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
We all stood stupidly staring at the thing, and I cursed myself. The others relied on me to come up with something. They’d probably assumed I had a plan in mind when in truth, I hadn’t been sure we’d make it this far. What were we supposed to do now?
A heavy sigh came from the other side of the tarmac. We all spun, raising our weapons and targeting the area. “You’re surrounded by fuel,” came an annoyed voice, and a man strode around the corner of a nearby ship. “Use it to obliterate that pain-in-the-ass ship.”
We stared in silence for another moment before Cage found his voice and asked the question on everyone’s mind. “Excuse me,” he said, “but exactly who the hell are you?”
THIRTEEN
THE MAN STEPPED INTO THE light. He had smooth olive skin and a loose black ponytail and, disconcertingly, a patch over his left eye. He looked like someone’s modern vision of a pirate, right down to the loose white shirt, tight black pants, and tall boots. A pistol and an actual sword hung at his side. All told, he could have stepped out of the pages of Robo Mecha Dream Girl 5, and at the sight of him I was almost overcome by longing, brief but painful in its intensity, for my old life, when evil corporations existed only in the pages of fiction.
“Does it matter who I am?” He lifted his hands in surrender, although I got a strong sense he was mocking us. “I’m giving you the answer to your problem. Fill the ship with fuel and have your fiery friend there blast it to kingdom come. Or would you prefer to stand around waiting for security to break through that door?”
We exchanged glances, but he was right. “Do it,” I ordered, without stopping to think that they might not want to obey me.
To my surprise, no one argued. Weapons were holstered, and everyone sprang into action. “Can you lift those barrels?” Cage demanded of Jasper, already on the move.
“Physically, maybe. Not with my power.”
Alexei and Cage grabbed one of the containers. Their muscles stood out in sharp relief as they strained to hoist it between them. Ship fuel in barrels this size weighed a lot. I had a feeling I’d sprain my back if I even tried lifting one. At this rate, we’d be here all night—and already guards banged on the door behind us. In a few minutes they’d break through, or just start tossing smoke grenades over the walls. Reed and Jasper grabbed another barrel. They almost managed to lift it between them, but then Reed gasped and shook his head, and it clattered noisily to the ground.
Rune sighed heavily. “Boys,” she said, breaking into a run. I exchanged mystified glances with Imani and we followed.
Rune jumped into a nearby hoverlift, closed her eyes, and melded her fingers with the control panel. It roared to life, wavering about a foot above the tarmac. She directed it with practiced ease to where Alexei and Cage shamefacedly dropped their burden.