Kayla’s eyes glittered angrily as Lars picked her up off the floor, tossing her over his shoulder. She tried to wriggle away, calling him every colorful name that came to mind. His grip never lessened, and he gave her a swift smack on her rump. The shock was enough to make her freeze for a split second. Then, with renewed vigor, she continued to shout at him and pounded her bound fists against his back. Lars ignored her and continued to carry her toward the common room.
“You putrescent mass of walking vomit. I bet you couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel. You’re nothing but a sore that won’t go away. You’re the one-celled organism that lives on the slime produced by pond scum. You—”
Lars swatted her butt again, causing her to yelp. “Be silent or I’ll gag you.”
Kayla clamped her mouth shut and fumed. They entered the common room, and she heard Sergei chuckle. She tried to twist around to see him, but Lars held her fast.
Carl jumped up and started to rush toward her, but two guards grabbed him and held him back. Lars unceremoniously dropped Kayla in one of the empty chairs.
“If you hurt her, you’re a dead man,” Carl threatened. The guards shoved him back toward his chair. Carl knelt next to her, searching for injuries. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak yet. Oh, she had lots to say, but most of it would result in a stinky bit of cloth shoved in her mouth.
Lars gestured to her and spoke to Sergei. Even though she didn’t understand the words, Kayla could hear the anger in his voice. Sergei listened quietly for a long time, a slight smile playing on his lips as he gazed at Kayla. Finally, he burst into laughter. Lars chuckled and shook his head. It was the first sign of human life she’d seen from the man. It was quickly gone though. He turned away and spoke rapidly into his commlink.
Sergei approached Kayla, looking down at her with an equal measure of appreciation and grudging respect. “I knew you were spirited, but you exceed expectations. You killed one of our guards, stole his weapon, and neutralized three more. I’m impressed, Milaya.”
Carl’s eyes widened. Veridian dropped his head in his hands and sighed. Kayla simply shrugged and eyed her wrist restraints. Guess there wasn’t much of a chance in getting Sergei to release her.
“If I wouldn’t have taken a wrong turn in the vents, it probably would have been more.” She bit her lip and glanced at Carl. “Uh, sorry about the ventilation system. I think I broke one of the supports.”
Carl let out a long exhale. “I hardly think it matters. They could have killed you, Kayla.”
Kayla turned back to Sergei. “I can handle myself just fine.”
Sergei tapped briefly on her restraints, a reminder of her capture. “Perhaps not as well as you think.”
She leaned back and offered him a brilliant smile. Restraints would only hold her until she had the opportunity to use her knife on them. Cocky bastard was in for a rude awakening. Sergei looked at her curiously for a long moment as though trying to figure her out. One of the men from the tech room interrupted and called him and Lars over.
With one last glance at Kayla, Sergei turned to the newcomer who handed Kayla’s commlink to Lars. The guard’s voice was animated as he pointed at something on the display screen. Lars studied Kayla’s communication device for several minutes and then his eyes narrowed on her. Uh oh. Not good. They must have been able to reconstruct the data.
“We’re leaving. OmniLab is on their way here,” Lars snapped. “She sent the contents of Mikov’s communication device directly to Alec Tal’Vayr.”
Sergei nodded and barked some instructions into his commlink. Kayla shrugged as a flurry of activity erupted around them. “Well, it’s not as though I could read it for myself. Sergei didn’t have a chance to teach me his language yet.”
Sergei raised an eyebrow and gave her a slow smile. “You may still get the chance, Milaya.”
She laughed. Sergei might be an asshole, but in another time and place, she might have actually liked him. Too bad he played for the wrong team.
Lars scowled and took a step toward her. Now this guy was a different story. Lars freaked her out, but she’d be damned if she let him see it.
“You speak with Alec Tal’Vayr regularly. There are more than a dozen transmissions from him in the past few weeks. How well do you know him?”
Kayla cocked her head. Could Lars be the threat Alec was worried about? She leaned back, lifted her bound hands, and flashed him the universal one-fingered symbol of contempt.
