Page 186 of Star Bringer
Another guard falls, dead, at my feet, and I smother a scream. A modicum of self-preservation squeaks through the grief, and I push myself up to my hands and knees, start crawling down the hallway, through the blood and the burned flesh littering the floor in all directions.
I don’t know what’s going on here, don’t have a clue who has found their way into the palace to take on my mother’s and Dr. Veragelen’s guards. And I don’t care, as long as they don’t kill me, too. Because I’m not going down unless I can destroy my mother and Dr. Veragelen in the process. They deserve to lose everything for what they’ve done.
But first, I have to escape. Laser fire and screams continue to fly around me, so I stay as low to the ground as I can, remembering what Ian taught me. There’s a corner up ahead, a hallway that leads away from this one, and it’s my present goal. Get there and get out of the line of fire. For now. Everything else can wait.
I’m almost there—maybe three meters away—when a pair of worn boots appears right in front of me. At first, I don’t realize what I’m looking at, but then the shooting stops. And the person attached to the boots squats down.
“Looks like you got yourself in a real jam this time,” a familiar voice says. “What do you say we blow this place, Princess?”
Ian. It’s Ian. He’s still alive, and—despite everything—he’s come to get me.
Chapter 80
Ian
“Everything clear?” I call to Merrick, who’s at the other end of the hallway, laser gun still drawn as he peers around a corner.
“Looks like it,” he calls back.
Good. It only took us mowing down about twenty Imperial guards to do it—maybe some Corporation security guys—but that’s no skin off my nose. I’ve wanted to shoot more than a few of these guys for a long time now.
“Okay, then, Princess.” I pull her into my arms and then stand back up. “Ready to go?”
“You’re alive,” she whispers, one trembling hand reaching out to touch my cheek like she can’t believe it.
And fuck. I’ve been so mad at her for what feels like ages now. I’m still mad at her. But when she looks at me like that, all wide-eyed and tear-stained, it’s hard to remember why I’m angry. Hard to remember anything but the way it feels when she’s in my arms.
“Sorry to bust up this happy little reunion.”Max’s sarcastic voice floods my head.“But Beckett and I are holding off another thirty guards or so up here on our own. If you’d like to help.”
“You act like it’s hard,” I say, but I’m already striding down the hall, stepping over dead bodies as I go.
Merrick’s ahead of us, racing down the hallway to our access point, laser gun tracking back and forth as he looks for threats. I’ve got to say, for a priest he’s pretty damn good with that thing. No wonder they picked him to be Rain’s bodyguard.
“You think you can walk?” I ask Kali as we get closer to the door. I don’t know what’s waiting for us out there, and I need my hands free.
She nods against my chest where she’s curled up, and I reluctantly let her go. Her curves feel pretty fucking amazing sliding down my body, but I’ve got no time to concentrate on that right now. Instead, I bark, “Stay right behind me,” as I step past her.
Then the two of us are hauling ass to join Merrick, who’s waiting for us at the door, two strangled guards at his feet. We got them on our way in.
“Ready?” he asks, then glances at Kali with a smile bigger than I’ve ever seen from him. “Good to see you,” he tells her.
“Not as good as it is to see you,” she answers, and I try not to get annoyed. All I got was aYou’re alive.
“As we’ll ever be,” I snarl, then push the door open.
We walk straight into pandemonium, gunfire flying in all directions as Max and Beckett do their best to take out a whole slew of Corporation security and Imperial guards. When Max said thirty of them, he was obviously being conservative. Or maybe he was just counting the dead ones—with all the smoke floating around from our distraction grenades, it’s hard to tell.
“Where’s the ship?” Kali shouts to be heard over the gunshots.
“Right in front of us,” I tell her as we wade into the fray.
Two guards pop up from behind a huge planter box, guns leveled straight at the princess and me. Merrick takes one down while I take the other, but then three more come racing toward us.
“Give me a gun,” Kali shouts.
“Don’t have an extra one,” I shout back.
She sighs like I’m an utter disappointment, which pisses me right off, considering I’m here rescuing her ass. But what the fuck else do I expect from this woman? She’s been busting my balls from the day we met.
