Forged (Star Breed #10) - Elin Wyn Page 0,62

our side,” I answered.

“Think?” Yasmin cut in. “How are we going to know?”

“I guess it depends if they start shooting at us or not,” Jenke said. “You might want to add this to the list of things to talk to your mate about when you get him somewhere safe.”

It might only have been a dozen, but since Denau’s guards had been focused so intently on us, Alcyon’s troops had a temporary advantage.

The newcomers pressed forward, and Jenke and I pivoted slightly, trapping Denau’s guards between us. Within seconds, they were whittled down to just a few men caught in the crossfire, then the dwindling enemy started to panic.

“I think we’re going to pull it off,” I called over my shoulder to Yasmin.

But a cut-off scream was the only answer.

I whirled, chest tight, my heart thundering in my ears.

And the worst had happened.

Denau had taken advantage of the confusion to snatch Yasmin from behind our backs, leaning over the edge of the stage to take her from the one direction we hadn’t expected.

Above.

Now he held her struggling on the stage, the same small blaster he’d used on me now pressed against her head.

“Lose your weapons!” he commanded.

Instantly, Jenke and I dropped our blasters.

“I can still take him,” Jenke muttered, so low that no one else in the room would’ve heard it.

I only had eyes for Yasmin’s terror. “We can’t risk it. Wait for the moment.”

“I said drop them!” Denau repeated and, likely signaled by Alcyon from behind the barricade, I heard the clatter of Desyk’s troops disarming.

“Did you really think you could fight back against me?” Denau sneered. “I am always prepared; I was always the smarter one. No one had faith in me, but I proved them all wrong.”

I glanced at Yasmin, hoping she had some idea of what he was raving about.

“You’ve always been a good leader of ExaTek,” she whispered. “I just don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

He shoved the blaster harder against her temple and she flinched.

“Because you’ve never had to struggle for anything,” he snarled. “Everything has been given to you, just like it was to Kenth. Unlike my brother, I had to fight for what I wanted.”

“Father?” she squirmed in his grasp and I held my breath, willing the blaster not to go off. “What about Father?”

“He was a fool, a coward,” Denau said. “And—”

Yasmin kicked back, catching him in the knee and rolling away.

Or at least, she tried to.

Before she could move far enough, Denau fired.

“No!” I roared, charging the stage.

But he’d already grabbed her arm again, dragging her back across the stage as she stumbled, blood streaming down from the wound in her thigh.

“I’m going to kill you,” I promised him, forcing myself to stay still, to not endanger Yasmin.

“You might not get the chance.” Yasmin’s brother rose from the back of the stage, and in two quick strides had another blaster, the twin of the one Denau held, shoved against Denau’s neck. “Let her go, Uncle.”

With a twist of his lips, Denau nodded, conceding defeat, then pushed Yasmin away. He dropped the blaster, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

“I always saw you had potential, my boy,” he purred.

“I’m not your boy,” Luca said flatly. “You think we’ve never fought for things? Yasmin and I fought to have some sense of normalcy after you destroyed our family. I’ve fought for years to get information, to keep the smile on my face when working with you. I’ve fought, suspecting, until I finally knew the truth.”

Denau’s eyebrows raised, but he said nothing as Yasmin darted forward to grab the blaster and shove it away from her uncle’s feet.

“Yas, get away!” I hissed, but even from a distance I could see that that small movement had obviously pained her, her pale face screwed up in agony.

“I’ve got to get some med seal on that,” I muttered. “She’s not like us, won’t heal for days.”

“Good thing, too,” Jenke answered. “I expect she’s saner.”

“My boy,” Denau put emphasis on the word, dragging it out. “All that time, you thought I never wondered?” Moving like a snake, he ducked down and to the side, reaching up to snatch the blaster from Luca’s hand, then pistol-whipping Yasmin’s brother twice until he fell into a bloody heap at Denau’s feet.

“You’re both idiots,” Denau said, lip curling. “I should’ve expected it. Our parents always thought your father was the golden child. ‘So handsome, so smart, so perfect’.” The mocking words twisted his face. “But he couldn’t do what needed to be