Starbreaker

by Amanda Bouchet

  “Tetrafumicfullerbehrenheim acid.” Fiona leaped in front of Jax and kicked the yowling man away from him. “There’s another big word—bitch.” Her ponytail flew as she twisted and clocked the last man over the head with her berry branch. She wouldn’t grow anything with that one. It was fucking magnificent.

  The final goon yelped and started running. Jax lunged and grabbed the shithead’s ankle. He held on tight and I moved in. My kick might’ve cracked the guy’s skull. His eyes rolled back, and he hit the ground with a thud that echoed through me.

  A hush descended. Breathing hard, I looked around me. Holy shit. That was the most savage fight I’d ever been in. No rules. At least two people dead. And here I’d thought my former colleagues Solan and Raquel fought dirty.

  Something deep inside me recognized that this was the turning point. Or maybe the point of no return.

  Before this, I’d just been living. Now, survival was a goal. I really was a rebel.

  Tess’s goon was conscious but keeping damn quiet after all the face melting. I strode over and knocked him out again with a well-placed strike to his temple. He slumped in his cuffs, unmoving.

  “We need to get going.” Tess looked worriedly at Jaxon, who struggled to his knees again. “Merrick, be ready for us. We take off the instant we reach the Endeavor.”

  “No.” I grabbed Tess’s elbow, craning my neck to look over the park bushes. There were no new goons in sight, but there was no way one of these hadn’t pushed a panic button. Every Dark Watch soldier had one on their belt. Even I’d had one. “They’ll be scanning the docks for heat signatures. Power down the ship.”

  “It’s already hot,” Merrick said. “They’ll see it even if I turn off the engines. Better to go if we can.”

  Is it? “They’ll come at us with real firepower. Crowd us so we can’t jump out of here.”

  A change came over Tess’s face, and I knew an idea had sparked. She looked at me hard. “We’ll hold them off in your cruiser. You and me. We’ll distract them while the Endeavor jumps away from here.”

  Great Powers, she was a genius. I nodded, vowing to never underestimate this woman. She’d just given us our trip alone to Reaginine and a viable way off Korabon for everyone.

  If we made it to the ship.

  “We’ll rendezvous at the Mooncamp food drop-off in three days,” I said. “That way, we can all blur our trail from the Dark Watch before meeting up again.”

  Tess nodded back at me, her face somber. Plan made. Now, to execute it.

  Fiona helped Jax sit up straighter. She feathered her fingers just below the lump at his hairline, murmuring, “Thank you. I’ll fix you up.”

  For just a second, he leaned into her, his eyes closing. Then he heaved a sigh and staggered upright. Fiona rose also. She turned, walked over to what must be the purple clawberry bush, and carefully snapped off another branch to work with.

  I glanced left and right to make sure we still didn’t have unwanted company. It was a nice park. Too bad no one could use it without risking harassment, fines, and worse.

  I slid a shoulder under Jax’s arm and helped him toward the gate. Tess and Fiona strode beside us, watchful and ready. Regret didn’t shadow their faces. Only determination. Fight for each other. Fight for what you believe in. One day at a time. Keep going.

  That was my life now, except I had a feeling existence was going to be minute by minute until we escaped Korabon.

  “Hovercrafts are already moving toward the docks in this area.” Urgency sharpened the usual low rumble of Merrick’s voice into a hard bark over the com units. “Get here fast, or we’re not getting out this time.”

  Chapter 3

  TESS

  Both ice and fire pounded through my veins as we left the park and headed toward the Endeavor. We’d just killed people. I’d never killed anyone before, although I knew Jax and Fiona had. I didn’t know about Shade. I was certain he’d turned over people to the Dark Watch who’d never been heard from again, so wasn’t that the same?

  I glanced at my hands. Dirty but not bloody. A reflection of reality, I supposed.

  “Take your next left,” Merrick ordered over the coms.

  We all veered left, hurrying Jaxon along.

  “Now right!”

