Lost in Barbarian Space(30)

Another wolf was slinking toward them.

“Now,” he roared.

God. Honor ignored Colm and aimed at the wolf. She pulled the trigger. Her lasers hit the beast in the side and only made the thing shake its hideous head. She shot again, aiming at different parts of the creature’s body. Legs, side, back. Behind her, she could hear Colm battling with the first wolf.

She shot her wolf again, but she realized the fur was too thick. She jammed her laser pistols back in their holsters and grabbed her staff instead. She shook it, and it extended.

Honor backed up until she was back-to-back with Colm. As her wolf watched her with burning blue eyes, she was horribly aware that there were eight more of these creatures out there in the fog. She could see dark shadows shifting and moving in the whiteness.

Focus, Honor. She breathed in, she searched for her battle calm. All her life, the middle of combat—whether in real life or in training—had been the one place where she felt calm. Where she could just be herself and nothing else mattered. She took another deep breath, then she ran at the wolf.

It leaped forward and snapped out at her with those jaws full of teeth. She ducked and swung her staff. She hit the creature’s side with a solid thwack.

It was like the animal was made of steel. Honor moved backward, assessing her options. Debilitate. She couldn’t see a way to kill the beast, but if she could break a leg and slow it down, it wouldn’t be able to move as easily.

It would make it harder for the creature to kill them.

The creature came forward, its belly low to the ground. She twirled and swung her staff, aiming this time for its hind leg. Her staff connected.

There was a sharp snap of breaking bone. The wolf yelped and pulled back. Honor’s chest heaved as she gulped in frigid air. Then, behind her, she heard a horrible sound. She spun.

Colm’s animal was dead. It was lying in the snow, bleeding out.

“Honor, run!” Colm charged at her. His face was twisted, almost enraged.

It was then she saw two more wolves appear from the fog.

Colm grabbed her arm, hauling her toward the marlin. The snow was deep here and she stumbled, unable to find her balance.

He swung her up into his arms and he pounded through the snow toward the ship. When they reached it, he dropped her into the pilot seat. As Honor palmed the controls, she saw Colm standing beside the marlin with his sword up.

“Colm, get in. Now!” The engines flared to life.

Honor stared at the screen in front of her, dread filling her. She could see more wolf signatures on the screen. “Colm, get in.”

A wolf leaped at them, its giant body flying through the air. Colm swung his sword and the wolf fell, slamming against the marlin before skidding off into the snow.

Colm leaped over the side of the marlin and landed hard in his seat. Honor closed the canopy, and before Colm was even strapped in, she took off.

They shot fast into the air.

“What the hell are they?” Honor said.

Colm’s face was grim and his chest was heaving. “A larger, deadlier version of Markarian winter wolves.”

It wasn’t until they cleared the moon, and the Drake was in view, that Honor let herself relax. The muscles across her shoulders were tight and her pulse was still racing.

She looked at Colm and could see the stress still radiating from his tense frame, obvious in the way he clenched his hands repeatedly into fists.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I will be.”

She frowned. He hadn’t been this…out of control after the fight with the raiders. “What’s wrong?”

“I just…lost some of my warrior control.” He looked at her and she saw gold bleeding through his brown eyes. “Seeing you in danger…the claws of the wolves so close to you…”

“Hey.” She reached out and squeezed his arm. “I’m fine.” Then her stomach sank. “But I’m not sure Dr. Behati will be.”

They were both silent as they followed Derek’s marlin into the Drake’s hangar bay. By the time Honor climbed out of her marlin, the med team already had Dr. Behati’s prone body on an anti-grav stretcher. One of the doctors nodded at Honor.

“Everyone okay? Any other injuries?”

Honor shook her head. “Just Dr. Behati. Is he going to be okay?”

The doctor’s brow creased. “We don’t know yet. He’s badly injured, and we’re worried about foreign infections. But I’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Honor ran a hand through her hair.

“It isn’t your fault,” Colm said quietly.

Her jaw tightened. “I’m in charge. That makes me responsible for everyone’s lives.”