“The Inter-Human Coalition promised support. Promised care. What we got was dust, metal limbs, and silence. So now?Nowwe talk back.”
The skeletal one raises a jamming beacon overhead.
Every compad, every holo-display flickers and dies.
My stomach turns to ice.
The leader scans the crowd until his eyes land on me.
More specifically, on me andmy son.
“Well now,” he croons. “Would you look at that? A young mother and a hybrid brat. That’ll look real good in the news loop, won’t it?”
I turn, shielding Caelix’s head with my hand.
“Don’t,” I whisper.
But he’s already striding toward us, boots heavy against the tile.
I step forward fast, holding my ground.
“Take me,” I say, voice sharp. “Just me. Let him go.”
He snorts. “Oh, sweetheart. You think I’m after anegotiation?”
Caelix clutches my shirt tighter, face pressed to my collarbone.
“I’m not giving you the kid,” I snap.
“Iwasn’tasking.”
He moves like a whip.
Backhand fast.
Pain explodes across my cheek, hot and bright and immediate. I stagger, nearly drop Caelix.
He screams.
The bastard leans down, eyes inches from mine.
“Next time, youofferthe brat. Or I’ll make you watch while someone else does worse.”
He straightens, yells something in code to his crew.
They herd the rest of the crowd into the central atrium.
I follow because Ihaveto.
Because if I run, they’ll shoot me in the back, and Caelix’ll hit the floor.
I clutch him so tight his feet lift off my hip. He buries his face in my neck, still shaking.
My lip’s split. Blood trickles over my tongue, metallic and bitter.
I stagger a little, but keep walking.
Keep holding him.
