The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

“He…” I barely got the words out. “He was your friend. Your only friend. He… Why did they do this to you?”

Fenris’ head lifted up as he thought about the answer. Somehow, I think I already knew the answer. He took the words right out of my mouth.

“Fear. Envy.” He said, “They tried kill Fenris. Many times. Fought more than eos. Could not die. Cannot.” I got the sense of a smile from him. “I am strongest valkyrie because of them. Their pain made me better.”

“That’s still no excuse. You didn’t deserve that. You don’t deserve this!” I gestured to the chains.

I knew then what Fenris wanted. That secret little desire that he probably didn’t even know he had.

He wanted to belong.

I took a breath and reached down into the pocket of my pants. “I was gonna wait till tomorrow to give it to you, but I think now is a good time.” I held the box for him to take.

I had never seen him move so delicately before. He was afraid of damaging the box. He held it by the tips of his fingers and stared down at it.

“Jackal gift me?”

I laughed. “It’s Christmas, you get your friends presents. Of course, I got you something...even if you don’t actually celebrate it. Open it.”

“Open...It breaks?”

“Like this.” I reached up and dug my nails into the wrapping paper to peel it away. A single piece of tape kept the box shut, so I removed that.

I took out the gift. A pin about the size of my palm, made from a gunmetal brushed steel etching of sharp angled letters; an ‘S’ and ‘C’.

“It’s the ship’s initials to commemorate you as an official member.”

He took the pin with the tips of his claws and brought it closer to his face.

“Official…?” His teeth clicked together.

“Welcome home, Fenris.” I smiled.

“Home….” He took the pin in both his hands, floating upward toward the ceiling with a light spin forward. He took the needle of the pin and stuck it right through a soft spot of his armor at the shoulder.

“And as an official member, you’re required to join the Christmas party.” I watched him float around aimlessly, looking down at the pin.

“As you wish.” He joined me at the door and we headed back upstairs to the mess hall.

We were warmly greeted by the others. Even Ianisse, who was finally up and moving around, wanted to officially meet Fenris. It went just about as well as could be expected. Ianisse was still afraid of the valkyrie, but after finding out that he survived because of Fenris rounding all of the supplies up himself, he opened up to not making him an enemy.

Fenris was quiet the majority of the time, preferring to listen rather than strain his voice. Yaaranam and Ianisse both had hundreds of questions for him. While he may not have answered them, the rest of us didn’t actually give him a chance. Someone had an answer to whatever the question. I kept on eye on that valkyrie just to get this sense of amazement from him.

If anything could make me love humanity again, it would be that night. That group of people. Drunk and high off the holiday spirit, we were all family catching up after years apart. Groups of people in the room broke out into song. Presents were exchanged. Captain Reaper gave his traditional speech of the meaning of Christmas, and congratulating everyone with an announcement of the newest technology and advancements of the year.

Ruby challenged me to a row of shots. In the middle of the group, we downed as many shots as possible. In the middle of one of those shots, I saw a look of terror on Yaaranam’s face. Mjolnir had a similar look. Fenris had his eyes on something at the window. I put the glass down and looked to see what had them looking like they all just saw a ghost.

B-58 was visible through the window, glowing white hot. The window lit up bright from both stars circling around. Something black, shining in the light was coming right for us.

I watched as everyone’s heads lifted one by one, caught in this domino effect of realization. Closer and closer the blob of black came.

It smashed into the Syndicate, knocking the ship off course.

People began to scream. The alarms wailed. Red lights flashed through the room. We could no longer see outside of the window. Willis and Apelu hauled ass out of the mess hall. Reaper joined me and the others at the tree.

“What the hell is happening?!”

“They came.” Fenris said, looking over his shoulder at us.

THIRTY-SIX

"Jackal, get your team together." Reaper ordered over the blaring alarm. "Mjolnir, Yaaranam, escort everyone to their rooms."

A collection of "yes, sir" rang out as everyone moved. Mjolnir and Yaaranam gathered everyone up and got them out of the cafeteria.

Jackal grabbed Reaper's elbow.

"Cap, it's the eos."

"How? Fenris, what hit us?"

The valkyrie shrugged. "Not seen before." It looked to both of them. "It is eos."

"So, we're being boarded...Jackal, get everyone stationed at the doors--"

"No." Fenris stated. "It is eos. It eats ships."

"How do we get rid of it?" Jackal asked.

It shrugged again.

"I'll be at the bridge. When you're in position, tell me." Reaper hurried out, floating over the crowd.

The others rushed down the hall and to the barracks. Suits on. Rifles slung over their arms. Everyone got dressed as quick as possible, moving in a line from one stop to the next. Jackal went ahead and ordered everyone to stand at the ready at each of the bay doors and air locks. He trusted Fenris, but it made him and the others feel better knowing there would be a fight for any monster to break in.

At the bridge, Apelu and Willis were shouting to one another.

"Nothing is working!" Apelu said.

"I have no fucking controls! It's like there's no power getting to the system." Willis hit the console with his fist.

"What's going on?"