Chapter Thirty-Eight
Reva’s big blue sun was high in the sky, and the heat was almost unbearable. Even with her helmet shielding her from the rays and keeping her suit as cool as possible, sweat poured from every surface and crevice of Gemma’s body.
“We’ve been at it for hours,” Hawk said. “We can risk a thirty-minute break.”
“Do you want to get to the outpost on time or not?” Colton argued. “Every thirty minutes adds up to hours. Sem noc?o.”
A rumble shook the ground beneath their feet.
Gemma held out her arms to steady herself as Christian raised a hand, silencing them. All five of their heads turned as if on swivels. Where in the blazes had that come from?
The ground shook again, harder this time.
“What is that?” Imara asked, her voice carrying through the mics in their helmets.
The fact that Christian didn’t respond sent a shiver down Gemma’s spine. She knew Reva had some creatures that could withstand the blistering surface temperatures, but she’d always thought they dwelled primarily in the impassable desert of the planet.
A flash of movement appeared on the horizon, and Christian’s rifle was in his hands in the fraction of a second.
Another vibration, stronger than before.
The rest of them armed themselves and braced for whatever headed their way.
Another flicker, closer this time. A flash of sunlight bounced off the creature’s body as if it was made of glass.
Christian swore. “Run! Up the hill. We need to get off flat ground.”
Gemma didn’t hesitate. Christian had been part of Perileos’ hunting party. If he told them to get off flat ground, he had to know what headed their way.
As a group, they sprinted for the rocky elevation behind them. Gemma’s breaths were loud in her ears, echoing inside the chamber of her hood. The dirt beneath their feet quaked, almost throwing them sideways.
The creature was getting closer.
Red dust billowed around Gemma’s boots as she leapt over a boulder at the base of the incline. The rocky terrain threatened to send her tumbling back down, but she dug her feet into the soil as hard as she could. Fighting against the burning in her thighs, she pushed on, running up the steep hill.
The ground shook again, as violently as a landquake.
Imara shrieked, and Gemma’s heart lurched into her throat.
She snapped her head toward the sound—Imara tumbled down the slope and collided with a boulder, her body going limp.
Screaming internally for her friend, Gemma started her own slide down the hill.
“Gemma, don’t!” Christian yelled.
She ignored him. She had to make sure Imara was okay. She couldn’t lose someone else she cared about.
A bone-jarring roar erupted from the ground. Gemma propelled backward, landing hard on her tail bone. She yelped in pain before her eyes locked onto the monstrosity before her.
Her breath hitched.
The creature’s reflective exoskeleton shimmered, momentarily blending the beast into the environment before it twisted its four legs at impossible angles.
Each paw, tipped with curved claws, scraped against the ground.
Razor-sharp spikes ran the length of its back, culminating in a tail similar to an Earthen scorpion.
But most unsettling was its head: four eyes, burning an unnatural yellow, glinted with predatory delight. Beneath them a colossal jaw gaped, revealing pointed teeth that could shatter even the largest human bone.
“Gemma, get up! Move!” Christian screamed through the mic in her helmet.
A shot from a rifle fired as the beast leaned back. Its eyes flared yellow, and Gemma spun onto her hands and knees, crawling away just as neon-green acid sprayed the spot where she’d once lain.
The fluid sizzled, melting the stone it touched. Gemma stared at the spot, frozen, picturing her flesh falling from her bones—
“They can’t climb. Get up here!” Christian yelled, snapping Gemma out of her stupor.
The beast leaned back again, its yellow eyes glowing.
Gemma took off, sprinting to her friend who still lay limp at the base of a boulder. “I’m not leaving Imara.”
“Draw it away from the girls,” Christian said to Hawk and Colton.
Gunfire sounded in rapid pops of fury as Gemma dropped to her knees and held two fingers against Imara’s carotid artery.
A strong pulse beat against Gemma’s fingertips. Imara was unconscious but alive.
The beast bellowed a challenge, its immense body scraping against the rock as it lumbered after Colton, Hawk, and Christian.
“Fire kills it,” Colton said through the mics in their helmets.
“Tried that before,” Christian replied. “Doesn’t work.”
“Then you haven’t done it right.”
Gemma tried to wake Imara, anxious to get the two of them up and away from the surface of the planet in case Colton was wrong. But Imara barely stirred.
“Brace yourselves,” Colton shouted.
A violent boom shook the world as blue fire erupted around the creature. It screamed, writhing on the ground and crying like a child calling for its mother until it stilled, its corpse blazing with cyan flames.
Whatever bomb Colton had used was wicked.
“Nice,” Hawk said as if he hadn’t just gone through the most terrifying moment of his life.
Gemma took off Imara’s helmet, despite the heat, to make sure her head wasn’t injured. She sighed in relief when there was no blood. Imara probably had a horrible concussion, but at least she hadn’t cracked her skull. These uniforms really were fantastic.
A strong hand pulled her to her feet.
“What were you thinking?” Christian scolded. “That slinger almost killed you.”
Gemma squared her shoulders. “Imara was hurt. I wasn’t going to let her get killed.”
“We would’ve coaxed the thing away from her, like we did with you.” He growled, taking Gemma aside. He took off his helmet and tapped Gemma’s, so she’d do the same.
“I need you to listen to me,” Christian said now that the others couldn’t hear them. His voice was calm, but his eyes were tight with concern.
Gemma knew he wasn’t trying to be unkind or controlling, but she still couldn’t stop herself from lashing out. “You’re not my boss. I’m good at one thing, and you’re not going to stop me from doing it.”
He ran his hand through his damp, messy hair. “I’m not stopping you, Gemma. The moment we’d taken care of that thing—”
“What if she’d been dead already?”
“And what if you’d been killed? Then what?” The tone in his voice was hardening. “What if she wasn’t dead, but because you weren’t around to help, she did die later? What if one of us needs you, but you aren’t there? Some of us don’t want to lose you.”
Gemma heard the words he wasn’t saying—that he didn’t want to lose her—and her shoulders sank.
He was right; she’d been inches from that acid. If it had been him coming that close to death, she would’ve been terrified to lose him too.
He must’ve sensed her shift in thought; he pulled her into a tight hug. She leaned into it, resting her head on his chest.
Christian kissed her hair. “You said you trusted me with your life. Trust me with theirs too.”
A flash of Christian running toward the bounty hunters, grenade in hand, passed through Gemma’s mind.
Her chest tightened, but she reminded herself that was the man she loved—the one who would literally blow himself up to save his team.
She hated that about him, but it was also the reason she’d fallen for him so hard and so fast.
There was never anyone she’d felt safer with.
Colton and Hawk tended to Imara, who had finally stirred from her stupor. She’d sat up easily enough and now leaned against the boulder.
Gemma stepped out of Christian’s embrace and, with an unspoken understanding, returned to their teammates’ sides so Gemma could assess Imara once more.