Page 43 of Alien in the Depths
Vexis’s words cut him deeply, but Zaraq refused to let the cretin get in his head.
“People can change,” he retorted, finally breaking free from Joran’s grasp. “I changed.”
“Not in the eyes of the law you didn’t.” Vexis seemed to be enjoying the reaction he was getting out of Zaraq, so he kept pushing. “In the eyes of the law, you’re a cold-blooded killer—the kind of man who kills his best friend over a business deal gone wrong. The kind of man who’ll kill his own girlfriend in a jealous rage after following her to her lover’s house.”
The Rikuan, pleased with himself, shot Zaraq a salacious smile.
“I guess she was unsatisfied,” he continued. “Came looking for some Rikuan cock since her Thryal boyfriend couldn’t give her what she wanted.”
Zaraq tried to control himself, but hearing Vexis talk about Sofia that way flipped a switch inside him.
“You shut your godsdamned mouth!” Zaraq shouted, getting right up in Vexis’s face.
Joran and Weedy gripped his shoulders again, but Vexis held up his hand to stop them.
“That’s the spirit,” Vexis told him, his voice low and threatening. “That’s the energy I want to see from you when the cops show up.”
The words bored right into Zaraq’s heart, and slowly, his defiance began to ebb. As much as he hated to admit it, he was beginning to realize that Vexis would win this. In fact, he had already won.
Zaraq was outnumbered and unarmed, and the story Vexis was spinning was just as believable as the truth. Maybe even more believable since Zaraq was the wanted criminal in this situation. The only proof he had to the contrary was the sigma blaster and that was now in Vexis’s possession again.
Zaraq felt the energy drain from him, his muscles going limp as he realized he had failed Sofia. There, in that marble-floored hallway, Zaraq had lost everything—his dignity, his faith, his chance at redemption. And most of all, he’d lost the only woman he’d ever loved.
He’d failed her, which was something he could never forgive himself for, as long as he lived.
Chapter 17
Sofia
The smell of Vexis’s dirty clothes was beginning to give Sofia a headache, and she recoiled from the stench, her lips tilting down into a grimace. It smelled like a mixture of sour alien sweat, old sneakers, and something else—that same burning rubber and strawberry smell from the club.
She didn’t want to think about what that might be. Instead, she stretched her legs out and braced against the wall. It was about time she got up off the laundry room floor, she decided. And besides, she needed to keep moving.
Just before her comm had died, it had blinked the time as 4:03 a.m. Despite the panic that had kept her awake until now, Sofia was beginning to feel the adrenaline wearing off and her body catching up to itself.
Her bones felt heavy, her muscles weak, and her wrist and arm where Vexis had grabbed her were beginning to bruise. Pushing herself off the wall, Sofia managed to stand. Her thoughts, of course, were fixed on Zaraq.
Even though she’d told him in no uncertain terms to stay away, if she was honest with herself, she knew he wouldn’t. She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her bruised arm and missing his touch. What they had was real, that much was undeniable. And even if he was a criminal in his past life, he wasn’t that person anymore. He wasn’t a coldhearted and ruthless individual. He was kind, he was caring, and most of all, he loved her.
Those words flitted around her mind like butterflies, and Sofia smiled, despite herself. He hadn’t said it, but she was sure. He loved her the same way she loved him.
A swell in her heart told her Zaraq would never leave her there at Vexis’s mercy, no matter what she’d told him about taking theweapon and getting away from all this. The thought made her more determined than ever to get out of there, though.
“If I can escape before he gets here…” she muttered to herself, letting her arms drop to her sides again. Although the chances seemed remote, she wasn’t giving up hope. “But how the hell am I gonna get out of here?”
She paced as she pondered, her bare feet sticking and unsticking on the tiled floor. They brought her to a stop in front of the door—the only way in or out of the laundry room.
Sofia had paid attention when Vexis had dragged her kicking and screaming from the pod, through the house, and into the room. She knew that breaking through that door would bring her straight out into the long hallway that led to the foyer. But that meant she’d likely pass Vexis or one of his guards on the way to her freedom.
On the other hand, it was her only chance at escape.
It’s worth a shot, she figured, stepping toward the door and laying her ear against it. The white-painted wood felt cool against her ear, cheek, and hands, and she closed her eyes to attune her hearing.
Outside she heard voices—at least two, maybe three men talking. But they were so far away that she couldn’t make out any words.
Good, she thought. If they were talking, she figured they might not hear her trying to break out. It also meant they werenowhere near the laundry room door. Drawing her head away, she instead trained her eye on the lock.
Unlike the high-security panel on the front door, this internal lock was much simpler. It consisted of little more than a square silver panel set into the doorjamb that Sofia recognized as a basic key fob reader. That gave her hope, and she glanced around the laundry room for something that might help in her search for freedom.