The huge guard stumbled forward blindly, clumsy after his doze. He reached out but the female his thick fingers closed on was Kat, who was trying desperately to get out of the way as the other guards came to life.
“Let go of me, you idiot!” She thrashed and kicked, aiming for his shins. But though plenty of her kicks connected, the merciless grip on her shoulders only tightened more.
“Kat!” Lock and Deep both ran forward but at the same time the AllFather was descending the stairs of the viewing area. Worse, Xairn could see the dravik expanding and contracting regularly now—beating like a heartbeat. It was a sure sign that it was about to burst and release the AllFather. His father had gorged himself on the pain of the Kindreds’ cutting and now he would be more powerful than ever. They had to get away before that happened.
I could go, he thought. I could take Lauren and run while the guards are distracted by the Kindred and their female. We could be safe in space before they even realized we were gone.
But he couldn’t do it. He had pledged his help to the enemy warriors as they had pledged theirs to him. He had no right to leave them now—even if it meant his life. But that didn’t mean that Lauren had to die with him.
“Run,” he told her, pushing her toward the far end of the lab. “Go straight down the corridor and out the double doors at the end. Keep going and you’ll come to a place with many abandoned ships. They should be touch activated so—”
“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to go!” Xairn was torn between exasperation and admiration. “I cannot leave until the Kindred and their female are free.”
“I’m not leaving either.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Give me a weapon—let me help.”
The thought that she might want to join the fight had never entered Xairn’s head. But from the look of things, they could use every hand they could get.
“Here.” He fumbled in his boot for a moment and came up with a slim, finger-sized weapon. “This is a stunner. Point and press the trigger button at the end. Aim for the chest if you can—it’s a bigger target. Just don’t hit any of us—it’s calibrated for the guards.”
“Got it.” She took the weapon in remarkably steady hands.
“And don’t burst the AllFather’s dravik,” Xairn added, as he primed his own weapon and took aim. “It will rupture soon enough on its own.”
“All right.” Holding the stunner in one hand, she steadied her wrist with the other and took aim. Xairn was impressed to see one of the guards who had been reaching for Deep knocked backwards from the force of the blast. Convinced that she knew what she was doing, he joined the fight.
* * * * *
Kat was doing her best not to freak out but it was pretty hard not to. One minute she’d been reaching for Lauren and the next she was being dragged backward by the massive, dead-eyed guard toward the raving AllFather.
“No, no, you imbecile!” he was hissing angrily at the oblivious Alpha guard. “The other girl—thisss female isss uselesss to me. Get the other!” The weird blood bubble enclosing him was moving in waves, sucking in and out almost as though it was breathing. The strange motion somehow made it even more disgusting than it had been previously—and that was saying something as far as Kat was concerned.
“Get off her, you son-of-a-bitch!” Behind her, Lock was aiming his weapon at the guard but clearly he was afraid to shoot—probably because at this range he might hit her instead of the guard. The guard wasn’t paying any attention anyway—he just continued dragging Kat toward the AllFather no matter what anyone said or did.
“Can’t risk the blazer,” she heard Deep shout. “She’s too close.”
“I know.” Lock sounded desperate. “Watch out behind you!”
Deep turned but just then a blast of energy knocked down the guard who had been reaching for him. Kat looked around to see Lauren pointing some kind of tiny weapon and Xairn running toward them. Oh good, the cavalry is here. But she really didn’t see what good anyone could do. If no one could make the massive hands let her go, she was on a one way trip straight to the AllFather in his slimy bubble.
Then Deep jumped on the Alpha guard’s back. Wrapping one arm around the thick throat, he began to squeeze. At first the guard didn’t even seem to notice—then he choked and shifted, as though trying to shake Deep off. But it was obvious the dark twin didn’t intend to be so easily dislodged. He tightened his grip on the corded neck and squeezed until the flat, black-on-black eyes bulged in their sockets.