Page 66 of Triplets for the Barbarians

Oh, God, he’s looking for me. He’s determined to get to me, and I fear he won’t stop until his hands close tightly around my throat.

Goosebumps prick my skin as I climb to the roof of the compound, determined to reach the long-range tower as quickly as possible.

Explosions tear through the eastern side of the building. The ground shakes, and everything else shakes with it. Bright orange explosions burst to my left, the heat spreading outward and frying my skin slightly. Black smoke twirls upward, filling my lungs and making me cough as my vision blurs. I fall flat on my face, the tablet beeping as it hits the fractured terrace floor.

The beeping sends waves of alarm through my body.

I know that sound. It’s the sound I’ve been waiting for.

“Shit,” I manage as I try to get to the tablet so I can see where the drone sensors picked up what I’ve desperately needed the whole time. “The starship. The engines are on.”

“JEWEL!” Shaytan roars as he climbs up to the roof.

“How in the world?” I gasp, watching in horror as the monster rises to his feet.

Blood pours down his thigh from a hip wound that will take entire spools of silk thread to patch up. He’s covered in soot and dirt. He’s tattered and steaming with fury. And he is looking right at me, the mountain of a Sunnaite man who made it here ahead of everyone else.

This level of determination is something to behold, and were it not for the direct danger, I’d probably declare myself impressed.

But I’m scared.

I’m alone on this fractured roof, the long-range tower still too many feet away. I can hear our men fighting and dying down below, struggling to defend the base, but the violence with which the Sky Tribe has reached us is soul-shattering.

Two more jets remain in the air, and they’re setting their sights on us. I’m not sure how many laser hits the tower can take. It may have been designed and built to withstand the laser heat, but even the protective layer has its limits.

I can’t see Yossul or Fadai anywhere, either. My heart is beating out of my chest as I scramble up to my feet and grab the tablet, briefly checking its cracked screen. I see it—bright green against a dark purple backdrop—a heat signature from one of my sensor drones.

My eyes hurt, but I can’t look away, even as Shaytan’s shadow looms bigger and heavier over me.

“We’ve got it,” I whisper, making a mental note of the coordinates.

“There you are!” Shaytan snarls and throws a knife at me.

I duck, moving like a gust of wind to get out of his way and out of his reach. “It’s over, Shaytan!” I try to distract him, talk to him, and keep him busy while I figure out the best method to lock myself inside that long-range tower.

Judging by what I saw on the tablet screen, there are only minutes left before the starship takes off.

“It’s not over until you’re mine,” Shaytan says. He laughs as he lunges at me.

I slide to the side and swerve, avoiding one of his blows. His fists are as big as my head, and he could easily knock me out and probably put me into a coma if he nabs me.

My breath is short, but I make good use of the adrenaline coursing through my body as I glance back at the tower. It's about two hundred feet, and there’s no way to get there.

Shaytan throws another knife at me. The blade slashes my shoulder. I cry out from the sharp pain, but it’s just a flesh wound. He raises his automatic laser weapon, however, and points it right at me.

“I guess it’s my turn to say it’s over,” he says, grinning with profound satisfaction. “Now, come over like a good girl and surrender to your fate.”

“You continue to underestimate me,” I reply, hand on my sidearm.

He’ll fire before I get to take my shot, though. I need a distraction. Something. Anything. My eyes keep darting all over the place, but there’s only chaos and violence. Explosions and laser beams flying left and right. People are screaming and dying in agony somewhere on the ground level while I’m stuck up here, trying to get out of this monster’s reach before it’s over.

“I’m not done kicking your ass just yet,” I tell him, smirking.

“Look around you, Jewel. We’ve taken Opal City. And I’m going to take you, too, whether you’re ready for it or not.”

I catch a glimpse of Yossul climbing to the top of the building. Shaytan can’t see him; he’s too busy ogling me—his future bride, his most prized possession.

“It’s not a matter of me being ready or not, Shaytan. It’s a matter of you accepting that you won’t get what you want.”

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