Malin.She was his first and last thought.
Something slammed into his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. More robots filled his vision, their red glowing eyes on him.
Then suddenly they all froze.
He blinked away the sweat and blood stinging his eyes. In the next moment, all the glowing red eyes went blank, then green bled into them. The robots moved off him and stood quietly at attention.
Malin dropped off the pole beside him. “Just call me goddess of all things mechanical.”
He picked her up and slammed his mouth down on hers. When she kissed him back, her tongue sliding along his, he felt something loosen inside him. “Does that include me?”
She slapped his shoulder. “I like your mechanical bits just fine, but I also like your human parts.” Her face turned serious. “You arenothinglike these.” She nodded at the robots. “You are more than just a weapon, a machine, or your enhancements, Xander, regardless of what those idiots in Centax Security made you think.”
Her fierce defense made him smile again. “You burned your hand.”
Her eyebrows rose. “This?” She held up a reddened finger. “Meanwhile you’re bleeding and missing an arm.”
He glanced at his side without much interest. His diagnostic scan told him it wasn’t anything to worry about. He leaned forward and sucked Malin’s finger into his mouth.
Her amethyst eyes darkened. “Xander.”
“Let’s finish this and get out of here.”
“Best thing I’ve heard all day.” She unwrapped her legs and let them hit the ground.
Together, with the canine by their side, they passed all the now-silent and unmoving robots.
“They’re a bit freaky,” she said. “But not you, Krypto.” She patted the canine on the head.
“Krypto?”
“Yeah. I heard it mentioned once in an old Earth story. Thought it suited him.”
They crossed the first bridge and made their way to the center platform.
They stopped a meter from the altar.
From the Antikythera.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“It’s beautiful.” Mal stared at the twisted, corroded artifact. “Not in a flowers or rainbows kind of way. It’s interesting, unique, special.”
It was also a symbol of so much more. For a planet, it was a symbol of everything they valued. For Forge, it was something to acquire and inflict harm with.
“Yes, it is.” Xander’s voice was subdued and maybe a little awed. “I’ve learned a lot about true beauty on this journey.”
She turned and saw he was looking at her. Sweet scrap, he made her knees go weak. “Go get it, tough guy.”
She watched him lift the mechanism with exquisite care.
There was a flicker of light on the other side of the altar. Mal tensed and watched as a hologram of Forge appeared.
“You beat my maze.” His voice was colored with shock.
“You’re damn right we did, you crazy fuck,” Mal spat.
“You beat it. All of it.”
