Chapter Eighteen
Xexis
“No!” Xexis roared, bounding into the lab. Glass and metal were shredded around the area; no space was left untouched. A technician lay on the ground, eyes unblinking and throat ripped out. He sank to the ground near them, inspecting the wounds as Grooug stalked the lab from wall to wall.
“Kannatch!” Kiefgr bellowed.
“Caution!” Xexis warned with a single finger flicked to his protegee. The slippery sound of Kiefgr slowing to a stop were the last sounds as the ship went on lock down.
There was something in the ship. It took hold of Fqa. Possessed him of mind and body. Xexis pulled out his data pad and shoved it at Kiefgr. “Pull up the surveillance holograms.”
The younger hunter nodded vigorously, slapping fingers against the screen fast.
“They escaped through the vents,” Grooug growled, jabbing a finger up into the air toward a nearby vent.
“Have Rexna lock down all exits, all sensors on high alert. I want all personnel counted for and scanned for injuries. I want to know what happened to Fqa.”
His heart sank as he climbed to his feet.
The wound upon the corpse was identical to a wound made by Fqa’s species.
Their teeth lined up perfectly, his jaw strength would have ripped through his victim with no resistance.
The stars showed mercy to them, and they wouldn’t have felt a thing. Dead before their head hit the ground.
Xexis stared at the tank. Shattered and jagged like Fqa exploded out of it. Blood, a slurry of colors and thickness, smeared across the floor. He had no idea if others were hurt.
This was not the Fqa he knew. Fqa was a gentle, soft-spoken individual. A parent, a loving partner, kind, and devastated by the sudden illness. Fqa didn’t even hesitate to agree to be taken away. A true fighter and survivor.
“Kannatch?” Kiefgr’s soft whine filled the air around him. Xexis glanced over at him with curiosity, finding his trainee holding up the data pad. Kiefgr whimpered, “It looks like Fqa died before he attacked.”
Xexis watched, devastated, and horrified, as Fqa choked on the liquid within the video.
Clawing at his own neck, kicking, and thrashing within the tank.
The technicians rushed to drain it, to get him out.
Fqa lay against the glass, lifeless for a moment.
They performed resuscitation on him, pounding rubber hammers into his chest and pushing bubbling liquid up into his gills.
Then, in slow motion, Fqa opened his eyes and lunged.
Killing the closest technician happened in quick succession as he bolted for the vents.
Xexis ripped his gaze from the screen down to the corpse at his feet.
The stars held no mercy for Fqa, and there would be no kindness for whatever possessed his body.
“Find it,” he ordered.
“Kannatch!”
He whirled toward the stairs, seeing Rexna at the bridge seconds before he heard screams. A familiar scream that sank his heart into his stomach. Panic was a new emotion to Xexis as he roared, charging up the steps. “Aphrodite!”