Page 60
Tambi grabbed my arm. “We breach together, and we work together. You die because you’re working off testosterone rage and whatever spicy hormone has you jacked up, and I have to explain to Cass why her boyfriend got himself killed.”
“I’m not her... boyfriend.”
“You are so her boyfriend. Mate. Whatever.”
“Or do you prefer fuck buddy with benefits?” Doc asked. “Lover boy. Honey bun. Permanent squeeze. Hot—”
“He gets it, Doc.” Tambi nudged her. “Stay focused.”
She lifted a hand as we all moved. “Just saying. Labels matter.”
I went first, Tambi next, Doc behind Monica. The young Kelvane hung back, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.
I glanced at Tambi. “On three. You go left, Monica goes right, I cover center. Doc, stay on the threshold until we call clear.” I gestured for the Kelvane to open the door with his keycard.
Doc held up fingers. One. Two. Three.
The door opened.
Cass was on the floor against the far wall, bloodied, one arm up, still swinging. A broad Kelvane stood over her with his fist cocked back. A taller one had a weapon drawn and was turning toward the door.
I crossed the room in three strides and hit the broad Kelvane low and hard to get him away from Cass. We crashed into the wall. He was built solid, and he fought dirty, driving his knee into my ribs, his elbow into the side of my head.
I barely registered it. I got my hand around his throat and put him into the concrete. The impact cracked the surface under his skull. He swung his fist, connecting with my jaw. I took the blow and squeezed until his eyes bulged and his hands stopped grabbing and started clawing.
Behind me, Monica and Tambi handled the other asshole. I caught the fight in fragments. A weapon discharge. Monica’s shoulder check. Tambi’s voice, cold and level, saying, “Drop it, motherfucker. Drop it now or die.” A clatter of metal on concrete. Tambi again: “Face down. Hands behind your head.”
The Kelvane under my hand stopped fighting. His mouth opened and closed without making a sound.
“Rennick!” Doc’s voice was suddenly close. “He’s down. Let go, or he dies.”
I didn’t want to let go. I wanted to crush his throat until the cartilage collapsed and make him suffer the same way he hurt Cass.
“He’s done.” Doc tried again. “Cass needs you. Go to her. Let go of this cocksucker.”
I dropped him, and he gasped. Doc jabbed a knee into his groin and stuck him with a needle, making him go limp.
Cass! My heart throbbed with our bond, filtering through the Hollow Chorus.
She was against the wall. Her face swollen, blood matted in her hair, one arm wrapped around her ribs. Her knuckles were split open, and her right leg stretched out stiff in front of her, the thigh swollen tight. She breathed in short, shallow pulls that told me her ribs were cracked. Maybe worse.
But her eyes were open. And when I dropped to my knees in front of her, she swung at me. I caught her fist an inch from my jaw. Her fingers were ice cold, trembling, locked into a shape that had been fighting for too long to remember how to stop.
I wrapped both hands around her fist and held it against my chest. “Cass, it’s me.”
Her eyes focused, and the fight drained out of her arm until her hand opened against my shirt.
“Took you long enough. You almost missed the party. I was winning, right?” Her voice was a raspy wheeze as her gaze met mine.
The bond cracked open like a door neither of us had the strength to hold shut. And it wasn’t due to the ship’s damaged architecture this time. It was just us. Her pain flooded through me, sharp and brutal, and underneath it, her relief was so fierce it burned into me and branded my heart.
I pulled her against me carefully, got one arm under her shoulders and the other around her back, and I held on.
She let me hold her. Her forehead dropped against my collarbone, and her breathing changed.
“Doc!” I called. “Cass needs you.”
Doc was there a second later, crouched beside us. Her hands were gentle and fast, checking Cass’s pupils, pressing along her ribcage, assessing her leg. Her scanner bleeped several times.
