Chapter Three
Finally. The man holding Toni put her on her own two feet.
It took a moment for the room to stop spinning, but soon enough, she crept behind him.
Staying close to his powerful body, she moaned when a smidgen of his warmth touched her.
Taking a fearful look behind her, she shivered and folded her arms across her chest, hoping to ward off the relentless chill.
She might be grateful he’d put her down, but the keen loss of his body heat made her shiver.
Damn, she sure missed that human heater.
She studied the firm muscles of his back, and the mesmerizing swing of his ankle-length silky braid tied at the nape of his neck.
Wait, what kind of man grew his hair that long?
And, if she wasn’t mistaken, the exposed tips of his ears had a slight point.
She considered the rest of him. The almond-shaped of his eyes gave him the look of an ideal Asian elf. Yeah, a muscular stuntman from Hong Kong who’d fit nicely on the set of any Lord of the Rings franchise. He even had a sexy accent to go along with the exotic vibe.
Shaking herself out of her musings, she glanced around and noticed the faint hum of the ship buzzing in the background. The strange sound rose and fell like a hypnotic chant.
Okay, enough walking behind a man like some kind of damsel in distress from an old silent movie. Gritting her teeth to keep them from chattering, she trotted to Azazel’s side and studied his attractive profile. Shimmers of the violet lights around them highlighted his sharp features.
“We’re lost, aren’t we?” She grimaced at the impatient, whiny tone of her voice. She sounded like a petulant child. But dammit, she couldn’t help it. At least she didn’t demand to know if they were there yet.
Azazel glanced at her, his expression tight, his almond-shaped eyes narrowed. “We’re not lost.”
“Oh yeah? Because this hallway looks exactly like the last four we’ve been down.
” She gestured at the glittering, translucent walls.
“I declare, walking around this sparkly-doom fun house is like a place you can check out any time you like but you can never leave.” Kudos to the classic rock band Eagles for an astute description of the wandering shit show she was in.
JR14, perched on Azazel’s shoulder, flicked one of his metallic front legs. “Clarification: Sub-Node failure has resulted in temporary navigational impairment. Probability of current route leading to rendezvous point: 16.8 percent.”
Azazel’s scowl deepened as he stopped and glared at the spider-droid. “And you couldn’t have mentioned that sooner?”
JR14 clicked his forelegs in what Toni swore sounded like a condescending rhythm. “Organic impatience noted. Suggested course correction: Utilize map matrix manual override.”
“Which I couldn’t do while I carried her.” Azazel countered in a low tone.
Toni bristled. “Well, good thing you’re not carrying me now, eh?” She’d be darned if she took the blame for them getting lost. “So, go ahead. Nothing’s stopping you from playing with whatever toys you’ve got up your sleeve, now is there?”
He turned, his towering figure seeming to fill the narrow space.
She sucked in a breath as his nearness did all sorts of uncomfortable things inside her.
Especially to her lady parts, now paying close attention.
Crossing her arms to cover her hard nipples, she glowered and stared back.
For a moment, his eyes burned into hers with an unspoken challenge in their depths.
“You could barely stand.”
Azazel's soft words caressed her like velvet wrapped around steel.
“Much less run with the speed necessary to escape that stronghold.”
He stepped closer, and his tantalizing scent teased her nose.
“I assure you, I will do my best to take you to a place where we can escape the Krystalii. Shall we continue?”
Her cheeks flushed, a mix of anger and embarrassment for acting like one of those spoiled divas she had to work with. “Of course,” she muttered, looking away. Great, trust her to let the great bitch of the galaxy named Antonia Soo-min Choi out. Way to alienate the hunky guy trying to save her.
Azazel’s slight smile warmed before he turned and moved forward again, his long strides steady, his thick braid swinging back and forth.
Toni couldn’t help getting lost in the play of his backside muscles under his loose trousers once again. The simple power in his every movement was sensual and primal as hell.
No. Focus, you friggin’ floozie. He could still be a trap, just like everything else on this asinine ship.
When she followed Azazel around a corner, she skidded to a stop to avoid running into him.
They’d hit a dead end.
A large door dominated the space, its surface etched with strange, shimmering symbols.
The faint hum around them grew louder.
Azazel hesitated, his hand resting on the hilt of his katana. “JR14, what’s behind that door?”
“Unknown,” the AI replied. “However, energy readings are consistent with Krystalii life-support systems.”
