Chapters (48)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Copyright
No sooner did the words leave my mouth than a shriek filled the air. The floor exploded into jagged metal and, not ten feet in front of me, an alien leaped into the room.
FORTY-ONE
IT CLAWED ITS WAY THROUGH the scattered remnants of the floor and vaulted easily into the office, howling and snorting. In the same instant, Hallam opened fire. Bullets tore past me and I instinctively dove to the side. Matt must have done the same because we wound up lying on the floor shoulder to shoulder, arms thrown over our heads.
The bullets tore through the creature in a messy, horrific display. It screeched at the top of its lungs, flying against the wall, a mess of holes and goo and sinew, before crumpling in a heap.
“Almost out!” Hallam shouted, checking his ammo count.
Alien screams echoed below. “Run!” Priya ordered.
The door wasn’t locked, and I didn’t need to scan the card to open it. We bolted, Matt in the lead, me on his heels, Priya and Hallam bringing up the rear. I heard her squeeze off a few shots and an answering scream. More of the creatures must have attacked. They weren’t even bothering with subtlety now. They were literally tearing the ship apart in an effort to destroy every last one of us. And from there—what? Mars was closest. But Earth was undoubtably next. I pictured everyone I’d left behind, Anya and my cousins and Jasper’s family, and my blood ran cold.
It wasn’t enough to survive this. We had to stop them.
“Kenzie, come on!” Matt grabbed my arm and dragged me after him, and I realized I’d slowed, turned toward the creatures. Three of them stalked into the hallway. Priya and Hallam weren’t firing, only running, and they shouted for us to do the same. But where were we going? What could we do? What possible hope did we have?
The answer appeared in a blast of flame and light as someone shimmered into view right in our path. “Get down!” Alexei roared. We threw ourselves forward, and a burst of fire lanced over our heads. An alien yelp answered.
Wind rushed past me: Cage. I twisted just in time to see one of the aliens’ heads fall from its body, and Cage appeared on its far side, now with a long, sparking ionic blade in his hand.
The other two aliens were badly burned but still standing. They shrieked, and Cage burst into action again, but this time when his blade struck home, the alien braced its arms, shielding itself somehow. The blade clattered from his hand and Cage, with nothing to check his speed, smashed to the floor and skidded at least twenty feet. Alien claws clashed down behind him, missing him by inches.