High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,33

sub-lieutenant in the Faldine Military, Vic Linnel. I'm not sure if he's resigned, or if he's still active. And he's not all that . . . reasonable when it comes to me." Hana's lips twisted.

"He's obsessed," Iver's voice was flat. "He's after Hana for somehow surviving the war when his fiancé didn't, and he's working with the people who shot us down."

"There's more than one motive going on here?" Moiri looked at them in astonishment.

"I think there may even be more than one player." Hana stepped over Linnel's crumpled form.

"What the hell is going on? And why now?" Moiri asked.

Iver joined Hana in the passageway. "That's something we are going to try to find out.”

Chapter 13

The rain was blowing in thick, lazy sheets now instead of the misty stuff that had fallen before they went into the building.

Hana bit her lip and glanced at Iver. His arm was still tight against his body, and his skin looked ashy in the uplights from the flower bed outside the back entrance.

They stood under the narrow awning above the door and she realized she was swaying on her feet.

Iver put his uninjured arm around her, hand cupping her shoulder, and pulled her closer. “We aren't going to find out anything unless we get some sleep.”

She hesitated, second-guessing their decision to leave Moiri and go their own way. They didn't have anyone they could trust, and Iver was right, they needed a safe place to rest for a bit.

“It was the right move.” Iver leaned back against the door, pulling her with him so she was slightly off-balance, resting against the length of his body. “We weren't safe there.”

“You reading minds, now?” she asked, surprised she could smile.

He gave a snort. “I wish.”

She straightened, looking at his arm. “You need a medkit at the very least, and the one I had is sitting in my pack in that warehouse.”

“We'll buy another one, and hole up somewhere for a little bit.”

That made as much sense as anything she could have come up with, and Hana knew neither of them could go on much longer.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against Iver, putting her arms around him. They were dry, warm, and resting.

It was hard to step out of the moment and force herself to move.

With a groan, she pulled them both straight and slipped out from under his arm. “Banyon's friends are still wandering around out there, and Simon and Vannie are looking for us, too.” She stepped out from the shadows under the awning, face lifted against the icy needles of rain, and swept the area at the back of the building for any sign of danger.

The moment she emerged, a man stepped out from the shadows of the next building, and in a sudden, blinding instant of clarity, she saw a SAL dart flying toward her.

She shifted, instinctively lifting her hand and batting the dart away with the back of her fingers as it flew toward her face.

Escape.

The word seemed to reverberate in her skull.

“Iver.” She shouted his name, because no other word would convey the urgency as well. She meant he should step back into the building. Get to safety.

She felt his hand on her shoulder, pushing her down into a crouch as a second dart skimmed past.

“Stay down.” Iver's shout came as he ran past her, and with a jerk of shock she realized there was a tight, thin line of pain along her shoulder.

She looked up, in time to see Iver running straight for their shooter, who, in a sudden fit of panic, ran.

Iver pulled up short as he disappeared around a corner. “He's spooked, but he'll be back.” Iver turned to her, rimmed in light from the nearby building, the rain glittering as it fell around him.

She shook her head. She was losing her grip on reality.

“Is that a lander?” Iver was frowning, looking at the narrow access road on the side of the building, and at last she heard it, too, the low rumble unmistakable.

How had she missed it? Had she ever not heard something that close and clear since her upgrade?

She lifted curled fingers to her shoulder, and they came away bloody.

The SAL dart had grazed her.

She wouldn't go down for long, but she would go down. Some of the tranquilizer was in her system.

And they didn't have time for that.

She ran toward the side of the building, but Iver got there first, so she was forced to crouch behind him as they peered around for