bursts of plasma. Suddenly, all around the kidnapped man, the Splinters fell. Precision shots killed them as easy a sniffing out a candle.
Until there was only one left.
The harsh looking man who had been left alive reached for a knife at his belt, probably to slit his own throat, but he was quickly shot in that hand. Before he could grab the weapon holstered on his other hip, he shouted in pain as a second shot rendered that hand useless, too.
Sky warriors dressed in black uniforms rushed forward and took control of the scene. Just like that—it was all over. Days of planning, and the mission was competed in seconds of high-risk activity.
She sagged against the tree trunk and let the tears come. Relief, fear, pride, anxiety—the emotions flooded out of her. She had accomplished something truly great today. She had helped free a man. She had made it possible for him to be rescued without injury to any of his comrades. Other than Miss Kay and the men who had helped her plan it, no one would ever know what she had risked or done here today. It was a secret she would take to the grave.
It was a secret that was going to buy her a new life.
As she climbed down from the tree, she considered the decisions awaiting her. She could take the offer to become a mate to a stranger. She would have a home, a husband and the family she craved, but would she be happy? Was she capable of learning to love a stranger? What if he was more like Torment and less like Cipher?
It was a chance she couldn’t take. The thought of being tied to an unkind brute was too much for her to risk. There was also the realization that someday Cipher would find a woman he liked well enough to keep. She wasn’t sure she could handle seeing him with another woman. He wasn’t hers—had never been hers—but her heart had set itself on having him.
To the colonies it is.
Away from the mountain. Away from the mines. Away from the sky warrior she had stupidly become infatuated with. Away from the only life she had ever known.
She trudged along her new path, arcing off to the left of the mountain and using the compass on her watch to guide her to the coordinates of her rendezvous point. The longer she walked, the more unwell she felt. She brushed her hand to her forehead, feeling the heat there.
Do I have a fever?
The heat radiating off her forehead wasn’t only from the physical exertion of the hike. Her throat burned when she swallowed, and she noticed a strange ache in her joints. She felt queasy and could barely handle drinking the water in her canteen.
The water!
That foul water she had been showered with while trying to create a diversion was the likely culprit. All her life, she had been trained to never drink unknown water, to smell it and boil it first. As much as she had tried not to get that water in her mouth, some of it undoubtedly had made its way inside her.
Hoping the ship coming to pick her up had a medic on hand, she trudged forward, her pace slow and her steps heavy. She grew hotter and more nauseated and had to blink and close one eye to focus on her compass. She hadn’t veered off course yet, but it was only a matter of time if she wasn’t careful.
Feeling a surge of nausea, she braced herself on the nearest tree and heaved up the water and remains of her morning rations. Her head pounded as she retched into the grass, and she fought the desperate need to curl up on her side on the ground and sleep.
“You have to keep moving, Brook,” she urged aloud. “You have to keep moving, Brook.”
“Now, come on, honey, don’t be so hasty. You can sit a little while with us.”
Feverish and sick, she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. She spun around and came face to face with four leering men. She could smell them despite the distance, and her stomach soured at the stench of alcohol, sweat and filth. Skin traders.
The one who seemed to be their leader smiled evilly, showing off brown and broken teeth. “Sweetie, you lookin’ mighty sick. Why don’t you come back to our camp over there and let us give you some first aid?”
The true meaning wasn’t lost on her. Nervous but trying