by Amy Braun
He repeated the command back to me. I felt the ship tilt back. My line of fire began to change, the spikes now aiming higher. Directly at the Hellion skiffs.
“Clear shot,” Gemma called down.
My hand shot to the button under the red light. The light flashed to green.
The spikes clanked again and rocketed out of their barrels. They sailed over the Dauntless, heading straight for the Hellion skiffs. The two ships tried to bank, but one of them was struck by two of the spikes. Smoke burst from their torn engine, and the skiff began to spiral down. The other skiff sped toward us. On the Dauntless, I noticed the Hellions screeching in our direction. They knew something was wrong. Abandoning their battle with my crew, they scaled the ropes they used to descend onto my ship. Soon I would be facing four skiffs instead of one.
I twisted the dial again. The section in front of me rotated away, quickly being replaced by another loaded one. As it moved, I shouted at Nash to move us another five degrees to bow. While he tilted us a little more, I snapped down the lever for the new section and watched the metal fall away. The skiffs were closing in.
Gemma shouted new co-ordinates, turning us again as I struggled to line up the shots. The skiffs were trying to split apart. It wasn’t long before we started feeling shrapnel bombs exploding on the side of the mace-ship, each one sending a rough vibration through the metal domed around us. I snapped my head to the door leading to the deck.
“Don’t let them touch down,” I shouted at the Sky Guards.
They didn’t need to be told twice. Pistols barked from the deck, the Sky Guards working together to hold off the Hellions.
With two skiffs in sight, I slammed my palm on the button again. Red light flashed to green, metal clanked, and a burst of spikes flew at the skiffs. They clipped both skiffs and smothered the glass screen with smoke. I turned the dial, waiting for the next round.
“Both skiffs nearing the deck, Captain!” Gemma called.
Cursing, I abandoned the console and ran for the front door. I pulled my weapon out before I reached the door. The two Sky Guards were on the deck, shooting at the skiffs trying to land. I made it into the open, firing at the four remaining Hellions as they descended. They gave up on the ropes, hissing and snarling at us from over the railing. Then they jumped over the edge of the ship, abandoning caution in favor of revenge.
One of the Hellions took an ultraviolet bullet in the chest, bursting into a rain of ash on its way down. The other three landed, one straight on top of a Sky Guard. The man screamed as the Hellion’s body crushed his shoulders, its weight trapping him on the ground. I made it to the fallen man and slammed my boot into the side of the Hellion’s head. It tumbled off and I put a bullet in its head. A screeching hiss came from my left. I whirled around and aimed my pistol at the next Hellion’s skull as it sprinted toward me. I squeezed the trigger–
The chamber clicked empty. The Hellion didn’t slow down.
I scrambled for my cutlass, but I wouldn’t be fast enough–
Gunfire cracked. The Hellion lurched to the side. It was dust before it hit the deck. I looked at the man who saved my life. He was almost as young as I was. He brushed past me and knelt by the fallen man. I looked at their faces, saw the resemblance.
I’d saved his brother, so he saved my life. The wounded brother looked at me as his twin helped him sit up. His shoulders were bleeding, but he didn’t look any worse for wear. He nodded to me gratefully. I nodded back.
The last Hellion had been eliminated, yet there were no cheers coming from either ship. Not when we knew how heavy the losses were.
And we hadn’t even gotten into the damn tower yet.
I had no idea what kind of force the Vesper had at his disposal. I didn’t know where my brother was. I didn’t know how to find the Palisade.
I didn’t know if Claire was alive or dead.
Roughly searching my pockets for another collection of ultraviolet bullets to replace the four I’d used, I started issuing new commands.
“You’re going to stay here,” I told the Sky Guards. “This ship is yours. If you see any skiffs flying in our direction, you shoot them down, no questions asked. Nash and Gemma will brief you on how to operate the weapon systems.”
The Sky Guard nodded, new respect forming in their eyes. Any other time I would have appreciated it. But right now, I was a tumble of emotions. Anger for being lured into a trap. Guilt for getting so many people killed and injured. Fear about what would come next.
I barely heard Gemma and Nash telling the Guards to wait in the dome. They looked at me with concern.
“What’s the next step, Captain?” Nash asked.
I held his eyes seriously. “The three of us are going back to the Dauntless to stock up on as may weapons as we can. We recruit any volunteers that can still walk.” My voice hardened. “Then we’re going into that tower, and ending the sons of bitches who nearly ended us.”
Chapter 20
Claire
“It appears your lover has a death wish,” the Vesper’s voice echoed through the cavernous room.
I stared out the window, a Hellion crushing my arms in its claws, looking at the Dauntless Wanderer.
