turn his head enough to see Magnus, Jax, and Mace running toward him. He couldn’t even yell at them to warn them.
He heard Jax curse first. All three cyborgs snapped to a halt. They all had enough enhancements and cybernetics to be caught by the field of the device.
He watched as his fellow cyborgs strained against the magnetic field holding them. Pain flared inside him. The force exerted on his spine made his bones ache.
Then there were more shouts and movement.
A tall, muscular man in a black suit stepped in front of Maxon. A small, blonde woman appeared beside him.
“Hey, hold on, big guy.” The woman crouched and touched the device. “There.”
The force was gone. Maxon staggered, but the man caught him.
“Are you all right?” The man’s eyes were locked on Maxon’s face.
Tannon Gi was head of security for the Dark Nebula. Maxon nodded. “Thanks.”
The woman patted his arm, scanning the street.
“I’m Mina.” Her blonde hair brushed her jaw line. “They took her?”
Maxon growled. “Not for long.”
The woman smiled. She wore a Dark Nebula Security uniform, but he knew instantly that she was from Earth. This had to be Tannon’s mate.
“Bellamy’s tough,” Mina said. “She’s probably planning her abductor’s downfall as we speak.” Mina shot him a satisfied smile. “She won’t be an easy victim.”
“You know her,” he said.
“I’m from the Helios.”
“My security team is tracking the transport,” Tannon said. “We control all the traffic cameras in the District.”
“My hunk-a-licious is a control freak,” Mina added, pride in her voice.
Two black, streamlined transports slid up in front of them, and opened. There was no one inside.
“They’re all yours,” Tannon said to Maxon and the cyborgs. “Tracking information is on the onboard system.”
“Nice.” Jax climbed into one while Mace joined him.
“Get her back,” Mina said.
Maxon climbed into the other transport, Magnus sliding into the seat beside him. Maxon nodded at the small Earth woman.
Jax and Mace pulled away first.
As the doors closed them in, Maxon stared through the smoky glass. They slid smoothly into traffic. Maxon leaned forward and ripped open the control panel.
“Rillian just loaned this to us,” Magnus said. “It’s not nice to rip it apart.”
“I’m just finessing some more speed from the controls.” Transports often had speed locks for the city. The transport jumped forward, picking up speed.
An assassin had Bellamy. They couldn’t waste any more time. They sped past Jax and Mace. The others would have to catch up.
Drak. Maxon wanted to pummel something. Preferably an Edull or two.
Magnus straightened in his seat. “There.”
Ahead, Maxon saw two dark transports flanking a silver one.
He spotted the female assassin, her red hair whipping around in the wind, leaning out a window. Her hair streamed out behind her like a river of blood. She was aiming a weapon at the silver transport.
Bellamy.
Maxon touched the controls. They sped up and he watched as Magnus gripped the door.
“Maxon—”
“Hold on.”
They crashed into the back of the assassin’s transport.
The woman jolted and almost lost her balance. Fury choked Maxon. This crudspawn had dared to take Bellamy, threatened her, and planned to kill her.
He wouldn’t allow any of that.
He touched a button and the roof of the transport opened.
Magnus straightened. “Maxon, we need—”
“I’m getting Bellamy back.”
The imperator sighed. “Be careful.”
Maxon climbed up onto the roof. He balanced on top of the speeding transport, then leaped.
He landed on the assassin’s vehicle with a thud, then yanked his weapon out of his holster.
The redhead popped up through her own roof and shot at him. He ducked down, and fired back.
She popped up again and shot at him once more.
This time, he wasn’t fast enough. The laser hit his shoulder, but he ignored the stinging burn.
The assassin swerved the vehicle and with a curse, Maxon dropped down and clung to the roof.
They slammed into Bellamy’s transport.
He turned his head and his gaze met hers through the glass. Her eyes were wide.
The assassin fired at him again and he ducked back. This time, he watched anger flaring on Bellamy’s face.
Her roof opened.
“Stay down,” he roared.
The assassin popped up and flew bodily out of her roof, a knife glinting in her hand.
Drak.
Avoiding the blade, he rolled, almost tumbling off the edge of the speeding transport.
The woman’s knife cut into the metal.
“You shouldn’t meddle, cyborg.”
“And you shouldn’t kill innocent people.” He swung out and hit her with his fist.
She slid across the roof, grunted, and clung tight.
He heard the crash of metal and glass. He glanced over and saw that Jax and Mace’s transport had smashed into the vehicle on the