Page 38 of Alien in the Depths

“I already commed a rental,” Arccoo explained. He swiped his wrist across the door of a sleek black Catraaka 6000 parked on the edge of the lot before slipping inside.

Zaraq, once again, was flooded with gratitude. He knew his inevitable incarceration would be a little less bitter now that he’d had the chance to make friends like this. At least his life hadn’t been a total waste.

“When we get there, I want you to stay in the car, okay?” Zaraq told Arccoo as he slid into the passenger’s seat. “I want this to be as clean as possible.”

Arccoo glanced at him skeptically as he started up the pod’s DriveAI.

“What makes you think any of this is going to be clean?” he asked, and the words cut Zaraq to the quick.

“It has to be.” His brow was set in a look of stubborn determination. “For Sofia’s sake.”

Without another word, Arccoo pulled the pod out from behind the hotel, and soon they were zooming up the seedy main street of Rikuus. All manner of nightlife still littered the city even at this late hour, and Zaraq hoped Sofia, at least, would be able to escape this place for good, even if he couldn’t.

Vexis’s house was still shrouded in shadow, just as it had been earlier that night. The only difference now was that a single light glowed from inside. Zaraq recognized it as the living room light, and he tensed as Arccoo brought the pod to a halt across the street.

“I should be out in ten minutes,” Zaraq told him, his voice low and strained.

“And if you’re not?” Arccoo asked. As he spoke, he absentmindedly touched his own weapon, holstered at his side.

“Then something’s gone wrong.” Zaraq said this matter-of-factly, reminding him of his old days. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to worry about that.”

With one last glance at the prince, Zaraq grabbed his pack, feeling the weight of the sigma blaster shifting inside. His ownblaster was still tucked into his belt but as he made his way toward the tall black doors, his only thought was for Sofia.

Chapter 15

Sofia

The moment she heard the door open, Sofia scrambled to conceal the wrist comm in the pile of dirty clothes she’d been sitting on. Her heart raced as she shoved the device deep into the pile, turning her back to the laundry door to obscure her efforts.

One leg was bent beneath her, the other curled up almost to her chest, and she hoped the amount of thigh this revealed beneathher tight black dress would distract her captor. If she could get him staring at her legs, even just for a second or two, she might be able to draw his attention away from what her hands were doing.

“Hey!” barked Vexis from the doorway, striding into the small laundry room he’d commandeered for her captivity.

From where she crouched among his sweaty shirts and dirty underwear, Sofia turned her face toward him and brushed a strand of auburn hair away. She hoped she would appear unfazed by the Rikuan’s tone.

The truth was, though, he scared her.

Still, she wasn’t about to be bullied into submission, and despite her trepidation, she looked him square in the eye.

“Yes?” She raised an eyebrow and turned half her body to face him, just to drive the point home.

Vexis, who had, in fact, been staring at her thighs, suddenly met her eye. He scowled and closed the gap between them before grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her roughly to her feet. The gesture took her off guard, and though she’d already discarded her heels, she stumbled for a second.

But what worried her more was Vexis’s sudden violence. For a second, she feared she hadn’t been fast enough in hiding the comm after all. Her heart thundered in her chest, and a single thought invaded her mind.

If he finds it, I’m done for.

For a long moment, Vexis simply glowered at her, his tall frame dwarfing her meager five-foot-six, his black eyes boring into her. The patterns on his skull were glowing again, shimmering a phosphorescent blue that rippled across his skin.

But all of a sudden he laughed, and the shimmering subsided a little. It was a cruel, grating laugh that reminded Sofia of scraping metal.

“You know, part of me hopes Zaraq doesn’t come back with the weapon after all. I think I’d enjoy hurting you.” He looked her up and down, the way he had just yesterday when she’d danced for him and the way he had in the club before everything went south.

Only this time an edge of violence crept into his gaze alongside the usual misogyny.

The words made Sofia shudder, and since she no longer had to feign flirtation, she tried to step back out of Vexis’s grasp. He only gripped her wrist tighter.

“Ahh!” she cried involuntarily, but the sadistic look in his eye was obvious. When she saw how her outburst pleased him, it stopped her protestations short. Instead, she forced herself to stop wincing and softened her gaze.