a smirk at the corner of Scarlett’s mouth. “This is about Aurora, right?”
I sigh. Even the sound of her name makes my heart swell. “Yes.”
“You got a case of the mad lurrrve.”
“I am … very fond of her, yes.”
We are almost to the door now, Scarlett speaking under her breath. “I’m probably not the person to ask for advice on this one, Muscles. I’ve never been in a relationship that lasted longer than seven weeks.”
“You are a human girl,” I say desperately. “You know what human girls like.”
The doors slide open before us, and Scarlett looks over her shoulder, eyebrow raised. “We’re not a monolith, Kal, we—”
Her words are cut short as she bumps into a small figure entering the Repository. I hear a growl of outrage, look down to see a small female gremp, surrounded by a dozen others.
“Oh, pardon me, darling,” Scarlett says.
The lead gremp stands perhaps a meter tall, which is large for her species. The tortoiseshell fur covering her body is perfectly coiffed under her pearl-white suit. Her pale green eyes are edged with dark powder and have the gleam of someone who feeds people to her pets for sport.
She looks up at Scarlett, lips sliding back over her fangs.
“You,” Skeff Tannigut growls.
“Oh shit,” Scarlett breathes.
6
FINIAN
I make my way out the side door, aching like I’ve been stomped by an ultrasaur. My suit is close to completely crapping out, but we’re so close to pulling this off—the last thing I want is anyone’s attention. The doors hum closed behind me with a self-satisfied swish, and I turn right, toward the four-way intersection outside the Dominion Repository. By now, Scar and Kal should be parading their edible selves out the front door, where we’ll meet up with the others.
Finally, finally, something’s going our way. Kal had a box under his arm when they left the vault, so I know we have a next move. I’m feeling a little self-satisfied myself as I try for a saunter around the corner, just in time to see Scarlett come face to face—or waist to face—with a pissed-off-looking gremp.
I literally have time to think, Wow, imagine if that was the same one who— before suddenly the sidewalk’s bristling with weaponry, and everybody’s having a very tense day.
I freeze in place. Scar’s already talking at top speed, hands lifted in placation, on the pointy end of a dozen disruptor pistols. Behind her, Dominion security guards have responded by pulling out their ordnance, which is all on the wrong side of heavy. This means that, on the upside, Skeff Tannigut can’t just drag Scarlett and Kal away to chop them into little pieces. On the downside, my squadmates are now threatened on all sides.
“These two are wanted fugitives!” the gremp spits, black-rimmed eyes narrowing. “They assaulted me and my broodkin, almost killed my littermate!”
“Nonsense, darling,” Scarlett says. “I’ve never met you before in my life.”
“I knew your kind could not be trusted,” Tannigut growls.
“My kind?” Scarlett musters some convincing outrage. “I suppose we humans all look alike to you, eh?”
The Dominion guards, more than a few of whom are Terran, look less than impressed at the gangster’s accusations. I limp away from the Repository, trying to stay out of sight. I have no idea where Zila is, but just beyond the rising argument, Tyler and Auri are backing up into the crowded intersection, trying to follow my example and make sure nobody notices them.
“Finian?” Ty mutters into his uni. “Can you muster us a distraction?”
I’m typing on my uni as I reply. “Already on it, Goldenboy. I’ll have a diversion up in thirty seconds. Let’s all make sure we run away in the same direction, yes?”
Tyler takes another slow step back, glancing up and down the bustling thoroughfare. “Turn hubward, and we’ll—”
A scream cuts across comms, coupled with a vicious sizzling sound. I look up from my uni and see Aurora lying on the ground like a puppet with her strings cut. She’s wrapped up in bands of what looks like crackling red energy, steam rising off her skin, mouth open in a silent scream. And that’s about when everything goes to pieces. Kal leaps in her direction with a cry of perfect rage, completely forgetting Scarlett’s still got his freaking leash wrapped around her wrist.
I mean, a leash, really?
Anyway, Scarlett’s pulled after him like she’s weightless, crashing straight into Skeff Tannigut and going down in a tangle of flailing limbs and corsetry. Everybody starts shooting. The gremps let loose with their disruptors