Page 35 of Alien in the Depths
“Give me that,” he growled, pointing at her comm device.
Sofia’s heart sank, knowing her last hope of escape was being confiscated, but she did as she was told. The look of pure hatred in Vexis’s black eyes scared her into obedience. At least for now.
She unbuckled the silver clasp of the wrist comm, but he grabbed it before she could even hand it over.
“Zaraq huh?” he muttered hatefully, as he tapped at her comm.
She could see the white markings on his shaven head glowing dimly in the night as if his anger was manifesting physically. For a brief moment, Sofia wondered if it was the Rikuan equivalent of getting red in the face, but she knew she had better things to be thinking about.
As Vexis searched for Zaraq’s name, Sofia let her eyes drift to her purse. She could just see the corner of the pink leather sticking out beside Vexis’s foot. It was impossible to reach from whereshe sat, and of course, Vexis was between them. Her mind raced with possible solutions, but nothing came up.
“Zaraq, you worthless jirt!” Vexis suddenly barked into the comm, and Sofia could see he was sending a voice message. “You have something of mine and I want it back! Luckily, I have something of yours, too.”
He shot Sofia a wicked smile, something between desire and hatred.
“If you want the girl to live, you’ll bring back the sigma blaster,” he continued. “You’ve already lost your friend. Do you want to lose your pretty little girlfriend, too?”
At this, Vexis set down the comm and turned to Sofia again.
“Let’s hope, for your sake, he actually does like you for your personality.”
With that, he put the pod in drive and sped away from the club, the dark streets flying past their windows in a blur. A stone of dread rested heavily in Sofia’s stomach, getting heavier with each passing moment.
She knew she couldn’t let Zaraq come back for her. He’d be giving up everything they’d fought for. And more than that, she knew Vexis wasn’t the type to give a fair trade.
If she had anything to do with it, Zaraq wouldn’t get anywhere near Vexis’s house. Now she just had to figure out how to make sure of that.
Chapter 14
Zaraq
Zaraq’s heart pounded as he heard Vexis’s threat ring out over his comm. The blue suit he was wearing suddenly felt too hot and too tight, as though it was restricting his breathing. Zaraq pulled at his collar as he played the message again. But the words were still the same, the voice was still all too familiar, and the mention of Zaraq’s “pretty little girlfriend” was still there, like a sucker punch to the heart.
That and he still couldn’t seem to get enough air.
The guards’ stolen pod seemed to reverberate with the Rikuan’s snarling voice, and even though Zaraq knew he should hurry inside, out of sight and definitely out of the fluorescent light of his wrist comm, he felt momentarily frozen in the driver’s seat.
Suddenly, though, a new thought invaded his mind, sending a jolt of energy rushing through him.
“He’s bluffing!” Zaraq shouted, as he grabbed his pack and weapon, tore out of the pod, and slammed open the glass door of the hotel.
Somewhere in his mind, he knew this suspicion was unlikely. Vexis had called from Sofia’s comm after all.But he could have stolen it, he reasoned, hoping against hope that Sofia was unharmed and waiting for him back in their room.
He barely noticed the confused look of the night receptionist as he ran past the welcome desk and up the stairs, his face still purple and helmet missing. Nor did he register Arccoo’s curious inquiry when he passed him in the hallway. He didn’t stop running until he’d thrown open the door to his own room.
“Sofia!”
The vast space was silent, the purple-stained sheets still tousled from their morning’s lovemaking, the remains of their breakfast wilted and stale now on the dining table. Even Zaraq’s towel still hung on the back of the kitchen chair where he’d leftit that morning. Nothing had been touched, not even by the housekeeping they’d made sure to refuse.
But Zaraq still didn’t want to believe Vexis was telling the truth.
“Sofia! Are you here?”
He rushed into the bathroom, just in case she was simply out of sight, perhaps taking a long bath after the evening’s unsavory activities. But like the bedroom, the bathroom was empty, its gleaming white walls staring back at him with total indifference.
As Zaraq turned to leave, he caught sight of himself in the mirror.
He was panting heavily, and his face was streaked purple with patches of his own gray skin shining through where he’d sweated off the makeup. The cut from the glass had begun to clot, leaving a scab of blue blood on his cheek. But what struck him most of all was the look in his eyes.