  We did as Merrick instructed, trusting him and the gridgram he must have up to give us the best route back to the ship. As a group, our feet made too much noise. Koralight Crowners peeked out at us from behind partially closed blinds, their brows lowered in frowns. Conscious of my grass-stained hands, I curled my fingers into fists and kept walking, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

  “Got any more of that acid, Fi?” Jax’s mumble-slurred words matched his stumbling footsteps.

  “One more.” She glanced over at him. “Why?”

  He cocked an ear. “We might need it.”

  I heard the faint rumble of incoming hovercrafts, too. Jax’s body might have taken an electrical trouncing, but his hearing was just fine.

  Shade looked around, scanning above and behind us. Fiona did the same with narrowed eyes. The street was empty. Anyone watching us was doing it from inside.

  “Even that acid won’t take down a whole hovercraft.” Fiona focused forward again. “Not in the quantity I have.”

  The soldiers’ screams in the park echoed in my head again, and my stomach cramped at the carnage we’d left behind us. Those Dark Watch goons were power-abusing bastards, but I couldn’t quite bridge the gap in my head between knowing they were assholes and thinking they deserved that.

  “Left,” Merrick directed, “then straight for two blocks, cross the big avenue, and you’re at the base of the tower.”

  We turned left and had to walk by a shuttle stop at the next intersection. The few Koralight Crowners who remained outside because of the long line looked at us with curiosity when we didn’t move to join them. Their expressions turned wary and then accusing as we walked on without pause.

  I watched them out of the corner of my eye. Yup—we’re the jerks who are about to get your parole extended. What an awful thought. Another how-many years of living inside or underground all the time? Poor people. I couldn’t wait to get off this oppressive and lifeless planet. There weren’t even any ships in the sky.

  A man near the back of the shuttle line took out a personal camshot device and followed us with his gaze. The line shuffled forward, but he stayed put. Shit. The guy had informant written all over him from head to foot.

  One of the hovercrafts we’d heard earlier appeared behind us and zoomed overhead in our direction. Hot air billowed beneath it, lifting grit from the street that pinged against my cheeks. Hair swirled in my face, and I ducked, panic wrapping its icy fists around my lungs. We were just far enough from that shuttle stop—and going away from it—to look incredibly suspicious.

  I waited, tense and holding my breath. The hovercraft didn’t swing back around. It kept going toward the nearby docks. I breathed again.

  Our luck didn’t hold. The guy with the camshot ran forward and pointed his device right at us. I had just enough time to block his view of Shade and Jax and turn so he got the back of my head. A stride in front of me, Fiona was right in his line of sight.

  “Hurry!” I kept my face averted. “Fi, I think you just got tagged. Some jackass with a camshot.”

  “Won’t be the first time.” The tension in her voice shot to hell her cavalier response.

  A metallic whine buzzed toward us. “Do you hear that?” My brows snapped together. We all went quiet and listened.

  “Drone!” Shade warned a second before a Red Beam military drone swooped down and nearly clipped our heads. The little craft swung around in front of us and sent out a crimson laser that scanned us all from head to foot.

  “Shade Brian Ganavan. Wanted. Halt.” A tinny robotic voice barked out orders, and it was no secret th
at if you didn’t obey, the Red Beam would shoot. “Fiona Anne Winterly. Wanted. Halt. Jaxon Mitchell Boudreau…”

  “Can you run?” Shade asked, glancing at Jax.

  Jax nodded, pale but steadier on his feet now. Jax could always run. He’d die running, I had no doubt.

  “…Wanted. Halt. Tess Bailey, captain of the Endeavor. Wanted. Halt.”

  I have a title? Classy. And still attaching that name to this face in the Dark Watch system, even after last week’s showdown with my uncle and the Overseer, meant that someone in charge really didn’t want my true identity getting out.

  That didn’t mean the drone wouldn’t shoot me. A stun blast from a Red Beam could incapacitate the hell out of a person and make those patrol-grade shock wands look like jokes.

