She acted before she finished thinking, jerking the gun up, arms trembling. The barrel locked onto him. The weapon was too heavy and cold for its light trigger. The pressure dropped. Metal tinged against the ground behind Mihail.
Mihail didn’t even glance her way, unimpressed by the gun. He only looked down at the unconscious man. “Fucking idiot,” he said.
“Did you kill him?” Audrey demanded.
Black eyes slid toward her. “No,” he said. “If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead.”
Audrey raised the gun higher. He grinned at it. “Are you going to use that on me?” he asked. “I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
“And why not?” she snapped.
“Because I'm willing to tell you the truth,” he answered. “About you. About what's actually happening. Unlike our mutual friend Alex.”
The name punched the air from her lungs and sent a flare of betrayal across her thoughts. Audrey’s grip faltered. The confusion warred with doubt as she forced herself to ask, “What do you mean?”
“Who do you think informed us you’d checked in with our little Hunter?” he said lightly.
Her eyebrows knitted. Mihail could have been bluffing. Alex had hidden things before, but betraying her on that level? She wasn’t ready to believe an alien stranger over a friendship she’d trusted for years.
Mihail gestured offhandedly between them. “You’ve been a difficult pawn,” he said. “Your mother couldn’t track you. We could barely track her. But when our friend told us you’d teamed up with the Aggregate Hunter, we saw an opening. So, we madesure you two and Sophia converged in the same place.” He checked his watch. “She should be here any minute.”
As if called by the words?—
“Taking me down will be a lot harder than that Ezebethian fuck of an Aggregate Hunter.” Her mother’s voice slid out of the shadows.
Audrey stopped. It was like she was eight, hearing her mother’s stern voice. The cadence was the same, only harsher and bitter now. “I’m surprised Ryker didn’t come himself,” Sophia said.
“And how are your nerves?” Mihail hit back.
“Solid enough to get you out of the way,” Sophia replied. “You have something I want.”
Her insides twisted. She reached out with her aura, searching for the familiarity she remembered but found only rage—a burning furnace.
“Ah, yes,” Mihail said lightly. “Your daughter. I hear you’ve been searching for her.” He looked at Audrey. “Odd, given she’s nowhere near your power level.” He paused. “Just a telepath, right?” The word landed like an insult.
Audrey didn’t like what his tone implied. He seemed to be three steps ahead of them.
Sophia laughed.
The sound scraped across Audrey’s skull. When Sophia moved into the light, Audrey stared. Her mother wore black, military-grade clothes and a switchblade at her thigh. She looked like a soldier, not like her mother.
“You’re mistaken,” Sophia said, her manner even and cold. “If that's what you believed, Ryker's even lazier than I thought.”
“Then let’s not waste time,” Mihail said.
Sophia’s lip curled with disgust. “I have something you want. You have something I want.”
“Indeed. You come back to support the Separatists, and I give you your daughter,” he said lightly, gesturing toward Audrey casually. “Do what you want with her. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Idiots,” Sophia hissed. “What I want is for this to end.”
“It doesn’t end until we’re free.”
Brief optimism sparked: maybe her mother wasn’t here to eliminate her, as everyone believed. A quiver of possibility surfaced—maybe?—
Mihail moved. The distance between him and Sophia vanished. He shoved Audrey aside and put Sophia against the wall in a single, fluid motion. Her mother fought like a wild animal—but Mihail was stronger, faster. Audrey had never seen such speed. Rope flashed from his pocket at the ready.
By the time Audrey steadied, Sophia was bound, crashing to the pavement. Audrey stared, disbelieving that her mother was down.
