Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,77

birds. Alouette turned back, immediately noticing the empty space in the mud where Leclair had fallen. Her gaze snapped up, searching for the officer. But a second later, her stomach curdled when she heard three consecutive rayonette pulses searing through the air, followed by a body crumpling to the ground.

Alouette spun back toward the girls, fully expecting to see one of them lying in the street. But it was Officer Leclair who was on the ground. And holding his rayonette was Gabriel.

Somehow, he’d gotten out of his cuffs and was now staring down, utterly dumbfounded, at the weapon in his hands, like he wasn’t quite sure how he’d managed to wrangle it from the officer.

But a second later, Sauvage leapt up from the mud and swiped the rayonette from Gabriel’s grasp. He took aim at Alouette.

“Watch out!” Gabriel cried. Alouette attempted another kick, but Sauvage was ready this time, dodging the blow. He fired the rayonette. The pulse tore past her, missing her face by a centimètre. But the force knocked her off balance and she went down, landing in a patch of mud. Alouette struggled to get back to her feet, but her cuffed hands and the slick ground were making it difficult.

Officer Sauvage stepped closer, his rayonette outstretched. “You’ll pay for that, blood whore.”

There was a flash of movement. The rayonette fired again. Alouette shuddered. She heard the sickening sound of the pulse burying itself into flesh but was surprised to feel no pain anywhere.

“Holy fric, that hurts!”

Confused, Alouette glanced around to see Gabriel on his knees next to her, clutching his shoulder.

But before Alouette could fully grasp what had happened, Gabriel had crawled toward her. She felt a tug on her wrists, and a split second later, the two PermaSteel loops clattered to the ground.

Officer Sauvage took aim again, but Alouette didn’t hesitate. She was a bird let out of its cage. A prisoner broken from chains. Her whole body coursed with newfound energy. With freedom. She sprang to her feet, landing in a deep squat. Then, using the force of her legs, she launched forward. Her liberated hands arched up and around and across, with a flow, strength, and precision she’d never felt before.

The fourth sequence: The Darkest Night.

There was a grunt, followed by the sound of bones breaking, and by the time Alouette was released from her trance, Sauvage was on the ground, moaning in pain and holding his bloody, shattered nose.

Alouette stared down at the fallen officer, her mind whirring with questions and adrenaline. But then the sound of sirens crashed into her. She looked up at the building of the Montfer Policier Precinct, where orange lights were flashing from the roof.

“Come on,” Gabriel said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away. “We have to get out of here.”

- CHAPTER 23 - MARCELLUS

THE BITTER COLD OF THE Terrain Perdu sliced through Marcellus’s flimsy coat and stabbed at his skin. As the rough, frozen tundra skimmed beneath his moto and the frigid air bit at his fingers, one word crashed endlessly through his mind like a recurrent clap of thunder.

Albion.

Laterre’s longest standing enemy.

Albion.

Home of the Mad Queen.

Albion.

General Bonnefaçon’s new ally.

Marcellus banked his moto into a shallow turn. It felt like he’d been riding for days. For weeks. For lifetimes. Even though it had only been a few hours. Finally, the twinkling lights of the exploit city of Montfer came into view on the horizon. Right now, that city was his only hope. His last hope. He had to tell the Vangarde what he’d discovered. But when he’d gone back to his dead drop location before leaving the Frets, he’d found his last message was still there.

Untouched.

Unreceived.

Unanswered.

And he just couldn’t shake the feeling that, after the devastation on Bastille, the Vangarde might never answer him again. That it was the end. That the general had already won.

The thought sent a ripple of determination through him, and he leaned into the throttle, pushing his moto faster.

No. It couldn’t be the end. There had to be more Vangarde operatives out there. Mabelle had told him there were cells rising up everywhere. Like in Montfer, where he’d first made contact with Mabelle three weeks ago.

The landscape whizzed by in a blur, made even hazier by the cold pricking at his eyes, causing them to water. All the while, he kept his grandfather’s voice firmly in his mind, letting it stoke that fire that was burning inside of him. Right now, that fire was the only thing keeping