Forged (Star Breed #10) - Elin Wyn Page 0,60

I didn’t need to worry.

All eyes were on Uncle Ran.

Slowly, carefully, I maneuvered the laser cutter until the tip protruded slightly from the barricade of discarded furniture.

“And yet, despite my trust in you, you have failed me,” Uncle Ran boomed out from the stage.

He strode back-and-forth, his face red and twisted. I gnawed at my lip, willing him to stand still so I could get a clear shot. At least Luca wasn’t up there with him.

I wouldn’t be able to do this more than once. Even if his guards didn’t find me and stop me before I could try again, I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength to pull the trigger twice.

Finally, Uncle Ran spun on his heel, arm outstretched, his finger pointing accusingly at the man standing before him.

“Not only did you fail ExaTek, you failed me! You were one of my most trusted men. I believed in you.” His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. “And yet you let her go.”

The guards raised their blasters, so many against one lone man.

My hand fell away from the trigger.

Jenke. He was going to execute Jenke because I’d managed to escape.

Jenke with all of his hurt and bitterness.

Hakon’s brother.

Even if I shot Uncle Ran now, the rest of his guards could kill Jenke in seconds.

“No!” I shouted as I scrambled out from behind the overturned furniture. “I’m right here. Let him go.”

Jenke whirled around, eyes wild. “What in the Void are you doing?” he snarled as Uncle Ran signaled, and a group of guards rushed towards me.

But for all I cared, Jenke and I were alone in the room.

“You were wrong,” I said. “Yes, there’s plenty of pain and betrayal in the universe.”

For a moment, I could see Hakon’s handsome features superimposed on Jenke’s, but then they blurred and went away.

“But there’s love, too. You’re his brother,” I tried to explain as the rest of the guards moved to circle me as well. “I couldn’t save him. But I can save you.”

Hakon

“What do you think you’re doing?” I growled at Thalcorr, my eyes fixed on Yasmin, just as they had been ever since she emerged from behind the turned over tables across the hub.

“Do you think you can save her, get her out of this, all by yourself?” he asked sadly.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I have to at least try.”

Alcyon smirked. “If you’re going to bother to charge in there, it would make sense to me to make sure you get her out alive. What do I know? I’ve never been much of one for romance.” He pulled out a comm unit and started tapping. “There’s over forty guards out there. Denau has kept them with him at all times since he took the station. You can’t count on the workers helping, but if you give me a minute, I could increase the odds a bit.”

Pushed and prodded by the guards, Yasmin strode through the crowd to stand next to Jenke, who stepped between her and her uncle.

“She’s your blood,” he spat out. “Your kin. I was derelict in my duties, she escaped.” He tilted his head to the side slightly. “More points to her for cleverness, I’d say.”

Yasmin put one small hand on his shoulder. “It won’t work,” she said. She moved to stand by his side. “Uncle, your guard was loyal. I was here long enough to learn the Desyk systems. I let myself out. No one has betrayed you.”

Denau’s face twisted in rage. “If you were loyal, you wouldn’t have run,” he said. “The data on the chip was valid. You would’ve been at my side, a heroine to the cause. But instead, you chose to leave the room where I’d placed you for your own safety. Why?”

Before she could answer, one of the guards approached the stage. “Sir, we found this back where she was hiding.” The man held a long, bulky, clumsy cylinder, slightly tapered.

It took me longer than it should have to realize what it was.

Denau had no trouble. “A laser cutter,” he laughed. “Darling niece, did you really think you could kill me?”

“That’s it. Time to go,” I whispered to Alcyon. “Whatever you’re going to do, now’s the time.”

“My men will be in position in two more minutes,” he argued. “You can wait until then.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t trust that mad bastard to refrain from killing everyone in the room for that long.” Stretching out my shoulder one last time, I decided the chest wound was healed enough.

It would have to