Page 132 of Tempting Fate

Zyamzh had never looked like this. Multiple assaults on the protective dome turned the whole thing into a network of crackling, fractured lines. Beyond it, the night lit up with streaks of blaster fire from outside the village, deep blues and reds in solid lines, tinting the sparse clouds into unnatural smears across the black sky. The walls’ deflector shields still glowed blue, but they were faint in places, and the proximity wards at ground level flashed red.

It was impossible to tell who was where or how to judge a safe time to run. Five armoured shaa’ith ran right past us, and we pressed our backs to the wall. A gloved hand brushed my arm in passing.

My whimper layered with shouts layered with weaponsfire, all of it taking me back to the riot, the crush of people, the fear, the uncertainty, until cold chills gripped my chest, and I froze.

Airida squeezed my hand tight. His breath skimmed my ear, voice low and soothing. “Imani Adeyemi, listen to me. You’re going to grip my hand, and you’re going to run. And once we’re safe, you can tell me off for giving you orders. Now move. I’ve got you.”

He started in a slow jog, and my legs moved of their own volition. But I was slow, and the blaster fire was loud.

A huge crash sounded behind us. The central mast, the linchpin of the protective dome, pulsed with static as a pair of small assault bikes hovered overhead, bombarding it with energy pulses. With every direct hit, the dome fractured a little more.

“Keep going,” Airida murmured.

Down the path. Towards the gardens. Just get to the next flowerbed.

A stray bolt streaked past us, hitting a large tree, sending it up in flames.

Airida snarled and swept me up in a fireman’s carry. Each jolt of his feet on the earth shook my bones, and I clung tighter, unable to tear my eyes away from the ongoing battle.

The mast exploded in a screaming, rending cacophony. Against the backdrop of flames, through the rapidly growing hole in the dome, a cloud of sparkling, smoking shadow flowed into the village and entered the nearest house.

Stalker.

I tapped frantically on Airida’s back. “Run faster.”

His voice carried to me over the ringing in my ears. “Which way?”

“Down. Past all the ruins. Towards the lake.”

She’s looking in the village. She can’t see us. They won’t find us.

As we dropped lower, down the slope, the terrain muffled the sounds. The insects of the night air chirruped, as if encouraging us.

Airida’s breaths came heavier and his stride slowed.

“Put me down,” I croaked. “I’ve got it from here.” But in the dark I couldn’t be sure where the entrance was. “It’s around here somewhere.”

Airida stumbled. The earth gave a deep groan, a creak of tree roots and shifting rocks.

He lurched forwards. “I think I have found it.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Going Deeper

Airida

I CLUTCHED IMANI to my chest, squeezing tight, and we fell together.

Rock walls jutted out, catching on my pack, my arms, sending us flying into the other wall. I turned my body as best I could, taking the brunt of the impacts, gripping my mate as we slid down dirt and scree, down, down, into the bowels of the planet.

We landed with a bone-jarring thump I’d be feeling for days.

I cradled Imani’s soft form on top of me, catching my breath. My spines ached, and I’d be bruised, but I didn’t care about me. “Imani? Are you well?”

She shifted, groaning. “I think so.”

The cave we’d landed in was more like a small room, with flat-hewn rock walls. Dim moonlight streaked in from the hole far above us.