Star Wars: Rebel Rising(39)

Jyn kept her eyes and her blaster on Reece. Saw muttered something, spluttering through the blood in his mouth.

“What?” Jyn asked, not taking her eyes from Reece.

“Go.” He struggled to sit up, and when he coughed, blood leaked over his dry, cracked lips. He jerked his head to the left, toward the munitions testing ground. “Hide.” He coughed again.

“I’m coming with you.” Jyn was surprised at the steel in her voice.

“Give me a day,” Saw said. “He—” He coughed again. “He knows.”

“We will take care of Reece,” Jyn said, looking the traitor right in the eyes. She was satisfied to see the terror in them.

“No!” Saw roared. Jyn flicked her gaze back to him. “I will take care of Reece.”

Codo finally reached them, and Jyn tossed him her blaster. He was confused, but he knew enough to keep it trained on Reece.

Jyn dropped to her knees by Saw’s side. “Wait in a shell turret,” he said. He pressed a small blaster into her hand; she had no idea where he’d gotten it. “Until daylight.” He withdrew a pair of knives from a hidden sheath inside his pants. He pressed one into Jyn’s hand but kept the other one.

“You’re not leaving me behind, are you?” Jyn asked urgently.

Saw’s big eyes stared into hers, and she could see all the love in them. “He knows who you really are,” he said. “A secret like that, once exposed, can never be hidden again.”

“You’re coming back for me, right?” All she could think about was Saw’s growing paranoia, the way he had treated Jari and some of the others. “Promise?” she said in a small voice.

Another explosion rattled the ground.

Saw struggled up, sucked in a deep breath, and shouted, “Go!” Blood from his mouth sprayed across her face.

The noise startled Codo so much that he lowered the blaster he held on Reece. Reece moved like lightning, jerking the weapon from Codo’s grip and whirling around, aiming wildly. Jyn wasn’t sure if he intended to shoot her or Saw, but he never got the chance. Saw lunged up, driving the blade of his knife into Reece’s leg and jerking down with all his weight, the blade dragging a jagged slice through his flesh. Reece screamed in agony but didn’t drop the blaster. He smashed the grip against Saw’s skull, beating him repeatedly when he didn’t release his hold.

“Run!” Saw shouted again.

Jyn ran.

She blew past Codo, who was sputtering out questions, and ran to the munitions testing ground, breaking through the weak gate and ignoring the warning signs. The area had been used during the Clone Wars and then boarded up.

She had seen the reports of buried mines, of unexploded torpedoes embedded in the black rock, but she didn’t think about that now. The ground was still pockmarked and scarred from blasts, but near the fence was a series of small rectangular buildings that faced the testing ground.

Jyn ran for the closest shell turret, a bunker just big enough to hold one or two people if they crouched. It was made of black igneous rock and gritty mortar that blended into the background of the landscape. Jyn dove for the tiny hut. There was a single entrance—more like a tunnel—and two slits for windows.

The bunker was dark inside, with just slits of light carving into the shadows. Jyn pressed her face against the narrow window, looking out.

She could see Saw and Reece, still fighting in the road, oblivious to the TIE fighters and the screaming survivors, to Codo and the chance to escape. Despite his injuries and the metal shard sticking out of his shoulder, Saw had managed to throw himself over Reece, using his body weight to keep him down. They were both smeared with his blood.

“Help me, boy!” Saw roared at Codo. Codo dropped to the ground, pressing his hands against Reece’s wrists.

Saw’s bloody-toothed grin was so malicious that Jyn could see it from her hiding place. He said something—Jyn couldn’t hear it—but despite the fact that Tamsye Prime was still under attack, Saw wasn’t going to delay his revenge one moment longer. He slid the blade of his knife down the side of Reece’s face, as if he was going to peel the skin from his head. Jyn gripped the twin of that blade in her own hand so hard that she started shaking.

Reece screamed, high-pitched and desperate, and squirmed, trying to get out from under Saw. Codo was pure white, fear blanching his face as he watched Saw dig the knife into Reece’s shoulder, twisting the blade, creating a mirror of the injury Saw himself bore.

Something crashed. Something loud. Tinkling sounds of rock and debris scattered across the shell turret’s roof, and on the road, Codo ducked for cover.

“We have to go!” Codo shouted.

He stood, heaving Saw up and helping him stand. Reece lay on the ground, whimpering, one arm splayed out. Saw looked around, his eyes scanning the munitions testing ground. He couldn’t see Jyn; it was impossible, but for a moment, she pretended that he could. Through the slit in the shell turret, she stared at him, memorizing him in that moment, blood-soaked and wild.

He turned away. Saw said something to Codo, and Codo grabbed Reece by the ankle, dragging him as he supported Saw and they made their slow way back to the spaceport.

Through the noise of her entire world crashing around her, Jyn heard an engine roaring to life. She scooted out of the tunnel just in time to see a ship—a small Imperial shuttle—streak across the sky. Smart of Saw to steal an Imperial ship. None of the men knew how to use Jyn’s code replicator, but an Imperial ship could make its way through the attack anyway, with a little luck. It dodged the TIE fighters, taking out one with a plasma cannon before breaking atmosphere and disappearing from sight.