“A.S.S. Ass? Are you fucking kidding me right now, Tai?” Her eyes are wild and disbelieving.
“It doesn’t like being called that. Just use the voice activation, and it should do all the rest.”
She wrings her hands, and I can see the gears turning in her head, thinking through the plan.
“How are you going to get to the freighter?” she asks, concern etched across her face.
“Blast my way out.” A wide smile stretches my face, and I wait for her to argue. Numbly, she nods with me, mirroring my head movement.
“Just get back to me, okay?” The softness in her voice hits me like a nuclear explosion to the chest. I rest my forehead against hers, savoring the calm before the storm. It’s the final stand, and I’m not exactly sure how this is going to go down. Bri getting on that freighter is the only thing that matters. I’ll do whatever needs to be done to make sure she gets home in one piece.
A strand of pink hair has worked its way loose from her ponytail, and I tuck it behind her ear. I brush my lips against hers and tell myself it won’t be the last time, even though the pit in my stomach says something else.
Unable to resist her, I deepen the kiss, imprinting her on my lips.
FIFTY-SIX
Bri
It's the first time a kiss has given me whiplash. My head is spinning when Tai takes a few steps past the boulder toward the Yuhlari camp. Before running down the sloping hill, he turns and tosses something in the sand near me.
“See you on the other side,” he says with a big smile.
Down at my feet lies Tai’s blaster. Panic collects in my throat. What the fuck did he do? That was not part of the plan. He’s going to need this more than me! I snatch it up and watch Tai run impossibly fast toward the h’axom.
He easily finds handholds on the stacked rocks, climbing faster than I thought possible, all while avoiding detection. When he’s half over the wall, he looks back at me with a cocky grin and nods, giving me the signal to stick to the plan. He slings his other leg over and drops to the ground, out of sight.
There is no going back now. Watching the poachers throughout the day, we took inventory of their weapons. They each have longcattle prods strong enough to bring down the massive h’axom with one strike, as well as blasters tucked into holsters at their hips.
We’re out-gunned and out-manned. None of that seemed to bother Tai in the slightest. As if our escape was inevitable and everything we have been through was just the cost of survival.
I’m not quite as confident. It doesn’t feel right to separate now when we are so close to escaping.
Every cell in my body tells me we should have stayed together. The Yuhlari are terrifying, covered in black head to toe, their reflective helmets obscuring their faces.
I gather up all my remaining courage. Tai’s got years of military training to fall back on. My little backpacking trips in the wilderness did not prepare me to fight the intergalactic mafia. Additionally, I have hardly eaten in days. I’m held together by adrenaline and pure spite.
The bad guys do not get to win. Not in my story.
From my vantage point, I have a clear view of the gate Tai is going to open. All I have to do is get past the tents and the Yuhlari between here and the freighter. We are counting on the h’axom to cause enough mayhem for us to get through without being at the business end of cattle prods and blasters.
I run through the plan one more time.
The second the h’axom are out, run as fast as possible to the freighter, find the cockpit, initiate lift-off protocol, wait for Tai, get the fuck out of Dodge.
The gate swings open. Its rusted hinges screech a loud warning. In a rush of noise and chaos, the captured h’axom burst through the open gate and straight toward the tents. I don’t know how he did it, but somehow Tai got them to go the right way for maximum impact.
“Get out of here, Daisy,” I whisper to myself.
It’s not far, but the sand is deep, and my legs are tired from going nonstop for the last 48 hours.
I keep my eyes on the pen, hoping to see him running toward me.All I can see is the stampeding herd, already destroying one of the tents.
I’m barely aware of yelling as I run through the encampment. The freighter is only a few yards away when I hear the blaster fire.
Don’t stop. Don’t you dare stop. You’re almost there.
I run up the ramp and into the empty cargo bay. I climb the closest flight of stairs, praying the flight deck is close. I get to the landing and fling open every door I come to. A galley, a set of bunks, an engine room, and finally, the cockpit.
