the landing pad.
He kept pushing, gunning the loader engine, until the ship teetered on the edge of the tower landing pad.
Then it fell.
Both he and Airen jumped off the loader. They watched the ship plummet down into the courtyard.
Boom.
Donovan grabbed her and pulled her close as a cloud of flames and smoke rose up into the air.
They looked over the edge again.
“Holy hell,” he breathed.
The ship had blown out part of the prison command building. Dead and burning bugs littered the entire courtyard.
The battle still raged on the beach.
Then Airen stiffened, and he followed her gaze.
Those damn gorilla-bugs had reappeared. The bulky creatures were racing across the courtyard. They hit the tower base and started climbing up, using their four powerful arms.
There were a lot of them.
Shit, shit, shit.
“We need a plan,” he said. “We can use the loader to fight them off.”
She cupped his cheek, calm and serene. She pressed her lips to his. “I love you, Donovan.”
Damn. He pressed his forehead to hers. He knew there were too many of the gorilla-bugs, and he and Airen had nowhere to go. “We aren’t giving up.”
“We won’t, but I also wanted to share what was most important. You made me realize how much I kept myself shielded.” She smiled. “I’ve never trusted anyone with all of me before. You opened my eyes to so much more.”
He kissed her hard and tugged on her hair.
“You’re everything, Airen. You’re every dream I’ve ever wanted all in one beautiful, tough warrior package.”
Her smile was worth every ache, pain, and battle.
He dragged in a breath. “You made me realize I was hiding from relationships. One, because I was scared of being hurt like my mom, but mostly, because I was afraid I’d turn into my asshole father.”
“You are so brave and honorable, Donovan Lennox. Nothing like the man who abandoned you.”
“And your parents, for whatever reason they left you, missed out on the greatest gift ever.”
She clung to him for a second, then stepped back. “Okay, let’s fight.”
They both climbed into the loader. He had the engine running just as the first gorilla-bug pulled itself over the edge.
The loader rumbled forward and Donovan accelerated. As the Kantos straightened, he rammed it.
Airen leaped off the vehicle, her sword forming. She started fighting another gorilla-bug that had climbed over the edge.
More and more gorilla-bugs pulled themselves up onto the landing pad. Donovan rammed into another one.
There were just too many.
He saw four converge on Airen all at once. No. He spun, driving toward her. “Airen!”
Bang. The loader vibrated. Looking up, he saw a gorilla-bug on the steel cage that formed the loader’s roof, staring down at him.
Oh, shit.
Suddenly, a deafening roar of sound cut through the air.
Donovan looked up. Oh, hell.
There was a ship in the sky. A big one.
And it wasn’t Eon, Terran, or Kantos.
The ship was black, sleek and angular, with huge, spiked plates of metal on its hull, almost like armor. Its engines glowed blue.
The gorilla-bugs froze. The large ship started firing blue energy pulses toward the beach.
The gorilla-bugs pulled back, disappearing over the edge of the tower. Retreating.
Airen ran toward Donovan, beaming. He leaped off the loader and was just in time to catch her. She jumped on him, legs wrapping around his waist. Then she kissed him hard.
“I take it that’s a friend?” he asked.
“Yes.” Her smile widened. “That’s an Oronis ship.”
Oronis. Jamie Park, one of the Divergent’s space marines, and her warrior mate, Aydin, had been helped by an Oronis spy. The man had saved them from the Kantos.
“A related species to the Eon, right?”
“The Oronis knights are fierce fighters.”
As she spoke, he watched a wave of black bodies pour out of the Oronis ship.
The fighters flew closer—all wearing kickass, black armor, three-quarter coats flaring behind them. Their heads were covered by black helmets. He couldn’t see any wing suits or anything, but the knights landed in crouches across the beach.
Then, they unleashed hell.
In awe, Donovan watched several knights draw long swords that glittered with blue energy. Others formed blue balls of energy between their gloved palms.
If the Eon warriors were strong, tough broadswords, the Oronis were sleek, deadly rapiers. Across the beach, the knights fought with lethal intensity. Donovan watched a blue ball of energy hit a Kantos soldier. The Kantos writhed, the energy racing over it, before it burned up to a husk.
He hugged Airen closer. “I like your friends.”
Chapter Nineteen
Airen and Donovan stepped out of the elevator. Dead Kantos and wardens covered the courtyard, but it was