“Not really,” Ally growled. “Come on, Evie. Let’s check out the entertainment area. We can find one of these foxes.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Why not?” Ally’s face was filled with distrust, and Lyk struggled to understand why this female insisted on painting him as a villain.
“Because those guys make Rigellus look like a paragon of virtue. Two young, attractive females just walking into their clutches? It’s like a dream come true.” His voice was like stone. “Stay away from the foxes.”
Ally opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, a familiar voice spoke from behind him. “You deserve this.”
What felt like a blast of lightning hit him, heating up his insides and making his skin feel like it was melting off. Lyk dropped to the ground, his muscles contracting involuntarily.
Above him stood Epaulets, his face a mask of fury. Rigellus’s former crewmember was holding an electro-stick, the end blinking with white light. One touch, and a lethal voltage could be sent through a person.
“I couldn’t afford the laser pistol, but with the credits you gave me, I had enough for one of these.” As Lyk watched, Epaulets turned the gain up to maximum. “You deserve this.”
He angled the stick toward Lyk and he leaned in to deliver the killing blow.
CHAPTER 12
ALLY
“No!” Ally screamed, aiming a kick at the man in front of her.
He shifted, but not before she caught a piece of him. Still, he shoved the electro-stick into Lyk’s side before she could stop him.
Evie let out an ear-piercing shriek as Lyk convulsed in front of them. Ally lurched forward again, attempting to knock the stick from the man’s hand, but he caught her and shoved her back, waving the weapon between them.
“This is all your fault,” the man shrieked, his face a rictus of impending violence.
Ally grabbed Evie’s hand and did the only thing she could. She ran. Pulling her sister behind her, she dodged others as she weaved through the market, trying to find a place to hide.
He’s dead, Ally thought, fighting back panic. She’d seen Rigellus’s crewman turn up the weapon to maximum.There’s no way he survived that. No one could.
“There!” Evie yelled, pointing to a small pathway between two tables that seemed to lead to a more open area beyond.
They skittered down the path, Ally turning back to check for the crewman in red. He was shoving his way through the crowd, his eyes still trained on them.
“Hurry,” she cried, picking up the pace as they lurched out from between the tables into the clearing. There were archways that seemed to lead to different areas of the outpost. Ally scanned the space, then shot off toward a set of stairs she saw on the left.
“Ally, where are we going?” Evie’s voice was filled with fear.
“Away from the bastard that’s chasing us with an electro-stick,” she grunted, taking the stairs two at a time. Two levels down, another archway stood, the area beyond filled with flashing lights. “Come on!” She led her sister through the archway. “Find a place to hide!”
They’d come out into a wide area that was filled with a series of smaller archways, each advertising themselves.
“Crave that personal touch? Our ladies will provide.”
“Win enough credits to buy this outpost!”
“Cool drinks. Hot women. Live music!”
The air was filled with a cacophony of sounds spilling from each of the establishments. They could hide in any of them. But which one?
“There!” Evie pointed at an archway with a velvet rope strung across it. Hanging from the rope was a sign stating, “Closed for remodeling.”
Ally slid under the rope, Evie following her lead, and soon, they were ensconced in dimness. Shadowy shapes were covered in heavy canvas, while piles of flooring and cans of paint dotted the landscape.
Ally ducked behind one of the canvas-covered shapes, pulling Evie with her, and they crouched there, watching the entrance. It was mere moments before they spotted the crewman in red, stalled in front of the archways as they hadbeen. He looked from one to the other, his head turning to take in the closed sign.
