By Siren, I realized, just before she materialized in front of him, her hands planted to the sides of his face, her eyes wide and pleading as she looked into his.
“Hal,” Elise groaned, reaching down for me.
I took her hand and climbed back to my feet, my insides catching fire at just how battered she looked up close.
Frosty’s roar reminded me just where I could place that rising anger.
I slid one of the last two lightsteel disks from my belt, activated it, and dropped it just as the raknoth charged and Elise and I split apart.
I dialed my cloak out, stepping clear of the disk, found Edwards’ pulse cannon on the floor, and called it to me as Frosty crashed down where we’d just been. With my splinted wrist, I fumbled the catch, and Frosty, having been debating her next target, decided that was her opening.
At least until Elise’s dark chain smashed into the side of her head from behind.
The blow probably would’ve killed a human. Frosty just staggered to the side, throwing a blind backhand to cover her tracks. Elise easily dodged the strike and caught Frosty with a savage chain uppercut, followed immediately by a diagonal down slash across the face.
Frosty gave an infuriated snarl, swiping blindly as she pushed Elise, who danced backward, pivoting into a horizontal slash that caught straight on Frosty’s hardsteel-strong forearm and yanked Elise off balance.
By then, I had the pulse cannon ready. What I didn’t have was a clear shot, but as Frosty pulled Elise in, I didn’t have a choice.
I drove a telekinetic wedge between them and put an armor piercing bolt right through Frosty’s left thigh, then followed up with another through her stomach as Elise broke free and dove away.
I was aiming for Frosty’s shrieking face when the raknoth whirled on me and hurled Elise’s chain at me so fast that I fell over dodging it. The chain whooshed by and buried itself in the smooth permacrete wall behind the breeding chambers. I hit the tile and rolled, thinking to draw another shot on Frosty until she ripped the pulse cannon from my hands with telekinesis. I rolled over onto one my disks, buying a moment’s protection as I scrambled back to my feet.
This had to end before Elise and I were too tired and beaten to move.
So this time, when Frosty started forward, I didn’t run. I drew my remaining dagger and charged in. Elise’s presence surrounded mine as I cleared the disk’s field, and I let her in, trusting us to guide one another just as my extended senses guided me.
I caught Frosty high with a telekinetic shove just as Elise darted forward and kicked her knee in from behind. The raknoth staggered to a knee, and I dropped everything I could on her, driving her down as Elise kicked her other knee in. We held her there, Elise’s strength flowing through me as I grabbed Frosty’s short dark hair and thrust the dagger forward with all my strength.
She caught it with her mind, and we struggled there bitterly, each second costing us precious energy. Then Frosty cocked her head back and, with a blood-curdling scream, blasted us apart with an eruption of force. I hit the tiles hard and was still sliding when a faded green shape blurred in and slammed into Frosty, carrying her halfway to the wall before they hit the ground, tumbling until I recognized Garrett’s faded green jacket coming to a stop on top, cocking his fist back to strike.
I forced myself to my feet, every inch of me protesting, and winced as Frosty caught Garrett with an open hand chest strike that sent him flying back the way he’d come. Battered and wounded but seemingly still full of that frighteningly endless energy, Frosty bounced back to her feet—
And sprayed the wall behind her with dark ichor as two shots punched through her chest, accompanied by the rushing thrum of the pulse cannon. I turned and saw Johnny attempting a third shot from his prone position before he and the cannon were both blasted across the room.
Seeing Garrett brushing himself off, looking hungry for more, hearing the gunfire bark from where Elise had found my rifle, I rounded on Frosty and charged.
The raknoth waded forward, deflecting a stream of softsteel slugs.
I gathered what I had and hurled her back against the wall, pinning her there. Elise was on her feet, still shooting as she stalked in, only letting up when Garrett came flying in on an inhuman leap and crashed into Frosty’s face, boot-first. I kept up the telekinetic pressure as he landed in front of her and proceeded to unload, pounding her face into the wall until she actually seemed to feel it.
