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)
But there was no response. Only silence… then a voice from the darkness:
“Shut the fuck up!”
Then another, softer, from further down the hall…a sobbing whisper.
“…Mama… please… Mama, come get me…”
Bright’s chest tightened.
He looked at Burn, who was still snarling, still gripping the bars like he could tear them apart through sheer force of will. But even Burn couldn’t bend the Skow alloy, though he tried with all his might.
“Fuck!” he grunted, his muscles rippling with effort. “Fuck…fuck…fuck!”
At last he stopped, panting and the hallway returned to silence except for the steady whimpering of their fellow prisoner, calling for his mother.
Then even that stopped and only their heavy breathing and the distant hum of the ship filled the space.
Bright turned and leaned back against the door, letting his head thump softly against the metal. His heart still wouldn’t stop racing because the feeling that Noelle was in danger wouldn’t leave him.
What’s happening to her? What is that little orange bastard doing to her?
There was no logical reason for the feeling—he and Burn had no Soul Bond with her, no psychic link or mating tie. But still…
He knew. Something was wrong. Noelle was in danger—horrible things might be happening to her.
And they were locked in a damn cell while they happened.
Please, he thought, clenching his eyes shut. Please, Goddess… protect her. Don’t let her be hurt.
He had never felt so helpless in his life.
And the worst part was… he was starting to realize he already loved her and there was nothing he could do to save her.
14
NOELLE
The world went dark.
Black liquid filled her nose…her mouth…her eyes. The stuff wrapped around her limbs and pulled tight, dragging her down, deeper into the thick, suffocating sludge.
She kicked wildly, finding the surface at last—arms flailing, lungs burning as she dragged in a breath.
No—no, no, NO! I’m not going to die like this! Not here—not in some alien beauty spa on a prison ship!
But the grip around her ankle only tightened… and then another tendril wrapped around her wrist.
Then another around her waist.
Something with too many fingers pressed against her stomach.
Blessed Virgin! she thought, panic exploding in her chest. There’s something in here with me and it’s got me!
The thought ripped through Noelle’s mind, filling her with sheer, whitehot panic as she was pulled violently downward.
The black sludge rushed over her head again, smothering everything—light, air, sound. The stuff wasn’t liquid. It wasn’t even mud. It was thicker, stickier—as if she’d been dragged into the depths of some industrial vat full of hot, viscous tar.
Her arms flailed in the suffocating darkness, but she couldn’t get to the surface again. She tried to scream, but the black goo flooded into her mouth.
Dios, I can’t breathe—can’t breathe!
Her lungs burned. Fireworks exploded behind her eyelids. Her heart was thundering so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest.
Then—abruptly—her head broke the surface.
Noelle burst upward with a strangled gasp that tore from her throat.
Oh, thank the Virgin—air! Sweet, cold air.
But she barely had time to suck in the precious breath before she was yanked under again.
The thick, rubbery tentacles wrapped around her more tightly, sliding over her skin—slick, cold, and horribly strong. More limbs joined the fray, coiling around her wrists, pinning her arms to her sides, binding her legs. She felt as though she was being wrapped up by a python in slimy bands that squeezed the air out of her lungs.
Dimly, she heard Lupin shouting.
“No, no, no—you have to let them breathe!” he scolded sharply. “Didn’t I tell you? Let her breathe!”
The tentacles obeyed.
Her head broke the surface again and she gulped air greedily, coughing and sputtering black sludge. Goo dripped from her lashes, her nose, her chin. Her hair clung to her face in heavy ropes.
“Sorry about that, my dear,” Lupin called, sounding only mildly annoyed. “My assistant is still new to air breathers.”
“Let me out!” Noelle begged, her voice cracking. She tried to reach for the pool’s edge, but the tentacles pulled her back, binding her tighter. “Please—please get this thing off me!”
“I’m afraid I can’t,” Lupin replied briskly. “He hasn’t done his job yet. Hurry up, you!” he snapped at whatever the monstrous thing was, lurking beneath the surface. “Do the treatment or no fish for you tonight! Do you hear me? No fish!”
At once, the tentacles around her body shifted. They began to flex…to writhe.
And then Noelle felt it.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of tiny, circular suction cups latched onto her skin.
A terrified scream ripped its way out of her throat, only to be muffled by the thick air of the spa chamber. Every tiny cup sucked at her flesh with savage force, tugging on her skin, pulling so hard she thought her entire body would be flayed alive.
The sensation was intensely painful, and it was everywhere. Her arms…her breasts…her stomach…her thighs. Even the tender skin at the backs of her knees was being suctioned vigorously.