Page 33 of Akur

Well, she trusted him, too. It was only him and her in this hell.

Another creature lunged from the darkness and Akur’s blade took its head off in one clean sweep, but not before its claws caught him across the chest. He grunted, but it sounded almost like an unamused laugh.

“You okay?” She fired three more shots into the darkness, the flashes revealing a whole wave of creatures heading their way.

“Irrelevant.” His voice was tight. “We need to move. Follow them.”

“What?Followthem?”

It was then that she realized the movement of the creatures had changed. Instead of converging on them since they were standing targets, most of the creatures were heading past them like a wave.

They weren’t trying to kill them anymore. They were…they were moving like they were running away from something. What could be worse than—

Just then, echoing down the tunnel, came a new sound. Not the screeching of the creatures, but something else. Something mechanical.

“That’s not…that’s not good news, is it.”

“Negative,” Akur said at her back. “You decide, female. Run, or stand and fight. I, for one, am committed to doing the latter.”

Constance tilted her head to look back at him. Her crown barely reached the center of his back, and she wished there was some light so she could see him. His expression, at least. Because hehadto be joking.

“Are youinsane? Do you have a death wish?”

He didn’t answer. All he did was grunt as she heard him slice through one creature that came towards them.

The mechanical sound grew louder—a rhythmic thumping that seemed to shake dust from the tunnel ceiling. In the next flash of blaster fire, Constance saw something reflect the light. Something metallic.

Sounds echoed down the tunnel. Words. Words in voices she wished she’d never hear again.

The gator-guards. They were coming.

“Well,” she managed between breaths, “at least we know which way is out.”

Around them, the creatures’ chittering rose to a fever pitch as the sound of machinery grew closer. They were caught in the middle, running out of options and running out of space.

Constance looked down at the blaster. There was a power bar, and if she was reading it right, there was less than half of the power remaining.

They were in trouble. Deep trouble.

“Ready, rebel?”

“Just say the word.”

He was ready to fight, that was clear. He was brave. A sort of bravery that made her lean against him. Made her respect him.

He was brave…and maybe she was a coward.

“Run today. Live to fight tomorrow.”

Jaw set, she reached back and grabbed the alien’s arm right before she took off in the sea of creatures. She’d be damned if she was going to die in this tunnel, torn apart by monsters or gunned down by their captors. They just needed a plan.

She just hoped they could come up with one before they ran out of tunnel.

9

Constance

Runningin total darkness meant relying on instinct and prayer. Constance’s fingers remained locked around Akur’s arm as they fled, their footsteps drowned out by the cacophony of mechanical sounds and creatures shrieking around them.

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