“But we—”
“Go anywhere near that building and you’ll die before you step through the front door.”
They were still running, down a street lined with benches and low shrubs. After a block, they left the chaos behind.
The wail of sirens grew louder, reaching a crescendo above them. Craning her neck, Jenna spied a group of sleek hoppers speeding toward the plaza, lights flashing.
“Who were they?” she gasped, her voice cracking as panic seized her by the throat.
“No idea,” Malik replied. Jenna’s lungs were heaving now, yet he hardly sounded out of breath.
“They looked like Aura citizens.”
“They did … but they moved like trained killers.”
They sprinted out onto a wide avenue where a shunt had just drawn to a screeching halt. The long silver caterpillar, perched upon a single slender rail, shuttled citizens from one end of the upper-side to the other. With a hiss of hydraulics, the shunt lowered a ramp, allowing a flood of passengers to disembark and alight.
Captain Malik slowed to a halt and slid into the line, pulling Jenna with him. Those already waiting for the shunt were looking around, curious as to what was going on. Yanking off his helmet, he then cast a look over his shoulder, scanning their surroundings to ensure they hadn’t been followed.
It seemed they hadn’t, and moments later, they were aboard.
The shunt was narrower than the transpod. It was also crowded, standing room only. Faces swiveled toward the tall man clad in black wearing a tattered crimson cape and the disheveled woman at his side.
Breathing hard, sweaty, and splattered in blood and dust, Jenna knew she was drawing attention to herself. She tried to slow her breathing, tried to keep the fear from her face, but it was nearly impossible.
The doors slid shut, and the shunt rolled off the platform, gathering speed as it headed down the avenue toward its next stop.
Peering over Captain Malik’s shoulder through the window, Jenna looked back at the street they’d exited from. Her blood still pounded in her ears, yet so far, there wasn’t anyone pursuing them.
“Do you think we’ve lost them?” she whispered.
The captain’s mouth thinned. “That grenade would have killed a few,” he muttered. “But they’ll still be hunting us.”
Jenna moved closer to him, placing a hand upon the breast plate of his armor, pretending to show affection to her companion so others wouldn’t overhear their conversation. “Who’s after us?”
His purple gaze bored into hers. “Think, Lady Jenna … who’d want you dead?”
Her throat closed, cold sweat beading on her skin.
If she hadn’t just witnessed her planet, her family, captured by the Mir-Ferrins, she’d have blamed the Mir-Leliths for this. Perhaps they didn’t want a ceasefire after all. They had nothing to gain by killing her, but these ceasefire negotiations could have been a ruse.
However, she’d seen that newsreel, had read the words that scrolled across the screen above her.
“Tian Mir-Ferrin,” she whispered.
6. ALL FOR NOTHING
THE SHUNT TOOK them into a far more densely populated area of the upper-side. Thick crowds lined the sidewalks, and shops crammed in on the ground floor level, with high-rise accommodation rearing above. Even from inside the shunt, sirens reached them.
The Garrison would be looking for those involved in the attack.
Malik waited until they were in the busiest shopping area before he took Lady Jenna’s arm and steered her off the shunt and down the ramp.
After their initial words, she’d fallen silent. Now, her face was bloodless, her mahogany eyes haunted—and the arm he held trembled.
He needed to get her to safety before shock hit.
Outdoors, the blare of the sirens grew louder. Some of the shoppers stopped, craning their necks upward. Moments later, a squad of silver hoppers streaked past.