“Well, that sounds just sound peachy.” she stated in a dry tone, standing next to him. She rubbed her arms, trying to ward off the chill that made her skin pebble. Did it just get colder here, or was she imagining things?
Azazel paused before the crystalline door. His hand hovered above the glowing surface as he studied it with narrowed eyes. An eternity passed before he placed his palm against it. He closed his eyes as if listening to something only he could hear.
Toni stepped closer, a tight grip on her upper arms. “What are you doing?”
“One moment, please,” he murmured, his voice low and distant. The faint light from the door pulsed in rhythm with his touch.
She frowned when a crease formed between his brows. “Okay, this is officially weird. What’s going on? Are you… feeling something?”
Azazel’s eyes opened, their usual sharpness softened by a distant glaze. “Krystalii signatures. They’re here… but not fully.”
Toni tilted her head and planted her palms on her hips. “What does that mean?” Damn man was as exasperating as hell.
“It means their presence is fragmented,” JR14 interjected from Azazel’s shoulder.
His tiny sky-blue eyes glimmered as he looked at her.
“Localized energy fluctuations suggest incomplete materialization. Hypothesis: these signatures may represent partially transitioned entities—neither fully in this dimension nor the next.”
She blinked, turning to the spider-like AI. “Wait, what? You’re saying there are half-ghost crystal aliens behind that door?”
“Clarification: not ghosts. Dimensional overlap. Probability of successful materialization upon interaction: 73.5 percent.”
“Great.” Toni rolled her eyes. “So, we could be walking into a room full of invisible aliens that could pop out at any second. Fantastic.”
Azazel’s hand dropped to his side, and his fingers brushed the hilt of his katana. He whispered, his voice steady. “We’ll know for sure once we’re inside. Stay close.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” she muttered. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.
Just think of me as your personal shadow—clingier than a wet piece of gum stuck on the bottom of your shoe.
” To make her point, she grabbed the loose material of his tunic.
Just to make sure he didn’t go far. “So, tell me. Are you psychic on top of everything else?”
Azazel’s lips quirked with the faintest hint of a smile. “What would you do if I said yes?”
She snorted. “Reconsider all my life choices.”
JR14’s mechanical voice clicked in. “Advisory: recommend minimal hesitation. Delayed action may provoke spontaneous materialization of adversarial forces.”
Azazel gave a small nod to the AI, his gaze steady as he looked at Toni. “You ready?”
She swallowed hard to steel herself. “I guess as ready as I’ll ever be.” She shrugged with a ghost of a smile. “Just don’t start levitating like Dr. Strange. I don’t think I could handle that.” At least Azazel didn’t wear a creepy cape like that Marvel character did.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
She kept a tight grip on his shirt and stayed as close to him as she could without tripping them both.
The eerie cobalt-blue color of the room made her blink as the unsettling pulse of the crystalline walls matched the tension squeezing her chest. The air inside was colder, causing her to shiver harder.
Dammit! Why wasn’t there a single cozy space in this hellish nightmare?
She moved even closer to Azazel. Her visible breath hitched as her eyes adjusted.
Rows upon rows of crystalline pods lined the walls, each with a low light that undulated in an erratic rhythm. Inside, indistinct humanoid shapes floated, their crystalline forms distorted by the refracted light.
“Oh my God, what the hell is that?” Toni whispered as she released her rescuer’s tunic and grabbed his lower arm.
“Krystalii incubation chambers.” Azazel’s voice was grim.
Her stomach turned. “You mean… baby monsters?” Oh God. Flashes of the movie Alien passed before her eyes. Just what they needed.
The muscles in his chiseled jaw tightened. “That’s an adequate a description as any.”
A sudden clang echoed from somewhere behind them, sharp and metallic.
He stiffened.
She released him as he tightened his grip on the katana at his side. Her pulse skyrocketed.
“JR14?” Azazel whispered.
“Pursuers have resumed movement. Likelihood of detection within this sector: 78.3 percent.”
“Well,” Toni muttered. “I wouldn’t bet against them in Vegas with those odds.”
Azazel shot her a look, his voice calm but firm. “Stay close.”
“Oh, don’t worry ‘bout that, Captain Obvious.” Her heart hammered as they moved through the room, weaving between the eerie pods.
“But I warn you, if something tries to grab me, I’m tripping you and running the other way.
” She’d like nothing better than to trust him, but the hard, icy knot of suspicion in her chest refused to go away.