Soul of Eon (Eon Warriors #8) - Anna Hackett Page 0,37
saw the blood. “It’s not bad. The message?”
Thane smiled. “Sent.”
We need to leave. Nisid moved to the door. We must be gone before more soldiers arrive. They’ll hunt us.
“Let’s get to the lab.” Thane pressed a bandage from his small med kit to her side.
She smiled at him. There was no way to separate the doctor and warrior.
They moved into the corridor. At the far end, several soldiers appeared.
Thane cursed.
You two, go. Nisid raised his good arm. I’ll cause a diversion.
Thane and Kaira hesitated.
Go! Nisid charged down the hall. I’ll find you.
“Come on.” Thane pulled her in the opposite direction.
“Are we going the right way?”
Thane glanced at Kaira. “Yes. We’re heading deeper into the base.” He studied the maze of corridors ahead.
They still needed to go down more levels.
“Do you think Nisid is okay?” she asked.
“Yes. He’s tough and persistent.” They would never have come this far without the rogue Kantos as an ally.
“This way.” Thane led them down another corridor. “We need to find a ramp or stairs downward—”
Buzzing.
“Uh-oh,” she muttered.
Get the intruders.
An elite’s deep voice boomed in their heads.
They swiveled. An elite and a dozen soldiers appeared at the other end of the corridor.
“Run!” Thane snapped.
They sprinted away and reached a T junction.
“Go left.”
A black bug appeared and Kaira almost tripped over it. They leaped over it and didn’t slow down.
She glanced back. “Thane, they’re gaining.”
The buzzing got louder, like static in their ears. He gritted his teeth.
They arrived at another junction. “Right.”
They turned again.
“Shit,” Kaira said.
She windmilled her arms. Thane almost ran into her.
The floor ahead was dotted with huge circular holes.
A flying bug appeared out of one, then flew upward. There were more circles in the ceiling, and it disappeared through another hole.
“We could jump across,” she said dubiously.
The strips of floor between the holes were tiny. It would be risky to try and jump on them.
Thane looked down. He was excruciatingly conscious that their pursuers were getting closer.
There was a net hanging below.
“I think we should go down. That gets us closer to the pathogen lab, anyway.”
She dragged in a breath. “Let’s do it.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and leaped into the hole, feet first.
“God.” She pressed her face against his chest. They hit the net and bounced, then landed on it.
Thane landed on his back and stuck.
“What the hell?” Behind him, Kaira twisted. She was on her side.
It wasn’t a net, it was a web.
“I can’t move.” She wrenched on her arm, but stayed stuck.
Thane tried to roll, but his back was stuck fast.
“Argh,” Kaira growled. “I hate the Kantos and all their bugs.” A pause. “Nisid and his people excluded, of course.”
Thane formed a knife, but couldn’t move enough to cut the web.
Kaira was partly on her side, and he saw that she was looking down through the net. “Oh, shit.”
“Kaira?” He didn’t like the tone of her voice.
“The entire floor is covered in eggs.”
“Eggs?”
“Yes. I’ve seen them before. The Kantos assassins had a bunch of them near the Woomera Range Complex. When they were after Finley.” She paused again. “They hatch nasty spiders.”
Thane muttered a curse. “We need to get free—”
An earsplitting screech.
It sent ice through his veins. He swiveled his head and heard Kaira gasp.
A huge spider slowly emerged from the shadows at the edge of the web
“I’m guessing that’s mama,” Kaira said. “I’ve decided I hate spiders with a fiery, burning passion.”
“Stay still,” he murmured.
The spider was pure white, with long legs, and giant, black eyes. It had armor plating across its body and abdomen.
“Is that metal armor?” Kaira breathed.
“It appears so.”
The web bowed slightly as the spider moved toward them. Its row of black eyes stared at them intently.
“Thane, do you have a plan?” she asked, voice urgent.
He dragged in a breath. “Yes.” He morphed a flamethrower.
He could move just enough that he aimed fairly close to the giant spider.
He fired.
The flames shot out.
It wasn’t a direct shot, but the spider screeched and darted back a step. The web rocked wildly.
He hadn’t hit it dead on, but it had felt the burn.
“Flamethrower, flamethrower.” He sensed Kaira trying to move. “Form, damn you.”
“Relax. Don’t force your thoughts.”
“It’s hard to relax right now, warrior,” she growled.
Despite the circumstances, Thane felt the urge to laugh.
He moved the flamethrower around as much as he could with his limited movement. A sharp, acrid scent filled the air, like burning hair.
He noticed a patch of web start to melt.
“Kaira! The flames are melting the web.”
“Got it.” He heard her flamethrower activate.
The spider gathered its