Page 44 of Primal Vow

Shit. This was bad. Rhys's mind raced, searching for a way to make them see reason. "If you'd take the time to actually get to know them—"

"Know them?" Lila's eyes narrowed dangerously. "We've seen enough of them on the battlefield. That's why we're here. It's too late for words."

Rhys's eyes darted to the containers stacked against the far wall, their dull metallic surfaces glinting ominously in the dim light. He recognised them — after all, he'd helped fill them.

A shudder coursed through him. "You can't be serious. Those explosives will level the entire city."

Jak grinned brightly. It was clear that that was music to his ears. "Exactly. More than enough firepower to wipe plenty of those alien scum off the face of the planet."

Rhys recoiled, sickened by the casual cruelty in the other man's tone. "But there are civilians there. Families, innocents who have nothing to do with the war..."

"You really bought into their propaganda, didn't you?" Lila sighed. "They're all the same: vicious, savage beasts who won't stop until they've wiped us out."

"That's not true!" Rhys insisted, his heart pounding. "They have honor, culture… Look, if we just stopped freaking out and just talked to each other—"

"Honor? Is that what you call that barbarian taking you as a prisoner of war?"

Rhys shook his head vehemently. "I'm not his prisoner! He saved my life when you all abandoned me!"

The words hung heavy in the air, a damning accusation that caused the crew to shift uncomfortably. For a moment, Rhys thought he saw a flicker of doubt cross the mechanic's face, but it was quickly extinguished.

"We did what we had to do to survive," Jak said coldly. "You should be thanking us for coming back for you."

Rhys strained against his bindings, his eyes blazing with defiance. "You left me to die out there!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the bunker's walls. "All that talk about paying off my debts, giving me a better life: it was all lies. You were just using me for my labor in those mines."

There was no reason why the humans should have come back for him. They'd left him for dead once — it was clear exactly how much they valued his life. Coming back for him, trying to get him out from under Taryn's nose…

It was a risk. Why take it?

Rhys had an idea.

He glared at them. "The only reason you want me to work with you now is because you've lost too many people, and need more people to carry the explosives. Right? I saw that container you left behind in the cave — you lost too many people, you couldn't carry it. Now you've lost Mal, too, and I can see that you've lost others… The jungle chew you up, huh?"

A silence fell over the room as the remaining crew exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of anger and unease.

Yeah, jackpot. Rhys sat back, narrowing his eyes. "You need more people to help you bomb the city. That's the only reason you grabbed me."

Jak burst into bitter laughter. "You're sharper than I thought you were, kid. Damn, I should've picked someone stupider."

He grinned savagely. "Yeah, we lost two people yesterday. Those damn snakes…" He jerked his chin towards the containers of explosives. "It was all we could do to drag their portions all the way to this here bunker, and now we need someone to help us haul them to the finish line. Then we saw your bootprints…"

"Well, get bent. I'm not helping you commit war crimes."

Jak leaned forward, his eyes boring into Rhys. "We're giving you a last chance to redeem yourself, Rhys. To prove your loyalty to your own kind. To spend your last days on this damn hellhole planet doing what's right — hitting the bastards where they hurt."

"Slaughtering innocent people, you mean? I won't do it."

Lila's hand twitched, as if she was itching to strike him. "Those 'innocents' are the enemy, you stupid boy. They'd kill us all without a second thought if given the chance."

"You're the stupid one here," Rhys countered. "And the sad thing is that you're too dumb to know it. This whole stunt makes you feel like a big deal, huh? That's why you're doing this. If you were actually good at what you did, you'd be on the front lines with the real heroes, instead of skulking around trying to pretending to be a strike force—"

That pushed Lila across a line. Rhys tensed as she stood in a blur of motion, fist clenched. Then, Lila raised her hand to slap him.

Rhys saw his opening.

Leaning back, he brought his legs up in a vicious kick, catching her square in the chest. Lila stumbled backwards with a pained grunt, eyes wide in surprise.

Before the others could react, Rhys was already in motion.

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