Nascent Decay (The Goddess of Decay Book 1) Read Free Page A

She could hear murmurs from the crowd gathered behind them, speaking to one another as they began working to release her from the pod. The short female was gentle, but the tall male was pulling on her roughly, as though irritated.
    Her head swam as she slid free from the cryostasis pod, falling to her hands and knees. She struggled weakly to stand, but one of them wrenched her up by the hair and held her, dangling, at arm’s length. She reached up reflexively to grab its wrist and forearm to steady herself. The muscles felt like rocks beneath the scaly skin. Those dead green eyes studied her intently as she struggled to balance herself on her tiptoes.
    He held her there, semi-suspended, his face showing no emotion, no compassion. He looked her up and down slowly as though trying to decide whether to keep her or throw her away. When he took his eyes off of her for a moment, she kicked at him hard, catching him in the stomach with her boot. He let go of her and doubled over in pain, screeching and wheezing. She tried to back away but he recovered quickly and lunged for her, seizing her by the throat with his long, spindly arm. They had seemed so slow, and meticulous. His lightning quick movement caught her off guard. He squeezed, cutting her air off, and stopping just short of breaking her neck. The other one seemed to be imploring with him, begging him to cease, but those cold eyes just stared at her as he slowly strangled her to death.
    She grabbed his wrist with her right hand and fumbled at her waist for her utility device. She couldn’t find it. She could see the blood pounding in her vision, and darkness was beginning to waver around the fringes. Suddenly her hand found the utility device. It was almost as if someone had placed it there for her.
    “Blade,” Rhylie managed to croak out, and a short, silvery beam of light slid forth from the device in her hand. She lashed out, swiping wildly at the thing that held her. He let go of her throat and stepped back, unharmed.
    She fell backwards, landing on her ass. Pain shot through her tailbone as it bore the brunt of the impact. The thing hovered over her, screeching something that she couldn’t understand. When he bent over to take the utility device from her hand, she instinctively plunged it into his chest and swiped downward with it.
    It cut through the scaly flesh and bone far more easily than it did titanium alloy. He stepped back from her with a shocked expression on his face that somehow failed to touch his eyes. He put a hand up to his chest, and it came back dripping with blood. He fell backwards, crumpling to the floor in a heap of violent spasms. He began trying to push himself away from her, his legs kicking uselessly beneath him. A long trail of dark red blood smeared the sterile white floor behind him as he struggled to pull himself away from her, his innards spilling from the gaping slit in his torso. The shrieks he made were horrific, a cacophony of pain and terror.
    She stared at him in amazed horror, a prisoner of the gruesome scene playing out before her. She dropped her utility device, and it clattered on the floor beside her as the blade vanished. Her mouth worked soundlessly as the others in the room scrambled to get away from her.
    The feminine alien rushed to him, dropping to her knees and cradling him in her arms as the spasms began to subside. She shrieked frantically as she rocked back and forth, holding his head to her chest as blood began to pool around them on the floor. She sounded pitiful, wailing mournfully with a raspy sort of sobbing howl.
    A round door swirled open behind the two aliens, and several larger humanoids rushed into the room, pushing their way through the others to get closer to Rhylie. The door swirled shut behind them, vanishing. In their hands were long, slender black rods, and they were dressed from head to toe in dull gray outfits with faceless, reflective visors.
    She looked around herself in panic, for the first time