Soul of Eon (Eon Warriors #8) - Anna Hackett Page 0,43
the soldier spun to evade, she followed, and did the same to its back.
Beside her, Thane lunged low and rammed his sword into the gut of another soldier.
They passed each other, their swords up. On the next swing, her sword slammed against a soldier’s sharp arm. The force of the blow vibrated through her body.
Gritting her teeth, she attacked again. Hit. Hit. Slash.
“Kaira.” Thane came in low, and she stepped out of his way. He cut across the soldier’s legs with a powerful blow. She struck again, green blood spraying across her armor.
The soldier collapsed.
“We need to get out of here,” Thane barked. “Now.”
They ran for the door.
Stop the Eon and Terran.
The elite’s voice boomed through her head. Kaira glanced back. Several elites were pushing through the fighting to get to them.
A large, dog-sized bug with large mandibles leaped onto a bench beside them. It snarled and jumped at them.
Thane’s sword flashed. With a yelp, the bug crashed to the floor.
Go. Nisid’s voice. Get out.
Kaira’s pulse spiked. Thank you, Nisid.
Another bug flew through the air, and Thane shoved Kaira out of the way.
The bug slammed into him.
No way. She watched Thane and the bug roll around on the floor. She morphed her sword into an axe.
“Thane, clear!”
Her warrior rolled free. She swung the axe down, severing the bug’s ugly head.
Thane rolled to his feet and grabbed her hand.
They raced out the door, then barreled down the hall.
“Which way?” she yelled.
“Whichever way’s clear.”
They turned a corner, only to find a massive bug with a bulbous body covered in yellow stripes blocking the way.
It lifted its head and screeched.
“Not this way.” Thane backed up.
They swiveled. As they headed back into the first corridor, soldiers were rushing out of the lab.
Kaira frantically scanned around. “There.”
There was another door farther down. They sprinted into another corridor. A skittering noise, followed by a strange hiss, echoed ahead.
They both slowed.
A bug came around the corner. And kept coming.
It had a long, segmented body in deep brown, with lots of orange legs.
It reared up and hissed. Two long antennas waved wildly, and its serrated mandibles were tipped with jagged barbs.
“Oh, shit.” Kaira backed up.
Thane stepped back too. “Back. Now.”
They turned and sprinted.
The centipede chased them, rushing down the corridor with blinding speed.
“Faster!” Kaira screamed.
Thane grabbed her, lifted her off her feet, and threw her ahead of him.
She sailed through the air and hit the ground. She rolled and came up on one knee.
The centipede rose up above Thane.
“Thane!”
He pumped his arms and legs, then dove.
The alien creature struck like a cobra. It smashed into the floor, narrowly missing Thane.
Kaira darted to him, and grabbed his arm. “Come on.”
They raced back down the original hall.
A group of soldiers and an elite blocked the way.
When they saw Thane and Kaira, they stiffened.
When they saw the centipede, they all stumbled back.
“In here.” Kaira did a sharp left and shoved through another doorway.
Thane slammed the door closed behind them. Then he formed a flamethrower and welded it shut. “It won’t hold for long.”
They were in another lab, similar to the previous one, except there was a huge, glass box in the center of it.
She walked over and touched the transparent walls.
“It’s a containment cage.” Thane touched the glass. “It’s made of a diamond-like material. Impossible to break.”
Her belly turned over. “It’s to hold test subjects.”
He gave her a grim nod. “It’s strong enough to hold anything, and the Kantos can watch the results of their experiments.”
She grimaced.
“Let’s find a way out,” he said.
A massive boom echoed and the door shuddered.
“Our centipede friend is hungry,” she said.
They circled the room. Unlike on the ship, the vents here were too small for them to get through.
Another boom.
“We could blow a hole in the wall,” Thane suggested.
Boom.
The door bent inward. The alien centipede stuck its head in and hissed.
Break it down. An enraged elite.
“We’re out of time.” Thane turned to the containment box. “Get inside.”
“And trap ourselves?”
“If we’re in there, they can’t get to us and I have the pathogen. It’ll help keep us alive. Maybe by then, the Rengard, or another Eon ship, will arrive.”
Her stomach was a mass of knots. She didn’t like this.
She blew out a breath and climbed through the door into the box.
Thane followed and slammed the door closed behind them. Then he smashed the lock.
There was no way for it to be opened from the outside.
He took her hand. “We’ve got this.”
The doors to the lab burst open.
Thane watched soldiers fill the room.
Out in the hall, he could