“Yourpeopledeserve your protection, you pompous prick.” Jutting his chin defiantly, Silarrian narrows his gaze. “I’m not scared of you.”
“You should be petrified, Silarrian, because I am going to finish what you tried to start. But first...” I slide the Baltin knife he’d used on Tilly earlier from my back pocket and pick my thumbnail with the tip. The weight of its onyx-colored hilt feels superb in my hands. “I’m going to carve you in the same way you cut my wife.” I hold the blade to the light and examine its razor-sharp steel edge, forged from ilirium. “But I will not stop cutting until your screams and pleas for mercy end in silence.”
The smug gleam in his irises fades as he takes in the wicked dagger.
Ah, he’s finally realizing his predicament.
I send a command to the carriers waiting at the threshold to exterminate the other two prisoners who’d been his extra sentries. No one will be left alive to send news of my survival...or watch how easily I’d been caught unaware.
My shame will remain my own.I finger the edge of the dagger.Yet perhaps I can find a bit of retribution tonight.
Sounds of sizzling electricity and choked screams float into the hallway as the carriers execute my enemies quickly.
“Wait,” Silarrian says, stepping backward, his hands up. “We’re civilized men, let’s talk this out. I can be of great use to you.”
“Oh, of that I’m sure.” I touch the holographic Baltin lock and the cell door springs open.
As I overpower him with my cybernetic strength, I savor his moans and screams. The warm spray of blood spurts against my skin, and I imagine it washing away my earlier humiliation.
There’s nothing I won’t do to protect my family.Nothing.
***
AN HOUR LATER, I PORTto New Mexico, to the site where the DAWN alliance between Henokans and Humans built the Aurora machine...the place where Kodiak gave his life protecting Tilly, the place where I gave mine by destroying the weapon.
Crouching behind a pale sand dune, I scan the area for life signs, picking up five.
The half-moon shines down, bathing the desert in a bluish-gray glow, its waning light watery and weak.
I send a status request to Tilly’s bracelet. Detecting no anomalies in her life signs, I check in with the carriers I’d set to guard the cave. They report she still sleeps, and all is quiet.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, I enable my shielding and enter stealth mode, blending in with the washed-out colors of the desert, becoming nothing more than a shadow passing swiftly over the sand.
A Henokan skirmisher sits on the outskirts of the dark circle of black, melted sand and twisted pieces of metal.
I run calculations on the current radioactive levels. The Henokans should have this area completely decontaminated in another week or so, which gives me a small smile of satisfaction.
At least I saved lives—human and wildlife, Baltin and Henokan—by destroying that destructive thing.
A giant of a man strolls down an open ramp of the Henokan spacecraft. His long, white-blond topknot brushes against his back as he turns to the disaster area and shouts orders in Henokan.
I can’t stop a small snicker.Oh, Rhys. You have no idea how much I’m about to crash your cleanup, and how much you’re about to lose.
Measuring the distance between him, his ship, and the others who work under blue lighting strung around the sight, I calculate the odds of failure.
Thirteen percent.Not bad at all.
Carefully, I slip down a dune, enacting a sound buffer to mask any noise.
Rhys places his fists on his hips and shakes his head, turning his face to the sky. “Gods, I’m ready to leave this place.”
You won’t be leaving anytime soon.
As if he somehow senses my presence, he twists in my direction, the quick movement smooth and graceful despite his girth.
I duck behind a boulder. Even though he can’t see me, I still respect the intuition he’s honed after years of war.
“Raynor, if you’re trying to get out of work, I’ll put you on a double shift for the next month.” He stomps closer, the metal buckles of his boots ringing softly in the night.
