Page 41 of Enslak

His head whipped toward me.

For one heartbeat—one impossible, crystalline moment—our eyes locked.

The rage drained from his face like water through a sieve. His expression shifted—confusion, then recognition, then something that looked like wonder. His gold eyes softened, focused, saw me with perfect clarity.

Then George's injector hissed against his neck.

Enslak's eyes rolled back. His body went slack, collapsing onto the bed as the sedative flooded his system.

The silence that followed felt like a physical weight.

"No," I whispered. "No, he was there. He saw me. He—"

"He saw nothing." Charick's voice was hollow, agonized. "He's too far gone."

Serna moved to Enslak's bedside, her hand hovering over his face but not quite touching. Tears tracked down her cheeks. "The ritual will be tomorrow at dawn." Her voice was barely audible. "There's no hope left."

She turned and walked toward the door, shoulders bowed under the weight of her decision.

Charick and Kavak followed, neither looking back.

The door slid shut behind them.

And I was alone with Enslak.

I sank into the chair beside his bed, my legs suddenly unable to hold me. My hands were shaking. My vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall.

Chapter 10

Niki

They were going to kill him.

Tomorrow. At dawn. They were going to end his life because they'd decided he was too broken to save.

Danny's face flashed through my mind—not as he'd been at the end, pale and bleeding out, but as he'd been before. Laughing. Alive. Whole.

I'd had no choice with Danny. I would have given anything—my career, my life, everything I had—for even the smallest chance to save him.

Just one chance.

That's all I'd wanted.

But there had been no experimental treatments left to try. No miracle cures. No last-minute reprieves. Just the slow spread of his blood on the pavement, and me kneeling there helpless, watching my brother die.

Enslak wasn't dying.

His body was healed. His heart beat strong and steady beneath my palm. He was alive, and they were choosing to end that life because it was inconvenient. Because he was damaged. Because saving him would be too hard.

"No," I whispered, finding his hand again. "No, I won't let them. I won't."

But what could I do?

I was nobody. A human detective who'd gotten lucky on one mission. What power did I have against the Alliance Prime and her family?

None.

I sank down beside the bed, still gripping Enslak's hand, and felt something crack open inside my chest.