Page 47 of Alien in the Depths
Zaraq felt the furniture shudder, but the blasts didn’t make it through, thankfully. He figured if he could just get to the gun cabinet, he might make it to Sofia’s aid. As quickly as he could,he scurried to the other end of the couch, preparing himself to make a run for it.
He had to have faith that Weedy’s shakiness would come in handy this time.
Just as he was about to dash to the cabinet, another blast rang out, followed by a strangled cry and a thud.
“Zaraq?”
Arccoo’s voice was panicked, but the sound of it was music to Zaraq’s ears. He jumped out from behind the couch to see the Thryal prince’s concerned features dissolve into relief but then shift back to concern again.
“And Sofia?”
Another series of blasts ringing from the back of the house answered Arccoo’s question, and without another word, the two of them ran past Weedy’s body and toward the sound. Zaraq’s heart raced as he stooped mid-run to snatch the weapon lying by Joran’s unconscious body.
The sound of distant blaster fire mingled with Zaraq and Arccoo’s echoing footsteps as they raced down the hallway. Past several darkened doorways, past a Rikuan chorangel statue that toppled to the ground as they scrambled toward the sound, and finally through another arch that led into the depths of the house.
“Over there!” Zaraq shouted, pointing toward a distant flash of orange light that was accompanied by a cry. Sofia’s cry.
The two Thryals dashed through what, in the dark, looked to be a large leisure room. Zaraq almost ran into a card table and knocked over several bottles of liquor as he ran, but none of it registered. All he cared about was getting to Sofia before it was too late.
The leisure room gave way to another long hallway, and finally, the sound of yelling became clearer.
“Get the fuck out of there, you whore!” came Vexis’s voice, hoarse and breathy. “You can’t hide forever!”
As Zaraq rounded the corner, Arccoo hot on his heels, he saw the Rikuan taking cover behind a long marble island in a vast industrial kitchen. It was obvious food was not the only thing being cooked there. The benches were littered with beakers and pipettes, burners and tubs of chemicals, and the whole place emanated with the stench of shaka.
At the far end, pale shafts of light poured from a huge walk-in freezer, its door hanging off its hinges and punctured with scorched black holes. They were the same kind he’d seen in Ryka’s chest.
As Zaraq soaked in the scene, Vexis turned to face them, his mouth turned into a scowl. Dark green blood oozed down one cheek where he’d been grazed by a blast, and even in the dim light, his eyes burned with hatred.
In a flash, Vexis had raised the sigma blaster to the two Thryals, but Zaraq was faster. His injured finger was already squeezing the trigger of his weapon and in a flash of orange light, Vexis dropped to the ground.
A pool of green formed around him, and those black eyes held no more hatred, no more malice, no more scorn. They held nothing. But Zaraq didn’t linger.
“Sofia!” He rushed forward, throwing his weapon on the kitchen island as he went.
The pain in his finger all but disappeared as he grabbed the freezer door and hefted it away on its one remaining hinge. Light streamed out, making Zaraq suddenly blink as his eyes grew accustomed to the brightness.
“Sofia?”
Zaraq’s voice balanced perfectly on the precipice between fear and hope as his vision slowly adjusted, but he felt her before he saw her. He felt the weight of her body as she threw herself into his arms, felt the chill of her skin that matched the coolness of the freezer, felt her breathe deeply and hold him tightly.
And he felt his heart beat faster as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Oh my god, Zaraq.” Her words came out as a cry of relief, her breath warming his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Zaraq asked, reluctantly drawing away.
When he did, he saw her brilliant green eyes gazing at him with such adoration he thought he might collapse there and then. As he adjusted to the sight of her, though, Zaraq saw how the battle had taken its toll on her. Sofia’s face was streaked with cold sweat, her auburn hair matted and falling over her face, her tight black dress ripped in places, and finally, her bare feet turning blue.
“Mostly just cold,” she admitted with a laugh that told him how lucky she was to be alive.
Zaraq smiled, hurrying Sofia out of the freezer while wrapping an arm around her.
“Thank the gods you’re okay,” Arccoo said once they’d reentered the kitchen proper. The prince stepped forward and embraced Sofia himself.
“The gods had nothing to do with it. That was all you two,” she joked, smiling up at Arccoo and then at Zaraq. The moment she pulled out of Arccoo’s hug, she slipped herself beneath Zaraq’s arm again, pressing her body into his side.
But her words struck something in him. “Sofia, no,” he told her softly, drawing away to look her in the eye. “You saved me. You both did. And if it wasn’t for you, I would have been long-dead by now. Vexis was this close to shooting me in the chest with the sigma gun.”