A flash of white-hot light, and my body is airborne, slamming violently against a wall. Pain is searing through my suit. A tickertape warning runs along the bottom screen of my faceplate. My stats. Where I’ve been hit, and the damage I’ve incurred.What the fuck? This is too distracting to read when you have a bunch of aliens charging at you.
My pulse is roaring through my suit, my heart screams against my ribcage. I lift my arm again and decide not to aim. I just blast three rounds into the middle of the Caelum hoping I hit at least one of the fuckers.
Then the air charges and flares out heat behind me, and I stiffen waiting for impact. But nothing comes. Instead, the Caelum in front of me all straighten and arch backward, trembling and convulsing then collapse like ragdolls to the floor where they flop around like fish out of water.
Silence falls around us for a few heartbeats before I spin on my iron heels, arm drawn.
Rune stares back at me, the flickering of the fires behind me reflecting in his eyes—fury written all over his face.
A sharp explosion of adrenaline blasts across my chest—but this time it’s not from a weapon.
“Kate,” he greets.
“That’s the third time you saved me,” I breathe. “I’m really starting to think you might like me.”
