Page 214 of Star Bringer
Ian reaches down to grab his gun, but I move so that I’m between him and Vix. No more shots are being fired here today unless I’m the one doing the firing. “Go!” I yell again. This time, I swing the gun around toward them, just so they know I’m an equal-opportunity asshole.
They don’t argue again. Instead, they each grab a box of weapons and haul ass up the ramp to theStarlightlike death herself is after them.
When they get to the top, they turn around and wave at me to join them. But it’s too late. I’ve already made my choice. Besides, if whatever the Corporation did to me ends up killing me, I’m going out alone. No way am I dragging Rain down with me.
But as I watch theStarlightfly off into the system without me, I can’t help wondering what happens now. And if I’ll live long enough to find out.
Chapter 93
Ian
“What the Light just happened?” Merrick demands as theStarlight’s ramp retracts behind us.
“We got fucked, that’s what,” I growl. “Beckett’s mother fucked us.”
I glance around, desperate to lay eyes on Kali. And where the hell is Max?
“Over here!” he calls from behind me, and I whirl around to find him and Kali gathered around Rain, who is spread-eagle on the floor. It looks like she just lost a shitload of blood.
I’m ashamed to admit that my first thought is gratitude that it’s not Kali, but then I’m leaning over her, trying to get a look at the wound.
“How bad is it?” Merrick asks as he drops to his knees beside her. He looks like shit—nearly as bad as Beckett did as she waved that gun and ordered us to go.
“Not good,” Max answers. “It’s an arm wound, but she hit an artery.”
“We’ve got to repair it,” Merrick says, his eyes lifting to mine. “Do you know how—”
“I could try,” I answer grimly. “But Rain was really always the better healer of the two of us.”
“I’ll get the kit.” Kali jumps up and races off toward the sick bay, and I’m struck again by an overwhelming sense of thankfulness that she isn’t the one on the ground right now. Doing one surgery on the woman I love is more than enough for me.
That’ll be a thought to unpack another day.
“Gage!” I shout. “You’re the new pilot now.”
“Beckett didn’t come after us?” he asks as he emerges from the bridge, then blanches at the sight of Rain. “Where are we going? I know there’s a hospital in Rodos—”
“She won’t last that long,” I tell him. Even though Max has a torniquet wrapped around her biceps, she’s already lost a lot of blood. We need to fix this thing now. “Set course for the asteroid.”
“For where?” Merrick growls. “No way are we going after them right now—”
“We don’t have a choice. The rebels know our plans. If they trade the information to the Corporation tomorrow or next week, then we’re fucked. They’ll know we’re coming.”
“We don’t have a distraction,” Gage tells me.
“Yeah, well, you’re supposed to be the brains of this operation,” I say. “You’ve got just about an hour to figure one out.”
Kali comes running back down the corridor, brandishing towels and a bottle of gerjgin in one hand and the large med kit in the other. “I think I got everything,” she tells me.
“You did,” I answer, then take the bottle of gerjgin and hold it up to Rain’s lips. “You’re going to want to drink a hell of a lot of this, sweetheart. Because this is going to fucking hurt.”
Chapter 94
Ian
An hour later, I’ve got Delta V47 in my sights. The crew is a little tense—between losing Beckett, nearly losing Rain, and then having Gage give a blood transfusion straight from his arm to Rain’s, we’ve all had better afternoons.
And while I don’t think Beckett would ever betray us to the Corporation, her mother has proven she can’t be trusted. And she knows exactly what our plan is.
