Dez stared up at him slackly. He was in no shape to climb up through the treacherous tunnel that led to the main part of the station, even if the 8-Ts didn’t attack—and there was no guarantee of that. Although Reath had the strength and the ability in the Force to bring Dez up with him, he wouldn’t be able to do so quickly enough to escape the pursuing Drengir.

He refused to leave Dez—even though that meant they were trapped.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Move, move, move!

Affie pushed herself onto her feet, desperate to run away. In what direction, she couldn’t tell; the world had turned to smoke and ash, almost devoid of light. But she had to get out of there before the Nihil found her.

She braced herself against the walkway rail, trying to catch her breath—then gasped as a gloved hand grabbed her hair.

“It has to be her!” One of the Nihil dragged her close to him. His many-tubed breathmask had the greasy sheen of an oil slick. Through the visor Affie met his narrowed eyes. “She threw the explosive—she may have more!”

He was rabid with fury, which was probably why he didn’t think to check her for a blaster right away. His hand shifted to the place at her holster the moment after she’d drawn. Affie shoved the muzzle into his gut, hard, hoping it would hurt.

“Let me go,” she said. Her voice was scratchy from all the cinders in the air. “Now.”

Instead he hurled her sideways, violently. Affie hit the railing hard, lost her balance, and tipped over.

She screamed as she fell, certain she’d plummet onto metal and dash her brains out. Instead, she landed on some other Nihil, sending all of them sprawling. The landing still hurt, but Affie ignored her injuries as she tried to escape from the tangle of arms and legs and weapons below her. But the Nihil were recovering even faster than she was, and when one of them seized her forearm she realized she’d lost her grip on her blaster in the fall. She was surrounded by helmeted figures, all of them angry, all of them armed, and there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it.

At that moment, through the sooty smoke came a swirling circle of brilliant white light shining in the darkness. Panels of heavy metal slammed across the tunnel with a thud, and then three rays of light shone out—one blue, two white.

Lightsabers, Affie realized. She just hoped the Nihil recognized them, too.

They must have, because her attackers instantly released her and stormed toward the Jedi. Affie ducked down to avoid getting clobbered by their weapons, but once she was down, she realized how hard it was to catch her breath. The smoke was getting to her.