“I’m not telling you a damn thing. If you were on fire and I had a glass of water, I’d drink it.”
Lars motioned to one of the guards and he stepped forward threateningly. Before the guard could put his hands on her, Carl jumped up and grabbed the man’s wrist. “Wait.”
Carl turned to Lars and spoke quickly. “Kayla met Alec a month ago when she visited the towers with me. They haven’t known each other very long.”
Lars held up his hand to stop the guard. “Interesting.” He motioned to Sergei. “We’re out of time. Bring Kayla and Carl with us. Kill everyone else.”
Lisia had remained silent up until then, but at these words, she leapt out of her seat with tears streaming down her face. “No! You promised no one would get hurt!”
Everyone spun around to stare at her. Carl’s jaw hardened. Elyot stared at his sister as though he’d never seen her before, and his voice came out as a pained whisper. “What did you do, Lisia? Please tell me you’re not responsible for this.”
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she trembled. Her gaze darted back and forth between them. “They… I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.” She grabbed Elyot’s arm and pleaded with him. “I did it for us. Carl was going to throw us out at the end of the month. I couldn’t go back to that life. The Coalition promised to give us a place with them if I helped them. They just wanted Kayla.”
Elyot shrugged out of her grasp. “He only threatened to terminate our contract because you’ve been acting like a jealous bitch. How could you do something like this? You betrayed Carl? Kayla? All of us?”
Lisia’s eyes widened as she shook her head, denying his words. “No! That’s not true. It’s all because of Kayla. Everything was fine until she showed up.” She turned to glare daggers at Kayla. “Ramiro promised to get rid of you if I let him into our system. You’ve ruined everything! You were supposed to die. Just you. Not Zane.”
Lisia crumpled into the chair and sobbed. Everyone stared, dumbstruck by her words.
Xantham slapped his hand on the table. “Fuck me. I knew I had all those backdoors sealed shut. Goddamnedmotherfuckingbullshit. That’s how Ramiro got in. I knew I wasn’t losing my touch.” He pointed to Cruncher. “Didn’t I tell you something screwy was going on?”
“Enough,” Lars declared and motioned to the guards. Kayla’s eyes flew open. Jinx burst into tears again and Veridian put his arm back around her. To hell with that. There’s no way she’d let them touch anyone else. Kayla jumped to her feet and pulled the knife from her belt. She raised her bound wrists and held the knife against her throat.
“If you kill them, I’ll cut my own throat,” she threatened. “My name is Kayla Rath’Varein. I’m the daughter of the former leader of OmniLab’s High Council. My mother is currently one of the co-leaders of the High Council. Alec Tal’Vayr, the other co-leader, is a close friend of mine.”
Carl gaped at her. “Kayla, what the hell are you doing?”
“So it’s true,” Lars mused but didn’t appear surprised. “You’re the daughter of Andrei Rath’Varein?”
Kayla straightened her shoulders and inclined her head slightly but didn’t remove the blade. If it got Veridian and everyone else out of this mess, she’d admit to being a thirteen-foot, green-skinned, radioactive man. “I am.”
Lars clasped his hands behind his back and scanned her up and down like a specimen under a microscope. He gestured to the camp’s crew. “Yet you would sacrifice yourself to save these peopl
e? Especially after one of them betrayed you?”
Sergei watched the exchange curiously. Carl and Veridian looked horrified at her admission. Kayla tried to ignore them and kept her eyes focused on Lars. If she kept looking at Carl and Veridian, she’d lose her nerve. “I don’t particularly want to die, but if you lay a hand on anyone, I’m prepared to end my life. If that happens, I promise you that you won’t see a damn thing from OmniLab. Instead, Alec and my mother will use every single last resource in the towers to wipe out the existence of your entire ‘Coalition’.”
Lars crossed his arms and studied her. “And if I agree to leave these people unharmed, you’ll turn over your weapon and come with us willingly?”
“Yes.”
