“Shit, shit, shit,” I mumbled under my breath.
Up ahead, the path divided into three, and I knew this location by the bright green light overhead I’d seen, so I swung to the left and ran like the devil himself chased me.
I passed only a few doors, but I followed the curved path and slipped into a passage and waited. Listening for anyone to follow me.
Sweat trickled down my back, and my heart was beating so hard, it rang in my ears.
When no sounds came, I peered out only to see Zeni emerge backward from a room several feet away, pointing a silver laser gun at someone back in the room. But I couldn’t see who it was.
Hot lashes of hatred whipped through at seeing her, remembering the vengefulness in her voice when she had ordered the doctors to start the procedure on me. How she’d wanted nothing more than to ensure I was dead.
Frozen in place, I watched.
“I tried so hard to do the right thing,” she blabbered. “All I wanted was for you to accept me, take me as your mate. And then you disappeared. Leaving me without even an explanation.” The ache in her voice did nothing to garner sympathy from me.
“Zeni, look at what you’ve become,” Derrial snarled. “You don’t want to do this. Let us pass and… and we’ll come to some arrangement.”
She snorted a laugh. “An arrangement? Like killing the filthy human and admitting publicly you made a mistake, then pledging your loyalty to me. All three of you. Then… only then will I maybe convince my father to speak to the Council about dropping the warrants out on all of you.”
“You know we did nothing wrong,” Thane snapped. “Put down the gun and give me your hand. Let’s talk about this properly.”
She was shaking her head. “No! We are doing things my way. You’ve done everything wrong,” she yelled. “Get on your knees. I’ve had enough of looking at you three, reminded of your betrayal. I just wanted to be with you, be happy. That’s all I asked for.”
Her threat rang loud in my ears. She was going to kill them. My chin began to tremble, and I held back the cries, the terror choking me.
“Zeni, please,” Corran began, but the bitch fired her gun.
I shuddered and died on the inside.
Then everything happened so fast. I didn’t remember moving, but I was lunging at her, blade raised just as a guard rounded the corner.
My heart hurt so bad, it felt like I’d shatter into a million pieces. Anger fueled my actions, and all I wanted was to make her pay.
Her head turned in my direction, eyes wide, but it was too late. I sunk the blade into her back, the slurpy sound disgusting and blood spurting from the wound like syrup.
I stumbled backward, releasing my grip on the knife, barely able to breath.
Zeni fell to her knees.
I stumbled backward, releasing my grip on the knife, barely able to breathe.
A whimper fell from her lips, an expelled breath, and I clasped my chest.
What had I done?
Derrial emerged from the room, along with the other two, all three turning on the guard roaring down the hall. Grunts and punches sounded, while I stumbled into a wall, staring down at Zeni who fell onto her side, shuddering.
So much red blood poured from her wound, spreading outward around her. I must have hit a major artery or something for her to bleed so heavily.
I wasn't a killer, and tears pooled in my eyes. I'd done this to her, stabbed her.
Someone took my arm, and I flinched backward, their face blurry from my tears, my heart aching.
"Ella." Corran said softly while fear threaded behind his voice. "We need to leave."
But I couldn't pull my gaze from Zeni who'd fallen silent and stopped twitching. She lay on the floor, still bleeding.
"I-I killed her." The words burst from my lips along with my cries. I shouldn't feel anything, but I did. Killing someone wasn't who I was. This wasn't me. I didn't do this.
Corran seized my hand in his, fingers tight around mine, and we were running in the opposite direction. I glanced back to find the guard also on the ground. Derrial and Thane ran after us. Derrial’s sleeve was blackened from where Zeni must have missed her shot, and their faces were white with terror.
All I could do was push one leg in front of the other, drive myself to keep moving, to not think about what I'd done.
Since coming to Veon, I had become many things, experienced more situations than I'd ever wanted to, and even tracked down my father. But never in a million years did I expect to become a murderer.