Weapons Master Galactic Gladia - Anna Hackett Page 0,47

hands on the handholds.

Not bad. He swung it through the air. A few tweaks and it could be awesome.

He tore into the remaining security bots. The energy weapon cut through them like the sharpest blade through flesh.

Heaving in air, Maxon rose. The destroyed security bots littered the ground around him.

Bellamy.

He swiveled and ran. He leaped over the railing and into the maintenance area. He sprinted past the wrecked and destroyed bots until he reached her downed bot. He leaped onto its large body and ran along it.

He reached the cockpit and his gut lurched. It was so badly damaged.

He tossed the energy weapon aside, then ripped the bot open with his bare hands.

Then he saw her hand through the torn metal. It was slack and covered in blood.

“Bellamy.” A broken whisper.

Maxon heaved metal out of the way and pulled her out. She was so still.

Clutching her to his chest, he leaped back onto the ground and pulled her into his lap.

She wasn’t moving. Her eyes were closed.

A roar welled inside him. He couldn’t detect her heart beating. No. The pain threatened to tear him apart.

Then he realized something.

There was no impending sense of dread. No black cloud. It gave him the tiniest shred of hope.

“Bellamy!”

He reached out and grabbed the energy weapon. Then steeling himself, he pressed it to her chest.

Chapter Eighteen

Bellamy gasped, sucking in air. What the hell had happened?

She opened her eyes. She felt like she’d been through a meat grinder.

Maxon’s face came into view—rugged and male. She stilled. There were tears on his cheeks.

He was holding her tightly to his chest and made a harsh sound, like a wounded animal.

“Maxon?”

He froze. His golden gaze latched onto her face.

“Ace?” She tried to lift her hand, but all she got was an arm twitch. Hmm, her legs wouldn’t move either. Pain was starting to seep in. Ow. A lot of pain.

“Bellamy.” His voice was harsh, and filled with boiling emotions.

She gingerly turned her head and saw the destroyed bots. And her bot—which was now a crumpled mess.

And a lot of blood. All over her.

“I’m okay,” she said.

“Drak, you… You…”

Her big, gruff cyborg. His eyes were filled with such pain.

This time, she managed to cup his cheek. “I’m okay, Maxon.”

“But you were…you were dead. Your heart had stopped. I had to jolt you, but I didn’t know if it would work.”

Oh, her poor man. “Help me sit up. I need to kiss you.”

He helped her upright and their lips touched.

“I’m not leaving you, Ace. I plan to make you laugh, maybe yell a bit, and definitely growl, every day for a really long time.” She wiped the tears off his stubbled cheeks. “Don’t cry.”

“I don’t cry,” he said.

Her lips twitched. “Oh, right.”

“Bellamy.” He yanked her close and buried his face in her hair. “I can’t lose you.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Help me to my feet. We have douchebag asshole aliens to bring down.”

They rose and he handled her carefully. She tested her legs and found them wobbly, but nothing was broken. She’d feel worse later.

Around them, the arena was in an uproar. She heard shouts, screams and roars.

Drivers and slaves were running everywhere. She smiled. Go, get out.

Then she saw a group of Edull guards appear out of a tunnel. They marched down the track.

Several spectators climbed over the railing, looking amped up and ready to fight. Edull allies, or people whose bloodlust was up.

Oh, fuck.

“Have you seen Jax and the others?” she asked.

Maxon shook his head.

She hoped they were okay. The Edull were getting closer.

“Then it’s up to us to teach these guys a lesson.”

Maxon lifted a weapon that was sitting nearby and it lit up with red electricity.

Nice.

Then he pulled a slim wire from the seam of his fighting leathers. It unfurled, and as she watched, it started to knit together, forming a slim gun.

“Oh, wow.”

“Stealth design that I’m trialing.”

“You’re pretty awesome, you know?”

He shot her a small smile.

Her fingers closed around the small weapon, and when she looked up, the Edull were closing in. She lifted the gun and fired. It blasted out a thin line of laser.

The Edull scattered. One crouched and raced closer. Maxon attacked.

And unleashed hell.

Oh, her man could fight. And it appeared that after watching her almost die, he was seriously pissed off.

Then she heard a guttural roar, and turned to see a big alien with horns sprinting at them.

She fired, but the laser bounced off his tough skin. She aimed more carefully, and fired again.

This time, the laser hit his eye. With