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
My voice trailed off, because all at once Priya’s posture registered. She’d turned her back to the aliens and now had her gun trained on us. “Sorry,” she said. “But in the name of Omnistellar Concepts, the three of you are under arrest.”
THIRTY-FIVE
“ARE YOU GODDAMN KIDDING ME?” Cage demanded. “Didn’t you see what happened there? This is survival, not a political battlefield!”
“Survival or not, I always fulfill my contracts.” Priya’s face was set, unshed tears almost completely hidden. “Drop your weapons and kick them over here or I’ll open fire. And I’m not holding a stun gun. I’ll aim to incapacitate, not kill, but I can’t make any promises.”
And who knew what the sound of her weapon might summon? We’d already stayed here too long. I hadn’t exactly had time to focus on the alien cries, but the meaning was clear. The creatures were calling reinforcements.
Cage and I exchanged glances over Rune’s head. Was drug-fueled adrenaline racing through him the way it was me, urging him to fight, to run? I had to resist it. I was stronger than some drug. I shook my head, and Cage nodded. As one, we dropped our weapons and kicked them to Priya.
She left them where they were, instead removing a pair of cuffs and tossing them to me. “Cuff the boy,” she said. I glanced at him. I could see him calculating, but she added, “If you take off, I’ll shoot anyone you leave behind.”
Cage’s expression darkened. He extended his hands in front of him, and I reluctantly slid the cuffs into place. They tightened automatically, blocking his powers and restraining him.
Priya tossed another pair of cuffs in my direction. “Now the girl.”
I glanced at Rune, who shook her head, her face despondent. “We always seem to wind up in this situation,” she said, offering me her arms.
I resisted the urge to hug her and cuffed her instead.
Priya carefully extended a third set of cuffs, keeping them in her right hand, her left still aiming the gun in our direction. “Now you,” she said. “Come over here.”
With every step I searched for escape. Maybe Liam would come bursting out of a vent. Maybe something would distract Priya. If she got those cuffs on all three of us, we’d be sitting ducks if the aliens attacked.
But there was nowhere to run, no last-minute rescue on the way, and before I knew it, all three of us were cuffed and shoved against the wall. “Now walk,” she said, gesturing toward the staircase.
I opened my mouth to argue, but a shuffling sound in the distance got my feet moving as quickly and quietly as possible. We could escape Priya later. Cage had told me once that prison was better than being eaten by space monsters. I finally understood what he meant.
The door slid open at our approach, and we all hustled through it, even Priya, although she obviously struggled to maintain a steady demeanor. When it closed behind us, we heaved a collective sigh of relief.