Page 4 of Alien Devil’s Prey (Vinduthi Stolen Brides #1)

T he first impact rocked the cockpit, sending a shower of sparks down from an overloaded relay. Alarms shrieked around us. Through the viewport, I saw them—three military-grade interceptors, sleek and deadly, their hulls gleaming with an authority that had no business being in this sector.

The Vinduthi’s grip on my arm was unrelenting. The ship lurched beneath us, and his other hand slammed against the bulkhead beside my head, building a cage for me with his own body. His focus wasn't on the explosions tearing through the hull. It was on me.

"The cargo hold," he growled, like the ship wasn't shaking apart around us. "Now."

My mind raced. Who were they? Why were they here? Was he the target, or was I? It didn't matter.

Another impact threw us both against the console. Emergency lighting bathed us in intermittent red.

"I don’t know what you’re after, and I don’t care," I said, tilting my chin up with every ounce of defiance I could muster. "And even if I did, I'd rather watch this ship burn in a star than hand it to a thug like you."

But even as I spoke, my hand was moving.

Slowly. Carefully. The secondary diagnostic panel was just within reach, hidden behind his left shoulder.

The physical trigger for my father’s failsafe.

It wasn't a subtle escape protocol. It was a final solution—a way to ensure that if his ship was ever compromised, nothing would survive to tell the tale.

Another blast rocked us, closer this time. I could hear the whine of the interceptors' engines as they moved into boarding position. In minutes, they'd dock. They'd capture the intruder, interrogate me, and discover whatever he was really after.

Or I could end it all right now.

"Your ship is dying," the Vinduthi said, his weight shifting closer as the ship lurched again. I felt the vibration of his breath against my temple when he spoke.

"My ship was dying the moment you boarded it," I shot back, the bitterness in my own voice surprising me. "But don't mistake my desperation for your victory."

I met his gaze one last time, memorizing the cold intelligence in his red eyes, the small horns that curved back from his temples, the long, silver-streaked black hair pulled back from a face that was all sharp angles.

"If we're going down," I said, "we're going down on my terms."

Before he could react, I twisted in his grip and slammed my palm down on the diagnostic panel.

The response was immediate and catastrophic.

A massive power surge cascaded through the ship like a living thing. The lights didn't just flicker—they exploded. Consoles erupted around us, their screens going white-hot before dying completely. The steady hum of life support cut out with a finality that made my stomach drop.

Through the viewport, I saw the effect on the interceptors.

Their targeting locks went dark, but it was more than that.

Their own running lights flickered and died, their engines sputtering into silence.

The failsafe hadn't just blinded them; it had killed them.

The three interceptors began to drift, tumbling dead through space alongside us.

The Vinduthi’s head snapped toward the viewport, and I saw something I hadn't expected—not just anger, but raw, stunned grief as he watched his own ship die, its lights going out one by one until it was just another piece of dead metal.

Primary propulsion failed with a grinding shriek of metal. The artificial gravity fluctuated wildly. We were plunged into the hellish red glow of emergency lighting, and even that was flickering like a dying heartbeat.

The ship lurched violently as it lost all automated control, throwing us both against the console. The Vinduthi’s arm came up instinctively to shield me from the worst of the impact, his body a solid wall between me and the chaos I'd unleashed.

Then he pulled back, and I saw his face.

The controlled aggression was gone, replaced by something far more dangerous. Pure, murderous fury blazed in those red eyes, and his lips pulled back to reveal the sharp points of his canine teeth.

"What did you do?" His voice was a low growl, a vibration I felt in my teeth that carried more menace than any shout.

I tried to answer, but my throat had gone dry. The magnitude of what I'd just done was sinking in. I had stopped them from taking us. But I'd also trapped us both.

The ship groaned around us, a sound like a dying animal. We were tumbling through the void now, a metal coffin with no power, no life support, and no hope of rescue.

"Congratulations," he said, his voice deadly calm as the stars spun past the viewport in a lazy, fatal spiral. "You've just killed us both."