She fought to break free, but I held firm, leaning into Elise’s strength as well as what little I had left. And not just hers, I realized as the burden shifted again, but Siren’s and Garrett’s too—the four of us pressing into her with everything we had, holding nothing back.
I closed on Frosty and caught her left wrist just as Elise caught her right. Without looking, Garrett paused from his onslaught of bare knuckle punching long enough to summon my other dagger from the floor.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Frosty groaned as he took her hair in hand, her crimson eyes looking pale and feeble after the pummeling. “Kill these pitiful creatures, Garrett. Kill them now.”
Hesitation flashed in his pale red eyes.
“Garrett…” I said.
Frosty’s face hardened.
“OBEY ME, YOU WORTHLESS INSECT!”
Garrett tensed, and for a second, I saw it all unraveling.
Then Siren was there, laying her hands on his back, whispering his name, her eyes closed in concentration, and it was as if new life flowed into him from her touch.
“Say hi to One for me, you miserable bitch,” he growled.
And with that, Garrett jammed Carlisle’s dagger into Frosty’s underjaw with every bit of his unnatural strength.
The blade sank to the hilt, drawing an oozing stream of dark ichor and an awful wet gurgling sound. I held tight anyway, not trusting it was enough until I felt her body go limp and her mind fade from my senses.
Then I stepped back, mustering what defenses I could and giving Elise a silent look to do the same.
“Relax, Raish,” Garrett said, not looking at either of us as he yanked the dagger free and let Frosty’s body crumple to the ground. As an afterthought, he tossed the blade down as well. “I’m not killing anyone else today.”
“That sounds like good news, then,” Dillard’s voice crackled in my earpiece. I looked up and saw him on the balcony, looking grimy and scuffed up but otherwise unharmed. “Sweet Alpha…” he added, surveying the wreckage of our fight.
When his gaze fell on Johnny and Edwards, he turned back to the corridor and shouted for the combat medics. I was about to ask him if the coast was clear up there when wet slurping noises drew my attention back down to where Siren and Garrett were, for lack of a better phrase, suddenly and unapologetically making out.
Between the unexpectedness of it and light jittery feeling of decisively having not died, I almost could’ve laughed as I scooted around them, ready to wrap Elise in my arms and to never let go.
Then I saw Elise, swaying in place, looking more battered than ever, her eyes unfocused and her mouth half open. I rushed to close the distance between us before she could fall.
“So we can all agree,” she said weakly, “no one’s killing anyone anymore?”
“No more killing today, my love,” I said, wrapping her in a hug. “You’re safe now.”
She teetered in my arms, her head lolling back and a kind of gentle, content smile on her lips. “Okay, then.”
And with that she collapsed in my arms.
42
Departure
“I think my concussions have concussions,” Johnny murmured, blinking at the field medic’s light and then frowning up at the woman herself. “Are you a concussion?”
“Just relax, buddy,” I said as the medic shot me an exasperated look.
Squinting past me, he pointed a finger instead. “Hey, isn’t that that guy? The punchy one?”
I glanced back and saw Garrett standing behind me.
“It’s okay now, buddy,” I said, guiding his hand back to his torso and giving him a reassuring pat. “He’s real sorry about all that punching.”
“Good round, Red,” Garrett added, smirking quite unapologetically.
“Look who’s talking, Eyes,” Johnny murmured, then let out a groan. “Sorry, I think that’s the concussions talking. I can do better.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” Garrett said.
Shaking my head, I moved over to check on Elise, who’d already been looked over by the field medic who was now tending Edwards.
Astoundingly, we’d made it through the ordeal with only a single casualty—one of the pilots who’d gone down in Frosty’s initial attack. Most of legionnaires who’d been on the ground were beaten to scud, and almost half had suffered serious wounds, including a few who were most likely going to be losing limbs, one who’d lost an eye, and at least five or six who were going to be in serious trouble if the med transport they’d called in didn’t hurry.
