Chapter 22
Chapter twenty-two
Athick wedge dug into Wynn’s stomach, and the need to vomit crawled up her throat. Omph. Omph. Omph. The repetitive movement made each motion worse than the last. Blood rushed to her head.
Wynn groaned, trying to get away from the pain, when something tightened around her legs. She stiffened. Where the hell am I?
Sunlight pierced the visor of her helmet when she forced her eyes open, adding to the ache in her head. She was upside down, and the way the world spun brown, white, and blue around her made the contents of her stomach surge.
Visor? She wore a UV-suit, but didn’t remember putting it on.
Omph. Omph. Omph. The movement and pain continued. I’m being carried.
The man who wore a flight-suit.
His shoulder dug into her stomach with every step. His name eluded her for a moment, but then she remembered what Iax had told her.
Iax! Her struggles increased, her body thrashing. She searched for him on the horizon, her skin breaking out in a cold sweat.
He’d killed Iax. She’d watched the entire thing, stood frozen in horror, screamed when Sawyer shot him in the head. He hadn’t even hesitated. Iax had been unconscious, defenseless, and this man had shot him point-blank.
He hadn’t needed to do it. Profound sadness and rage shimmered through her body, her limbs shaking.
Evil. Evil. Evil.
She squirmed again, using her hands to push against his back and helmet, trying to break his hold.
“Settle down, or I’ll do more than stun you.” His voice came through her helmet interface, right into her ear.
The threat dried the moisture in her throat. She couldn’t get the sight of spraying blood out of her mind, couldn’t get a grip on the spiraling world around her. It morphed with her memories of Foster’s death, becoming one grotesque scene of red and white and teeth and terror.
Pressing her lips together, she stifled the sob bubbling up her throat.
Sawyer Knox wasn’t a defender. His flight-suit was all black instead of their silver and white uniform, and she hadn’t been able to see his face through the visor of his helmet. He’d appeared more inhuman than Iax.
Where was he taking her? She swallowed against twisting fear.
The sun beamed through the empty space between the clouds, highlighting the icy, wet ground. A bulky black mound contrasted with the melting snow, catching her eye. She stilled. Iax. A sob burst from her lips.
He’d been living and breathing not an hour ago.
Sawyer’s arm tightened painfully around her legs. “What is he to you?” The helmet’s interface warped his voice, giving it a mechanical quality.
She didn’t have an answer.
Each painful step brought them closer to the cruiser. A knot of nausea reformed in the pit of her battered stomach. She couldn’t stop staring at where Iax lay, while pressure built in her chest. Sawyer hadn’t needed to kill him, no matter what his orders were. Iax hadn’t carried a weapon.
The black mound twitched. Her breath caught in her throat.
He’s moving. He’s alive.
Those two sentences formed a mantra in her head, her heart beating so hard it felt like it would burst from her chest. She didn’t look away from where Iax lay, afraid she had imagined it.
But no, he rolled to his side, revealing the spray of blood beneath him.
Her ribs tightened painfully. Wynn turned away and saw they were way too close to Sawyer’s ship. The door slid open at their approach.
It felt imperative that she didn’t get on that cruiser, but if Iax might have a chance at getting away, then the man carrying her couldn’t know he survived. She forced her body to slump even though his shoulder dug into her more.
The sound of the wind diminished as he pushed her through the door. Wynn’s legs gave out, and she found a bench beneath her ass, stopping her fall.
The instinct to escape fell upon her, and she pushed herself up on wobbling feet. She hadn’t taken one step toward the door when a hand pressed beneath the edge of her helmet, closing around her throat.
“Do you want to get stunned again?” His harsh question stabbed her between her ears.
Automatically, her hands pulled at his, trying to gain space to breathe properly, but he held her too tight. The door closed behind him, blocking out the sunlight. A haze shimmered around her vision, then stars sparkled and disappeared in flashes.
I’m going to pass out. Blackness crept in little by little. He’s going to kill me.
His fingers tightened for a moment, then he gave her a small shake and let go. Wynn collapsed on the bench, gasping for breath, and rubbed at the pain lingering in her neck.
By the stars, this guy was a fucking asshole. Worse even. She just couldn’t think of a better insult.
As her vision cleared, the cruiser’s details came into view.
