The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,31

city woke. When they discovered the missing guards and the gate activity … there’d be a lock down, which would severely hamper our efforts.

I tried not to think about that. There was still a chance. Two more elevators and a dizzying amount of stairs later, we reached the ground level. Nero held his tablet in front of him, the light of the screen illuminating his face in the darkness, as he led us to the signal location of the hub. I couldn’t see the horizon over the walls, but dawn felt close, and I could just barely detect a warm orange glow in the sky. Sunup meant waking Uldani. Kulk patrols.

Sunup meant we were fucked.

Sticking to the cover of the buildings, we ran down a side street of small Uldani homes. I thought I saw a little face peeking at me from one of the windows. The farther we ran, the more the condition of the homes deteriorated. Drying rags hung from lines between the houses, and the whole area had a distinct sewage smell. There was no way the hub could be here, could it?

Nero stopped abruptly, staring at his screen, and then at the ground. “It should be…” He swallowed. “Here.”

That one word hung in the air between us like a ghost. We stood in front of a squat hut with a decaying door and cracked window. A clump of food trash sat on the corner of the wooden porch, which was warped and broken. My heart pounded and goosebumps broke out on my arms. We were lost. Exposed. Panic rose up my throat, blocking my airway until I could barely breathe. “There was no way this was the hub.” I gasped. I looked at him helplessly “Nero…”

“Fleck,” he cursed under his breath, and for the first time, I saw real worry in Nero’s gaze. He glanced around, a cornered look in his eyes as he clutched my hand.

During our run here, the sun had begun to lighten the sky, and I felt exposed standing there in an Uldani neighborhood. Then shouts rang through the air, growly Kulk voices followed by clanging armor.

“Spread out!” A booming voice called.

Nero grabbed my hand and we bolted. It was clear they’d either discovered the missing guards or knew their city had been breached, because the morning filled with the sounds of armored feet marching through the city. We twisted and turned amid the buildings, venturing deeper into the slums of the city where the air was thick with the smell of the mines.

I concentrated on sucking in oxygen while ignoring the burn in my legs. I was tired, hungry, and thirsty, but there was no time for rest when the city had come alive with one mission—looking for whoever had breached the gates.

Nero skidded to a halt near a larger warehouse-type building, ducking back into the shadows of an alley as a troop of Kulks jogged by the main street. If we would have been a second later, they would have seen us.

I let out a relieved breath, until the sound of footsteps clomped behind me. I whirled around and pressed my back to Nero as a group of Kulks passed by the other mouth of the alley. A few stopped and began their way toward us. They hadn’t seen us yet as we were still hidden in the long morning shadows of the building at our backs, but it was only a matter of time.

Nero braced, and pushed me behind him. He was going to fight. But no matter how good he was, we were outnumbered. One to … a whole city. We were fucked, and I felt the tears prick the back of my eyes as I thought about Frankie, Val, and the other women. And most of all, I thought about Nero and his kiss. I’d never get to know what it was like to wake up next to him, to tell him how much he’d given me in such a short amount of time. I reached into the pocket of my pants and wrapped my fingers around my knife. If Nero was going to fight, then so was I. They wouldn’t take me alive to be a breeder, that was for sure.

Suddenly the wall at my back gave way and with a clipped yelp, I fell on my ass. Darkness surrounded me as hands grabbed at my shoulders, dragging me farther inside. I went into wildcat survival mode, lashing out with my fists. “Get the fuck off