“There’s nothing I can do,” Zane muttered, marching away.
“Please.” Her light footsteps rushed after him, and she dove into his path. “Please.I’ve checked all the exits, and I can’t… I’ll give you whatever you want,anything, I swear it—” As he tried to sidestep her, she blocked him, wringing her hands. “I swear it. On my aunt’s soul, I swear it, just please, please help me get out.”
Something that felt a hell of a lot like guilt settled on his chest. He glanced at the carved entrance doors and grimaced. There was no way he could sneak her out without getting shot.
Don’t get involved.
The murmured conversation near them stopped, and Zane tensed as a pair of men stared at him. Flashing a bland smile, he shifted so they could see his security badge. They looked away.
The second someone got a glimpse of her, she was dead or worse, and he was directly in the line of fire.
He gritted his teeth. Being the hero wasn’t worth it. Not at the cost of his life.
Zane stepped around her.
“Anything,” she repeated, shaking. “Anything at all.”
He paused. She’d give him all of Avington if he demanded it, everything he and Mom had dreamed of.
But there was no way she was making it out alive, and he wasn’t going down with her.
He pushed her away, muttered “sorry,” and headed towards Ancel.
Pulserfire erupted.
Zane hit the ground, twisting to reach his pulser as screams rang out. He stayed down forone, two, three, then leapt to his feet. The crowdwas screaming, racing in all directions. Dammit,dammit, they needed to get down so he could see.
Pulsers roared. Zane dropped to a crouch. Blue rings of light, stunners, blasted through the air where his head had been. Panting, he scrambled behind an overturned chair.
Hannover ran.
Stun blasts pummeled the wall behind the chair. Zane hissed, glancing around the armrest. Another volley shrieked towards him, pinning him down.
His pulser charge was at half. He hadn’t made it back to his room to plug it in for the night. Cursing, Zane flipped it to stun.
Staying was suicide. He needed a way out. Exits—doors were blocked. Vents, too high. Sewage…
Kitchen door. Twenty paces away. He could dive into the tunnels, swim to the hangar bay.
Sewage it was.
Zane lunged to his feet and charged towards the door, firing blindly behind him. “This way!” he bellowed at Hannover.
He blasted twice. Legionnaires crumpled outside the kitchen’s double doors.
He reached the golden doors and hauled one open. With sweat shining on her flushed face, Hannover sprinted towards him. Legionnaires were hot on her heels. He fired over her head.One-two-three, one-two-three.
“Chute!” he roared, flinging an arm towards the metal grate on the far wall.
Hannover charged past.
Zane slammed the door shut and bolted across the room. His hands shook on the pulser. He gasped for air, but nothing came.
Legionnaires burst through the door. Zane dropped behind a chiller, swallowing the coppery tang in his mouth.
The chute was ten steps away. As a blur of beige fabric darted towards the grate, a legionnaire lined up the shot.
Zane lunged, tackling him to the ground. He wrestled the soldier’s pulser from his hands and smashed it against his face. The manscreamed, but Zane was already moving, ducking for cover behind a counter. The blasts turned on him.
