Talan heard Zoe’s scream of pain. Everything in him seized up in fear. He recovered in a heartbeat, but the pause had been long enough to open him up to attack.
The Cytur he’d been fighting slashed out with one of its chitinous legs. He saw the blow coming right for his neck—saw the exact trajectory it would take. There was nothing he could do to stop it, nothing he could do to get out of the way without throwing himself into range of several other Cyturs.
As his options blazed through his mind, the only thing he could think of was living through this fight so he could get to Zoe and save her.
The bright glowing tip of Radek’s maulst whooshed through Talan’s field of vision in a blue blur. An instant later, the Cytur’s leg was severed and flew off into the snow.
It let out a series of furious clicks that passed for a scream and fell back.
Radek followed up the creature’s retreat and finished it off with a brutal slash of his weapon. “Pull your shit together, man.”
Talan didn’t waste breath apologizing. Instead he gave in to his fury over Zoe’s pain and fed that into a handful of sheengs. He let them fly into the mass of enemies. The power fueling them was hot and crisp, and every one of them sailed with an extra burst of speed.
Three more of the Raide’s war beasts fell where they stood.
“I got the rest,” Radek said as he waded through the corpses toward the last enemies standing. “Go after the girl.”
Talan hoped his friend’s confidence was not misplaced, because if it was, he was abandoning the man to way too many enemy combatants.
Still, Zoe had to come first. Her survival could mean everything to turning the tide of the war.
Deep down he knew there was more to it than that, but there was no time to deal with frivolous emotions right now.
He had a Raide to kill.
As he cleared the combat area, he saw Krotian holding her by the throat, his grip right next to the previous wound he’d inflicted. Her gaze was fixed on his face, ensnared. A series of ragged, choking screams broke from her mouth, cut short by the Raide’s tight grip.
As before, he was dressed in his combat suit, which made him impervious to any projectile weapon Talan could send his way. But right now, this wasn’t about killing him—at least not yet. Talan needed to get him to look away from Zoe and release her from the pain.
He charged toward his enemy, head down, intent on physically knocking him to the ground. The Raide were frail, and if Talan got his hands on Krotian, the asshole wouldn’t last long.
A bellow of rage exploded from Talan as he flew over the snowy ground. Krotian must have heard the danger speeding his way over the sounds of combat, because he looked up, releasing Zoe’s gaze.
She slumped inside of his grip, flopping around as he shoved her between himself and Talan’s attack.
He was only a few feet away when he had to slow down or bowl right into to her. At the last second, Krotian flung her toward Talan.
He held out his arms as he calculated her path. The second he made contact with her flesh, he wrapped her inside of his embrace, and spun to the side to put the truck between her and the enemy.
It took only a second to ease her to the ground, but that was long enough for Krotian to activate the invisibility function on his suit and disappear.
Footsteps appeared in the snow not far from where Talan had last seen him. He slid a vial of liquid fire from his vest and aimed for what he determined was the widest spot of the Raide’s back.
The vial followed the trajectory he set in on perfectly, and burst on impact, spewing out liquid that instantly turned to flame.
The combat suit Krotian wore sparked and hissed as it struggled to protect him. The heat was simply too much for the armor to withstand, and a few seconds later, Krotian’s form flickered into sight. A wide, scorched spot marred the armor.
He didn’t seem to realize that he was on fire until the heat reached his skin. His scream of pain sounded like victory bells to Talan’s ears. He made sure Zoe was in a safe spot, then raced around the truck to finish off his enemy.
Krotian fell to the ground, writhing around in an effort to put out the flames. It wouldn’t take long for the snow to do the job, but it was more than long enough for Talan to take him out for good.
He was halfway to his enemy when he saw a flutter of motion from the corner of his eye.
One of the Cyturs had broken free of the melee and was headed right for Zoe. The insectoid creature moved at a dizzying speed. Talan saw its path glowing bright in his mind and instantly he knew he wasn’t going to have time to kill Krotian and get back to Zoe before that creature reached her.
Before the question of what to do even entered Talan’s mind, he was already changing course to get back to Zoe.
As he ran, he pulled a pair of sheengs from his vest. He fed power into them in the time it took him to set his aim, then let them fly. Each of them followed the course he’d set, trailing along a path his mind had already seen.
The first weapon hit one of the Cytur’s legs, slowing it for a second. The second sheeng used the hesitation of the creature and the opening that injured leg had created to slice all the way to the thing’s center.
