Fractured Souls: Darkstar Mercenaries Book 3 Read online

  Boomboomboomboom!

  The world around her became an ocean of blue plasma fire. Thomas fell back, and he wasn’t Thomas anymore, but a half-body, his face and torso vaporized by the terrible plasma.

  He fell to the ground alongside Del, who was coughing up blood.

  He’s dead!

  She shouted into her Link. “Cloe, I need that fucking backup, now! It’s a Code Black emergency!”

  Time slowed to a trickle as Alexis moved forward, her body operating on autopilot as she stared at their attacker. Somehow, Thomas had managed to get close enough to pull one of the Kordolian’s own guns and fire it repeatedly at his head.

  The Kordolian lay on the ground, gasping. There was a small defect in the armor-plate covering his face, a white-hot, smoking patch of metal at the edge of his jaw.

  Alexis’s mind went blank. She was moving on autopilot, as if possessed by some terrible guardian spirit. She bent down, dropped her gun, and pulled one of the long daggers sheathed at the Kordolian’s waist.

  Frantic, desperate, drawing on some deep reserve of strength she didn’t even know she had, Alexis slammed the dark blade through the white-hot, molten patch of metal, pushing with all her strength.

  It slid up through bone and sinew and flesh, and she was surprised at how easily it went in…

  Like a knife through butter.

  The Kordolian fell.

  Dead.

  Alexis didn’t spare him a second glance, because she was already dropping to her knees beside Del, pressing her hands hard against his belly, trying to stop the warm gush of deep red blood, but it just wouldn’t stop coming, and she didn’t even know whether he was dead or alive anymore, because he wasn’t moving, and he was terribly pale and…

  “Got you, you little shit.” Hard fingers twisted through her hair and yanked her back, almost tearing her hair out at the roots. She winced in pain, reaching for her gun, but it wasn’t there.

  Del was very, very still. Thomas was gone.

  She was all alone now.

  Rough hands closed around her shoulders, spinning her around until she came face to face with…

  A perfect nightmare.

  The Kordolian standing before her was in full battle gear, with not even an inch of his bare skin exposed. He stared at her through his featureless angular helmet, appearing more insectoid than Kordolian.

  “On your knees, bitch.” He spoke in perfect Universal, pushing her down with terrifying ease. For the first time in her life, Alexis felt utterly helpless.

  She began to reach inside her jacket, feeling for another flashbang, but the Kordolian shook his head. “I didn’t give you permission to move,” he said, his tone deceptively mild. “The next time that that hand so much as trembles, I will cut it off. Where you’re going, you won’t need it, anyway.”

  He hadn’t drawn any of his weapons, but Alexis instinctively knew he could have a gun to her head or a blade to her throat before she could do a thing.

  Seven minutes.

  Her link flashed in the darkness. They were coming. A unit consisted of six Enforcers. Would they be enough to take down this menacing Kordolian? Thomas and Del had managed to kill the other one, but they’d had the element of surprise… and it had cost them their lives.

  The Kordolian inclined his head. He squatted on his haunches before her, his face just inches from hers. “You and your men killed Orshak. Tch.” He made a sound of disgust deep in his throat. What chilled her was that he didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered that she’d just stabbed his comrade in the fucking face. If anything, he was amused. “He was starting to get on my nerves anyway. No understanding of subtlety. Do not look so shocked, little human. This benefits me. And as for you…”

  Fear mingled with the adrenaline pumping through her veins, and suddenly, Alexis felt like she was going to be sick.

  The way the alien stared back at her from behind his inhuman visage… it reminded her of the way a scientist might study a specimen in a glass-walled lab.

  Six minutes.

  The alien’s visor came down, revealing an arrogant, sharp-featured face. He smiled, showing sharp pointed fangs.

  Fangs! She hadn’t been informed about that particular detail.

  His gaze was cruel and cold, but she couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, because the night-vis rendered her world in black-and-white.

