Page 76 of Akur

A sprawling complex dominated the eastern quarter—all sharp angles and gleaming metal. Massive ventilation towers released controlled bursts of steam. Countless Hedgeruds in protective gear moved between buildings, pushing hover carts loaded with sealed containers. Armed Hedgeruds patrolled the perimeter, their weapons trained, ever vigilant. It made his brow tighten. Whatever they manufactured there, they guarded it with paranoid dedication.

“The device is almost ready.” The Tasqals in the corridor were speaking. Bubbles popped as one laughed. “Once a human’s consciousness is properly connected…”

“And what of the broken one, my pleasure?” That one was female. It always sickened him how they spoke.

“That creature is useless. Her mind is too fractured to provide a path to her kind. Navigation data.”

“Then let us put it where it will be most useful, my pleasure. Beneath your strong thighs, fostering a youngling for you and me.”

More bubbles popped and he must have tensed because in his arms, Constance looked up at him. She reached up, touching his jaw, her fingers splaying over his heated skin. And in that touch was something he didn’t expect to find.

Peace. Calm.

Qrak. Her touch rivaled the thirst for making those fiends bleed.

But even with that, he could feel her muscles coil. She wanted to end these creatures, too and, gods knew, he couldn’t believe he was holding her back.

Because they couldn’t do anything now. Not yet. Not when they were so exposed.

The Tasqals passed, their conversation fading, but the tension remained. Constance was trembling slightly, whether from rage or fear he couldn’t tell.

“We’ll find your comrade,” he promised quietly. “But we need to be smart about this.”

“I know.” Her voice was tight as she stared at the strange building with the Hedgeruds guarding it. “This is their world. There are no threats to them here. What could they be guarding like that?”

“Not guarding. Making.” His brow tightened more. “That’s a manufacturing plant.”

He swore she shivered a little.

“Let’s go.” She was already moving, but he tightened his arms around her. “Even I know the chance of making it out there is next to nil.”

“I know,” she whispered again. When her gaze shifted to the door the Tasqals just exited from, he felt his life organ wither a little in his chest.“Whatever device they were referring to could be in there. The device that will use the orb.” Her gaze shifted back to the window and to that strange building. “Or there. We have to choose and we can’t make it out there so…”

Both their breaths were coming tight, strained through their chests, and yet the room beckoned like a trap. As he released her, his gaze slid back to that factory they could see. He’d bet his nefre and his seed sac that whatever was in there would help them win this war. But he wasn’t budging when he said they wouldn’t make it. His priority right now was getting Kon-stahns off this planet.

“We can’t ignore what we just heard.” Constance’s throat moved even as she took a step toward the door. His hand shot out, gripping her arm.Where did she find this bravery? This recklessness?He almost grinned. Gods, she was infuriating. Was this what she meant when she called him stubborn? Or had she been viewing her reflection in a looking glass?

“Wait,” he growled softly. “If that device is in there…”

“Then we need to destroy it,” she finished. “Before they can use it to hurt more people.”

His jaw clenched as he studied her determined expression. She didn’t have to tell him twice. If she wasn’t here, he wouldn’t have been creeping through these corridors. He’d have been loud and proud, letting instinct take over as he bathed himself in their lifeblood.

But that wasn’t reality.

Reality was that she was here. And everything in him screamed to get her to safety first. He’d put her on that ship. Get her out of here. He couldn’t make a mistake when they were so deep in enemy territory now.

“Five clicks,” he conceded. “We look, we assess, we leave. No heroics.”

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “Says the warrior who broke through a wall with nothing but his shoulder.”

“That wasn’t heroics. That was necessity.” Checking the corridor, he tucked her to him as he slipped across the space to the other side, rightin front of the door. It opened without protest and he gripped his blades again, ready.

But…inside was silent.

The chamber beyond was vast, its high ceiling lost in shadows despite the harsh lighting below. Cold white slabs filled the space. But it wasn’t the sight or the strange coldness in the room that made them freeze.

Before he could even stop her, Kon-stahns was moving. Her shoulders shook as she stared down at the female lying motionless on top of the slab. He didn’t need to move closer to see that it was a human. Dead, like all the other females on slabs in this room.

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