"No," she moaned.
Get on your feet. Grieve later. Survive now. The fight isn't done yet, the logical side of her said.
Loudon stepped into view; his eyes sad as he gazed at his former friend. The air around him was still saturated with thekihe'd channeled.
"Why would you do that?" Kira asked.
Aeron moved toward his side. "Because he's a traitor; that's what traitors do."
They strike from behind when you least expect it.
The serenity and sense of purpose Kira normally associated with Loudon was absent today, leaving behind a cruelness she hadn't seen before now.
"This is your fault," he told her. "If you hadn't come here, I wouldn't have had to do this."
Kira laugh was mocking. "This should be good."
"You forced my hand," Loudon said. "Just like your father and mother did."
The world around her faded, the swoosh of her blood drowning out the sound of everything else as Kira fought to stay where she was.
This was the man responsible for everything. Whatever fucked up reason he'd used to convince himself of his righteousness, Kira didn't care.
He was going to die today.
It looked like her uncle was going to have to wait his turn for revenge. This was one wrong Kira looked forward to correcting.
"People like you always make excuses. It's not your fault. They forced you." Kira reached for calm, swallowing it deep and forcing it to spread throughout her body.
Revenge was well and good, but she needed to create a window where it could be obtained. Losing herself to rage would only get her dead.
The faintest movement on the floor next to Loudon and Aeron caught Kira's attention. Jin's spawn crept nearer, one leg at a time, his progress slow so as not to drawn attention.
"What will my uncle say when he finds out about this?" Kira asked, stalling.
"He's not going to know."
Kira smiled. "Are you sure about that?"
Doubt crept into Loudon's expression. He quelled it, his hands rising as he started to sketch a rune. "It doesn't matter. I did this for Harlow—so he could become the type of Overlord Roake deserves. If his hate is my reward, so be it."
The rune glowed white-hot, pinpricks of light forming. The hairs on Kira's neck rose as it got hard to breathe, the pressure in the room rising.
The lizard lurched forward as Kira wrapped her arms around Wren and threw herself to the side.
Two explosions rocked the room, an agonized scream accompanying them. The stone where she'd been seconds before was now a molten crater.
Kira lurched upright to find the spot where Loudon and Aeron had stood empty except for blast marks all around it, the metal body of the lizard lifeless on the ground.
Kira closed her eyes and inhaled, wrestling with the desire to track the two down immediately. There were things to take care of here.
She kneeled at Wren's side and moved him carefully onto his back. The sight to greet her wasn't a pretty one. A fist-sized hole had been punched through his synth armor. Scorch marks dotted the edges of the wound. Whatever had hit him had burned right through the armor, blackening flesh before cauterizing the wound.
Joule landed next to her. "Is he alive?"
"For now."
This was a fatal wound. Wren needed immediate attention if he was going to survive.
