Page 40 of The Quoram Effect

The man’s strong body writhed and jerked as I struggled to detain his arms. A growl expanded from his chest, and he knocked the gun from my hand, sending it towards the water’s edge. I sent a fist to his neck, the impact pausing his movements long enough for me to gain dominance. Locking my thighs around his chest, I reached for one of my daggers sheathed on my leg.

As I pressed the sharp tip to his exposed throat, his hands shot up in surrender, and a voice I recognised panicked beneath the helmet.

“Shit, Remi. It’s me. It’s me!”

Taken aback, I wrenched his dark helmet off, meeting the pale-blue eyes of Chaz.

Chapter Twenty

“What the hell, Chaz?” I leapt to my feet, staring down at our Puran contact—the man Torz had worked with and trusted for years.

Feigning a smile, he slowly lowered his hands and propped himself up on his elbows. “Hey, Remi, my sweet.”

“Don’t, ‘Remi, my sweet,’me!” I snarled, keeping my voice low. “What the fuck are you playing at?” Glancing in every direction, I was thankful the willow tree’s thick-leaved branches obscured us from prying eyes.

“I needed to talk to you. To Torz.” Chaz’s usual playful expression was dulled by a desperation emanating from him. His sandy-blond hair stuck to his forehead, the scruff on his jaw days old.

A gunshot rang out nearby, and we both flinched, suddenly aware of a shadow looming beyond the bowing branches. I snatched up my second gun and twisted in its direction. A scuffle of feet had me tightening my grip before Saul pushed through the leaves, his gun raised.

A yelp and a groan had us spinning to the opposite side, to where Torz appeared through the wall of green leaves, pressing his gun into the neck of a black-clad woman. Clasping a fresh wound on her arm, the detainee was clearly the attacker I had shot. But she no longer wore the helmet. Her eyes were wide, petrified, and she instantly locked them on Chaz, silently pleading for help.

The snarl on Torz’s face echoed his fury, but when he recognised the man lying on the mossy ground, a jab of betrayal rang through our bond.

“You need to explain!” he growled, prompting Chaz to swallow thickly before raising his hands again in surrender.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Torz, believe me.” Chaz scrambled to his feet, his palms still raised. “It was the only way I could get here. There’s been a flight lockdown on Pura in the past week.”

“I know. The lockdown is to stop terrorists from causing havoc,” Torz spat. “Your people are really not doing themselves any favours at the moment. I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to join them.”

“I haven’t! Just listen to me.” Chaz’s breaths were short and ragged—panicked, even. “I needed to talk to you. Radio signal is blocked, and the only way I could get here was to pretend to be one of those terrorists.”

I frowned. “You’re not making sense, Chaz.”

He rested his eyes on me, the pale blue pleading with me to understand. “The attacks…they’re not Puran-driven. People like Lainie”—he nodded to the woman Torz held captive— “made a deal with some rich bastard to cause destructivedistractionsin specific places on targeted individuals. In return, the families of those who sign up will be spared from whatever shitstorm is about to come into effect following the Debate Gala.”

I didn’t recognise the petite, injured woman, but judging by the way she kept her eyes locked on Chaz, it was obvious she admired him, maybe even revered him. I doubted she’d look at Russo with the same respect. But it proved she was a standard Puran citizen. A human living in desperation, wanting to fight for her family. If I had been in her position, would I have taken the same deal to save those I loved?Probably.

“Distractions?” Torz asked, pulling my attention to his sceptical scowl.

“Yes. Cause a lot of noise but never kill.” Chaz’s eyebrows quirked. “Although, some people have gotten hurt, and a few Purans killed in retaliation.”

I froze, recalling the three Purans I’d murdered. At the time, I was certain they would’ve killed Marla, if not me. What was Chaz saying? That their words, their aggression, had all been feigned? Surely, they’d known they’d meet resistance.

Gods, had they intended to die?

“I still don’t follow, Chaz,” Torz snapped. “With the flight lockdown, how did you get here?”

“Look, some rich bastard comes to Pura every couple of days, recruiting a small group of people to cause thesedistractions. Apparently, it’s been happening for a month or so. I was only made aware of it a few days ago by Lainie, here.” The Puran woman was trembling under Torz’s hold, tears threatening to spill at any moment. “Once signed up, the enlistees are herded into a spaceship under the ruse of being arrested. The ship leaves Puran airspace with no lockdown obstructions, then docks with another ship near Custopys. From there, the recruits are sent to their allotted attack locations.”

“So, you’ve been given an assignment...to attack someone? Who?”

“Some governor’s kid.” Chaz rubbed his face in frustration. “Look...it doesn’t matter. Lainie and I aren’t going to follow through. I only came to speak to you. Like I said, it was the only way I could get here without breaking the lockdown law and being arrested—bizarrely.”

“Let me get this straight.” Baffled, Torz shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Purans are causingfakeattacks to frighten certain individuals.”