  A black-gloved hand darted out and ripped the glasses from her face. Instinctively, she put her hands up, blocking a blow that never came. Alexis blinked as darkness invaded her vision. All she could make out were darker shadows amongst darkness, and the faint silvery promise of the moon above the treetops.

  “You are quite lovely,” he whispered, reaching out to trace her cheek. “I can see why your kind is in demand. I’m still of two minds as to whether I should fuck you and kill you, or take you for myself.”

  Five minutes.

  Both fates were unacceptable. She had to do something, even if it meant risking getting seriously hurt… or even killed.

  She would not let this monster destroy her.

  “Mmph!” From beyond came the desperate muffled sounds of protest and struggle. The human captives! Alexis turned her head in their direction, but she couldn’t see a thing.

  The Kordolian let out a desolate chuckle. “They’re not going anywhere. They are well restrained now.”

  While they were killing his partner, the alien had been restraining his captives.

  Alexis recoiled in disgust. No empathy, no remorse. This Kordolian was a textbook sociopath… and there was an entire race of his kind out there, waiting to claim Earth for themselves.

  Do something, or you’re dead!

  “I’m surprised you wasted time restraining them while your buddy was busy getting himself kill—”

  Alexis gasped as the Kordolian backhanded her with brutal precision, his armor-encased hand smashing against her cheek. She fell sideways, and she swore she felt part of her cheekbone shatter.

  “I did not give you permission to speak,” he snapped, leaving Alexis to pick herself up from the ground. Her head spun. She couldn’t see anything but darkness.

  Four minutes.

  She rose up on her knees, spitting blood.

  She tried to reach inside her jacket, desperate for the reassuring weight of a gun or metal grenade, but the alien tore off her jacket and tossed it away, revealing her bare arms and a tight Syntech tank top. He ran his hands over her arms, and the second-skin covering his fingers felt strange and reptilian.

  He caressed her breasts, her waist, her hips. Hard fingers intruded between her thighs, probing through the thick fabric of her jeans.

  Racked with pain, her vision stolen from her, all Alexis could do was cry out, her voice cracking, and she hated that she sounded so fucking helpless, so weak.

  The alien wrapped his hands around her neck, almost cutting off her air supply as he leaned close and inhaled deeply.

  “Delicious,” he whispered, taunting her. “All of this…”

  What? Her fear? Her pain? Was he getting off on it?

  The alien squeezed harder, and she gasped for air. Alexis grabbed his wrists and tried to break his grip, but he was inhumanly strong, with arms like reinforced steel.

  Such obscene strength. What chance did she have?

  He could kill her in the blink of an eye.

  He laughed and pressed his lips against hers, probing mercilessly with his tongue as his hands tightened around her neck. Desperation gave her strength, and Alexis drove her fist into his gut, but it was like punching a wall. His torso was rock hard, and her blow had no effect whatsoever.

  The Kordolian chuckled.

  Her vision swam. She became lightheaded.

  Disgust rose up in her, permeating through every cell of her body, paralyzing her.

  The alien’s fangs dug into her lower lip, filling her mouth with the metallic taste of her own blood. He pressed his thumbs against sides of her neck where her carotid arteries ran.r />
  A strange feeling came over her. Suddenly, she was detached from her own body, watching two twisting shadows in the darkness.

  She, the smaller. He—the monster; it—looming over her, a dark shadow threatening to consume her in the worst way possible.

  She was going to die here.

  No!

  Out of sheer desperation, she did the only thing she could think of.

  She bit down hard, her teeth cleaving partway through his disgusting tongue.

  Bitterness filled her mouth as she tasted his blood. She coughed and gagged, overcome with revulsion.

  Abruptly, the Kordolian broke the depraved kiss, roaring in anger. His hand crashed down upon her face with such brutal force that she fell to the ground face first, wondering how the hell she was still conscious.

  “For that, you are gonna die, human filth.” His voice was thick and distorted, his words congealing into a stream of unintelligible grunts.

