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3
COSMA
“Shit. No. Not good. Shit.”
I backed slowly away from the advancing soldiers as I wrestled with my weapon. I’d lost sight of Soleil when I’d tripped over a guard that she’d dispatched. By the time I got to my feet, she was already around the corner and two soldiers had appeared out of nowhere, blocking my way.
I could hear fighting up ahead, and I assumed Soleil was engaged in her own fight. A pang of guilt coursed through me. If she was counting on me to have her back, she was about to be let down. But that hardly seemed like the first thing I needed to be worrying about as my adversaries chattered amiably, closing the distance and leveling their weapons at me.
For better or worse, they didn’t seem to be in any hurry to kill me. But then, from what I knew about their operation, they probably wanted me alive for one of their breeding programs. The thought sent a shiver down my spine and I cursed again under my breath.
There was some kind of door off to one side. When Soleil and I had come through moments earlier, it had been locked. Other than that, my only escape would be to turn tail and run as fast as I could down the full length of the hall to round the corner at the opposite end of the building. It would be a colossal risk, and it would mean exposing my back to my assailants all the way. I doubted they would keep up the friendly chatter if I made a break for it, and I also doubted I was fast enough to outrun them if it came right down to speed. I just couldn’t bring myself to take my eyes off of them.
I moved slowly backward, feeling behind me for every step, praying I wouldn’t trip over anything else and land flat on my ass. That was the last thing I needed at a time like this. Fortunately, I kept my feet and my balance, and I whispered a silent prayer of thanks for getting this far.
Suddenly, there was a strange pop behind me, and something buzzed past my head. I ducked reflexively, and my jaw dropped open as one soldier halted his advance before hitting the ground. The other soldier shouted in surprise and raised his weapon, unleashing a burst of rounds that went over my head.
I flattened myself against the wall, sliding down until my butt touched the ground, terrified as another pop burst over my head and the second soldier dropped. My weapon remained clutched tightly to my chest, unused.
“What the fuck?” I breathed, expecting to see Tayla or one of the other women from our ship coming to my rescue.
However, as my eyes traveled up from the ground, the air whooshed straight out of my lungs and I sat frozen, staring up into the golden eyes of a man unlike any I’d ever seen before.
His skin was the deep burgundy of a fine wine, and his face was marked with strange, metallic gold tattoos that set off the color of his eyes. In all my life, I’d never seen a tattoo so striking and bold, nor had I seen any with the strange metallic glint that his had. Long braids tied with gold thread and beads hung about his shoulders. Where his left arm should have been, there was some kind of machine, buzzing and clicking as it moved in perfect synchronicity with the rise and fall of his chest. And his chest was truly something to behold, rippling with muscles.
My mouth went dry and I couldn’t help but stare. Part of me wanted to throw my weapon at him and run away as fast as I could before he hurt me. But some other part of me wanted to throw myself at him and see if that broad chest of his was as delightfully firm as it looked.
“Good timing,” he said, standing over me and offering his hand.
He hoisted me to my feet, setting me upright with hardly an effort, and I gaped at him. I had so many questions, but I didn’t know where to begin.
“Who are you? Where did you come from?” I managed, following in his wake as he took long, purposeful strides down the hall. I didn’t know why I was following him, except that I was afraid of being alone again, and more afraid that if I went back the way I’d come, there would be more soldiers.
“Not important. You should get out of here. There’ll be more of them.”
“Hang on a second. I can’t just go.”
“Suit yourself. But as a general rule, I don’t save anyone more than once. You’ve already had one for free. Don’t expect me to be there next time.”
“Excuse me? I wasn’t expecting anything, least of all for you to save me. But I need to get back to my friends, and we are traveling in the same direction. Besides, you seem to know what you’re doing.”
“Lucky me.” He shot me a look over his shoulder that told me he was not altogether fond of this idea, but it wasn’t as if he could prevent me from following him at the moment. “Just don’t get in my way.”
I scoffed at the ridiculousness of his demand but he was already marching ahead, outpacing me with every step. I nearly had to jog to keep up as he moved down the hall, checking every window and door as he went.
Suddenly, he pulled open a door, made a sound of approval low in his throat, and then disappeared inside.
“Hey!” I shouted after him, yanking the door open to reveal a staircase.
He was already up on the next landing, and I hesitated. I saw no signs of Soleil out in the hall, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still down there. On the other hand, her instructions to me had been clear. We needed to get to the top of the tallest building, and that meant climbing as many sets of stairs as it took to find the bastards in charge of this outfit.
Panting, I climbed the stairs after him, cursing him for moving so quickly, and cursing myself for being so out of shape. By the third landing, I was getting suspicious. It seemed my rescuer was on a mission very similar to my own, and the last thing I wanted was for him to barge in on Soleil at the top and start shooting indiscriminately.
“Hey,” I huffed, wincing as a cramp shot through my side, slowing me down even further while I tried to suck in a deep breath and steady myself. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“What does it look like?” he answered gruffly.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Looks like you’re looking for something.”
