Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They definitely hadn’t planned for syndroids. Zayn watched the eerie group. Then the lead syn stepped forward and lifted its hands.
There was a near-silent whirr. The lifelike hands twirled and changed. Morphing into long blades.
Oh, shit. There was more whirring now. The others were also changing. One had a large hook, another a curved blade, and the final one had what looked like a projectile weapon.
Two split off, veering left toward Ria. The other two started a steady march toward Zayn.
He bent his knees, preparing for the attack. When they did launch, they were damned fast. In a flash of black, two were on him. One powerful kick, and Zayn flew backward and slammed into the wall.
With the air knocked out of him, he rolled to his knees, trying to get to his feet. He caught the glint of metal and scuttled backward.
A long blade lodged into the wall in front of him. He turned and sprinted like a galactic Olympian. He dodged around pedestals and while he couldn’t hear a sound, he knew they were coming.
A quick glance back and he saw Ria fighting with her syndroids.
Damn, she was good. She moved with a lethal grace he couldn’t help but admire.
She leaped up, swinging her blades. She hit the closest syndroid with brutal force and its head rolled off, hitting the floor.
Seconds later, the body dropped to the ground.
A weight slammed into Zayn from behind.
He skidded across the floor, rolling onto his back as he did.
Before he could move, a syndroid lunged forward and pinned his legs with its torso.
It was the one with the hook. It raised its arm, the hook arched above Zayn’s head.
He jerked to the side just as the deadly metal hook slammed into the floor two centimeters from his face.
There was so much force behind the blow, chips of tile splintered upward.
Zayn wished for a weapon. Then he remembered.
He shoved a hand into his robes. He ripped out the plasma stunner, aimed, and fired.
The syndroid’s blank face distorted where the plasma hit. Then the blue plasma was absorbed by the damn thing, disappearing like it had never existed. Its face rearranged back to a smooth blank surface, with just a red glow behind where the eyes should be.
Fuck. He fired again and again. All the plasma disappeared but the droid looked dazed, slowly shaking its head from side to side. The stunner clicked. Overheated.
With a vicious swing, Zayn threw the weapon at the droid. He turned, trying to pull out from under the syn. His hands groped across the floor. His fingertips brushed stone.
The base of a pedestal.
He gripped the stone column and gave a hard yank. When the heavy pedestal tilted to the side, he offered up a silent thanks to whatever gods were watching.
He yanked it again, with as much force as he could muster in his awkward position. He swung it at the syndroid.
The side of the syn’s head buckled in. It lifted its arm, the hook looking obscene in the light. Then it slowly slumped. The hook clunked on the floor.
Zayn released a long breath.
Then he looked up and the air rushed out of him.
The second syndroid was advancing.
Shit. He sat up, heaving up the heavy pedestal again. But before he could swing it, the syndroid’s long sword slammed into the stone, shattering it into pieces. As dust and small rocks rained down on him, Zayn shook his head.
The syndroid lunged forward and that wicked sword pierced Zayn’s shoulder, pinning him to the floor. He cried out. The pain was outrageous.
The droid lifted its other arm. The second sword lifted high above Zayn, aimed for the center of his forehead.
He jerked, the blade in his shoulder causing screaming pain.
Then the tips of two knives burst through the center of the syndroid’s chest. The machine looked down, and Zayn guessed that if it was capable of emotion, its face would show shock.
Ria wrenched her blades sideways, causing terrible damage to the syn’s chest. Sparks flew and with a grinding drone, the syndroid froze. As it pitched to the side, Ria caught it. Carefully, she leaned forward and pulled the syn’s sword from Zayn’s shoulder.
He cursed, slapping a hand over the bleeding gash. He managed a grin. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I have more plans for this lean body of yours. Getting slaughtered by a syndroid wasn’t on my agenda.”
Suddenly, hands gripped Ria’s arms, yanking her upward.
Another syndroid had come out of nowhere.
The robot’s hands curled around her neck, cutting off her air. It lifted her off the floor and she kicked wildly, trying to reach the syn. Her face turned red.
Zayn scrambled to get to his feet. The syndroid kicked out, catching him in the shoulder. The pain sent him to his knees, nausea rushing through him.
No. He had to help Ria.
He heard her choking sounds. He managed to get upright, blood streaming freely down his left arm. She was still fighting the machine, but it just held her with its superior strength.
Zayn charged. He took a few running steps, then tackled the syndroid. All three of them crashed to the floor. The droid kept its hard grip on Ria’s neck.
“Let her go, you tin can.” Zayn slammed a fist into the droid’s black face. It didn’t react.
Standing up, he slammed a boot down on the syndroid. Again. Again.
It released Ria.
She rolled away, coughing and gagging. She sucked in deep breaths between harsh coughs.
The syndroid swiveled its head. Zayn didn’t see any eyes, but he knew the flame-burned son of bitch was looking at him.
It took a step forward and he took one backward. It strode closer and he kept backing up. He grabbed the bag attached to his waist and tossed it at Ria. It hit at her feet.
“Get out of here.”
She coughed again. “Always…trying to be a hero.” Then she bent over the droid she’d stabbed to save him. Using her blade again, she started hacking at the droid. What the hell?
Then the syndroid stalking him stopped and raised an arm. That whirr again—another damn sound to haunt Zayn’s dreams. If he survived to have any more dreams.
A stunner appeared at the end of the droid’s arm.
“Zayn!”
He looked over to see something flying at him.
The last droid’s arm. With sword attached.
He grabbed it, held it in front of him like a lance, and charged.
The sword pierced the syndroid’s stomach. Zayn pulled back and stabbed again. The light behind the droid’s eye area dimmed, flickered, and then went black.
