I retracted my helmet and scrunched my face up. “What?”
He waved his hand in a helpless gesture. “The shaking. It was a cobbled together Harrower class starship lowering over the palace. Pirates. According to Nera, they sent out fighter ships and are engaging the Unity Insects that are attacking the city.”
“Pirates?”
Pirates? Why would pirates be here helping us?
The truth hit me like a gunshot, straightening my spine.
I whirled, walking a short distance away to pace, my mind racing.
Callie.
My heart soared and I turned to run back to Rema, securing my rifle against my front so I could slap my hands against his chest, the metal on metal sound echoing. “It’s Callie!”
“What?” Rema asked, his hands coming to cover mine.
I shook him. “It’s Callie. She’s with the pirates, or they’re with her. Either way it’s her.”
I closed my eyes, finding the link that had been silent for the better part of three weeks and there she was. A shiny beacon I could feel in my mind.
“Callie?”I reached out through the link.
A second went by in silence. Then another. My breath was frozen in my lungs.
“Surprise, bitch.”
Chapter 26
Patty
I squealed out loud,slapping Rema’s chest again, “I fucking knew it!”
“You sneaky whore! I knew you’d be alright. Where the hell are you?”
I paced away from Rema, who followed close on my heels.
“Ground floor, the Grand Hall. Hurry the fuck up.”
I laughed, my hand coming up to cover my mouth and found my cheeks wet with tears. I whirled, wrapping my arms around Rema.
“She’s here! Oh my god, Rema, Callie is here!”
He hugged me back hard, bending to kiss the top of my head.
“That’s good news. But we need to move, love, or we’ll find ourselves shot in the back before you can pester her with questions.”
I stepped back. “Right. She said she’s on the ground floor, in a grand hall. And she said to hurry.”
“I know it. We are close. Stay behind me.”
He pulled his rifle from behind his back where it had been locked, and shouldered it, moving down the level until we hit another doorway. The hallway was littered with bodies and burned feathers. Charred remains of Neldre were slumped against the walls, shot as they tried to flee. I willed my helmet back up so the smell of burnt flesh was filtered and not as strong. My stomach churned.
We moved past them in silence, and I kept my eyes forward.
When we were almost to the end of the hall where it split in opposite directions, six Unity soldiers walked around the corner in a tactical formation and fired at us.
The burning blue plasma scorched past my face, the heat felt even inside my helmet. If I’d been wearing Solus armor, it would have heated the air inside my helmet and burnt me to a crisp.
