the sudden pain in my neck. It felt like it would snap any minute. Maybe he would kill me sooner than later?
Wyck, the second errock, grabbed Nocc around his throat and shoved him off me. I was able to draw a full breath once again.
“What the fuck!” Nocc leaped to his feet with a speed shocking for his size.
Wyck shifted from foot to foot, as if confused by his own action.
“You’re killing her,” he muttered.
“Not yet. First, I’m going to fuck her!” Nocc bellowed, lunging for me again. “You can stay and watch, but don’t you dare get in my way.”
I rolled on the floor, scrambling away from him. Nocc tripped over my foot with a long, filthy curse.
Wyck quickly stepped over my legs, placing himself between Nocc and me.
“Kill those who are aggressive,” he said. “Let the captain deal with the rest. Those are the rules for each new ship’s arrival.”
“Since when do you care about his rules?”
“There is no need to kill her.” It sounded more like a suggestion than a call to action. My defender wasn’t that passionate about defending me.
“I’m not killing her,” Nocc snarled. “I’m fucking her. Just as soon as I get her out of that damn suit.”
“Fucking and killing is the same in your case,” Wyck observed calmly.
“In our case, Wyck.” Nocc shoved at the other errock’s shoulder. “Don’t you forget that. Errocks are one and the same around here.” He threw a lustful look down at me. “Help me strip her. I’ll let you have what’s left of her after me.”
Thankfully, Wyck didn’t seem convinced.
“Vrateus will need to see her first.”
“Him? You know what will happen once he gets here. Nothing!” Nocc spat through his teeth. “I want my fun. Now.”
He licked his lips, glancing down at me again.
“I think you should wait.” That came as just another suggestion, though there was a certain power in Wyck’s voice.
“Why? Is it because he’s made you the leader of his guard?” Nocc scoffed. “Maybe you think he’ll give you the female?”
Both of them appeared too absorbed by their arguing to pay me much attention. Pulling my legs up, I crab-walked away from them.
A hissing growl behind me sent a chill of dread down my spine. Swinging my head around, I came face to face with a creature that could’ve only come from a nightmare. All of it felt like a horrible dream.
A three-headed animal the size of a large dog scowled and hissed at me. Each of its mouths possessed several rows of sharp translucent teeth. A wet roar vibrated in all three of its throats.
I choked on my next breath as the monster lunged for me. With a clank, the chain around its middle neck stretched, yanking the beast backwards. It was chained to the railing on the wall I realized with relief as I scurried out of its reach.
Now, I was trapped between the three-headed hissing monstrosity and the two giant errocks.
“Get out of my way!” Nocc roared, sending a powerful blow at Wyck’s jaw. The other errock staggered back, shaking his head.
“Fuck you, Nocc!” he yelled, lunging into a counterattack a moment later.
The two collided like giant boulders crashing into each other with the aftershock of the impact reverberating through the entire ship.
“You’re not getting her, boy,” Nocc squeezed through his clenched teeth, punching Wyck in the ribs.
“I am your fucking leader, Nocc!” Wyck pummeled Nocc’s head, landing one blow after another. How the other errock remained conscious and upright after that beating was beyond me.
Frantically, I searched for a way around them. With the escape capsule proven useless, I needed to sneak past them to the cut-out that Nocc had made in the hull of the ship. I had no idea what lay beyond it, but it couldn’t be much worse than what threatened me in here.
Stifling my whimpers of horror, I crawled over to Lee’s broken body. Jose was lying just a short distance away from him. Both dead. Val was gone, though. Did Nocc move her? Or was she still alive? The hope that she might’ve survived this nightmare and gotten away rose inside me.
Maybe I could get out of here, too?
My hope was quickly squashed as someone blocked the exit—a group of aliens, it appeared. Though, I had no chance to see who exactly or how many.
“What is going on here?” A tall male entered.
I quickly retreated to the animal on the chain. Ironically, the horrible beast seemed to be less threatening than the men. At least