God. He pushed the sword away. The syndroid fell backward, the sword still lodged in it. He stumbled back a few steps, then spun, looking for Ria.
Her hair had come loose and was a tangled cloud around her face. Her neck was covered in red marks that would bruise if they couldn’t get to a medscope in time. But she was alive. Gloriously alive.
He strode toward her, and she met him halfway. He swept her close, pressing his face into her hair. “Damn, that was close.”
She nodded, her hands clutching his shoulders.
“You’re okay?”
She nodded again, then pulled back. “But you’re hurt.” She probed his shoulder wound. “God, Zayn, you’re still bleeding.”
He watched her tug at his robes until they fell off his body. He wore cargo trousers and a black T-shirt underneath. She ripped some fabric off the robes and balled it up over his wound.
“It’s deep.” She wrapped more fabric around his shoulder and arm to hold it all in place.
“I’ll live. And when we get back to the Infinitas, you can play nurse.” He shot her a hopeful look.
She shook her head, then walked over to pick up the bag he’d tossed at her. She opened it and they both stared at the still intact derringer they’d come for. “How about we get the hell out of here?”
“Best idea you’ve had all day.” He glanced at the main door. “Doesn’t look like we can head back that way.”
“I saw some other smaller doorways marked on the map. Back this way.” She led him over to a side wall. The first door opened soundlessly.
Zayn moved through it, then jerked to a halt.
“What is it?” she demanded, trying to look around him.
But as he stared at the cell and the table and chains in the center, all he could see was his worst nightmare.
“Zayn?” What was wrong with him?
Ria watched as he gripped the doorjamb with fingers that turned white. He stared into the interrogation room like all he saw was horror.
She scanned the empty room, bile rising in her throat. She’d heard the whispers about torture, that the Guild kept master interrogators hidden away. She hadn’t wanted to believe it.
Zayn took a staggering step forward, his face twisted with pain. “This is the place.”
The place? Ria frowned. Then it hit her.
Oh no.
He dropped to his knees, the muscles in his neck straining. “She suffered here. She died here. I killed her, and every time I think that maybe I can move past it, it hits me again.” He slammed his hands against the concrete floor.
Ria circled him and went down on her knees. “I’m here, Zayn. You aren’t alone to deal with this. What happened wasn’t your fault. When are you going to realize that?”
His gaze was on that metal table, his eyes stark. Then he looked at Ria and frowned. “Vik? I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
Ria felt an uncomfortable roll in her stomach. Words didn’t come, only hurt.
“Shit.” Zayn rubbed his eyes. “Ria. I know you’re Ria.”
“It’s okay.” Except her heart was breaking. Deep down, he would always see another woman when he looked at her.
“No.” He gripped her shoulders. “I see you, Ria. I like your courage, your smarts, your style. I respect the hell out of you for taking on the Guild and fighting for your freedom. Yes, you look like Vik, but you aren’t her. You’re different.”
With a sigh, Ria pressed her forehead against his. He’d just had a bad moment, in the place that had haunted him for years. She couldn’t hold his confusion against him.
“When we get out of here and you’ve dealt with the Guild.
You’re coming home with me.” There was an intensity in his eyes.
Or maybe desperation. “Maybe we’ll take a vacation first. Ever been to Duna?
The water is azure blue and the sands as white as sugar.
I’ll teach you to surf, we’ll skinny dip at night and make love in the waves. ”
“Sounds magical.” It did. Ria wanted that. She wanted him. She’d been fighting to find something worthwhile in her life. She now suspected loving this man was that thing.
“After a rest, we’ll head out on a hunt. There are so many places I want to show you. You’ll make a damn good treasure hunter.”
She smiled. “I’d like to give it a try.”
He smiled now. It was a little crooked, but she could see he was getting himself together.
“We have to go now.” She wedged an arm under his shoulder and they helped each other stand. “We have to walk through more rooms like this, and stars know what else we’ll see.”
His jaw tightened. “I can do it.”
They skirted the table. He paused for a second, his fingers brushing the metal surface. “Goodbye, Viktoria.”
Ria swallowed the lump in her throat and opened the next door. They passed through another room with multiple chains attached to the walls. Then another with trays full of implements of torture.
Then they made it into another hallway. This one was stark, blinding white.
She glanced at her Sync. “That way.” She pointed to a set of doors near the end of the hall. There was a strong scent in the hall. One that reminded her of the Guild’s Medical wing where they got patched up after a mission.
At the doors, she saw the symbol carved on the front. A small dagger inside a circle. She gasped.
“What is it?” he asked.
She stroked the symbol. “This is the children’s area.” She swallowed. She’d always wondered what was behind here, her own memories dimmed by time. Could she handle seeing the small children in training, babies learning how to kill? Could she see them and know that right now, she couldn’t help them?
“We have to go through here,” she said.
“We’ll come back. Once we’re out of here, we’ll work on finding a way to stop what the Guild does to children.”
Ria looked up at the man she suspected she was falling in love with. She had no experience with love, but if the jumble of bright feelings and possibilities inside her wasn’t love, she couldn’t imagine anything stronger. “Thank you.”
This time Zayn pushed the door open.
She walked in and frowned.
Long rows of large, clear tanks lined the long room. Tubes snaked from the top of the tanks up to the roof, all filled with different colored fluids.
There were bodies floating in all the tanks.
She walked to the first tank. A young woman floated in there, her dark hair streaming up in the water like an inky cloud. The tubes entered her body at various places.
“Where are the kids?” Ria looked at Zayn. “What the hell is this?”