From the outside, it had looked like a regular cruiser, something someone could rent if they had enough creds.
Inside told a different story. It was sleek enough to transport the Chancellor himself.
Plush upholstery, shiny terminals, lush carpet from bulkhead to bulkhead—it all spoke of an out-of-reach wealth.
She turned her head, refocusing on where Sawyer had gone. He sat in front of the main terminal, with an empty seat beside him. The viewer showed familiar terrain stretching as far as the eye could see, those ominous clouds advancing so quickly that she couldn’t see the tether in the distance.
But Iax was out there, and he wasn’t dead.
Two desires warred within her, one that wanted to protect Iax, the other for her to escape. She bent her head, desperation giving way to hopelessness. How was she supposed to get out of this? Did this man’s arrival have something to do with Iax? The timing couldn’t have been a coincidence.
She thought of those blood tests in her data banks and would have given almost anything to erase them—to erase everything that had happened over the past few days to protect both her and Iax.
Wynn wrapped her arms around herself and breathed through the dread in her chest and the pain in her throat.
The air in her UV-suit tasted stale and dead despite the readout saying it was normal.
She couldn’t take a proper breath, wanted to retract her helmet, but since he hadn’t removed his, neither did she.
The sound of the ship powering up hummed around her. Wynn’s heart raced, panicked breaths slipping between her lips.
“Where are you taking me?” Her voice didn’t sound right.
“Buckle up,” was the only thing Sawyer said.
The ship hovered before she could follow the order. Wynn lurched to the right, bracing her hand against the bulkhead. The angle of the ship changed sharply before the momentum stopped.
“No fucking way.”
Sawyer’s stunned statement dragged Wynn’s attention to the front viewer.
It was Iax. Standing in front of her outpost. And he held a weapon in his hand, the muzzle pointed at the ground.
Vision blurring, she braced a hand on the bulkhead beside her to stay upright while her heart surged with joy. She hadn’t imagined him moving out there. Somehow he’d survived a shot to the head. She couldn’t believe it.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest, and she swayed. He’d been outside too long. He needed radiation medicine, regeneration gauze, and whatever she could do for his head injury.
The stillness that had gripped the interior of the cruiser broke when Iax lifted the weapon.
“Motherfucker.” Sawyer spat the word, his hand accessing the tactical display on the control panel.
A sound hummed from all around her, weapons charging.
Wynn’s vision darkened. “No!” she screamed and dove forward.
His elbow shot out, connecting with her tender stomach. Oof. Her body snapped backward, all the air leaving her lungs. She stumbled back, then fell on her ass, gasping for breath.
Two shots pulsed from the ship. Divvd. Divvd.
“No,” she shouted again, lurching to her feet, using the bulkhead for balance.
“Shit,” her escort growled, then fired again. Divvd divvd divvd.
Her eyes froze on the viewer. It seemed impossible, but Iax dodged out of the line of fire. The shots hit her outpost, first near the entrance, then their quarters, turning it into a smoking pile of rubble. Her stomach swooped, then rose in her throat.
But Iax was running, still alive.
He spun abruptly. A shot pulsed from Sawyer’s discarded weapon.
Tuvvd. It hit the hull, and the ship listed to the left.
Wynn braced her hand against the bulkhead.
It wasn’t enough to keep her balance. The world upended, and she fell to the side and rolled.
She didn’t know which way was up. She braced herself against the deck when her gaze landed on the main terminal at the front of the ship.
The control panel glowed red with warnings. Lights flashed.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
Sawyer righted them, then tracked toward where Iax stood in front of the greenhouse, the ship’s engines purring as it tilted.
Another weapons lock, and weapons surged. Divvd. Divvd. Divvd. Divvd.
He fired continuously. She couldn’t see Iax within the torrent, but her greenhouse shattered into a million pieces. Shards, and green, and metal, and dirt.
“Stop!” she screamed. “Please stop!” She dove at Sawyer again.
His hand shot out and landed dead center on her chest. Wynn struggled, trying to free herself from his grip, then her entire body shook. Her vision hazed to black.
He’d used a shocker on her. She wondered why it surprised her.
Out of the corner of her eye, the ship tilted, and so did her world.
Then her vision blackened to nothing.