Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Noelle stared at the two huge warriors. Both of them held sleek silver pistols—Kindred blasters, she'd heard them called—lethal weapons that emitted deadly beams of burning light. Bright held his with careful precision, his stance steady but controlled. Burn looked like a loaded cannon about to go off, his big body thrumming with rage.
Her stomach clenched and cold washed over her. She couldn’t see what was happening—their broad shoulders and towering frames blocked her view. She felt helpless, small, and completely out of her depth.
Dios mío…who’s coming for us? Can Burn and Bright really stop them?
The screeching rose to a fever pitch and then—
“Watch out—the fuckers are coming in!” Burn barked.
He crouched lower, and Bright did the same, taking up defensive stances with expert fluidity. And just like that, the view opened up between them.
Noelle looked—she couldn’t help herself. As terrifying as it was, not knowing what was coming felt even worse. But the moment her gaze landed on the thing coming through the hole in the hull, her stomach dropped and a sick wave of nausea rolled over her.
The creature was huge—even bigger than Burn. It had leathery gray skin like dried clay and it wore long, tattered black robes that billowed like smoke. A heavy, dull silver helm covered its head, leaving only the bottom part of its face exposed.
The visible mouth was a grotesque horror—a gaping, lipless grin filled with long, finger-length teeth, stained with dark grime that oozed between its blackened gums.
Its mouth opened, and it smiled at her.
Madre de Dios…what is that thing?
The sight rooted her to the spot, terror blooming in her chest like a thousand icy needles. She wanted to run…scream…vomit. But she couldn’t do any of that—she was frozen in place—so scared she could barely even breathe as she stared at the thing that looked like a demon out of a nightmare.
“Get the fuck out of our ship!” Burn growled and fired.
A beam of searing green light blasted from the muzzle of his blaster and Noelle saw it was a direct hit, right in the center of the demon-thing’s chest.
But the deadly blast did nothing.
The light bent—literally bounced—off the creature’s chest, angling away and slicing into the wall behind it with a hiss of melting metal.
“What the—?” Burn snarled and shot again. This time, the ray came dangerously close, slicing only a few inches over all their heads before cracking the viewscreen.
“Wait!” Bright shouted, his voice sharp. “Don’t shoot again—I think it’s wearing a personal shielding device!”
Burn hesitated, blaster still aimed.
“What the fuck? But those things are almost impossible to get!”
“Well, I think the Skow has got one,” Bright snapped back.
As he spoke, the creature stepped fully into the room.
“Your companion is correct, warrior,” it rasped. Its voice was thin and creaking, like an old wooden door swinging open in a haunted house. “I am wearing a Polydraxic Reflective Barrier. Therefore, shooting at me is useless… and ultimately detrimental only to your own health and wellbeing.”
The thing—whatever it was—loomed over them. Even Burn, who was a massive wall of muscle, looked almost small by comparison.
This can’t be happening… I’m dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or already dead. Noelle clung to the edge of the seat, her knuckles white.
“Fuck the blaster then,” Burn growled.
He launched himself at the demon thing like a missile, but before he could make contact, the creature raised a single hand.
An invisible blast of force exploded outward, slamming Burn backward. He flew through the air and hit the floor hard on his back, a dull thud echoing through the ship.
“Burn!” Noelle cried.
But he was already getting up, his eyes red with fury.
“You fucker—I’ll fucking kill you!” he roared.
“Easy, Burn. Take it easy!” Bright stepped in front of him, hand on his chest, holding him back—barely. “Going into Rage right now won’t help,” he said in a low, tense voice. “We’re not getting out of this with physical force.”
“Indeed, you will not. In fact, you will not get out of this situation at all.”
Another figure stepped through the jagged hole. It had similar robes, but the helm was bronze instead of silver. The second Skow's grotesque grin was just as horrifying—actually more so, since the gums between its finger-length teeth were oozing bright red instead of black. It looked like fresh blood to Noelle—like the creature had just been feasting on something raw and bleeding.
“I see the tracking devices we paid to have installed on the Kindred long range shuttles have paid off handsomely,” he said in the same hideous creaking voice as the first Skow.
Noelle’s breath caught. A tracker? That’s how they found us? Her blood ran cold.
“Yes indeed, Commander,” the first one said respectfully. “We have quite the prize here—two Twin Kindred and their female mate.”
Noelle bit her lip—she wasn’t their mate, not really. And yet…the word stirred something hot and frightened deep inside her.