Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron #1)(104)

“Ana!” someone shouted behind them.

He glanced over his shoulder to their uninvited guests.

The captain’s hair glowed the color it did when she was angry. Orange. And it seemed as though she was accompanied by what was left of her lackeys. The pirate captain aimed her Metroid at him. “Get away from her!”

“Captain?” he asked, turning to her. “Thank you for coming. I am . . . fine. I am myself again. The HIVE told me things. So many things . . . I could barely think.”

“He’s fooling you, Ana,” the Ironblood beside Siege warned. Blood painted his face, but it was not his. What had happened to Mellifare? “He’s not in there. He can’t be.”

“He has to be,” the Empress argued. “He has to be somewhere in there.”

The captain’s face hardened to stone as she tensed to pull the trigger. “I’m sorry—”

He quickly grabbed the Empress to use her as a shield, back toward them so she could only see his face when he killed her, and pressed his lightsword against her stomach.

The captain did not shoot. He smirked.

Humans were so predictable, he thought, until he became distinctly aware of a sharp prick against his ribs. He glanced down. She had a dagger hidden in her dress, it seemed, that she now pressed against his side.

“I promised,” she whispered, “I promised you on iron and stars.”

Iron and . . .

It was a promise, was it not?

You are mine, the red inside him screamed.

His hand shook, but at this range he could not miss. And neither would she.

“I promised . . . ,” she sobbed, the tip of her dagger quivering. She could kill him. The dagger was angled in a way that would not miss his vital components. “Remember what I promised, Di?”

If Metals had hearts, his would have broken, for he had promised, too.

But it was a good thing he did not have one.

He pressed his lips against her ear, relishing her smell. Of a moment long ago, honeysuckle vines and dusky sunlight falling across her cheeks.

“I should have let you burn,” he whispered, and slid the blade into her.





Ana


The pain was so bright it fractured the universe.

Someone screamed. Loud and yet so far away, like light from a distant star.

The dagger in her hand clattered to the ground.

Di watched, eyes warming to red again, as he pulled the sword out. The stench of iron filled the air. She pressed a hand against her pain, and it came away slick. Her stomach was wet and warm with crimson—the color of his hair.

Her blood? But she couldn’t die. Not yet.

She’d never thought she was afraid of death. She thought it was something she’d be ready for when the time came. But now its cold fingers squeezed around her heart.

And she couldn’t tell it no.

As she tried to breathe, a starburst of pain rushed up through her torso. Her head spun as though she was dancing. Dancing—an orchestra. Whirling around the ballroom. Crimson hair and an honest smile. All she ever wanted was to dance with him again, but there was no music.

Everything was so quiet.

Blood coated the back of her tongue. It tasted like iron. She turned her eyes back to him. But she did not recognize the monster staring back.

He let her go, and without anything to keep her steady, she fell.





Robb


Robb grabbed a flashbang from Talle and lobbed it at the son of a bitch. It exploded, so bright it blinded everyone, giving him time to draw his lightsword and rush the Metal. He slashed. Di deflected with his own sword, still sizzling with Ana’s blood. Robb attacked again. Sparks sprayed off their blades as he pushed Di into a corner.

Robb was the best fencer at the Academy. Like hell would some Metal beat him.

He tossed his lightsword up, catching the hilt in reverse, and rammed it into the Metal’s shoulder like a stake. The sword slid through, although he wanted so angrily to hit his memory core, and sank into the wall behind.

Di hissed in pain as the sword pinned him like a moth to a corkboard.

Try to get out of that fast, Robb thought.

Siege swooped Ana up in her arms and they ran, following the lanterns, finding themselves in the great hall, murals of the Goddess on the ceiling. They ran as fast as they could, so close to the entrance of the palace Robb could see the gilded front doors.

And that was when the Messiers leaned forward from their statuesque perches and pursued them.

Robb dodged the grip of one, but another pulled at his tailcoat. Talle took out her pistols and sent bullets into their chests, dropping them one by one, but they swarmed out of doorways like silver-skinned ants replacing those that fell.

And behind them, pushing through the flooding Messiers, was the unmistakable glow from Di’s red eyes, cutting down every body in his way with a sword in each hand. His injured shoulder spit sparks as he went.

The sword hadn’t held him long enough.

“Di’s coming!” Robb warned, as at the same time Messiers filed into a line at the entrance of the palace, blocking their escape.

“Talle, up ahead!” Siege thundered.

Talle dug into her coat for another flashbang and pulled the pin out with her teeth, pitching it at the Messiers. It exploded in rays of white. Robb dodged between two blinded automatons, the sound of Di’s lightswords slicing through them a moment later.