hot pursuit?

“Seems they’ve found us,” he growled, shielding his eyes with one hand as he looked up at the dome’s circular opening.

“Who are they?”

“Kordolians. Stragglers from the ruins of the Empire. Ex-military would be my guess. They’re vicious and out for blood. Ashrael’s taken down most of them, but a small group managed to escape in their cruiser.” His expression turned stone-cold.“Doesn’t matter. The Silent One’s right on top of them.”

“He’s in the second ship?”

“Nah. He’s on top of them.”

She blinked. “On their ship?”

Nythian shrugged. “It’s not a big deal for someone like him. I’m sure you’re curious as hell. I’ll explain later. We have to move.”

“I take it you’ve got enemies incoming from below, too.”

He chuckled. “You’re too clever for your own good, human. Apparently, some foolish Tharians are trying to storm the tunnels. These so-called acolytes.” She swore he did a little eye-roll just then. “Did Anuk tell you anything about them?”

Still dazed, Alexis sifted through the huge amount of information Anuk had dumped in her mind. Her thoughts were scattered to the four winds, but she managed to remember something. “Uh, they’re Tharians too, but unlike most Tharians, they aren’t pacifists. They’re a violent cult. Anuk banished them to the wastelands, but after Marenja was destroyed, they returned and started terrorizing the surviving Tharians. She wants us to kill them.”

Nythian snorted, clearly unimpressed. “Sounds like your standard violent cult. Most species have them. If Anuk wants them dead, we’ll make it happen. It’s the least I can do.”

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