Page 37 of Alien Prince's Claim

And then we ran some more.

The style and sophistication of the hallways and interior design had shifted at some point to that of a plainer style.

We had to be somewhere deep inside the facilities where the clients never came, deep in its belly where operations were carried out.

Pipes hissed with steam, dripping red-hot, forming shallow puddles on the floor.

Bundles of cables like the veins on a Krev’s arm, wrapped like cords throughout the facility, powering each room and hallway and corridor.

I doubted we could get any deeper inside the facility if we tried.

But Yaltah seemed intent on trying his very best.

Finally, unable to go any further, my lungs protesting worse than a kid on Parents’ Night, I pulled on his arm with what meager strength I had remaining and shook my head.

“I… I can’t… can’t go… go on…” I gasped with a hoarse throat.

His scales, like my skin, glistened with sweat and his nostrils flared like a stallion finishing an exhausting race, reminding me of our earlier excursion in bed when he had railed me with his every fiber.

Despite my exhaustion, I couldn’t help but feel turned on — even if I was completely incapable of acting on it at that moment!

“Okay,” he said.

He peered around and found a white door scuffed with dirt and grease.

He shouldered it open and checked the room was clear of danger before nodding for me to enter.

I did, clutching my arms over my sides where tiny devils hammered at me with power drills.

Every breath was a struggle, every movement a challenge.

He shut the door behind me.

I barely even noticed the room or what was inside it.

I spotted an old armchair with a dusty, itchy-looking blanket thrown over it and a small side table with a glaring bare lightbulb, just bright enough to fill the small room.

Someone spent a lot of time in this room, I thought.

I began to sit down when Yaltah snapped:

“No! You must keep walking. Your muscles will pump the blood around your body.”

I shook my head.

I could barely stand, never mind walk!

I gasped, hardly able to exhale before I had to take another inhalation.

I needed to slow down, to let my breath fill my lungs…

But I was too starved for oxygen and, in my body’s panic, could hardly suck in a sip of oxygen before needing to take another breath.

My muscles shivered and began to collapse beneath my weight.

I was going down like the Hindenburg and the fall wasn’t going to be pleasant.

14

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