As the sheeng cut through its eye and into its brain, it came to a fumbling stop, tripping over itself as it fell into a pile of blood and spindly black legs.
Bloody snow was cast into the air. The creature kept clicking as it died, but the sound slowed and became faint.
Talan glanced Zoe’s way to make sure she was safe once again. She was. Satisfied that no more enemies were approaching, he turned to finish his job with the Raide.
Krotian was already gone. There was a trail of sooty footprints leading into the woods, indicating where he’d fled.
Talan briefly considered following. The urge to go after his enemy and finish him off was nearly impossible to resist.
And then he thought of Zoe. She was still suffering from the effects of the Raide’s gaze—helpless to defend herself if another enemy came for her.
Radek had nearly cleaned up the remaining enemies, with only one more to go, but there were no guarantees that more wouldn’t arrive—that more weren’t lurking in the woods nearby. If Talan went off on a Raide chase now, he was risking Zoe’s life.
That he would not do.
With one more glance in the direction Krotian had gone, Talan gave a resigned sigh and turned away to go back to Zoe.
She sat slumped in the snow, staring off into space. Her breathing was fast, her skin was pale, and her whole body was shaking.
He placed himself in her line of sight and put a gentle yet confident smile on his face. “Everything is fine now, Zoe. Krotian is gone. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Her focus moved from distant to zeroing in on his eyes. As soon as that connection was made, she seemed to come back into her body.
Her neck was red from where that bastard had grabbed her. The liquid skin was still holding, but there was a good chance she’d wear bruises from this encounter.
He had to get her home. Soon. There was too much risk here.
If not for the data sphere, he would have simply sent her through the next window. But that sphere was vital. Their entire planet was depending on him finding it. And he couldn’t do it without her. Only she could solve her father’s riddle.
Talan stroked her hair in slow, soothing sweeps of his hand. “Are you hurt?”
She nodded.
“Where?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed. “He was in my head, tearing it apart. I don’t know what the hell he was looking for, but he nearly killed me to find it.”
“What did he find?” asked Talan.
“He knows we have half of the sphere. He knows we’re looking for the other half.”
“But he can’t know where it is. We don’t even know.”
She licked her dry lips and shook her head. Her voice shook with fear. “He’s going to come back again.”
“I won’t let him reach you.”
Her brown eyes were huge, her pupils tiny with anxiety. “I felt his intent, Talan. I know what he’s going to do.”
“What?”
“He’s going to keep trying to get me—force me to find the other half for him.” She swallowed. “And if he can’t do that, then he’s going to wait until we find it and come after us then.”
“There won’t be any time for that. Once we find it, you’ll be on your way to Loriah and out of his reach.”
“You don’t know that. You can’t know that.”
She was starting to spin out of control. He could tell by the way her voice was raising in pitch and her body was tightening in on itself. The fear was eating her up, and if that happened, her creative nature would be useless—hidden too deep inside her to reach. And he needed her mind clear and sharp to solve the riddle.
He cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look him in the eye. “You will be safe on Loriah. We protect all of our Builders. You have to trust me on this.”
“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to have any part of your war. I just want you all to go away and leave me alone.”
“That’s not the way it works, honey. You’re smart. You know that. If you stay here—even if we kill Krotian—another of his kind will come for you.”
Her gaze started to go distant again.
Radek came up behind him, panting from combat. “Ease up on her, man.”
“She’s from House Imon. This is none of your business.”
“Really? Not my business?” Radek asked. “Then why am I splattered with Cytur blood?”
Talan was screwing everything up—with Zoe, with Radek. He had to find a way to keep it all together long enough to complete the sphere and get her home.
He stood and faced his friend. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Of course I appreciate your help. I wouldn’t have been able to keep her safe without it. But we both know that it’s hard for some of the Taken we find here to face reality.”
Radek nodded toward Zoe, who was still shaking and pale. “I realize that, but dude, you’ve got to work on your timing. Make nice now. Tough talk later, when she’s more stable.”
He was right. Zoe was in no condition to deal with the thought of more danger when her pulse hadn’t even slowed from the last encounter.
He crouched in front of her again. “Don’t worry, honey. I’m going to make sure you stay safe. No more staring contests with Krotian, okay? Let’s get in the truck and go someplace safe.”
It took a few seconds, but she finally looked at him like she’d just noticed he was there. “Safe?”
He helped her to her feet and steadied her while she climbed into the spacious back seat of the truck. He followed right behind her, leaving Radek to deal with the corpses.
