Page 25 of Enslak

Something brushed against Enslak's leg. He froze, his entire body going still in that way predators went still, not the stillness of fear but of calculation. I felt the tension ripple through his muscles, heard his breathing shift from steady to alert.

"What is it?" I whispered.

He didn't answer. Couldn't. But his eyes scanned the darkness and his head tilted at that angle I was already starting to recognize.

Then he moved again, faster this time, his strides longer and more purposeful. Whatever he'd sensed, he didn't like it.

The scratching sounds grew louder. Closer. All around us now, echoing until the tunnels themselves seemed alive with it.

I saw shapes in the water. Dozens of them, small things maybe the size of cats, cutting through the filth with disturbing speed. Too many legs. Too many eyes. When one surfaced briefly, I glimpsed rows of needle-sharp teeth in a mouth that opened far too wide.

"Enslak," I breathed. "We need to—"

He was already running.

Not the careful pace from before but real speed, his feet pounding through the sewage and sending up sprays of filth I was grateful I couldn't see clearly. His breathing stayed steady, his arms locked around me like iron bands while the creatures followed. I could hear them splashing behind us, their chittering calls bouncing off the walls. They were fast. Too fast.

One lunged from the water, body arcing toward us in a pale streak. Enslak's hand shot out and caught it mid-leap. His claws closed around its body, crushed it without breaking stride, and tossed the corpse aside. More came, a dozen, then two dozen, swarming from side passages and drawn by noise and movement.

Enslak didn't slow.

He kicked one that got too close, sending it flying into the wall with a wet crunch. Another tried to climb his leg and he shook it off, movements efficient and brutal and completely unhesitating. Through it all, he kept me cradled against his chest, his body a shield between me and every threat.

I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck, and something settled in my chest despite the terror. He would protect me. I knew it with the same certainty I knew my own name. Whatever came out of that darkness, he would stop it.

The tunnel ahead grew lighter, not much, but enough that I could make out an opening.

"There," I pointed. "That's the exit."

Enslak burst through.

We emerged into open air and the relief hit like a wave. Clean air. Real air. I sucked in great gasping breaths, my lungs burning as they adjusted to something that didn't reek of sewage and decay. The scrub brush stretched before us, foothills rising in the distance. Somewhere out there, Binwee was waiting with the ship.

Enslak set me down carefully, his eyes scanning the terrain with predatory focus. I pulled up the map on my implant and tried to orient myself, my hands trembling from adrenaline and the lingering fear still crawling up my spine.

"Northwest," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Maybe half a mile."

Movement.

All around us.

Not just a few guards but at least twenty. Maybe more. They burst from the scrub brush like ghosts with weapons raised, charging in from every direction.

We were surrounded.

Chapter 7

Niki

This wasn't the plan. This wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to have a clear run to the ship.

My implants kicked into tactical mode automatically.

I saw them before my brain could fully process what I was seeing. Twenty-three heat signatures scattered across the scrub brush, closing in from every direction. My implants painted them in thermal orange and red, but what mattered was the simple, terrible fact that we were boxed in.

The guards moved with military precision, not the chaotic rush of panicked soldiers but coordinated and disciplined. They knew what they were doing. They'd done this before.

One of them stepped forward, a tall Ulkommenian with scarred skin and cold eyes. He smiled like he'd already won.