  Alexis scrambled backwards. The Kordolian lumbered forward, spitting blood out of his mouth. He squatted on his haunches in front of her. There was a strange sound, like fabric rustling, and then a rough hand raked through her hair, yanking her head up. “Suck on it, bitch.”

  In the shadows, she could almost make out the outline of his long, disgusting…

  This can’t be happening!

  She shook her head furiously and clenched her teeth. The alien thrust his fingers into her mouth, prising her jaw open. She gasped for air, trying to bite down on him, but he was obscenely strong.

  “Do it,” he grunted, breathing heavily.

  Bile rose in her throat. She was going to puke. Alexis decided there was no fucking way this revolting creature was going to put his dick in her mouth, even if she died here.

  And then she heard it.

  Tiptiptip.

  Something hard and metallic bounced off the rocks, landing somewhere at her feet.

  Could it be…?

  Click.

  Flash.

  A supernova engulfed her, drenching the world in brilliant violet light.

  Then it all went back to black.

  “Fuckin’… end him, Lex.”

  Impossibly, she heard Del’s voice. It was a fading whisper; a final gasp of defiance. He was dying.

  But somehow, he’d managed to activate one of the flashbangs.

  Alexis’s pain, revulsion, fear, self-pity… it all melted away as the realization struck her.

  She had to kill this monster.

  For Del.

  For Thomas.

  A terrible roar erupted from the Kordolian’s throat as he flailed around in the darkness, taking wild steps forward, leaves and gravel crunching under his feet. Guided by sound alone, Alexis lurched toward him and they collided in a terrible tangle of flailing arms and guttural grunts and charred flesh.

  She swung a wild punch and somehow connected with his face, eliciting a howl of agony. Encouraged, she hit him again, and was surprised when he fell to the ground.

  Oof! She landed on top of him, fumbling in the darkness, reaching for his damaged face. Something inside her snapped, and she hit him again and again and again, years of strict Academy fight training kicking in as her hand became a fist, her blows stronger, more coordinated.

  She became something less than human, an animal in the darkness, a vicious, primal thing no different from the creature beneath her.

  And then a terrible pain blossomed in her side. She froze, reached down, and curled her fingers around a hard metal hilt.

  He’d stabbed her!

  The alien let out a blood-curdling throat-rattle.

  Was he laughing?

  Kill him!

  She wasn’t strong enough to do it with her bare hands. She needed a weapon.

  Not caring that she was probably going to bleed out, Alexis pulled the blade from her side.

  Her arms grew weak. She began to sway. Clumsily, she slashed the knife across her attacker’s neck, even as he held something up to her face.

  A light flashed, momentarily blinding her. There was a strange device in his hand! Was he… recording her?

  “Hey Ssarkisss,” the Kordolian drawled, his voice thick, his words slurring. The device he held… was he speaking to someone? “N-note thisss face. Thisss bio-sssig. S’ killed Orshak. I’m about to meet Kaiin… ‘cos of her. Tch. Fuckin’ embarrassin’…” He coughed, and his warm blood splattered onto Alexis’s hands. She doubled over in pain, clutching the wound in her side.

  So much blood. It was everywhere.

  Two minutes.

  Where’s that fucking backup?

  She fell backwards. Through a gap in the trees, she saw the stars; cold, bright, and impossibly beautiful.

  Am I going to die here? At least those two women will be saved. The backup unit should arrive any minute now… Please hurry.

  Muffled cries and the sound of frantic struggle reached her ears. The captives were alive and kicking.

  “Find her. Degrade her. Violate her. Make sure she diesss… a slow, painful death. Not safe. Never. Not on Earth… not anywhere. ‘Sss what you get…” Even in his death throes, the Kordolian found the energy to laugh, to curse her in blood. “We are everywhere,” he wheezed, his words invading every inch of her awareness. “And the ones that have come to take this Earth… are worse… much worse than me… you can’t run, little human…”

  His words sank deep into her subconscious, but Alexis wasn’t really paying much attention right now, because the stars were so bright, so dazzling.

  Her breathing became irregular, her heartbeat faint.

