His gaze went to the gun, then back to her eyes. To his past. He remained frozen, unable to move.
Cursing, Ria struggled under him. She gripped the gun, aimed past him, and pulled the trigger. It was an awkward shot, but the guards still scattered for cover.
The action snapped Zayn out of his freeze. He jumped up, pulling her with him, and they were running again. The shadowed hulk of theInfinitasloomed above them.
He raced to the main door and pressed his palm to the door control. The door hissed open, and he pushed Ria through the entry ahead of him. The door closed behind them.
Inside, it was eerily quiet.
Ria tensed and brought her gun up. “You really need to carry a weapon. You’re going to get yourself or one of the others killed because of your squeamishness.”
“You can’t take a bullet or a laser blast back,” he snapped. “BEll?”
The computer bleeped and followed with a garbled voice.
“Where the hell is Nik?” Zayn muttered, fear working through him.
“There!”
They raced to the figure slumped over in the pilot’s seat. “Nik. Nik!” Zayn lifted his brother’s head. There was no blood, no visible injury. Zayn pressed his fingers to his brother’s throat. A strong pulse.Thank God. Zayn tapped the console and the screen flared to life.
“About bloody time.” BEll’s very irritated voice filled the cockpit. “They set off a plasma pulse. It knocked Nik out, and scrambled my sensors for a bit.”
“Okay, well I think Dath and Eos would appreciate some help.”
TheInfinitas’weapon systems flared to life. Laser fire sprayed the ground in front of the advancing guards, sending them diving for cover. Eos and Dathan managed to reach the ship, and seconds later, sprinted aboard.
Eos was breathless. “I don’t think I’m getting that palace.”
“Everyone strap the hell in.” Zayn maneuvered Nik to another seat with Ria’s help.
“I’ll strap him in.” She held Nik’s head back, but her gaze was on Zayn. “You get us out of here.”
He nodded, and a few seconds later, they lifted off.
As soon astheInfinitasbroke orbit, Ria wrenched off her harness.
In her mind, she kept reliving that moment on the landing pad, watching the Tekton bearing down on them.
Zayn Phoenix wasn’t a coward, but he’d almost gotten both of them killed.
Eos and Dathan were maneuvering Nik’s unconscious body off the bridge. “We’ll get sleeping beauty here to a bed. Check him over.” Dathan grunted under his brother’s weight. “Hope to hell you two got the plans.”
Ria nodded and touched the bag at her waist. After they left, she moved up beside the pilot’s chair. Blood oozed from the wound on Zayn’s shoulder.
“Put the ship on autopilot and get up. You need your injury looked at.”
He stared straight ahead. “Can’t. We aren’t clear of the asteroid field yet.”
Her jaw clenched. “Fine. I’ll heal you here.” She stomped back to the medical alcove and snatched up the medscope.
When she got back, she yanked at his shirt buttons until she bared his chest.
“Hey.”
“Shut up.” She gave the smooth muscles a quick—and dammit, admiring—glance before focusing on the ugly wound. She probed around it with a finger, hard enough to make him notice.
“Damn.” He scowled at her. “Lucky you didn’t take up a career in medicine.”
