Her brow furrowed, and the rifle wavered.
Then he was moving, firing his gun before she could get a shot off. It hit her square in the chest. Her eyes widened a moment, then she dropped to the floor like he’d turned off the gravity.
Chapter twenty-two
Athick wedge dug into Wynn’s stomach, and the need to vomit crawled up her throat.Omph. Omph. Omph.The repetitive movement made each motion worse than the last. Blood rushed to her head.
Wynn groaned, trying to get away from the pain, when something tightened around her legs. She stiffened.Where the hell am I?
Sunlight pierced the visor of her helmet when she forced her eyes open, adding to the ache in her head. She was upside down, and the way the world spun brown, white, and blue around her made the contents of her stomach surge.
Visor? She wore a UV-suit, but didn’t remember putting it on.
Omph. Omph. Omph.The movement and pain continued.I’m being carried.
The man who wore aflight-suit.
His shoulder dug into her stomach with every step. His name eluded her for a moment, but then she remembered what Iax had told her.
Iax!Her struggles increased, her body thrashing. She searched for him on the horizon, her skin breaking out in a cold sweat.
He’d killed Iax. She’d watched the entire thing, stood frozen in horror, screamed when Sawyer shot him in the head. He hadn’t even hesitated. Iax had been unconscious, defenseless, and this man had shot him point-blank.
He hadn’t needed to do it. Profound sadness and rage shimmered through her body, her limbs shaking.
Evil. Evil. Evil.
She squirmed again, using her hands to push against his back and helmet, trying to break his hold.
“Settle down, or I’ll do more than stun you.” His voice came through her helmet interface, right into her ear.
The threat dried the moisture in her throat. She couldn’t get the sight of spraying blood out of her mind, couldn’t get a grip on the spiraling world around her. It morphed with her memories of Foster’s death, becoming one grotesque scene of red and white and teeth and terror.
Pressing her lips together, she stifled the sob bubbling up her throat.
Sawyer Knox wasn’t a defender. His flight-suit was all black instead of their silver and white uniform, and she hadn’t been able to see his face through the visor of his helmet. He’d appeared more inhuman than Iax.
Where was he taking her? She swallowed against twisting fear.
The sun beamed through the empty space between the clouds, highlighting the icy, wet ground. A bulky black mound contrasted with the melting snow, catching her eye. She stilled.Iax.A sob burst from her lips.
He’d been living and breathing not an hour ago.
Sawyer’s arm tightened painfully around her legs. “What is he to you?” The helmet’s interface warped his voice, giving it a mechanical quality.
She didn’t have an answer.
Each painful step brought them closer to the cruiser. A knot of nausea reformed in the pit of her battered stomach. She couldn’t stop staring at where Iax lay, while pressure built in her chest. Sawyer hadn’t needed to kill him, no matter what his orders were. Iax hadn’t carried a weapon.
The black mound twitched. Her breath caught in her throat.
He’s moving. He’s alive.
Those two sentences formed a mantra in her head, her heart beating so hard it felt like it would burst from her chest. She didn’t look away from where Iax lay, afraid she had imagined it.
But no, he rolled to his side, revealing the spray of blood beneath him.
Her ribs tightened painfully. Wynn turned away and saw they were way too close to Sawyer’s ship. The door slid open at their approach.
