Now, they tore through the back streets, passing seedy clubs and bars with flickering red lights and scantily dressed women standing in the windows, posing like mannequins. Maybe they fucking were—he wouldn’t put it past anyone in Lunar City to taxidermize women and prop them in windows. Breasts a little too perky, smiles a little too frozen, limbs a little too stiff.
They sped over bumps, forcing her to hold onto him tighter.
He tapped his helmet display. Coordinates lit the visor, overlaying the dark streets as he whizzed by. He blew through a red light, narrowly missing a truck. Vesperin yelled behind him, the sound barely heard over the wind, her fists knocking into his ribs.
Eventually, they came to a stop in a dark, unlit stretch of dirt road. He dismounted smoothly and removed his helmet, watching her wobble slightly as she stayed seated.
"Need a hand? I thought you rode?" His double meaning was deliberate.
She growled softly and stood, pulling off her helmet. The mask beneath the helmet covered her nose and mouth, leaving only her narrowed grey eyes visible.
Hazy air rushed past them, teasing strands of her white hair around her face.
It was chillier tonight. Especially with how he’d ridden past the packed, inner-city into the outskirts.
Block 177. Where the real crime lay. Lunar City was rife with corruption, but the trafficking, torture, drugs, snuff films, unlicensed augmentations, black-market organ deals, illegal galactic bounty exchanges—therealterrible shit—belonged to the outer blocks. 100 and beyond.
The inner blocks operated below the city. Block 4 was notorious for its skin trade, but never in the light of day.
Good thing Rhyden was the biggest predator this city had.
He jerked his chin toward the tall chain-link fence. "Let’s go. Remember, keep quiet. I can’t be held responsible for what happens to you here if you don’t obey."
He turned, not checking to see if she followed. He didn’t need to. Hesmelledher, heard the sound of her hushed footsteps over the packed dirt and gravel. He stopped at a small tear in the fence, throwing out an arm to halt her, forcing her to bump into his back.
He listened for the hum of electricity. Nothing.
He had half a fucking mind to force Vesperin to go first, but it made something in his gut tighten at the thought of her being electrocuted. Just to be sure…
Rhyden tapped the hidden earpiece attached to the side of his skull. "All clear?"
"All good, boss," Miro answered. "Power went out an hour ago. Reports of an electrician falling into a web of wires off a skytower, taking out some lines. No power in Block 177—for now. Make it quick, though."
"Copy," Rhyden murmured, not believing their fucking luck. "How many bodies on the inside?"
Gravel crunched as Vesperin came to stand by his side, eyeing him curiously. Probably wondering why Rhyden brought her here. He didn’t know himself.
He’d just overheard her with Auren—her quiet plea to escape. Rhyden intended to be the one to answer it.
He lied to himself that this was the perfect opportunity to get them closer to each other, so he could make her want him, get his revenge by ripping the rug out from under her feet whenever she felt safe.
"Thermal sensors detect seven. Could be more. There’s a…" Miro paused. "Hang on. Let me look at this. Shit! Detecting interference. There’s a strange energy signature. Too big to be a body. It’s fucking with the reading."
"Dammit. Fine. Let me know if anything changes," Rhyden spat, then disengaged the connection. He could reopen the line if needed, and Miro or Daryk could, too, if they needed to give him quick info. Otherwise, Rhyden preferred the silence. No distractions.
He was seething as he stared at the aperture in the fence.
"What did he say?" she asked, tense.
"We’ll need to be more careful than I fucking thought. Stick by me." Before Rhyden could think it through, his hand fell to her shoulder, fingers curling into her nape and tugging her into him. She stayed silent; though, he saw her eyes spark. "I mean it. We don’t know what we’re dealing with in there."
"In there? What’s in there? What is this, Rhyden?"
A low howl cut through the night air, and the sound of metal shrieking pierced the quiet sounds of her breathing.
Vesperin stiffened. "What was that?"
"You know what it was, wife. I don’t think you’re that naive, are you?"
