Niland cocked his head. "You talk too much."
Raider winked at him. "I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a reason for that."
The blood drained out of Niland's face as he sucked in a breath to warn his fellow oshota.
Too late.
Red sniped from the shadows, cutting one of the oshota in half despite the protection of his synth armor.
Finn dropped into their midst.
Raider let out a battle cry, barreling forward.
Kira dug her nails into the flesh of her palms, sheer willpower the only thing keeping her in place. The hardest thing in this world had never been the pain and suffering she'd survived; it was watching someone else sacrifice themselves in her stead.
It was something so anathema to the core of who she was that it felt like her soul was being torn asunder to stand by and do nothing.
It wasn't the first time she'd experienced this.
She'd been here many times before. The mission took precedence—every time.
Only, unlike then, there were no orders, and the objective was personal.
Don't spit on their sacrifice,Kira told herself.
It took a considerable amount of discipline to force herself to slink away like the basest of cowards, bypassing the fierce battle and using the containers as cover.
Kira reached the edge of the shipping yard when she stopped abruptly, staring at the man blocking her path.
"I don't suppose you'd let me call in my favor," Kira tried as Lorcan stepped out of the shadows.
Even as she spoke, she knew the chances of that happening were zero. His presence here said he had already made peace with the idea of betraying his own people. No amount of personal honor would affect that.
Kira's weight shifted as she prepared to attack.
She never got the chance. A whip ofkisplit the air, too fast for her to even react.
She didn't even have time to brace for the inevitable pain.
A sharp bark of agony came from behind her.
Lorcan's stare was enigmatic even as mirth tugged at his lips. "Consider us even."
"Only if you don't hurt Finn or Raider," she said.
She could already tell Lorcan was different from these others. That whip ofkihad come too fast for her to dodge. If he'd wanted to, he could have ended her right then and there.
"You should hurry, or you'll be too late."
Kira couldn't move, an unknown pressure making it hard to breathe.
"I wish you luck," he whispered, his passage revealing several bodies strewn behind him, all wearing the synth armor of House Remie.
She bit her lip and whirled.
The shipping yard was empty. Lorcan gone.
The only thing remaining that pointed to the fact he’d once been there was the body of the Tuann who'd tried to attack her from behind.
