Taunting Krell Read online

  Regret and shame filled him. He’d brought her on this mission, put her in danger, and now she’d pay the price for his mistake. He’d never forgive himself if he survived and she didn’t. He would never recover if he lost her. They stared at each other and his weapon lowered. He turned his head to glare at his men.

  “Holster your weapons.”

  The cyborgs hesitated but followed his order. He turned back and stared at her, wanting to memorize everything about her. Cyan slowly stepped forward, staring up at him. She reached for his face but he jerked back to avoid the brush of her fingertips on his skin. He didn’t deserve her touch. He’d failed her and all he could do was make sure she succeeded in her mission, even if that happened to be allowing her to die. It was an honorable and worthy way to do so for the beautiful soul she possessed.

  “Get both ships ready to lift off.” Pain rolled through Cyan at Krell’s rejection as her hand dropped to her side. “Is the Vontage able to fly yet?”

  “Yes. The repairs are finished.” Krell’s voice sounded harsh to her.

  She nodded. “They didn’t say when the other Markuses are arriving. The important part is they don’t get your people. It’s been nice knowing you if I manage to blow up their shuttle.”

  His mouth clenched. “Your plan might work. It is insane enough to be considered genius.”

  She dropped her gaze and inched past him. The burn of tears nearly blinded her. He didn’t completely trust her but he was allowing her to leave the Bridden to meet with the Markus Models. That had to count for something. She passed more cyborgs who had probably overheard her transmission and rushed to stop her from giving away Garden’s location. She hadn’t ever checked the shuttle’s logs to try to trace it and wouldn’t be a security risk if the Markus Models attempted to torture the location of it from her if she were captured.

  She paused at the cargo doors and checked her weapons before glancing around. She found an ugly black tarp that would work as she tied it around her waist to hide her thighs, making a horrible fashion statement with the skirt and leggings look that clashed with her boots. One more deep breath and she walked out of the hold of the Bridden, purposely moving her limbs stiffly to appear less human.

  The sight of the scarred Genesis Four shuttle hovering between the Vontage and the shuttle she exited made her hold back a smile. She’d dented it a bit on the belly—deep blemishes ran the length of it after their tussle in space and scorch marks showed near one thruster. The shuttle lowered slightly, about eight feet closer to her but kept away from the ground and the lower docking door opened. She waited and realized they issued their first test. Ten feet separated the glassy ground from the bottom of the ramp.

  She took a deep breath, walked closer until she was under the opening they’d created and she dropped into a one-kneed crouch. Her legs tensed, her fingers flexed, and she stared up, calculating. She pushed up hard and fast, every muscle strained and she leapt. Her hands caught the thick metal edge of the ramp, gripped hard, and she pulled her body higher. No human could do that.

  She managed to get her upper body high enough to lift her leg, hooked her knee on the ramp and climbed onto it. She straightened to her feet, stiffened her spine, and lifted her chin. Two Markus Models stood in the shadows watching her with interest. She noticed they stayed out of fire range of anyone on the ground as she purposely cocked her head at an odd angle, slowly advancing on them.

  “Brothers.”

  The ramp under her started to lift to close and she kept advancing. Her gaze swept the cargo area, verifying they were alone. Six of them weren’t present. The two Markuses approached as soon as the ramp sealed closed. They marched in unison to stop a few feet in front of her. Both of them watched her with dead eyes. It scared her but she hoped she hid her fear.

  “Sister?” They didn’t sound certain as they spoke at the same time, identically.

  They sound as creepy as hell. “Should we give you proof?” She remembered to talk in the plural, not to give herself away.

  “Yes,” they both stated.

  She smiled, wondering how they’d react at her next words. “I brought you a puppy to play with.” The second the words were out, she launched a physical attack. One hand shot out to hit the one to her right in the face, aiming for his eyes with her clawed hand since they were made out of organic material and would blind him, while she targeted the other with her leg to knock him back to give her precious seconds. Her hand tore at the skirt, ripped it away and jerked her gun free from the holster.

  Cyan fired, shooting the one she had clawed, and dived to the left, her other hand going for her second gun as her back slammed onto the cargo deck when she flipped in the air as she fell. It seemed to stun them that she could move that fast since she was able to sink bullets in both of them before they recovered. She opened fire with the energy gun, nailing one of them before the twin model grabbed her. She pressed the muzzle of the weapon against its body as it landed over hers and pulled the trigger. She shoved it away when it convulsed.

  She climbed to her feet, shot both of the downed, still twitching units and the smell of burning wires filled her nostrils. She figured the other six Markuses were more than aware she’d just taken out two of their brothers and she wasn’t what she had claimed to be. Her gaze frantically searched for something to damage that would cripple the shuttle. No targets were visible.

  The cargo doors to the interior of the shuttle didn’t slide open and they didn’t attack. That worried her but she didn’t have time to ponder it. They could target the Vontage and Bridden with the shuttle’s weapons. She rushed for the doors to seek them out first.

  She encountered the first set of Markuses a few feet from the door. They stood immobile, staring into space, and she fired a bullet into each of their faces. Glee hit her. The damn things were motionless because they were analyzing her as she’d hoped would happen—they had frozen in the process. I just might make it out of this mess alive after all. She nailed them with two energy shots that left both crumpled in a smoking heap of tangled limbs. She had four more to find and had to work fast, before their analysis completed and they regained function.

  The third set stood motionless in an open lift, probably on their way down to greet her, and she took them out easily. She checked her bullets, wishing she had more as she searched the lower deck. She dragged out the destroyed Markuses and prepared for battle as the lift took her to the upper deck of the shuttle.

  The last two Markuses were seated in the pilot seats. They didn’t move at her approach and she didn’t give them time to recover. She fired two shots to the back of each head, exposing the metal. She was happy to introduce the energy shots in rapid succession. The things smoked bad, making her wave her hand in front of her face and choke a little on the smell of burning, artificial hair. It stank nearly as bad as the real thing.

  She grabbed each body and dragged them away from the seats. They were fried, their eyes turning white, and she dropped into the pilot seat. She hurried to set the shuttle on the ground, cut the engines, and took the shuttle’s weapons offline. The urge to get off their ship fast gripped her strongly. She’d leave the bodies for the cyborgs to deal with. They could cut the Markus Models up into tiny pieces for all she cared or abandon them with the shuttle on the surface when they fled.

  She moved quickly to rush to the lift, the fear finally hitting her hard at what she’d done, and all she could think about was Krell. She wanted to hug him, show him that he could trust her, and now he’d have to know once and for all that she wasn’t the enemy. She’d just saved a lot of cyborgs from the Markus Models.

  It seemed to take forever as she tapped her thigh, waiting for the cargo door to open at ground level, her eyes on the two downed Markuses, and they freaked her out. They were fried but she hoped to never see the things again. She rushed down the ramp as soon as the door hit the hard ground and came to a shocked halt.

  “No!” Her legs collapsed under her and her knees painfully sla