Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron #1)(13)

Around them, Ironbloods applauded over the sound of their scuffle. Trumpets sounded as the Grand Duchess departed, so no one heard Ana slam her fist into his face.

Then she took the chip.

“No hard feelings, though,” she added snarkily, echoing the very words he had said to her in the alleyway, before he grabbed her by the uniform sleeve.

“Please!” the Ironblood gasped, his lip bleeding against his pearly-white teeth. “I need—”

“There she is!” someone cried. From the honeysuckle-vined exit, a woman in royal purple emerged, arrowhead-shaped Cercian markings etched under her sharp eyes.

Great Dark take me, Ana thought, recognizing the Royal Captain of the Guard. Viera Carnelian.

Messiers spilled out from behind her, swarming around her like a legion of ants, their placid blue eyes on no one but Ana.

“Goddess’s spark,” she groaned.





Robb


Viera Carnelian. Top of her class. Graduated a year ahead of him, perfect test scores and an infuriating knack for fencing. She always said she would be part of the Royal Guard. He hadn’t expected her to be the Royal Captain.

Then again, Viera Carnelian never did anything halfway.

And if she or the Messiers caught that girl, there went any chance of him finding his father. Goddess, he hated his luck. He hated it so much.

Struggling to his feet, he knew there was a servants’ entrance on the other side of the garden. Less used, the shrubbery thick with gardenias and moonlilies. The Messiers drew closer, burrowing into the Ironblood crowd like the roots of a tree.

If he could drag that girl across the garden to that exit, it would be a straight shot to the docks—

“You reported me!” The girl spun back to him, face blazing with anger.

“When would I have had a chance to do that?” he asked incredulously.

“I’m going to run you through with—”

“Sounds nice.” He grabbed her by the arm, wiping his bloody mouth on his coat sleeve. He hauled her through the nearest hedge, twigs and thorns catching on his favorite evening coat, as they plowed over rare flowers in a mad dash for the unused exit.

A hand shot out through the bushes and grabbed her, knuckle rings glinting. Erik hauled the girl against him with a snarl. “You aren’t leaving.”

She struggled, but he twisted her arm behind her back to keep her close.

Robb reared his fist back for a punch—

The girl slammed the back of her head into his brother’s face. Erik gave a cry and she twisted her wrist out of his grip. Blood poured from his nose and onto his dapper crimson evening coat. He would definitely be angry about that in a minute. Robb didn’t want to stick around for it.

“Get them!” the Royal Captain shouted to the Messiers. “Don’t let them escape!”

That sounded like a challenge.

Taking her by the hand again, Robb pulled the outlaw between a row of hydrangeas and escaped down the stairs. As they passed utility and storage closets, he grabbed his lightsword from where a servant had propped it up by the coat check and slung it over his shoulder. It was a safe weight on his back, and he instantly felt better with it on. More in control.

Because Goddess knew this was spinning out of control—fast.

“I have to find Di,” the girl was saying frantically. “I have to find him before the Messiers do!”

“Then give me the chip,” he replied.

“What?”

“The coordinates! And you can go find—”

At the end of the hallway, the marina doors yawned open. On three Messiers.

Robb shot up his arms in surrender. This is okay. This is fine—who was he kidding? He didn’t have enough luck to get away with all this.

“Surrender the coordinates,” one Messier said.

“Or what?” the girl challenged, making Robb sorry for everything he’d ever done in his life to deserve this moment.

The Messiers did not even pause as they raised their Metroids, ammunition humming brightly. “Or you will die.”

The girl paled. “Now wait a minute—”

Goddess, this was a bad day.

Reaching back, he pulled out his lightsword and slammed the superheated blade into the middle guard, carving a line down its front like it was soft butter. The Messier’s eyes flickered as he sliced through the android’s torso and it dropped in two pieces, wires sparking.

The other two Messiers swung their Metroids toward him.

He flinched—

A blur rushed past him, grabbing one Messier by the head.

Robb stared dumbfounded. It was a Metal—the girl’s white-eyed rogue Metal.

It spun the Messier around under its arm and anchored its fingers under the Messier’s chin. And pulled—one time, then again, wires snapping out of the Messier’s neck like rubber bands. Then the rogue Metal tore the Messier’s head clean off.

Oh, Robb thought, I’m going to die.

The last Messier standing adjusted its aim to the rogue Metal.

“Di!” the girl cried, stealing the lightsword from Robb’s grip. With an appalling lack of skill, she hacked at the Metal, carving a gouge deep into its chest. The Messier’s eyes flickered once—twice—before she toppled it to the ground with a kick. Robb snatched his sword back.

The girl’s Metal said, “We need to leave, Ana.”