Kira had already mentally prepared for the drop and the pain that was sure to follow when everything jerked to a halt, nearly yanking her shoulder out of its socket in the process.
Confused—but grateful—she twisted to see what had happened.The container she clung to had managed to avoid the fate of its brethren by millimeters.When it started to go over, it tilted, the very upper edge catching on containers stacked next to and above it.
Dangling in midair, Kira walked her hands along the container’s narrow lip, moving back toward solid ground.“Fucking Titan.Every single time.I swear this place hates me.Never again.This is the last time I come to this damn station.”
Either a fellow salvager tried to fuck them over.Bounty hunters attempted to collect on the price on their heads or Jin was getting mugged by one of the criminal child savants littering the station.
“Jin, come in.Can you hear me?”Kira tried.
She didn’t have high hopes.At some point in her dash, she’d managed to drop the squirrel.
As expected, there was no answer.
Reaching the edge of the pit, Kira transferred her grip, making sure to test the stability of the floor first.Only when she was certain it could bear her weight did she start to swing her leg up.
Someone dropped from one of the walkways above.Their landing sent tiny vibrations through the metal of the floor.
Don’t collapse.Don’t collapse,Kira silently chanted.
She scrambled for a better handhold as she started to slip.
“I’ve dreamt of this moment.The great Phoenix, finally at my mercy.”
The visage of a general greeted Kira when she finally moved her attention from not falling.“Lothos—you have me at a disadvantage,”
Not many people made Kira feel like prey.Lothos and his brothers were among the few.
Kira’s arms shook from the strain of supporting her weight.A slight tremor started in her muscles.Already injured, this was testing her reserves further.She wasn’t sure how much longer she could maintain this.
“I don’t suppose you’d help me up,” Kira tried.
“No.”
“Thought so.”Kira tried to smile but failed.“I suppose you’re upset about your little friend.”
Lothos’s red markings, so like the markings of Kira’s primus, stood out in stark contrast against the dark gray of his skin as he squatted in front of her.“I knew you were in the trees that day.”
Kira grimaced as she nearly slipped.“Is that right?”
“I could have ended this then.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I ask myself that every day.”Lothos lost his detached look as he finally focused fully on Kira.“I guess you could say I still had hope.You and me—we go back a long way.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s beenthatlong.”
Kira’s hands began to cramp.She adjusted her grip, doing her best to ease the strain, but it was just a matter of time.
Her arms would give out.She would fall.
She might die.She might not.
At the very least she’d be heavily injured.Unable to defend herself when Lothos followed her down.
Because hewouldfollow her.
He’d come to kill her.His desire to claim vengeance for what he thought she’d done so fucking predictable that it was a wonder he’d managed to so thoroughly blindside her.