  In the background, the alien laughed, a grating, cynical sound, and then his laugh turned into a death-rattle, and she wondered what kind of creature could laugh so carelessly in the face of death.

  I don’t want to die.

  It was so damn cold…

  “Detective Carter? Fucking hell…” And then there came a gruff, familiar voice and the reassuring sound of many boots crunching on the ground, and frantic voices shouting, demanding assistance. Rough hands were on her, pressing on her wound, applying something warm and sticky… Coag-Gel, perhaps? “Get an emergency medevac here now! Hey Carter, it’s okay, we’re here now. You’re going to be okay…”

  It occurred to her that maybe she wasn’t going to die here after all, but she couldn’t hold that thought, because the stars were so damn beautiful, and their brilliance obliterated all her fears.

  She’d just put under a death-curse by the most vicious race in the Universe, but she didn’t care.

  Even her enemies couldn’t bring down the stars.

  Two

  Alexis slumped back in the cold metal chair, fatigue seeping through every pore of her body. She hadn’t slept in over forty-eight hours, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten.

  All she’d had was coffee. Lukewarm, bitter coffee.

  The harsh lights made her vision swim, made her throbbing headache just a little bit worse.

  “We can’t do this anymore, Alexis.” Across from her sat the Deputy Chief of the Human Protection Agency, Nate Ramos. His brow was furrowed, his salt-and-pepper stubbled jaw cradled in one big hand. There were dark circles under his eyes. He looked like hell. She probably looked a hundred times worse. “That’s six attacks and counting. We’ve moved you around a lot. I’m running out of options. Enforcement won’t give me any more protection specialists, not after this last attack. Four dead and one on intensive life-support? Body count’s rising. They don’t want anything to do with this anymore.” He took a long drag of his Juvi stick and crushed it in an ashtray. The familiar chemical smell of non-carcinogenic smoke filled the room, making Alexis feel sick. “Jesus Christ, Avein? I didn’t realize those winged bastards could be so aggressive.”

  “Yeah. Me either.” She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples as the memory of the attack flashed through her mind. They’d been en-route to the Yatala Operations Base when the four black-winged aliens had swooped down from
nowhere and attached themselves to the flyer. Impossible. How fast could an Avein fly? Somehow, they’d cut through the roof and entered the inner compartment, their vicious sickle-shaped blades drawn.

  Caught by surprise, her security detail had struggled. They’d taken out two. Alexis had shot another. One of the Avein had been on the roof… then he’d disappeared. She still couldn’t explain how.

  The blood of an Avein was milky-white. She knew that now.

  How?

  How did this keep happening?

  Someone wanted her dead or captured, and they were going to impossible lengths to make it happen.

  It was all connected to the Kordolian attack in the woods. Kordolians were behind this, faceless monsters with access to seemingly unlimited resources.

  A year and a half had passed since that terrible event. Alexis’s hand went to the vicious scars across her lower belly, which still throbbed and tingled. For the first twelve months, she hadn’t been able to do a thing. She’d gone through countless surgeries and grueling rehab.

  And survived several deadly attacks.

  She didn’t know how she was still alive.

  “The Agency’s withdrawing your protection detail,” Ramos said with a sigh. “I’ve pushed it for as long as I could, but I’m starting run out of currency with the higher-ups.”

  “I appreciate your efforts, Nate. I really do.” Ramos had been a good boss. Sure, he’d dragged her over the coals whenever she screwed up, but he’d always been in her corner. He was one of the few people on Earth she actually trusted. “So now… I’m going to have to go it alone, huh?” She should have been terrified, but she just felt numb, detached. She almost—almost—didn’t care whether she lived or died.

  So many guards had died trying to protect her. Even Del and Thomas. Guilt was her constant companion these days. Why was her life any more valuable than theirs? The whole thing had turned into a farce. They weren’t simply trying to protect her anymore. This was symbolic; a clandestine war between shadowy Kordolian forces and the Federation.

  She was just a pawn, a symbol. She didn’t understand anything anymore.