Talan cradled Zoe’s body against his, stroking her hair. He kept offering her words of comfort and confidence. He wasn’t sure if she bought his line of bullshit or not, but she seemed stronger by the second, coming out of the daze she’d been in.
He was asking too much of her—placing far too many demands on her slender shoulders. She wasn’t built for this kind of pressure. As a Builder, she was more suited for a calm, quiet life, not constant chaos and violence.
It was a wonder she’d been able to figure out her father’s first riddle at all, considering what she’d been through. Solving another was asking too much.
Still, he had no choice.
He wanted to kick her father in the ass for making this search so difficult.
Of course, there was no way her father could have known that she’d be working under such pressure. He probably hadn’t considered that the Raide would have already found her by the time she set out to find the sphere. Maybe he should have, but he hadn’t.
It was typical Builder mentality to focus on one thing so intently that nothing else entered into the equation. He could hardly fault the man for being true to his nature.
As that thought entered his mind, he realized what he needed to do to help Zoe. He had to get her away from all of this so she could relax, think. The riddle had to be her only concern right now. Not going home, not running from Cyturs or hiding from Krotian. Talan had to take away all the bad things for her so that she could let her mind fly.
Besides, the idea of tucking her away from the world where only he could reach her held great appeal.
Zoe pushed herself up, out of his embrace. “Is Krotian here?”
Talan shook his head, trying to ignore the shame riding him. He should have found a way to kill the bastard. Instead, all he’d done was piss him off. Chances were he even had a second combat suit to replace the one that had been fried.
“He’s gone, Zoe. You’re safe now.”
Radek had finished cleaning up the dead bodies with a set of dissipation rods. All that was left now were scorch marks and melted snow.
He slid in behind the steering wheel. “Where to?”
“Out of town. Nearest campsite,” Talan said.
“We’re going camping? What about the other half of the sphere?” Zoe asked.
“What sphere?” asked Radek.
As much as Talan trusted the other man with his life, it wasn’t his place to divulge the secrets of the Builders. “It’s none of your concern.”
Radek grunted as he pulled onto clear blacktop road free of snow. “So we’re back to that, are we?”
Zoe looked at him in confusion. “He’s not allowed to know?”
“No one is,” Talan said.
“Well, that’s just stupid. The more people we have helping us find the sphere, the better.”
“It’s okay,” said Radek as he hit the highway with a throaty roar of the truck’s engine. “I have no interest in Imonite secrets. My only goal here is to get you back home so you can use that big brain of yours to kill the Raide.”
“We’ll find what we’re looking for,” Talan said. “She won’t need your help unless I’m dead.”
Zoe went stiff beside him. He swore he could feel her glare blasting the side of his face with furious intent. “Don’t you dare even think about dying.”
“It’s not on the schedule, but you need to know what to do if things go bad. If I’m killed, it’s imperative that you continue the mission with Radek’s help.”
“You’re freaking her out, Talan,” Radek said. “I can feel her temperature dropping.”
He was right. She’d gone pale, and had that far-off look she’d had when she’d nearly lost it back in the bank and again after Krotian had attacked her. Her hand was clenched so tight on his arm he was sure she’d leave bruises. Worse yet, she was going to damage her fingers—fingers she needed to make all the inventions in her head come to life.
Talan gently pried her hand away and rubbed the delicate joints. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “We’re in this together.”
She didn’t respond. He wasn’t even sure if she’d heard him.
“Zoe?”
She didn’t even blink. She was gone—retreated to some place inside her mind where things weren’t quite so bleak. He’d seen other Builders do the same thing before, but it had never bothered him like it did now.
None of this would have happened if her father hadn’t gone to such great pains to hide the data sphere. Talan still couldn’t believe what the man had done, leaving behind puzzles, like this was some kind of game. He’d been sure that the sphere would be in the bank, but instead, there was only one half of what he needed. And another riddle to solve—one Zoe didn’t seem to understand.
Anger pulsed beneath Talan’s skin. There was no way her father could have known that his games would put his daughter in danger, but it had. And that pissed off Talan until he was shaking with the need for violence.
Beside him, Zoe sat squished between him and the door, pale and silent. She stared straight ahead, barely breathing.
She was nearing her breaking point. He could see it in the lines of strain around her eyes, and the way she trembled more with each passing mile.
She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night—just a few hours on the lumpy bed his lap had offered. He should have laid her down and let her sleep in peace, but he hadn’t been able to let her get too far away. Still couldn’t.
