36 Tessi #2
He runs a hand over his mouth. “We’re going to need another escape.”
I feel Radar sniffing my hand and look down to pet him. As I do, I notice a vibrant shield outside a window. “What the hell is that?”
Azrim looks but shakes his head. “What do you mean?”
I check my wristband and find my ship pinging me. “My ship. The one Zorin won for me. I think it’s outside. I called it to me just before I was taken. It must’ve followed me up here.”
Azrim looks around. “Okay. We need a dock site.”
“Wait, how did you know I was here?”
Azrim reloads his rifle. Then hands me a gun. “You can shoot, right?”
I’m still hot like I’m at the edge of hyperthermia, but the cold air of the ship is helping. “Azrim.”
“Process of elimination. They suddenly started winning. That was why they wanted someone special. You definitely are. I just put things together.” He looks me over. “Can you walk?”
“I’ll do my best.”
He looks around the corner, then helps me get into position behind him, reaches back, takes my hand, and puts it against his side. “Stay close. Watch our six.”
When he glances at me, he stares at my eyes for a long moment. “I felt you out here.”
“How?”
“I’m the Aegeris alpha. The first born. We always have exceptional sensitivity to females, where they are, and how they’re feeling.
A twinge of pain ran through my chest about the time you were taken.
Zorin thought I was being difficult on the trip into space.
But I…” He shrugs, grunts. “It wasn’t a choice.
I had to be here. Blame the damn Shifter.
He does whatever the fuck he wants. Now stay close. ”
I motion for Radar to stay at my side. He pants as we leave cover and hurry to the nearest dock site. Along the hallway, beyond a wall of windows, escape pods eject. Carielle is in one of them. A large gray hand pulls her back from the glass.
It’s just not in my heart to care enough to help her.
I command the ship to our position on my wristband as I keep my hand to Azrim’s back, then I turn and guard us from behind. We move quickly and are inside the hangar as the ship docks. The sealscreens crackle and pop with pale blue-white light as they keep the air in and let ships come and go.
A shot darts through the air. I push Azrim out of the way and feel the heat raze my cheek.
I straighten and fire back as the ramp drops. “Motherfucker!”
Azrim grabs me around the waist, hauls me into my ship and closes the ramp behind us. Then he rushes up and takes the pilot’s seat. “Belt in. We’re going to launch fast so we get into proper firing range, and out of it, before they blow us to shit.”
I throw myself into the copilot’s seat, belt in and call Radar into my lap. He jumps up, and I wrap my arms around him.
Azrim thrusts us away from the Vulturous ship, banking hard so we pivot away ass-first. He targets the ship’s engines and fires defensive missiles. They tag a fuel control system and blow the backside out of the ship.
“Hang on.” He races us away and counts down from five. When he gets to zero, the ship pops into a cloud of parts and lifesupport gasses.
“Done this a time or two?” I ask.
A corner of his mouth almost curls. “As much as I want to take you home, I need to get back to my team.”
“I can fight.”
“I see what Zorin was saying about you. Thanks for the save.” Azrim looks over at me, reaches across the space between us, and inspects the burn on my face with his fingers. A cheek twitches. “What happened to your eyes?”
“What do you mean?”
He pries a panel from his seat and hands it to me to look at.
I frown at him. “Are you already breaking my brand new ship?”
Azrim’s muscles tense. “Sorry. Just look. I don’t want you getting up until we’re docked again.”
I take the panel, throw him a playful glare, then look at myself in the shiny metal. Iridescent light pulses through the veins around my eyes. As I look, I notice the same light in my hands, crawling up my forearms. “What is this?”
Azrim takes the panel back and slaps it into place again. “It’s not the first time you’ve done it. I saw it while you were sleeping.”
“Sleeping?”
The Circidian comes to mind. I hold a hand to my heart, thinking back to what he did in my dream, and an iridescent wave leaves me. Radar turns into a rapidly pulsing blue silhouette. But beside me, Azrim is ablaze with bright blue light.
“Uh, Tessi? What did you do? And why are you glowing?”
“Speak for your fucking self!”
He looks down at himself and stills. “What the hell?”
I take my hand off of my chest and the world returns to normal.
Azrim shakes his head. “Whatever. We can deal with that later. These last two ships are heavy warships. They are filled to the brim with tough Neb soldiers. No magic tricks. Just bullets. Got it?”
I nod.
He extends a fist to me. “You good?”
I tap his fist with mine. “Just tell me what you want me to do, boss.”
Azrim looks over at me with deep longing in his eyes as he banks us toward the closest ship. Whatever he’s thinking, he keeps it to himself. He hits the brakes hard as we glide in to dock.