I forgot about everything that happened after the Hellion factory was destroyed. I didn’t really recall flying through Hellnore or being dragged into the Dark Spire to face the Vesper’s wrath. I couldn’t remember when they stripped me of my bag, taking the transmitter for the Volt away from me. I hardly remember his cold words or the grief that struck through me when he told me that he felt the moment Riley died.
All of that pain faded into the background when he led me through the throne room to a viewing deck, and showed me the airship that slipped into Hellnore through the chaos of the Breach.
A ship I would recognize anywhere.
The Dauntless Wanderer.
I kept telling myself it couldn’t be them, that Sawyer and the rest of the crew were safe in Westraven.
But I knew better.
Just as I knew that telling the Vesper to stop the attack would be pointless. All I could do was watch helplessly as the Hellion ships ravaged the Dauntless, the ship that had become my home.
Spikes jutted out of the siding like porcupine needles. The deck was washed in blood. Bodies fell and writhed in agony.
Then I saw Sawyer’s actions. How he turned that horrific spiked Hellion ship against the raiding skiffs. How the edge of the Dauntless was now backed against the docking bay. Perfect for the assault I knew he was going to attempt.
Now I was standing in the middle of the foyer in front of the elevator with six Hellion guards on either side of me. Each one was armed with a blade. The Vesper stood at the top of the staircase at my back. All of us watched the elevator door. Waited for it to open.
My heart was racing. Sawyer was going to walk straight into a trap. I didn’t see how he could fight his way out of it. Unless I got to the power source first, activated it, and met him on the escape out. The elevator was the only way up or down.
But the Vesper would never let me get that far.
Not unless I did something to draw his attention. Something drastic and dangerous. Something I specialized in.
It took all my effort not to look at the open door of my room as an idea rolled to fruition in my mind. I was thinking about the Palisade. How much time I could buy us if I played the same trick I did on the Capital Meridian. All I had to do was find a way to get to the workstation. If I activated it, I could buy us all just a few more seconds.
It was an insane plan. One that could fail and ensure my death before I even got to the door. But it gave me hope. The one thing I desperately needed right now.
Considering what Sawyer and his crew were risking, how could I not do the same?
I looked at the shadows, trying to spot Davin in them. The last words he said to me sent a chill down my spine.
“I’m going to ruin all of you,” he’d smiled, showing every one of his razor teeth. “I’m
going to kill all of his friends. I’m going to beat him until he can barely breathe. Then I’m going to take you in front of him. Cut you apart while he’s broken. The last thing you’ll see will be the pain in his eyes. When you’re dead, then I’ll kill him.” His blazing red eyes flashed. “And it won’t be quick.”
It was a fate too horrible to imagine. One that Davin would hold to. Unless I found a way to escape.
The elevator began to move up. We were near the top level of the Spire. The Dauntless stopped at the ninth level, the one I escaped out of. He would be here in minutes. Seconds.
A piece of me wanted him to turn around. To go back and leave me to finish this alone. I would do anything to keep him and the others safe.
But he wouldn’t. Against all odds, he came to keep his promise. To save me.
And I loved him for it.
The elevator jerked to a stop. The doors were yanked open.
Sawyer stepped out.
My heart lurched at the sight of him. He was covered in blood and ash, so much that I couldn’t tell what belonged to him and what didn’t. He gripped pistol with strange blue bullets under the stock. Cold determination burned in his tawny eyes.
A hard look that almost faded when he saw me.
I couldn’t hold back my scream.
“It’s a trap!” I cried. “Davin–”
Overwhelming pain seared through my head. It was as if a bomb had gone off in my brain, and the fragments were clawing at my skull. The agony was so intense that I dropped to my knees, screaming all the while. The Vesper, crushing me into control.
I thought I heard Sawyer shouting my name through the eruption in my head, but I ignored it. I held my head in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut, blocking the Vesper from my plan. I couldn’t let him see it. Not now.
Gunfire erupted. Hellions screamed. Humans screamed. It intensified the pain in my head.
Then there was silence. Rough, Hellion hands grabbed my arms and jerked me to my feet. I was staring at my friends, a cluster of four monstrous guards surrounding me. Two of them were ashy piles on the ground. I opened my eyes, blinking white spots out of my vision. Now I could see Sawyer, Gemma, Nash, and five other people I didn’t recognize. All of them looking as ragged as I probably did. The Vesper must have worked his awful mind-trick on all of us.
“You are bold,” the Vesper called down from his perch on the stairs. “I admit that I am impressed with your cleverness and ambition. I am tempted to offer you a position of power beside me, where you would be with your beloved, as my previous serf met an untimely demise at her machinations.”