How the hell was he going to leave her on Loriah to come back here and do his duty? Leaving her alone—worlds away—to face a war seemed like an impossible thing to ask of himself.
He wasn’t sure how he would manage it, but now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. When the time came, he’d do what he needed to do to see to her safety. If that meant coming back here to find more Builders to help defeat the Raide, then that’s what he’d do.
“She checked out, didn’t she?” Radek asked, sparing her a quick glance.
“She just needed some rest. She’ll be back.”
“It’s kinda creepy. The lights are on, but no one’s home.”
“Shut it, Radek. She can hear every word you say. So can I. And I’m more than willing to kick you out and make you walk.”
Radek grinned. “No, you won’t. You’re enjoying your cuddle time with her too much, and if you kick me out, you’ll have to drive.”
“I’m not cuddling her. I’m keeping her from hitting her head because you don’t know how to drive a fucking truck.”
“Profanity, Talan?” Radek shook his dark head in mock disappointment. “She really has gotten to you.”
“I swear, you’re the only warrior I know who takes the time to chat while lives hang in the balance.”
Radek shrugged. “Life is short. Might as well enjoy the ride. Besides, my true joy comes from irritating the piss out of you. It’s how you know I love you, man.”
“Just shut up and drive,” growled Talan.
Radek chuckled as he headed south toward the closest campsite. There were no signs that anyone had followed them, but rush hour traffic slowed their progress to an infuriating crawl.
After a few miles, they were able to speed up. By the time they pulled up the long, snowy driveway, Zoe still hadn’t said a word.
Radek left the truck running as he got out. “I’ll go in and check the place out. Stay here.”
Talan scanned the surrounding darkness for signs of danger. The whole area was blanketed in pristine white, with few signs of passage. There were no tracks in the snow except the ones the truck had made as it climbed the driveway.
The little house had long ago been abandoned. Talan, Radek and Warrian had taken the time to find and fortify a few places where they could seek shelter and rest. There was nothing fancy about the aging, isolated home and its sagging roof, but it was equipped with perimeter alarms, weapons, food and water—everything they’d need to hide while he figured out their next step.
“You are not dying, mister. And that’s final,” said Zoe, surprising him with her sudden outburst.
Gone was the distant look that had previously haunted her eyes. The pink color that had faded from her cheeks was back, and there was fire in her voice that told him she hadn’t given up.
“Welcome back,” Talan said.
She looked around in confusion. “Where are we? And when did we stop?”
“You shut down for a while.”
“I what?” Some of the fear he’d seen earlier began seeping back into her gaze.
“It’s fine,” he said. “It’s completely normal. Builders do it all the time.”
“Do what all the time?”
“Go… somewhere else.”
Some spark of recognition flared to life. He saw it in her face—in the way her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. When she spoke, her voice was faint. “My dad used to do that all the time. He’d just… vanish, like he’d left his body. It freaked me out.” Guilt drew her brows close. “Did I freak you out?”
“Only a little. It’s one of the reasons Builders are never left alone to protect themselves.”
“I’ve never needed a keeper before now.”
“You’ve never had to run for your life before now either.”
She looked around. “Where are we?”
“Campsite. Radek’s making sure it’s safe. Once he’s done, we’ll go in and you can get some rest.”
“Not until I figure out what the riddle means.”
“Still no clues?”
She shook her head. “…under the beacon to end all fun,” she repeated the riddle they’d found inside the bank box. “It’s not ringing any bells. Sorry.”
“It’ll come to you. Just give it some time.”
“How much of that do we have? We’re already being hunted. They nearly caught us today.”
“I won’t let them reach you.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He studied her for a moment, gauging how much strain he thought she could handle before shutting down again. They couldn’t stand any more delays, but he knew better than to think she’d simply let the mater drop. “We may have a few hours. If the winds keep up, it could be longer. Our scent is being blown south right now, away from our escape route. If Krotian brings in more Dregorgs, they’re not likely to catch us soon.”
“But eventually?”
“Yes. Eventually they’ll pick up our trail again. But not right now.”
She nodded and squared her slim shoulders. “Fine. A few hours. It’ll have to be long enough to figure out the riddle.”
And if it wasn’t, he’d move her again. And again. However long it took, he’d stick by her side and make sure she was as safe as she could be under the circumstances.
The thought didn’t even bother him until he remembered that the longer they took, the more people would die. Like it or not, he had to do whatever he could to help her find that sphere and go back where she belonged. Fast.