Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,2

fingers scrambling for his gun, skimming over dirt until he hit the hilt of it. He scooped up the gun, sprang to his feet, and ran. He couldn’t have said where he headed. There was no safety out here. Nowhere to fucking hide.

He yelled his frustration as he turned in a circle. He would die out here. It was inevitable.

And then there it was.

The citadel rose from the ground with only the slightest of rumbles, startling him. He stared at the rising structure, a squat shape against a twilight sky. A building. What the fuck?

As he ran for its walls, he noted the details. Solid stonework that boasted no windows within the first ten feet or so from the ground. The few it had were covered in bars and softly lit. He spotted only a single door, blocked by a portcullis, the metal bars thick and sunk into a solid stone ledge.

If he’d had time, he might have wondered at a building that rose from the ground, but he saw only the safety it would provide.

Was anyone watching his approach? Surely that was why the building appeared, to save him. Or was it automated? Had the night triggered something automatic? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d come across strange relics caught in a mechanical loop.

There was a temptation as he arrived at the bars of the building to grab them, shake them, and yell at someone to let him in. There was more growling behind him. Those he’d killed were just the vanguard of a larger group.

He didn’t beg because if anyone watched, they knew he was in trouble. Would they let him in?

If they didn’t, then they knew exactly what they did. How they condemned him.

Titan retreated a few steps, watching the creeping shadows. Eyes glinted in the dark. The tigber were getting bold. They weren’t letting the bodies of their dead deter or distract them.

His back brushed the stone wall of the citadel. A paltry protection.

“Who are you?” a voice asked.

“Could we do this inside?” he snapped as the growls paced closer from the darkness.

“I can’t. The door won’t open until the keep is locked into place.”

Meaning he was stuck outside a while longer. But at least help was coming. Just not in time.

The ground stopped shaking, and there was a massive click that he hoped meant something good. Too late.

A tigber barreled into him, hard enough that he slammed into the wall of the building. Something in his chest cracked. Through the blinding pain, he still managed to stand and shoot the beast in the head.

He kept shooting, aiming for the glow of the eyes as they swarmed toward him. Shooting without even knowing how many he killed, but it was a lot. More than his friend Casey had ever boasted.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Sinking to a sitting position, he heard more snarling. He needed to rise to meet it, only he couldn’t move far. The pain hitched in him, a blinding agony. He blinked, unable to focus. He managed a scream when teeth clamped onto his leg. Heard his bones crack.

Now he’d die.

Instead, a bright light illuminated the area, causing more than a few hisses and growly yowls. He heard the rat-tat-tat of a gun spraying rapidly. Beasts bellowed and died. There was a scrabble of claws and paws as others ran, abandoning their human prey. A small mercy. At least he wouldn’t die while being eaten. Given the pain with each breath, he hoped that death came quickly.

The rattle and clank of metal meant nothing to him. The door opened too late.

He saw a strange masked face leaning over him, metallic in appearance with odd glowing eyes. A robot. That explained the rough grip on his forearms as it dragged him over the ground and brought him into the light.

The shutting of a door sealed off the sound of firing guns and roaring beasts. Now all he could hear was something panting. That was him panting. And his eyes were having a hard time staying open.

He could hear voices but not make out the words. Pain was also talking and refused to be ignored.

Someone leaned over him. Someone with eyes a bright green and a face of beauty.

Apparently, Old Gordie was right. There was a Heaven after all. But who the fuck was running it and letting him in?

Two

“I can’t believe you brought him inside,” Alfred rebuked. “The number one rule is ‘don’t take in strangers.’”

“I know.” Riella glanced down at the broken and