Considering what we’d just been through, though, it almost felt like we’d been lucky.
I stroked Elise’s cheek, careful to avoid the bruises, and immediately felt scuddy for calling anything about this lucky when she lightly roused and winced as if the slight movement had caused her significant pain.
Maybe not lucky, then. But we were alive. Elise was alive. And as much as it hurt me to see her like this, I knew she was going to be okay with some rest and care.
I felt Dillard hovering behind me for a few seconds before he spoke.
“She’s one tough lady. Would’ve made a fine legionnaire.”
I stood to face him, smiling a little at the thought of how things might’ve played out if Elise had been a tyro with me and Johnny back in Sanctuary. “I dunno, sir. Something tells me she might’ve gotten into some trouble.”
“Hmm,” Dillard said, looking faintly amused. “Can’t imagine how you’d know much about that, standup ex-legionnaire like you.”
“Ex-tyro, sir.”
He grinned. “Even better.”
“Dillard, sir, I…”
He cocked his head, clearly happy to let me squirm.
“Thank you,” I finally said. “For everything.”
He studied me for a stretch, then shrugged. “The way I see it, I’m just paying it forward after your father saved my life.” He looked around at his Hounds all licking their respective wounds. “These crazy bastards, on the other hand…”
“I’ll be sure to thank them all as best I can,” I promised.
That seemed to amuse him for some reason. “I think they might just turn around and thank you right back.”
At my quizzical look, he held up his palmlight. “That’s why I came over here. Reports are still preliminary, but Glenbark just put out the word on Legion channels. Oasis is ours, Raish. Your cloaking packs worked.”
For a second, I just stared, feeling like I should have been ecstatic but simply too beaten and drained to feel anything more than a slightly different kind of exhausted.
“Losses?”
He just shook his head. “Not sure yet. But what say we focus on the good news for once. We won today, Raish. All of us.”
“That’s right, boys and girls,” he added at the few heads that’d turned our way, raising his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “While we were busy beating down boots with asses, our brothers and sisters took Oasis back from those alien bastards!”
A round of cheers rocked through the room.
“That’s probably ‘cause they forgot their asses back at base, sir!” one of the Hounds called from over on the stairs, which earned a round of chuckles.
“Oasis is ours,” Dillard repeated, pumping the air with his hands to calm the rowdy celebration. “You know what this means, right?”
“What’s it mean, sir?” a legionnaire called from the balcony.
“It means drinks are on me tonight for every one of you crazy bastards that manages to not die on the way home! You hear that Coopski?” he added, kneeling down beside a few of the legionnaires who were in critical condition. “You hear that Trells? Hollis? No dying until you’re all good and drunk on my coin.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, sir,” one woman groaned, spawning another round of cheers and laughs.
“They pay you too much anyway, sir,” another added with a pained smile.
Shaking my head at the undying spirit of legionnaires, and satisfied that Elise and Johnny were stable and that maybe, in fact, the day had been a true win on all fronts, I turned to confront the last potential problem lingering on the edge of my mind.
I found Siren and Garrett separated from the legionnaires over by the hybrid breeding chambers on the far side of the room, once again with their tongues safely tucked away in one another’s mouths.
I thought about clearing my throat or coughing as I drew close, but they finally broke apart and favored me the kind of mutual stare that made me think they must be conversing about me telepathically.
“Sounds like celebration is in order over there,” Siren finally said.
“Looks like you two are on top of it.”
Garrett looped an arm around Siren’s waist and pulled her closer. “Lock yourself in chaste slavery for eight years and then come talk to me, kid.”
“Oh, he’s just squeamish around lust,” Siren said, stroking Garrett’s chest even as she eyed me with a mischievous grin.