  “Go. Go. Go!” I urged the others as I took off at a sprint and jumped, catching the Red Beam by the snout. It was arming the stun blaster, and the gathering energy zapped a sharp yelp from me. A numbing heat ricocheted up my arm as I pulled down hard, slamming the drone into the pavement. The people who still couldn’t fit inside the underground shuttle stop gasped and scuttled back, not wanting to be implicated in any of this. That was the tricky thing about revolution—if no one stood up to fight, you just had a few fools causing mayhem and running for their lives.

  My hand burned and throbbed. I didn’t even look at it as we raced for our docking tower. There was no point in trying to be inconspicuous now. Next to me, Shade shook his head, his mouth flat, his brown eyes like stones.

  “I got rid of the drone!” I snapped in my defense.

  “You could’ve lost a hand!” he snapped back.

  “Then I’d have made myself a hook!” Tess Bailey: pirate. Sailing the galactic seas, stealing shit, and pissing off the authorities. All true.

  “You think you’re funny?” Shade growled as we barreled into the arched bottom level of our tower. It was open to the outside with a set of six elevator tubes in the center.

  Three hovercrafts converged on the lower part of the building just as we made it to cover. We skidded to a stop in front of the lifts. Jax slammed his hand down on a button.

  I pushed a button on the opposite side in case it came faster, urgently rattling the little lighted square with my fingertip. “You think I’m not? Brian?”

  Shade’s eyes narrowed. “The Red Beam didn’t name you. Not really.”

  Of course not. The Overseer didn’t want to have to explain me to the galaxy, and Bridgebane didn’t want me getting hauled in before I handed over the blood he needed. Quintessa Novalight would probably spark one hell of a manhunt across the Sectors whereas Tess Bailey was just some rebel nobody stirring up trouble in random places. Red Beam facial recognition was unparalleled, so yeah—for the moment, no one wanted to correct my name in the system.

  “Comeoncomeoncomeon!” Fiona hopped in place while we waited for an elevator to swoop down and rescue us from the invasion that was about to happen. Boots thudded outside—no doubt soldiers fast-roping it down from the low-flying hovercrafts.

  I glanced at the emergency stairwell to the left of the bank of elevators. Two hundred and fifty-two flights of stairs weren’t an option. No way. No thanks.

  Shade took hold of my hand and turned it palm up. The skin was red. There were two blisters. All in all, it looked better than I thought it would, but I already knew that superficial wounds healed quickly thanks to my A1 blood.

  Footsteps scuffed and churned behind us. I looked over my shoulder, and fear spiked inside me as a team of goons spread out, blocking our exit.

  “Stop! Stay where you are!” someone shouted.

  Jax’s lift opened. We swept inside and flattened ourselves against the walls. The second we moved, the Dark Watch opened fire. Bullets slammed into the mirror behind us. Glass shattered, crumpling our images. Shards flooded the floor like water. I shot out a hand and pressed the button for our docking level. Sparks flew off metal, and I curled into the corner. Shade covered me with his body.

  Shooting and shouting, soldiers sprinted toward us as the doors began closing. Tension locked me in place. Would the panels latch before they reached us?

  A dozen goons bore down like a black cloud of destruction. My heart clenched so hard it nearly folded inward. A woman at the front lunged, her hostile gaze clashing with mine for an awful split second before the doors met in the middle. She thumped hard against them.

  We started moving. Yelling snuck through the cracks in the elevator. I exhaled in a gust, my heart exploding back into beating. The voices faded, but the sudden quiet blew like an eerie wind around us, untrustworthy. Fear and gun smoke stung the back of my throat as I waited for the lift to lurch. To stop. To drag us down again.

  I looked at Shade, trying to hide the volcanic terror inside me. He looked back, and I knew he saw it anyway. The hard set of his jaw turned his sweat-slicked face even grimmer. Short brown hair spiked in places, damp from exertion. Eyes that were always warm when he looked at me now blazed like bonfires. He lifted his hand to the back of my neck and kept it there, gently squeezing. I closed my eyes and leaned against him. We continued rising, thank the Powers.

  “Everyone okay?” Merrick asked tentatively. I’d fear the worst, too, after hearing all that gunfire.

  I opened my eyes and straightened. I hadn’t seen any injuries, but I took careful stock of my companions before answering.

