Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle #2)(24)
“Emerald City Security is en route! Everybody drop your weapons!”
Our Mistress of Beauty and Terror completely ignores him, pointing at Kal and a still-convulsing Aurora and addressing Skeff Tannigut with at least a degree of civility. “I am only here for those two, little one.”
Wait … they want Auri now, too?
Our Tank rises to his feet in one fluid movement, his face twisted in a snarl. “You are hurting her! Stop this, Saedii!”
Even at a moment like this, I’ve gotta admit that all those buckles and mesh are a sight to behold. His sister’s jaw drops when she sees him.
“What are you wearing, Kaliis?” she hisses, openly horrified.
“Release her at once!”
“Weapons on the floor!” the goon bellows again. “That means everybody!”
I’ve stolen around a little closer to my squad, lurking near the building opposite the Dominion’s main entrance, still tapping away at my uniglass with one hand. In all the tension of this three-way standoff, the panicked crowds, nobody’s clocked me yet. But looking across the smoke and wreckage, I see Tyler shoot me the smallest of nods. He’s sharp, my Alpha.
“If you want those two,” calls the gremp leader, nodding at Kal, “then we can take the rest, and part ways before this becomes more complicated. Agreed?”
“Now listen,” begins the Dominion goon. “We have authority here. Everybody stand down immediately!”
“We are the faithful of Caersan, Slayer of Stars,” Saedii calls. “This is Unbroken business. Keep your horns out of it before I slice them off.”
That rocks the Dominion goon back on his heels. The Starslayer has the governments of most of the galaxy terrified, and nobody wants to get on his bad side—let alone some security chud just trying to earn a living.
The Dominion guards all exchange uneasy glances and ease off their weapons. Contempt on her face, Saedii emerges from cover, flanked by her Unbroken brethren, and begins stalking toward the Dominion Repository. Kal and the others are still pinned down by the gremps—they’ve got nowhere to run. And my mind’s racing light-years per second, wondering how exactly we’re going to get out of this mess, when Zila’s voice crackles in my comms piece.
“Finian, is the diversion you mentioned still available?”
“Zila?” I’d almost forgotten she wasn’t here. “Where are you?”
“Is the diversion still available?”
“Definitely.”
“Please activate it in exactly twelve seconds from my mark,” Zila replies, calm as ever. “I am en route with transport. Mark.”
I can hear the incoming sirens—Emerald City Security is on its way. I slide my fingers over the uniglass, forcing my way into the Dominion Repository’s systems with all the finesse of that metaphorical ultrasaur that stomped me earlier. I catch Tyler’s eye—he’s heard Zila’s message, too. And as Saedii and her crew draw close, I activate the fire extinguishers set up on the marquee in front of the Repository, and the whole world vanishes in a cloud of blinding white fog.
Over the shouts and curses of at least five species, I hear rising sirens, the hiss of air brakes behind me. My stomach sinks as a heavy airvan barges its way into the intersection, lights flashing, the words EMERALD CITY SECURITY PATROL stenciled on the side. But my heart surges as the door is thrown open and I see a familiar figure sitting behind the controls.
“Zila?”
She motions to me, face calm, eyes blank. I break from cover, trying for a run. But my suit finally fritzes at the sudden movement; my knee gives out and I stumble, momentum carrying me forward, hands flailing as I fall. And then someone has me, pain shooting up my shoulder as they catch my elbow and yank me upright.
It’s Tyler, and beyond him, Kal with Auri limp in his arms, Scarlett carrying the box they rescued from the vault. A dozen disruptor blasts fly out of the fire foam behind us, hit the wall by my head, spraying me with sparks. My breath’s coming quick and hard, and Tyler’s half carrying me as we throw ourselves into the van. I nearly slide right back out again as Zila guns it and the whole vehicle tilts. The Jones twins grab me in concert, and Scarlett hauls me back in as Tyler reaches past me to slam the door, a barrage of disruptor blasts and another of those crackling red energy coils crashing against the hull.
“Punch it, Zila!” Tyler yells.
All five of us in the back are crushed up against one wall as Zila stomps the accelerator, takes a corner like she’s tired of living, and zooms out into the thoroughfare. Tyler scrambles past me to slide into the copilot’s seat.
“You stole a police cruiser?” he asks.
“You asked me to secure transport,” Zila says serenely, reaching across to turn up the volume on our sirens. The vehicles in front of us part as their autopilots kick in, then close behind us once more, helping block pursuit. I realize she’s wearing dangly gold earrings with little bank-robber masks on them.
Wait, wasn’t she wearing gremps this morning?
Tall buildings race past as we roar through the posh end of town, gilt and white facades intermingled with red and green topiaries and decorated portals to the transport-tube network.
In the back of the van, Scarlett and Kal have managed to unwrap the crackling bands from around Auri’s body. As Kal kicks them into one corner, the energy in them sputters and dies. Auri’s gasping for breath, her cheeks streaked with tears. Technically I’m the squad member who’s supposed to assist Zila with medical duties, so, gritting my teeth, my suit whining, I crawl over and bring up the med-scan function on my uniglass. Scarlett’s giving me an unforgettable view down that damn corset as she leans over Auri, though to my credit I try very hard not to notice.