Jax tried to follow her out, but Tess shook her head. “Frank’s wounded, Shade can’t move, and Ryssa’s not back to normal. You fly this one.”
He handed her his gun without arguing. “Plenty of rounds left.” Jax hadn’t been shooting. He’d been carrying Caeryssa.
Tess took it and closed the door, turning away as the panel slid shut.
Her abrupt exit jarred me. Everyone stared after her, maybe feeling as suddenly plunged into uncertainty as I did. This had been Frank’s mission to begin with, but every single part of it revolved around Tess, even the unexpected ones. Our center of gravity, the solar to our system, had just left without a backward glance.
“I’m in between the shells again,” Tess said softly over the coms, her voice kicking my frozen lungs back into action. “I broke the vacuum seal. You’re free to go now.”
“Are there goons?” I asked.
“Feet pounding on the staircase. They’re coming,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
My face twisted, and I swore under my breath, powerless and enraged. The Dark Watch was coming, I couldn’t do a damn thing to help her, and we were only partway through a rescue mission we hadn’t even known about. We’d been reduced to trying to rescueourselves, and here we were, with hundreds of people counting on us.
I was able to lift a hand enough to scrape it over my scalp. I looked around me, finally getting it now. A day in the life of Tess Bailey. What a Nightchaser really does. I’d better get used to it, embrace it, because I was all in. For Tess. And for this. These people needed help, and it was us.
“Everyone brace yourselves. Jax, let’s get this thing outta here.” I could barely move, but I was ready to make this happen. Wehadto.
Tess’s breath came faster as she raced up the stairs to the next level. Jax moved to the console near the cargo unit door and started waking up the nav system. It was as basic as they come: forward, reverse, and a steering joystick under a large, square monitor showing a bunch of indistinct shapes moving around. It looked like a kid’s video game, a challenge to avoid the blobs. Dodge them to get to the next round. Hit one and you explode.
“Engaging thrusters.” Jax directed a little power to the rudimentary propulsion system and gave the joystick a delicate push to angle us away from the spacedock. “We’re moving out.”
Tense as hell, I leaned against the wall where Jax had propped me for balance and prayed I wouldn’t fall over as the cargo hold began to rattle and shift. Between not being able to steer this thing myselforstand up on my own, my breathing turned tight and shallow, the stale and stinking air leaving a bitter coating on my tongue. The sour bite of people sweating hope and terror from their pores swelled inside the cargo hold. The same mixture rose in me. No Tess. A body I couldn’t use. Bridgebane my puppeteer again. No clue as to the outcome of this. I grimaced, clenching my teeth.
After the initial jolt of Jax setting us into motion, the cargo unit steadied as we floated through space on a trajectory toward theStench. Merrick would wait for Tess. There was no question. The nervous silence broke when a man pushed his way forward through the crowd and moved toward us, his eyes on Frank. The blond captain sat slumped against the wall beside me, holding his side, his features stiff with pain. The black uniform made the rest of him look as white as a pristine, snow-capped peak.
“I’m a doctor.” The man took in Frank’s pale face, tense jaw, and blood-soaked fingers with a worried frown. “Can I help?”
Frank glanced up at him and then lifted his hand from his side, giving unspoken permission for the man to take a look.
As the doctor crouched by Frank and began lifting his shirt, Tess spoke again. “I’m at the Lower Y cargo door,” she panted. “Opening it now.”
Come on, baby.My lips moved, hardly making a sound. It was torture not having a visual on her, not being able to help. My heart pounded like it wanted to punch through my chest and burst right out.You’ll get through this, starshine. You’ve made it through worse.
Silence. Silence. Gunshot!
I jolted off the wall, nearly pitching over. “Tess?”
“They’re here! Just above me. Come on, come on!”
“Stop! We’ve got you now, rebel!” Gunshots cracked over the com, riddling my nerves with bullet holes.
“Tess? Baby!”
No answer, and my chest started to collapse in on itself.Powers. No. Fuck!
“Tess!” I bellowed, swiveling frantically to look at Jax.
Jax might’ve howled louder, covering whatever sounds came from the crews on our ships. He whipped toward me, a crazed gleam spreading through his eyes at the speed of light.
“I’m in!” Tess cried. Another shot went off. She hissed. “Son of a bitch!”
Fear choked me. “What is it?”
Gabe echoed me from theEndeavorwhen he really needed to shut the fuck up.
“Daraja?” Mwende said.
