Page 9 of Sold to the Nalgar (Stolen From Earth #3)

T he ship shuddered so violently it felt like the universe itself had split open.

Cecilia screamed.

The restraints snapped her back against the smooth metal wall, holding her rigid as the chamber pitched violently. Her stomach lurched as if gravity had turned inside out. Light exploded in her vision when her head struck the wall behind her, the pain dazing her for a breathless second.

Another boom—louder this time, like something tearing through the ship’s bones.

She barely had time to think before the vessel lurched again. The floor seemed to drop out from under her. Upside down, sideways—she couldn’t tell. None of it mattered. She was pinned, helpless, dragged with every violent jolt as the ship bucked like a dying beast.

A grinding roar ripped through the air—metal shearing apart or exploding, she couldn’t tell which.

The lights above her flickered once, twice, then flared a blood-red hue.

Cecilia gasped for air, her breath ragged, her heart hammering so fast it felt like it might burst.

Then came the next blast.

A deafening shockwave tore through the hull, rattling the chamber with the force of a thunderclap inside her skull. The wall behind her trembled so hard she thought her bones might splinter under the strain.

Was it weapons fire?

A collision?

Was the ship breaking apart?

She couldn’t see the others: the faceless figures, the squat, ugly aliens. No one was here now. Just her, strapped to a cold wall, with alarms wailing and red light pulsing over everything like a heartbeat of doom.

Oh God.

The thought hit her like a blow:

Is this it?

Am I going to die here? In space? In a box? Strapped to a fucking wall like some…

She bit down on the scream clawing its way up her throat, her eyes wild, lungs burning. Her breath came in shallow gasps. Her pulse roared in her ears like a storm.

This is how it ends? Alone? Imprisoned? A nameless dot in some alien void?

Her mind flashed back to New York. The balcony. A glass of wine. The case files she was supposed to argue in court the next morning. Her parents. Her friends. Her life.

You bastards.

She wasn’t crying. But something deep inside her cracked anyway. A sharp, scarlet shard of fury.

You took me. You put me here. You brought me into this nightmare.

Another tremor shook the ship. Then…

Nothing.

The vessel went still.

Alarms still screamed. Red lights still strobed. But the shaking had stopped. The tortured sound of metal falling apart had gone quiet.

For one long, shivering breath, the universe held its silence.

Cecilia’s head slumped forward, though she couldn’t tell if it was from relief or fear.

Her chest rose and fell in ragged bursts. The restraints bit into her wrists, her ankles. Her ears rang in the sudden stillness.

She waited.

Because whatever had just happened, this wasn’t the end.

Something was coming.

And whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be unicorns and rainbows.