  “Yeah. Miraculously, no one’s bleeding.” My pulse still rioted as I watched the levels crawl by. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. We had a hellishly long ride ahead of us, and this had to be the slowest elevator in existence.

  “I’m surrounded now,” Merrick said tightly. “This tower’s mostly empty platforms. They locked on to our hot engine almost instantly. Three hovercrafts are blocking our exit.”

  I cursed softly. “We’re going to have to either plow or blow our way out. Shade?”

  He kicked some broken glass away from me. “I’ve got firepower on my cruiser, and I set some pressure-sensitive charges this morning that should keep the hovercrafts away from the dock. They try to land, they go boom. And if we have to, we’ll set them off.”

  “You set explosives? When? Before I woke up?”

  “Yeah.” He looked at me like rigging bombs at the crack of dawn was par for the course. “Just in case.”

  “We could’ve stepped on them,” I said in shock.

  Shade shook his head. “You’d have seen them if you went anywhere near the edge of the dock. And I didn’t activate them until we were all off the tower this morning. I told Merrick. He knew to watch out.”

  I frowned. We didn’t do large-scale damage. Then again, we didn’t melt faces, either. Apparently, today was a day for firsts. “Okay.” If it meant getting off the platform, I’d blow it up myself.

  “Merrick, can you somehow cover us while we run to the ship?” Battering our way off the dock required getting to the battering ram first.

  “I’ve got six Grayhawks loaded and on me,” Merrick answered. “But it depends on the guns they’ve got aboard those hovercrafts.”

  I glanced at the digital readout showing our position on the tower. Eighty-two. Eighty-three. Eighty-four. The painfully slow progress made me want to light a rocket under the elevator.

  “Can you do something super-soldiery?” I asked.

  “Well, I can’t fly, and I’m not bulletproof,” Merrick grumbled. “I’m open to suggestions, though.”

  “Sorry,” I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut.

  “S’okay.” Something clanged over the coms, and Merrick grunted. “I’m thinking.”

  “Me too.” Unfortunately, I wasn’t coming up with a safe way to cross the distance between the elevator tubes and the Endeavor.

  Three floors higher, shots banged in our eardrums. My lungs squeezed tight, and I touched my necklace. “Merrick?”

  He didn’t answe
r, and my heart beat harder.

  “Are you okay?” Fiona crunched over broken glass, pacing the small area. “Merrick!”

  “Yeah, I’m here. Just keeping ’em back.” More loud pops nearly drowned out Merrick’s answer.

  I shifted nervously. Back was good, but the Dark Watch could still shoot from a distance. Running across the no-man’s-land of the dock couldn’t possibly end well for us.

  I swung my gaze to where Jax leaned against the opposite wall of the lift from me, his complexion ashen. Fat beads of sweat pearled on his brow and slid down his temples. A bloodshot sheen brightened his brown eyes to something feverish and lacking focus.

  I darted a worried glance at Fiona. She immediately sidled closer to Jax. He didn’t react, even when her hand brushed his knuckles. Her fingers almost curled around his. With a little encouragement, they might have.

  A deep ache wrenched through me as I looked across the shattered glass sea of the elevator at them. Jax would have held my hand. He would have let me comfort and help him. Why wouldn’t he give himself that from Fiona?

  Because it’s not the same. My heart whispered the truth inside me. Jax was family to me. A little bit brother. A little bit father. A bit of everything, really. A hulking tower of strength, protection, and reassurance. A home that traveled with me. But I never looked at him like I wanted him to kiss me until I couldn’t breathe or think or feel anything but him around me, and that was exactly what scared the shit out of him with Fiona.

  Jax’s previous life got burned to the ground, and he was so afraid of losing people again that he kept his distance from everyone except for me. I’d thought time might heal him. Or maybe Fiona. Maybe nothing could. Or maybe he’d snap awake one day and finally take a step forward.

  Two hundred. Two hundred and one. Two hundred and two… I watched the numbers climb, my anxiety rising along with them.

  “We’re almost there,” Shade told Merrick.

  Freaking finally. But what happened when we arrived?