She heard a sharp intake of breath from behind her, but she didn’t turn around.
“What’s to stop me from killing them after you turn over your weapon?” he challenged.
This was where it got tricky. She had a suspicion, but it was time to see if she was right. Kayla took a deep breath and reached for him with one of her energy threads. He latched on to the connection as though he’d been waiting for it. It felt distinctly different than the connections she’d created with Alec and Seara. She swallowed back her unease. Even just having a small link with him made her uncomfortable. She didn’t trust Lars or understand energy channeling enough to know the risks of what she was attempting.
It made her realize that, beyond her protests, she did trust Alec. He had been right this whole time. Their connection wasn’t superficial. The bond she shared with Alec scared her because she didn’t understand the power, not because she had reservations about him.
Kayla pushed aside these thoughts and forced herself to face her fears. Taking a deep breath, she sent a strong wave of energy over Lars. His eyes widened in astonishment and something else she couldn’t discern. Maybe greed? She felt his elation and his hunger for more power, but beyond that, she wasn’t sure. With a shudder, Kayla broke the connection abruptly before he could channel anything back toward her. She wasn’t ready to experience that.
Lars started to take a step toward her but stopped himself. He hesitated and then gave her a curt nod. “You have my word. Your friends will not be harmed.”
She wasn’t sure what he’d garnered from that little energy show, but if it got them out of this situation, she’d take it. “I also want you to leave Carl behind. I’m far more valuable to you than him.”
Carl shook his head and moved to stand beside her. “Forget it. Absolutely not. I’m not letting you go alone with them.”
“Shut up, Carl,” she snapped without looking away from Lars. If Lars agreed, she’d go skipping and whistling with these assholes and damn the consequences. She needed to keep Carl safe. She couldn’t lose him.
Either way, they needed to finish up this little negotiation. It was getting harder to keep her hand from trembling while it held the blade. It would be really pathetic if she nicked her own throat because of nerves.
Lars shook his head. “The trader comes with us. That’s not negotiable.”
Kayla sighed. “Well, it was worth a try.” She lowered the knife but twisted it around to slice through her bonds. Reaching down, she did the same to her ankles before offering the knife to Lars. He frowned but took it from her and then spoke to Sergei in his language. Sergei nodded in agreement and issued some commands into his commlink. A few minutes later, the rest of the armed guards came into the room bringing the last few remaining boxes. Kayla rubbed her wrists and watched as they headed toward the exit.
Sergei motioned for Carl and Kayla to follow them. Kayla stopped for a moment and glanced over at Veridian. She wanted to say goodbye but didn’t want to make their relationship obvious. Veridian met her gaze and seemed to understand what she was thinking because he gave her an almost indiscernible nod and put his arm around Jinx, pulling her close.
Kayla gave Veridian a small reassuring smile as she turned away. She’d rather see the worry currently in his eyes than risk losing him. He’d be okay. Alec knew what Veridian meant to her and wouldn’t let anything happen to him.
The thought startled her. She’d never relied on anyone to take care of what was hers. There was no doubt in her mind she could count on Alec though. Both Carl and Alec had somehow managed to slip past her defenses and become an integral part of her life. She didn’t really understand how it happened, but it was too late to do much about it now.
Lars waited at the entrance and instructed them to equip their UV-protective gear. Kayla reached over and grabbed her equipment off the rack and began pulling it on. Once she finished, Lars motioned for a guard to bind her again. Obviously, he didn’t trust her. The guard pulled her arms behind her back, and she heard a small beep as the new restraints locked in place. She scowled. It would be more difficult to wiggle her way out of these. The guard turned and did the same to Carl.
Before she could get a good look at the restraints on Carl, they ushered them outside into the bright sunlight. Numerous bikes surrounded the front of the camp. Lars took Kayla toward his bike and motioned for her to climb into the companion car. It was awkward trying to climb into the strange speeder without the use of her hands, and Lars quickly grew impatient. He picked her up with surprising ease and put her inside before climbing into the driver’s seat.