Sawyer’s eyes went from the Vesper to me, questioning. Heartache gripped my chest in iron talons. I could see in his eyes that he was asking about Riley. I shook my head, fighting tears. Recalling the sorrow in his bleeding eyes as he lost all hope. The determination to protect me at all costs. The sound of his final war cry.
I squeezed my eyes shut. It didn’t ease the pressure in my chest or keep my tears from falling.
Most of the time, Sawyer wanted nothing to do with my friend. He didn’t trust him. But I knew he saw the pain on my face. He might not have known how Riley died, but he knew I wouldn’t be mourning Riley if something hadn’t happened to reform my recent opinion of him. He masked his emotions and looked at the Vesper.
“Never going to happen, leech,” he spat.
The Vesper was silent for a moment. “I assumed that would be your response. It truly is a pity. I am tempted to crush your mind right now, but I have promised another that pleasure. Your friends on the other hand…”
The Vesper trailed off, and the screams started.
Gemma, Nash, and the Sky Guards dropped to their knees, clawing at their skulls in agony. The Vesper barked in Hellion-tongue. The guards around me darted toward them. Sawyer panicked, rushing to stand in front of them with his pistol raised.
That was when Davin struck.
He shot out of the shadowy corner next to the elevator, his cutlass aimed at Sawyer’s ribs and a smile on his face.
I widened my eyes and screamed.
Sawyer must have seen my face, or seen Davin from the corner of his eye, because he hunched over and missed the cut that would have killed him.
But he didn’t escape injury.
Davin twisted his hand, changing the angle of the blade. He drew it back along Sawyer’s chest, slicing a violent red line across the top of his stomach. Sawyer cursed, turning and pointing the pistol at Davin’s head. His Hellion brother smiled and swung the sword backward. The strike nearly cost Sawyer his hand.
At the last second, he pulled back. The cutlass swatted the pistol from Sawyer’s grip. Davin launched forward and kicked Sawyer in the chest, knocking him away from the group. Sawyer landed hard on the ground, pushing himself up as the Hellion approached the agonized targets.
The Hellions surged toward the group until Davin shouted a command that held them in place. My allies were too busy writhing in torture to know how much danger they were in.
I stood alone. Unguarded. Unarmed. Under control of my own mind.
I didn’t hesitate.
I shoved my hand into my bag and grabbed my last flashbang. I unscrewed the caps, closed my eyes, and hurled it onto the ground with all the force I could muster.
I was running even before the blinding white light filled the foyer. I raced to the room where I’d been a captive, hearing confused shouts and Hellion screams behind me. I made it through the doors just as another shock of pain exploded in my skull. I cried out against it, fumbling blindly for the heavy doors. Sweat trickled down my temples as I pushed them closed. They closed with a deep, foreboding thunk, finally cutting me off from the pain. I whimpered and staggered back. I’d bought myself moments. I lurched toward the Palisade, ready to activate it now that the Vesper would be distracted– and infuriated. It could give me the chance to sneak away and unleash the real portion of my plan.
The Volt I’d placed in the power source at the bottom of the Spire.
I knelt in front of the Palisade, working from muscle memory. My mind was a whirlwind, going over a thousand prayers for my friends.
Stay alive. Get out if you can.
Let me save you instead.
Chapter 21
Sawyer
“Clever little bitch.” Davin sounded almost impressed by Claire’s actions.
My mind was screaming against them. I didn’t know what she was doing, locking herself in that room. The Vesper all but flew down the steps, gliding across the floor to the door and beginning to wrench it open. He looked younger now, bigger and stronger. I wondered how much he’d taken from Riley before his death. Now he was all but a replica of him.
The look in Claire’s eyes was unmistakable. Riley was dead. I didn’t know how, and I couldn’t think about it. My friends and I were cornered. Davin towered over me, the sword in his hand still dripping my blood. The cut on my chest was perfect, in a way. It wasn’t enough to stop me from fighting or damage me in any major way, but it would cause me pain no matter how I moved.
Because of course it would. Davin didn’t want my death to be a one-shot-kill. He wanted to drag it out to the last torturous second.
The four Hellions on his left stared at my friends with hungry red eyes. The Vesper’s torturous hold was released when Claire used the flashbang. They were regaining their strength, getting to their feet and preparing to fight.
Davin turned his head and swung his sword back. It cut along the throat of one of the Sky Guards. I watched the skin of his neck separate into a gaping wound that sprayed blood at the Hellions. They would have charged if not for Davin’s sharp command not to, probably the only reason they weren’t rending our flesh.
