Page 10 of Alien Devil’s Prey (Vinduthi Stolen Brides #1)

H ours passed in the humming silence of my cabin.

I’d pulled on a fresh jumpsuit, but the phantom heat of his touch still lingered on my skin.

I stared at the bulkhead, replaying every moment—the argument, the challenge, the raw, claiming force of him.

My body still ached in ways that were both painful and deeply satisfying.

He had left me tangled in the sheets, and I had stayed there, trying to piece together the shattered fragments of who I was before.

The sound of his footsteps in the corridor—heavy, measured, deliberate—pulled me from my thoughts. He was walking past my door, heading toward the cockpit. He'd been gone a long time. Long enough to do what he came here for.

I wasn't going to hide in my cabin. Whatever came next, I would face it on my feet.

When I entered the cockpit, he was standing with his back to me, staring at the main console. The prize he’d risked everything for sat on the console's surface. He hadn't noticed me yet. His shoulders were rigid, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Then, with a low curse, he slammed his fist down on the console hard enough to make the metal sing. "Worthless," he snarled, the word carrying absolute defeat—and something deeper. Fear. The kind that came when a lifeline snapped in your hands.

He turned, and finally saw me. His red eyes were bleak. "It's a fake," he said, his voice flat. "A crude forgery."

I stepped closer, my eyes drawn to the object. It was a crystalline lattice, but the light it caught was dull, flawed. "What is it?" I asked. "This thing you're after?"

"It's supposed to be a key," he bit out, frustration radiating from him.

"One of five. The keys to my master's vaults.

My team and I have been hunting them for years.

But the Conclave is about to launch a new financial system that will lock those vaults forever.

We're running out of time. And this... this is worthless.

" He picked up the foam-lined case, turning it over in his hands before his movements stilled. "Wait."

He pointed to the plasteel base of the case. Etched into the surface, no larger than my thumbnail, was an intricate sigil. "I've seen this mark before," he said, his voice low and focused. "On high-security containers in the outer sectors. A fabricator's sigil. Do you recognize it?"

I leaned in, and the world tilted on its axis. Ice flooded my veins. I knew that mark. I'd seen it in encrypted shipping manifests, in black market intelligence reports. I'd spent years of my life hunting for it.

"That's the sigil of a deep-space fabricator who builds custom security containers," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "He has only one client: the Kythara Syndicate."

His head snapped up, his gaze locking onto mine.

"They wouldn't waste an expensive, custom case on a simple fake," I said, the pieces clicking into place with sickening certainty. "This isn't a mistake. It's a decoy."

His gaze narrowed, all predator. "You know this Syndicate. You know their fabricator. Tell me where they are."

"Their primary stronghold is a place they call The Maw," I said.

"It's in Sector Seven of the Drift Nebula.

The electromagnetic interference makes it nearly impossible to detect from outside, but it's there.

A fortress carved from stone and metal, bristling with weapons and processing facilities.

" I drew a shaking breath. "The station is run by Kelloch.

A Zhyx, with eyes that see everything and legs that move like a nightmare.

He feeds on suffering. He doesn't just kill people.

He breaks them. Makes them watch as he destroys everything they love. "

My voice caught on the last words, memories threatening to drag me under. Talon's expression shifted, predator instincts recognizing the scent of old trauma.

"You've been there."

"Eighteen years ago," I whispered. "When I was seven.

They killed my parents in front of me—said it would teach me the value of cooperation.

Kelloch did it himself. Enjoyed every second.

" The admission tasted like poison. "My 'escape' was just a transfer to another facility.

I was re-catalogued and spent the next fifteen years as property in their system.

I've never forgotten. Never stopped planning to go back. "

The temperature in the cockpit seemed to drop. When Talon spoke again, his voice carried something cold and lethal that made the hair on my arms stand up.

"He's going to die slowly."

It wasn't a question or a promise. It was a statement of fact. The matter-of-fact brutality of it should have frightened me. Instead, I felt something dark and satisfied unfurl in my chest.

"Then we don't have much time," I said, my voice regaining its strength. "If that financial system goes live, whatever is in that vault will be locked away forever. The Maw is our only chance."

"How do you know so much about their operations?"

"Because I've spent eighteen years on the inside," I said, the admission becoming the only solid thing in the room.

"Listening in mess halls, pulling whispers from data streams, trading favors in the dark.

I've been planning to hit The Maw for years, but I could never get close enough.

Their security is too tight for one person.

But with your skills..." I met his gaze. "We could do it. Together."

The silence that followed was loaded with possibility and danger in equal measure. I could see him processing the information, weighing the risks against the potential rewards. His plan had just become exponentially more dangerous—but also more possible than it had ever been.

"You're certain about the location?"

"I could navigate to The Maw in my sleep," I said. Then I gestured to the flickering console. "But not in this ship, not right now. She's barely holding together. We need a place to make proper repairs, get supplies, and come up with a real plan of attack before we go anywhere near that fortress."

He nodded once, a sharp movement that sealed our alliance. "Then we find a place to disappear."

As I moved to the navigation console, my hands steady despite the magnitude of what we'd just committed to, I felt something shift in the dynamic between us.

For the first time since he'd cut through my hull, I felt like we were truly on the same side.

Not captor and captive, not predator and prey, but something else.

Something that felt dangerously close to partnership.

I had given him the truth. His failed plan was suddenly viable again, but only with my help. The power had shifted into my hands—I now controlled both the location and the approach knowledge, making me irreplaceable. For the first time since I'd lost everything, I felt dangerous.

And I was going to savor every second of it.