Chapters (48)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Copyright
But as soon as I said it, footsteps echoed behind us. We spun to find Priya and the man with the chipped tooth, Hallam, advancing, a small Asian woman at their side. Spinning, we saw another hunter behind Matt, a man in his forties with a shaved head. He, too, had a stun gun aimed right at us.
In the narrow corridor with hunters on either side, we were completely and utterly trapped.
Arrival. Imminence. Completion of one thread only to unravel it and follow it back in on itself. One thread becomes many.
Voices.
Sound.
Cacophony.
Silence.
They do not drift.
They hunt.
TWENTY-SEVEN
AGAINST MATT, WE’D STOOD A chance. Against all five bounty hunters, clearly anomalies themselves, we were helpless. It took us about thirty seconds to arrive at that conclusion before we surrendered.
They snapped cuffs on us to inhibit our powers and marched us through Obsidian, past the curious and hostile glares of the criminals assembled in the halls, back to the docking ring, back to their ship. Alexei’s uncle Grigori waited by the airlock, and Alexei lunged at him so hard it took Hallam and Matt together to restrain him, even with his arms cuffed behind his back. “You said we had twelve hours until Omnistellar arrived,” he seethed in Russian.
Grigori’s impassive features distorted into a rage to match his nephew’s. “And you betrayed your family,” he spit in English, making sure we all understood. “Besides, I didn’t lie. Omnistellar is still several hours away.” He inclined his head to Priya. “Legion finds their quarry again.”
She snorted. “Don’t bandy words with me, old man. I work for Omnistellar. I’m not interested in friendly chitchat with criminals.” She spun to the others. As she did, the sleeve of her jacket pulled back, revealing a glint of metal. My mouth dropped open. She followed my gaze and smiled faintly. “What, you thought we were just anomalies? Omnistellar doesn’t take risks. Legion is the best of the best.” She pushed up her sleeve, revealing a glistening cybernetic arm. I hadn’t ever seen tech like that before; hadn’t even been aware it existed. But now Matt’s words echoed in my mind: steel into my spine An Omnistellar metal soldier. Not hyperbole, then.
Priya snapped her fingers to get our attention. “Take it as a sign, huh? There’s no point fighting us, and no point resisting. Be good boys and girls and relax in your cells until we rendezvous with Omnistellar.”
The docking ring lurched to the side so hard I staggered, barely catching myself before I went over. Imani crashed into me, and I steadied her as best I could without hands. A hint of a gasp escaped her before she clenched her lips, obviously determined to stay strong in front of our captors.
“What the hell was that?” I demanded.
Grigori must have had the same question, because he was already striding away from us, one hand raised to his face as he snarled into his wrist comm. Over the nervous babble in the docking ring, I couldn’t hear anything he said.