Zenith. Lindsay Cummings
attacked, lunging out from behind Breck’s body at random. Andi swung her swords, lashing out with a fury she kept locked inside for moments just like this. Years of dancing and training at the Academy had turned her body into a fluid, ferocious thing.
A Patrolman turned his rifle around and swung it at Breck’s head.
“Take him!” Andi roared.
Gilly unloaded her gun on the man.
Behind them, Lira flipped, twisted. She was a blur of glowing scaled skin and black bodysuit, fists cracking jaws, legs locking around throats. They moved forward, leaving moaning bodies in their wake, silenced soon after by Gilly’s gun and Breck’s whip as the fight carried on into the hall.
Still, the remaining Patrolmen fought on.
“Take them all down,” Andi commanded her girls as she sliced a Patrolman’s hand off at the wrist. Breck scooped up the gun still clutched in the hand before it could hit the floor and fired it. Silver blood exploded against the metal wall beyond. “But remember, Dex is mine.”
He was standing there, beyond the wave of his fighting men, staring at her as she came out from behind Breck’s protection.
A Patrolman shot.
Andi lifted her arms. The bullet slammed against her varillium cuffs before it could lodge itself into her throat.
“Take care of him,” she said as the bullet clattered to the floor. Breck was suddenly beside her, twisting the man’s neck with a glorious pop. Music to Andi’s ears.
Now there were only three men between Andi and her enemy.
They stood at the ready, guns out, a solid line in front of Dex.
She could see his shadowed outline leaning up against the metal wall of the hallway beyond, his stance so cool and casual it made her want to tear his eyes out.
“What’s wrong, Dex? You don’t want to come out and play with me?” Andi said, her voice a dangerous purr.
Dex chuckled, his mahogany hair falling across one brown eye as he stepped forth to meet her gaze. “You were always one for theatrics, Androma. My little bitter ballerina.”
“I am not—and never will be—yours.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“These three can live,” she said, nodding her head at the final Patrolmen. “It’s you I want a fight with, Dextro.”
She saw his brow furrow at the use of his full name. Definitely not a name one would associate with a Tenebran Guardian, let alone with the most notorious bounty hunter in Mirabel.
“Is that mercy I hear?” Dex smiled as he walked backward, stopping at the silver ladder that led to the deck below. His fingers curled over the railing, his boots poised over the hole in the floor. “Surely not from the Bloody Baroness.”
“Don’t pretend you know me,” Andi retorted. “Though they did invade my ship, and since they insist on protecting you...”
With a crackle of her swords, she lunged forward and cut off three heads in one scissoring slice. The bodies sagged, then landed in a heap at Andi’s feet. The familiar scent of singed flesh wafted up to her nose. And with it, a stab of regret that she buried deep.
Dex blinked once, his only reaction thus far, and Andi’s blood raged at his air of nonchalance. “They were a terrible crew,” he said.
Then he slipped down the ladder. Andi, after holstering one blade, charged after him, not even bothering to use the footholds as she slid down. She landed with a slight thud before turning toward the long corridor behind her.
“Andi, Andi,” Dex said. “So predictable.”
She froze.
Your running is over, a little devil in her mind hissed.
In front of her was another cluster of Arcardian guards, guns trained on her. At the head of them was Dex, a smug grin plastered across his face.
* * *
She’d walked right into his trap for the second time today.
Dex would have patted himself on the back, if not for the crowd of Patrolmen around him.
“Are you ready to talk, or do you want to kill a few more of my men?” he asked, knowing Andi had no choice but to obey. She was vastly outnumbered, no matter how skilled she was with those swords. Not unless she wanted to be shot by hundreds of paralyzing light bullets before she could take a single step.
The look she gave him would’ve made a lesser man cringe, but he stared straight into those light gray eyes, meeting her challenge head-on.
She said nothing. Instead, she holstered her remaining blade and crossed her arms over her black suit, the glowing cuffs on her forearms catching his eye. He’d paid for those varillium cuffs himself, a gift that had saved her life ten times over. They were unbreakable, just like her swords. But the cuffs weren’t just an accessory. They held together the burned flesh on her wrists from an accident long ago. She didn’t have the privilege of seeing a doctor at the time, so her skin had become damaged beyond repair.
Without Dex’s gift, she wouldn’t have the full function of her wrists and forearms—likely wouldn’t have the strength to lift those swords she was so fond of.
It gave him a sick kind of pleasure to know she still had the cuffs, a reminder of his kindness to her when she was at her weakest. A part of him she could never shed from herself.
Dex turned to the blue-uniformed guard standing closest to her.
“Take her weapons.” The burly, horned man looked like he would rather jump out the airlock. “Now,” Dex said more sharply, and the guard rushed to action.
Andi spat in the man’s face as he pulled her swords out of their harness and the gun out of her thigh holster.
“You’re going to regret this,” Andi said, her voice low and menacing.
He glared at her with red-and-white striped eyes. “I’m not so sure that I will.”
She looked up behind her to where the rest of the Marauders were grouped at the top of the ladder.
“If they move, my guards will shoot.” Dex waved a hand, and half the men angled their light rifles upward toward Andi’s motionless crew.
The pilot from Adhira, the giantess beside her. And the red-headed child, glaring down at Dex with all the cold calculation of a seasoned killer.
He wouldn’t show mercy toward them if they continued to fight, and he knew Andi sensed that. She looked up at her crew and said, “Stand down. Do what he says.”
“We can take them, Andi, they’re not—” Lira started.
“That’s enough, Lira,” Andi growled. “It’s over.” He knew she hated to say those words.
Dex clapped his hands.
“Now that is the drama I’ve been waiting for.” Satisfied, he turned toward two guards with badges adorning their uniforms. It took a hell of a lot of work to attain Arcardian officer status, and yet here these two were, bowing their heads to Dex’s every command. “Officer Hurley, your squad will guard the crew. Officer Fraser, follow me and bring your men to guard Captain Racella.”
They made their way down the long metal corridor. The blue light from Andi’s cuffs bounced along the hallway. Four guards surrounded Andi like a box, while the other two were positioned on each end of the line.
Six men, plus Dex, would be enough. She wouldn’t fight while her crew was in danger. As they walked, Dex’s memories took over, his body moving on instinct through the familiar halls of the ship. They passed several doors before stopping at the glass door that led to the meeting room. Dex placed his hand on the scanner next to the door, but it remained as dead as the rest of the ship.
Andi