Page 138

He’sbehind me – Gab’nah, screaming out in rage and agony.

Even as his blood splatters into the water beneath him, he’s faster than me.

I’m running in panic, not knowing where I’m going – my feet directed by memory alone.

I rely on Ling’s training. I know the hanger bay is too far to reach before Gab’nah closes the distance between us.

I splash on through the fetid water, but I can hear the waves of his feet churning behind me, louder and louder. His grunts and heavy breathing terrorize me. They’re grunts of pain and rage.

I’vedamagedhim.

I’d triggered this confrontation by making him feel emasculated – defeated by a mere female.

Now, I’ve literally emasculated him – driving that Orb-Knife deep into his rancid cock.

But I didn’t kill him, even if I hurt him badly.

If I hadn’t, Gab’nah would have caught me by now – pressing me down into the brackish water, choking me in the fetid filth as he ripped chunks from my body with his razor-sharp teeth.

I splash around another corner – and then despair wells up as my heart sinks.

I’ve run full circle. I’m now face to face with the huge doors of Lord Oblog’s throne room –andthe two Bullfrog guards standing sentry.

I freeze just ten feet in front of them.

I’d run this way by instinct – to the place I’d been most often on this ship.

It’ll be the death of me.

The two Bullfrog guards look down at me without pity - their eyes dead, like a shark.

I turn…

…and Gab’nah, the scarred Bullfrog, is standing there.

He’s breathing heavy, one webbed hand slapped between his frog legs. His huge chest puffs up and down, panting in agony. Green-black bile drips from between his legs. His blood hisses as it falls into the water.

I’m trapped between two huge guards and a crippled monster that wants to torture me to death.

In front of me, Gab’nah licks his lips. At that moment, I feel more alone than I ever have done in my life – all those decades not knowing what true loneliness was until I’d had that triad alive in my mind; and were then robbed of them.

Fear wells up inside me, and I freeze…

And then, I move.

I bring the blade of the Orb-Knife down, and feel a brief spark of agony.

The Bond-Disruptor splashes into the water – along with the finger it was wrapped around.

The auras of my three Aurelians instantly blossom in my mind.

Marcel, Quint, and Lucius instantly feel my panic. They match it. They lock in on me, their auras flooding into my mind.

I squeeze shut my eyes.

At least I will not die alone. At least I’ll feel Marcel, Lucius, and Quint one, last time.

When I open my eyes again, I see the scarred Bullfrog staring at me in confusion – shocked at my casual act of self-mutilation.