Dark Matters - Michelle Diener Page 0,97
looked down, and there was Dray.
She tried to answer, but her throat was still tight and nothing would come out.
She fluttered her fingers at him, and then, like everyone else, looked up with a jerk at the massive boom that reverberated over the city, rolling like a long growl of thunder.
She stared in shock, and when her momentum twisted her away from the view, back toward the statue, she closed her eyes and tried to steel herself in case it was Bane.
She turned again, just in time to see another bright exchange of cannon fire, and clasped her hands in relief as she saw Bane moving, graceful and smooth as a ballet dancer, as he twisted and rolled and curved away from the remaining Tecran battleship.
He fired, and the shot seemed to clip the Tecran ship. It spun away, and then went still.
Bane moved to hover over it.
The crowd gasped and she heard the words 'surrender' from below.
Did they think Bane wouldn't accept the battleship's surrender?
Suddenly another ship was there, and for a moment she braced herself for another attack, but it seemed to almost nudge Bane aside, and he slowly drifted away from his downed prey.
Maybe that was the ship Dray and the rest of the UC had come to Tecra on. The Urna.
A buzzing noise swamped her senses, crowding out the noise from below, and then the drone Bane had sent to rescue her at the cliffs descended in front of her.
She started shaking with relief as it moved beneath her, and when she was able to crouch down on it safely, she carefully released the magnet.
The drone sank down slowly, and when it touched the ground she slid off the side into Dray's waiting arms.
He caught her, lowered her down, and angled his body as if to shield her.
She looked past him, to the backs of the UC soldiers standing guard in a semi-circle in front of them, and then the crowd beyond.
The Tecran were watching her, now the battle above was over, and she touched Dray's chest with a hand, stepping forward, and he let her move in front of him.
She looked at the people in the crowd, her hair blowing in the eternal, icy wind, her face visible for all to see.
She could see the shock and guilt on their faces as they looked back.
The fog, that wall of white and gray that she'd spotted from the top of the statue, chose that moment to hit.
It rolled through the square, gobbling up the crowds until all Lucy could see was the backs of the UC soldiers in front of her, and Dray beside her.
“I thought he was going to kill you.” Dray's voice was hoarse, as if he'd been shouting for hours.
“He was going to kill me.” She leaned into him, suddenly sure he needed the comfort of it as much as she did.
He shuddered, pulling her closer. “I knew I couldn't get up the stairs in time.”
“You shot him from below.” She had only remembered the massive shockgun he'd taken from Bane's stores when she'd heard Silius scream.
“Yes. Someone will have to go up there and see if he's still alive.”
“Not you or me.” She burrowed in closer as the fog deposited cold drops of dew on her cheeks and eyelashes.
“No. We're done here.”
She felt her heart lift, and she smiled against the rough skin of his neck. “You say the nicest things.”
He went still, and then started to chuckle.
He was still laughing as he pulled her away from the drone, to which he gave a friendly pat, and then he walked with her into the deep white of the fog.
Chapter 42
“Lucy Harris.”
The woman who greeted Lucy as she stepped into the massive UC battleship smiled as she walked forward, arms open, and Lucy had to check herself so she didn't flinch at the sight of the sharp row of teeth on display.
She stood still, and was grateful for Dray's hand as it settled on the small of her back.
“Lucy, this is Ambassador Filivantri Dimitara. She's a friend of Rose McKenzie's and the leader of our mission to Tecra.”
The ambassador flung her arms around Lucy, and Lucy tentatively hugged her back.
“You only speak Tecran?” Dimitara stepped back with a frown, giving Dray a quick look.
“Yes.” Lucy had made a decision not to apologize for anything that had been done to her, and so she met the ambassador's gaze without wavering.
“Of course not. Why would they teach you anything else?” Dimitara shook her head. Her