Weapons Master Galactic Gladia - Anna Hackett Page 0,29
several bots. Mace and Acton were circling two other bots.
“Stay back,” Maxon said. “Protect the boy.”
Then he spun, striding into the fight. He reached over his shoulder and pulled out his vibrasword. He lunged and struck, fighting with powerful hits that tore into the bot.
They were amazing.
“By the sands.” The boy trembled. “They are…”
“The House of Rone.” Bellamy patted his arm. “They’re going to set everyone free.”
The boy fought back tears, ducking his head to hide them.
She gripped his shoulder. “It’s okay. I was the Edull’s prisoner for a while, so I know how you feel. But I’m free now, and you can go home soon. We’ll take care of you.”
With a sniff, the boy nodded. “But…they already took my older brother.”
Damn. She touched the young boy’s arm. “What’s your name?”
“Calrin.”
“Well, Calrin, we’re going to find your brother. I promise.” Don’t make me a liar, universe. “What’s your brother’s name?”
“Zan.”
Suddenly, a bot broke through the line of fighting cyborgs. Fuck.
It barreled right toward Bellamy and the boy. She glanced around, looking for some sort of weapon.
She grabbed a metal bar resting beside the cages and lifted it. She pushed Calrin behind her.
The bot rolled closer.
Bellamy leaped up onto an empty cage then jumped, swinging her bar through the air. Her swing slammed into the bot’s head.
The bot stopped, and she saw the dent in its head, before she landed back in a crouch on the ground.
“Come on, you overblown tin can.”
It rolled at her and she swung again. One of its arms grabbed the bar. She tried to jerk it away, but the bot held it steady. It was too strong.
Shit.
A roar sounded, almost like a lion on the attack. Maxon landed on the bot’s back. He was holding some sort of gun in his hand. He pressed the sleek weapon to the bot’s head.
He pulled the trigger and blew the bot’s head off.
The construct teetered and collapsed, just as Maxon leaped off it.
Bellamy kicked the destroyed bot. Good riddance. She looked up and smiled at Maxon. “I love watching you kick ass, Ace.”
His lips twitched. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Never.”
She turned back to the boy, and together, they watched the House of Rone cyborgs make metal mincemeat out of the Edull robots.
Chapter Eleven
Maxon watched Bellamy free the last of the kids from the final cages.
She was talking calmly, reassuring them. She coaxed a smile from a boy, and then hugged a small girl.
He stayed close to her. He didn’t want to be too far away from her. Part of him didn’t want her out of his sight.
But he stayed back. He was big, the kids were skittish.
The other reason he was staying close was that rage vibrated off Bellamy. The kids might not be picking it up, but he sure was.
A team from the House of Rone arrived to help deal with the freed captives. The workers sprang into action.
“Our people will get them all medical checks and then some food,” Magnus said.
Maxon grunted. The House of Rone was used to helping those who needed it.
“We’ll get them back to their homes and families,” Magnus continued. “Or offer them a new one, if need be.”
As the imperator had once offered Maxon a home. He hoped these kids had people who cared and homes to go back to.
There were a few adult captives as well. He heard a man’s deep laugh and turned.
A smooth, handsome Heelevian man was laughing with Bellamy.
Maxon frowned. The man was standing way too close to her. Why was she smiling at him like that?
Before he could intervene, he felt a tug on his leg and looked down to see a small girl with tangled, pale hair.
“What?”
The girl blinked, and her lip quivered.
Maxon tried not to scowl. He remembered the way Bellamy had crouched to the kids’ level when she spoke to them.
He went down on one knee. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Looking for someone?”
That got him another shake.
Drak. He had no idea what to say to this small child.
Then the girl moved closer, her body cautious, then pressed against his chest.
Raising an arm, he awkwardly hugged the girl. She was so small and fragile. He felt a trickle of panic and looked up, searching for someone to take the girl off his hands.
She clung to his shirt like she was never going to let go.
Then he saw Bellamy smiling at him.
His panic eased. If this earned him that look on her face, he’d hold the little girl for hours.
Suddenly, an older girl appeared. “Zalista.” She