Page 55 of Decadence

A fight in slow-motion.

It was completely surreal.

Transfixed, Sienna found herself walking back to the tank. She hardly noticed when the two Kordolian guards fell into step beside her.

After what felt like an eternity, the General got his arm around Ikriss’s neck. But instead of forcing him to remain in the tank, he kicked hard, pulling Ikriss to the surface.

The commander looked around, his movements growing more and more frantic.

But the General held him tightly.

Golden eyes darted around, desperately searching…

And then they locked onto hers.

“I’m here,” she said softly, unable to stop the tremor that ran through her voice. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

That was the truth, because she couldn’t go anywhere, and right now, she didn’t want to.

Impossibly, Ikriss went still.

With the lower half of his face hidden behind the breathing mask, his eyes stood out even more, burning into her with startling intensity.

Nobody had ever looked at her that way before.

In that moment, Sienna understood that she held some sort of power over him.

That blew her mind.

Slowly, deliberately, Ikriss pushed the General away. To her surprise, the big Kordolian acquiesced, releasing Ikriss from his powerful grasp, his loose robes swirling about in the tank.

Ikriss pointed toward the surface.

The General nodded.

He’s coming out?

“I don’t think that is a good idea,” muttered the medic in an irritated tone of voice, shaking his head. “But what can I do against the likes of them?” He stared at the General and the Commander in dismay.

Ikriss reached up and tore the clear mask from his face. He pulled away the dark wires and tubes, removing one from his throat, and several more that had actually burrowed beneath his skin. Air escaped from his mouth in an ephemeral plume of bubbles.

He kicked his legs, shooting up toward the surface.

“Tch. So stubborn. They all are.” Zharek muttered, sharing a wry look with Sienna. “But then again, they wouldn’t have gotten to where they are now if they weren’t. No need to worry. His vitals are stable for now. The machines will keep him alive. Our kind can tolerate the absence of oxygen for a little longer than you humans.”

A powerful silver arm reached over the edge of the tank, and suddenly Ikriss was pulling himself over and dropping to the floor in a swift, fluid motion. As he dropped to the floor, he became a blur of silver and obsidian, liquid pooling around his bare feet.

The General followed shortly afterwards, shrugging his sodden robes from his shoulders to reveal his impressive wet torso.

Zharek spoke sharply to the General in Kordolian.

“No. I trust my commander implicitly,” the General said in Universal, speaking slowly and clearly, apparently for her benefit alone. “In any case, nothing can happen. Do you forget? I am right here.”

But Sienna hardly glanced at him. She only had eyes for the Kordolian in front of her; the one approaching her on silent feet with one arm outstretched.

Fear swirled in her chest as she remembered what the General had told her about the Mating Fever and its dangerous effects, but she held firm, sensing that it was important that she didn’t recoil from him.

A naked, glistening, half-machine Kordolian, looming in front of her, so close now that she could reach out and touch him.

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