“I’m fine,” she panted, eyes darting to Melet. “He’s getting up.”
Rentir turned toward him, raising his blaster. The male reached for his own weapon, but it was lying in the dirt near Cordelia’s head. His eyes widened with realization. Rentir walked toward him, not even bothering to aim before he squeezed the trigger. The first three rounds punched a hole clear through the male’s chest. The gaping wound was big enough that he could see the scenic view beyond.
Melet clutched at the injury, eyes bulging, and Rentir kept pulling the trigger. Gone was his thigh, half his hand, one big, blue eye. When he crumpled into the water, bleeding sluggishly from all the cauterized wounds, Rentir stood over him and dumped his entire plasma mag into his corpse. When it was empty, he pressed the button to release it. It dropped into the lake with a splash, steaming.
“Rentir,” Cordelia called.
Rentir wrenched her blade from the male’s corpse before he looked back at her, then up at the dropship hovering nearby. He pulled a fresh mag from his thigh and slammed it into the blaster as he approached the ship. A male inside met his gaze, his eyes widening as he slammed the side door shut. The dropship sped away.
Rentir sucked his teeth, the bloodlust within him still not satisfied. He wanted to kill everyone on board, everyone who had played any part in Cordelia’s pain.
“Rentir,” Cordelia called again.
He holstered his blaster, turning back to her. Sophia was kneeling beside her. Her gaze was thick with suspicion as she shrank away at his approach. He handed Cordelia her blade, hilt first, and watched as she sheathed it with a shaking hand.
“What is he?” Sophia asked.
“A hybrid,” Cordelia answered, dabbing at her split lip with her sleeve. “An ally.”
“I am hers,” he told the other woman.
Cordelia’s face turned red.
“What did he say?” Sophia asked, glancing between them.
“Ah… don’t worry about it.”
Rentir huffed, kneeling in front of Cordelia. He took her hand in his and pushed her sleeve back so he could inspect the bite on her pale flesh. It was deep, but it was not bleeding fast. Rentir believed that meant it wouldn’t be lethal.
“That was reckless.” He scolded, looking up at her.
“Well, next time I’ll let you get shot, dickhead,” she muttered.
He huffed a soft laugh.
“You were very brave,” he told her.
She looked surprised.
“And yes, next time let me get shot. I would prefer that to seeing you harmed.”
Her eyes softened, and she caught his hand in her own, squeezing. “No chance.”
He pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
Sophia gaped at them. “Are you and the alien…”
Cordelia winced. “We can talk about it later,” she said, deflecting.
Sophia wrapped her arms around herself, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. “There was, um…”
“What is it, Sophia?”
“There was another one,” she said with reluctance. She looked up at Rentir. “Like him.”
Rentir straightened. “It could be one of our missing,” he told Cordelia. “What did he look like?”
Cordelia repeated the question.