Garrett frowned back and forth between us. “You didn’t… Not with him… Not with—”
“I’m just teasing,” she promised, giving him a light kiss—or not so light, it turned out.
This time, I did clear my throat.
“Look, I just…”
They stared at me, waiting. But I’d forgotten about them completely. I was too busy staring at the hybrid tanks behind them, with their too-small victims floating in pseudo-peaceful rest.
I distantly heard Garrett’s voice, asking me what was wrong, but I was too busy staring at the one whose auburn curls, discernible even through the greenish hue of the transition fluid, nearly brought me to my knees.
The one who looked too much like a young hybrid replica of Annabelle Wingard.
“Johnny,” I whispered.
The world spun. My knees hit hard tile floor.
Something touched my shoulder.
“Did you know her?” Siren asked softly.
“JOHNNY!” I shouted.
I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t seem to do anything but keep muttering, “Bring Johnny,” over and over again.
Siren or someone must’ve listened, because it wasn’t long after that the sound of Johnny’s approaching voice broke through the thick malaise permeating my brain.
“—thing he’s been through, it’s no wonder he—he—Bells?”
I finally tore my eyes away from Annabelle’s still form in time to see the life drain from her brother’s face.
“Bells?” he whispered again, his eyes filling with tears. “No. No…” He looked at me, his eyes pleading. “Hal, what… what’s…”
I was on my feet and going to grab him anyway when he collapsed. I sank to the floor with him, embracing my friend as he shook in my arms, dazedly muttering on.
“Hal, tell me that’s not… Tell me… Why…” He broke into quiet sobs like I’d never seen from him, whimpering her name over and over. “Bells…”
“She’s alive, Johnny,” I said when he’d finally gone silent. “I can feel her in there. We can… We’ll…”
“Get her to Therese,” Johnny whispered. “Bells…”
“We’ll get her to Therese,” I repeated, nodding, trying to sound confident about it. “She told me back at Vantage. Was appalled we were destroying the place. She said they were just people in those tanks. Just people caught in the wrong place. She’ll figure this out, make it right.”
“Transports are arriving, people,” Dillard called on the other side of the room. “Let’s get moving.”
When I looked
up, he was eyeing me and Johnny with a concerned frown, but he quickly turned back to the task of getting his legionnaires packed and ready to move. Judging him stable enough, I finally let Johnny go and moved to sit beside him, both of us facing Annabelle side-by-side. When I glanced back at the exit procession, Dillard was hovering nearby, looking to me for some sign.
“You should get back to Haven, Johnny,” I said.
“No.” He shook his head, swaying in place. “No, I can’t… can’t—”
“I’ll stay,” I said quickly. “I’ll stay right here with her until Therese can get her team over here. You go. You need the medica more than I do for once. I’ll stay right here.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, buddy.”
He just stared at his sister until one of Dillard’s men stepped in and hoisted him to his feet, guiding him away with a stream of soothing words.
“We need to blow this facility, Raish,” Dillard said quietly when Johnny was out of earshot.
With heavy breath, I pulled myself to my feet and face him. “Maybe so. But not before we talk to Therese Brown.”
“It’s command I’m worried about.”
“But if we have Oasis, if this war is turning… They’ve already found other breeding facilities. We might—”
He cut me off with a raised hand. “You don’t have to convince me, Raish. Alpha only knows how many like these we’ll find in the coming cycles. I’m in no more hurry than you are to write them all off as collateral damage if there’s even a shot at turning them back.”
He looked around the room, clearly debating our options. “It’s gonna have to go through command sooner than later. But for now, I’ll leave two fireteams until we can send backup and get the lab types out here to figure it out properly. You don’t have to stay yourself,” he added, running an assessing eye over my battered body.
I shrugged. “I promised.”
He seemed to approve of the answer. “That, you did. I’ll put in the official requisition for a specialist consult out here, but you should call Citizen Brown yourself. Probably faster that way.”
Demons of Divinity Page 43
