Page 21 of Taken By the Alien Siren King

“What was that?” I asked, steadying myself against the glass as another spasm rocked the structure.

Movement flickered at the edge of my vision. A dark shape cut through the maelstrom, vanishing into the churning waters. Another shadow darted past, closer this time. More emerged from the depths, and my stomach dropped as I realized they weren’t moving with the currents, but against them.

Lairos saw them, too, his expression hardening. “Nothing good.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

LAIROS

The deck shook again, harder this time.

Through the glass, dark shapes darted through the maelstrom’s currents. Knights. Had to be.

The bastards had found us.

The alarm klaxon wailed to life. The emergency lights flashed red, bathing Emme’s worried face in crimson. I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the glass. “We need to move. Now.”

Guards rushed past us as we tore through the corridors toward the command center. Each shriek and flash of the alarm made my blood burn hotter. This was my territory.Mine.Violated by traitors and thieves.

Emme kept pace with me easily, though she must have sensed the violence coiled in my muscles, ready to spring into action. Part of me relished the challenge—the chance to cut down every last betrayer responsible for ripping my throne away from me. But there was something far more important here that required defending.

My mate.

The bridge buzzed with activity when we arrived. Technicians scurried around consoles, updating the holomapdisplayed on the central table. Vigas stood at the central command table, barking commands that cut through the noise.

“Report,” I ordered, joining him at the table.

Stillwater Hold appeared there in vivid detail, the corridors traced in gold, critical systems outlined in blue. Red dots flashed where intruders had breached the outer defenses.

There were far, far too many red dots.

Vigas didn’t waste time with formalities. “Initial breach in the lower levels, but the containment doors held. We’ve lost contact with sectors fifteen and twelve.”

“How?” My fingers traced the breach points, searching for a pattern in the attack.

“Unknown. Possible sabotage.” Vigas’s expression hardened, a look I’d seen too often during my years training under his command. “We’re scanning for additional?—”

Another explosion rocked the outpost, this one closer. I grabbed the nearest console to keep from falling as the lights flickered.

“Sector two breached! Sealing emergency doors now!”

Two. Fuck. Right below the observation deck, where we’d just stood watching the maelstrom. They were hunting from above and below. As trained.

I reached for Emme. Her face was pale but focused, that sharp mind of hers already calculating our situation. “We need to get you to the evacuation pods.”

She gave me a quick nod. Of course she understood, she was a scientist who’d studied ocean depths. She knew exactly how deadly this situation could become for someone without the ability to breathe underwater.

“Go,” Vigas ordered, turning back to the command table. “We’ll hold them here.”

We raced through corridors now filled with guards sealing hatches and checking pressure gauges. The fortress hadwithstood countless attacks over centuries, but never from within. Never with saboteurs already inside our walls.

Another explosion shuddered through the outpost. Emergency doors slammed shut behind us, cutting off our path back to the command center. Ahead, water seeped under another sealed door—signs of flooding in the adjacent sector. Our escape routes were disappearing one by one.

Three corridors from the evacuation pods, we entered a stretch of hallway that was too quiet. Water trickled in through the seams of the walls. “We need to move faster,” I urged Emme.

We turned a corner and froze. A Knight crouched at the far end of the corridor, hands working methodically on what could only be an explosive. He spun to face us, his eyes fixing on Emme with raw hatred.

“The false king,” he spat, rising to his feet. “Nedaris will cleanse these waters of human filth.”

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