“Saving your silver ass,” I snapped back. “Get on, idiot, and let’s go.”
The engine’s howl turned to a stuttering cough, and the pack closed in around us. Varok raised an eyebrow in silent critique of my ‘rescue,’ and I flushed. “Okay, maybe not my best plan, but if you don’t get on, you won’t be able to chew me out for it later.”
He barked a laugh and grabbed hold of the seat, pulling himself aboard. “‘Plan?’Iplan better than this.”
“Fuck you.” Not the best retort, I know. My attention was on driving, not banter. I gunned the engine and sent the skimmer careening toward a gap between two predators. Varok snarled and hung on to his seatbelt—I hadn’t given him time to secure himself, but I trusted him not to fall.
We moved just in time. A monster hit the concrete where we’d sat a moment earlier. More closed in fast from alldirections. Starved of live food, the predators were desperate and had no intention of letting us escape.
I’d hoped the sudden jump forward would scare the pair I aimed for, but no. They charged, not caring about the danger of hitting the skimmer at speed, and I had a moment to panic as one pounced straight at me, jaws wide and claws reaching for my throat. The impact would break its bones, but that was no comfort.
Varok’s booted foot slammed into its head at the last moment, turning a deadly pounce into an artless tumble. The Argentian slammed into his seat with an awful crunching noise, and the predator’s shoulder scored a glancing, bruising blow on my flank before spinning off behind us.
I wrestled with the skimmer’s controls, barely avoiding a fallen chunk of concrete, scraping against a wall and jinking between two buildings. Behind us, howling monsters gave chase.
My attention should have stayed on the wreckage ahead, but I spared a glance at Varok. His silver face pulled into a rictus of pain, and the seatbelt dug into his hands where he clung to it. He looked on the edge of breaking. That life-saving kick had taken every ounce of energy he had left. Pure will kept him on the skimmer now, and it wouldn’t last forever. I dialed back the throttle.
“Keep going,” he said, snarling angrily at me. “They’re gaining.”
“Shut up.” I snarled right back. “If you fall off, I did this for nothing.”
“If they catch us, then webothdie for nothing.”
I had to admit he had a point. To myself, anyway—no power in this universe would have gotten me to admit it to Varok. “Shut up and strap in, idiot.”
Was that a grin plucking at his lips? I couldn’t be sure. Without another word, he pulled himself into the passenger seatand closed the seatbelt. His right leg didn’t move properly, and he hid a wince as he put weight on it. My ribs ached in sympathy where the predator had bounced off, but we had no time to assess our injuries. As soon as he was secure, I gunned the engine and tried to figure out a destination.
20
VAROK
Everything hurt. My head, where I’d bounced it off the skimmer in our first moment of flight. My leg, from kicking a charging predator that weighed more than I did. And worst of all, my heart, from knowing that Penny would die here.
I stole a glance at her, treasuring the beautiful face locked in concentration as she wove our skimmer through the tangled mess of ruins and debris.She is amazing,I thought, heart aching.I cannot let her die here. I will not.
Penelope Halford deserved better than a nameless grave on a frozen planet. She deserved a crown of diamonds, a palace, a star of her own. I had none of those to give, but I could offer her the lifeblood of her enemies. That would have to do.
Another of the accursed predators leaped down from a rooftop, and I interrupted its pounce with a slash of my claws. It fell away, but not before it savaged my arm in return.
Penny opened her mouth to speak, so I forced a grin.
“Just a flesh wound,” I told her. Not quite a lie. Under normal circumstances, I’d shrug off the injury. Piled on top of the others I’d suffered today? The world dimmed around me as I lost blood and heat.
True or not, my words satisfied Penny, and she kept her eyes on the path before us, skidding around obstacles and almost killing us a thousand different ways.Almost.That was the keyword.
The howls of pursuit fell behind, fading into the distance until I no longer heard them over the frigid wind that sapped the strength from my muscles. Satisfied, I sat back and held my injured arm, doing my best to keep my wounds out of Penny’s sight.I can rest,I told myself.Just for a moment.
My eyes drifted shut, and warm darkness engulfed me.
“Wake up, you goddamned idiot!”Penny’s voice was as beautiful as ever, even if her words didn’t match. Nor did the stinging slap she landed on my left cheek.
Without a conscious decision on my part, my hand snapped up to grasp her wrist as she tried for the right. She gasped at that, and I opened my eyes to see hers locked on me, frozen tears in her lashes.
I stared up at her beauty, one moment stretching a thousand years. Motionless apart from our breathing, silent aside from thethump-thumpof our hearts beating. Her warmth burned me through the thick fabric of her coat, and her delicious scent filled the air.
“I thought you were dead,” she said at last, breaking the spell.
“Not yet,” I said, reluctantly letting go of her arm. “Soon enough, though. You shouldn’t have wasted time coming back.”
