Page 20 of Aria's Ascension

Seconds crawled past while Kix stood perfectly still, eyes closed in concentration as he tried to find the code. Anxiety was a drumbeat beside the pulse throbbing in her neck.

Fuck. We have to leave.This is wrong.

Just as she was about to pull Kix away, to tell him to find the way out instead, Tirox warned, “Enemies. Your side.”

Her shoulders loosened, and her lips parted on a relieved breath, even as she adjusted her stance to block more of Kix and readied herself. Finally, something was happening.

She could hear them now: heavy footsteps followed by the click of claws.

Godzilla guards.

Raising her arms, she corrected her aim to account for their height, evened her breathing, and waited.

The first ugly bastard had barely rounded the corner when she fired.

A sound like a muffled sonic boom echoed in the hall just as the guard was flung at least twenty feet backward by a seemingly invisible force.

Aria blinked, surprised, before a grin stretched her lips.

“Not lasers, but still cool as fuck,” she remarked approvingly.

A shout of alarm sounded from behind the corner. The next guard ran into view, his own gun up and sweeping for whomever had just shot his buddy. Taking aim, Aria fired at his face, sending his neck snapping backward with an audible crack as his body went flying.

Just as three, no, six, guards rounded the corner, she noticed a big fucking problem.

The first guy was getting up.

“Shit! The guns are set on stun! Tirox, find a dial or button to crank ‘em up!” she yelled as she continued firing.

A heartbeat later he replied, his voice remarkably calm, “There is a spot on the left side.”

“Press it, and fire!”

A slightly louder sonic boom reverberated in the hall a split second before one of the guards bellowed in agony as half his torso was blown off. Blood splattered the walls and the guards behind him as he was hurled backward.

Trusting Tirox to cover her, she took her eyes off the enemy just long enough to find her own button. Aria pressed it, but before she could resume firing, a blow to her side sent her spinning back into Kix.

Arms caught her and yanked her sideways before the pain could even register. Shaking her head, she looked up in time to see Tirox jump into the small, rounded room after them.

Kix darted forward with Aria clutched under one arm and Skaa still slung over his opposite shoulder. He quickly tapped in a code on the panel set in the inner wall to the right of the door then ducked back against the wall.

Even through the blood rushing in her ears, she heard running footsteps getting closer as the door began sliding shut and raised the gun still clutched in her right hand.

Come on, come one, come on…

Just as it sealed shut, another shot boomed from the hall, leaving a dent in the smooth, grey material of the door.

Aria sighed in relief when the elevator began descending smoothly and slumped slightly in Kix’s hold, then hissed when that put more pressure on her side. At her sound, Tirox whipped around, lowering his gun for the first time, just as Kix set her on her feet. They both had panicked expressions on their faces as they bent to examine her side.

Glancing down with them, she saw a purplish bruise already spreading over her ribs. It hurt to take a deep breath, but she didn’t think anything was broken.

Pressing lightly on the bruise, she felt around for any sharp pains. Not finding anything, she declared, “I’m okay, just a graze. Nothing’s broken. A couple bruised ribs at the worst.”

Kix opened his mouth, no doubt to berate her for getting shot, but a shocked yelp escaped before he could say anything.

He jerked upward, standing ramrod straight with eyes as wide as saucers.

Chapter 12

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