Page 60 of Star-Born Anomaly
It felt imperative that she didn’t get on that cruiser, but if Iax might have a chance at getting away, then the man carrying her couldn’t know he survived. She forced her body to slump even though his shoulder dug into her more.
The sound of the wind diminished as he pushed her through the door. Wynn’s legs gave out, and she found a bench beneath her ass, stopping her fall.
The instinct to escape fell upon her, and she pushed herself up on wobbling feet. She hadn’t taken one step toward the door when a hand pressed beneath the edge of her helmet, closing around her throat.
“Do you want to get stunned again?” His harsh question stabbed her between her ears.
Automatically, her hands pulled at his, trying to gain space to breathe properly, but he held her too tight. The door closed behind him, blocking out the sunlight. A haze shimmered around her vision, then stars sparkled and disappeared in flashes.
I’m going to pass out. Blackness crept in little by little.He’s going to kill me.
His fingers tightened for a moment, then he gave her a small shake and let go. Wynn collapsed on the bench, gasping for breath, and rubbed at the pain lingering in her neck.
By the stars, this guy was a fucking asshole. Worse even. She just couldn’t think of a better insult.
As her vision cleared, the cruiser’s details came into view. From the outside, it had looked like a regular cruiser, something someone could rent if they had enough creds. Inside told a different story. It was sleek enough to transport the Chancellor himself. Plush upholstery, shiny terminals, lush carpet from bulkhead to bulkhead—it all spoke of an out-of-reach wealth.
She turned her head, refocusing on where Sawyer had gone. He sat in front of the main terminal, with an empty seat beside him. The viewer showed familiar terrain stretching as far as the eye could see, those ominous clouds advancing so quickly that she couldn’t see the tether in the distance.
But Iax was out there, and he wasn’t dead.
Two desires warred within her, one that wanted to protect Iax, the other for her to escape. She bent her head, desperation giving way to hopelessness. How was she supposed to get out of this? Did this man’s arrival have something to do with Iax? The timing couldn’t have been a coincidence.
She thought of those blood tests in her data banks and would have given almost anything to erase them—to erase everything that had happened over the past few days to protect both her and Iax.
Wynn wrapped her arms around herself and breathed through the dread in her chest and the pain in her throat. The air in her UV-suit tasted stale and dead despite the readout saying it was normal. She couldn’t take a proper breath, wanted to retract her helmet, but since he hadn’t removed his, neither did she.
The sound of the ship powering up hummed around her. Wynn’s heart raced, panicked breaths slipping between her lips.
“Where are you taking me?” Her voice didn’t sound right.
“Buckle up,” was the only thing Sawyer said.
The ship hovered before she could follow the order. Wynn lurched to the right, bracing her hand against the bulkhead. The angle of the ship changed sharply before the momentum stopped.
“No fucking way.”
Sawyer’s stunned statement dragged Wynn’s attention to the front viewer.
It was Iax. Standing in front of her outpost. And he held a weapon in his hand, the muzzle pointed at the ground.
Vision blurring, she braced a hand on the bulkhead beside her to stay upright while her heart surged with joy. Shehadn’timagined him moving out there. Somehow he’d survived a shot to the head. She couldn’t believe it.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest, and she swayed. He’d been outside too long. He needed radiation medicine, regeneration gauze, and whatever she could do for his head injury.
The stillness that had gripped the interior of the cruiser broke when Iax lifted the weapon.
“Motherfucker.” Sawyer spat the word, his hand accessing the tactical display on the control panel.
A sound hummed from all around her, weapons charging.
Wynn’s vision darkened. “No!” she screamed and dove forward.
His elbow shot out, connecting with her tender stomach.Oof. Her body snapped backward, all the air leaving her lungs. She stumbled back, then fell on her ass, gasping for breath.
Two shots pulsed from the ship.Divvd. Divvd.
“No,” she shouted again, lurching to her feet, using the bulkhead for balance.