Kayla counted a total of eighteen individuals who’d participated in the attack. Their bikes flew across the desolate landscape in a tight formation. She had to admit their assault and even their current movements were well-organized and efficient. The fire had been a clever distraction. They’d managed to infiltrate the camp and secure everyone within a matter of minutes. She’d used a similar diversion tactic more than a year ago when she’d stolen the Aurelia Data Cube.
They drove south for what seemed like an eternity, past all the normally recognizable landmarks. Kayla wasn’t sure how far they traveled, but she was fairly certain they were either outside OmniLab territory or just on the border. Either way, the area was unfamiliar and she had only a vague notion of their approximate location. The bikes slowed as they approached an unusual rocky formation. Upon closer inspection, Kayla realized it wasn’t a natural rock formation. They had used some sort of masking device to disguise their camp. She’d love to get her hands on the technology to see how it worked.
A small glance at Lars quickly erased any hope of getting him to show it to her. He turned off the engine to the bike and lifted Kayla out of the companion compartment. Her butt was numb from sitting in one place for so long, but he didn’t give her a chance to stretch before gripping her arm and leading her toward the camp entrance. She nervously tried to look around as they headed inside and relaxed when she spotted Carl. Sergei was escorting him behind her.
Lars pulled off her helmet when they stepped inside the renegade camp. She couldn’t help but try to take note of the layout and any possible exits. The camp was larger than it appeared from the outside. Unlike the trader camp, the supports were all temporary, and it looked as though it had been hastily constructed. Even so, the material appeared much more substantial than what they used in the ruin rat camp.
Well, I held up my end of the deal. Everyone’s safe, and I came willingly. Doesn’t mean I stay willingly though. But hell if I know how I’m going to get out of this mess.
Lars took her arm again and led her down a hallway toward a large office. It was smaller than Carl’s office and sparsely furnished. Other than a desk, a few chairs, and a small cabinet in the corner, the room was empty.
Lars motioned toward one of the chairs. Kayla sat and tested the limits of the restraints again, trying to determine how they worked. One of the guards came into the room, spoke briefly to Lars, and handed him a small tablet computer. Lars looked down at the tablet and dismissed the guard with a wave of his hand.
Sergei entered a moment later with Carl and motioned for him to sit. Carl took the chair next to Kayla, his expression worried. “Are you all right?”
“Never b
een better,” she replied dryly and flexed her wrists. Ruin rats weren’t meant to be in captivity. The bonds were starting to piss her off. She leaned back and tried to surreptitiously get a good look at Carl’s wrists. When he realized what she was trying to do, he shifted his arms slightly to provide her with a better view.
The restraints were solid in design without any obvious weaknesses. A small key reader of some sort was embedded on the side. It offered some possibilities if she could get the cover off. Without having access to any tools, she’d either need to palm the key from Sergei or find a way to short-circuit the unit. Kayla glanced around, trying to figure out if there was anything in the room she could use.
Lars ignored them and continued to study his tablet. Sergei pulled up a chair and sat down backward on it. He faced Kayla and rested his arms across the back of the chair.
“Lars believes your towers will pay large amount for your return. It is shame. I believe you would do well with us. But who knows? If your towers do not agree to terms, we may come to our own agreement.”
Kayla shifted in her seat, trying to feel along the edge of the restraints for the key reader. “Release me and I’ll show you what I think about that.”
“A woman with such fire is rare,” he observed with approval. “It is admirable. But do not forget your place. If you resist or try to escape, we will not kill you. You will wish for it though.”
Kayla rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah. You’re a real badass. If you really wanted to hurt me, you would have done so by now. But I think we both know OmniLab won’t pay for damaged goods.”
Sergei laughed and leaned back. “Not only spirited, but smart too.” His eyes darkened dangerously as he added, “There are many ways to inflict pain without leaving marks.”
The door slid open, and Kayla’s eyes widened as she recognized the man standing in the doorway.
Shadow of the Coalition Page 28
