Page 47 of Marked By the Bounty Hunter

Behind me, Nalina’s breathing grew more labored. I caught glimpses of her working through obvious pain, forcing her failing body to cooperate. The scent of her blood grew stronger.

The first distant explosion caught everyone by surprise. The station shuddered as Dr. Gondon began her work in the lab.

“Sequence initiated,” Nalina called. “Compound distribution beginning in sectors three through seven.”

Warning klaxons screamed to life. Through the station’s comms came Dr. Gondon’s voice:

“To all residents - the initialization protocols have been corrupted. Prepare for emergency shutdown of all primary systems. Medical teams stand by for-”

A second explosion cut off her words. Larger than the first, it sent tremors through the station’s superstructure.

Nalina stumbled, catching herself on the console. Blood streamed freely from her nose now, staining her shirt.

“Almost...” Her voice cracked as she forced herself to keep working. “Almost done.”

The final security officer went down just as new boot steps approached - but these moved differently. Natural. Human.

“Odra sent us!” a familiar voice called. “We’re here to help!”

A team of maintenance workers appeared, led by one of my bar’s regulars. They moved quickly to secure the room and aid the fallen security officers.

“Compound distribution at sixty percent,” Nalina reported.

I caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her against my chest. Her skin burned with unnatural heat.

“Get them to medical,” I ordered the maintenance team, indicating the controlled officers. “The compound should counteract the neural modifications, but they’ll need monitoring.”

“Already on it.” The team leader gestured to his people. “We’ve got crews standing by in all major sectors. The children are safe. Now we just need to-”

The station’s superstructure screamed as the third and largest explosion rocked the lab section. Emergency shutters slammed down across multiple sectors.

“Time to go.” I gathered Nalina closer, feeling the tremors wracking her body. “Can you trigger the final sequence remotely?”

She managed a weak nod, pulling up one last command screen. “Distribution complete. Now we just have to survive the cleanup.”

“Always the hard part.” I headed for the exit, trusting Odra’s people to handle the rest. Right now, only one thing mattered - getting Nalina somewhere safe before her condition deteriorated further.

She buried her face against my neck as I carried her through shuddering corridors. The claiming bite was her only chance now. If I could get her somewhere secure before-

“Tyrix,” she whispered. “I can’t... everything’s going dark...”

“Stay with me.” I ran faster, following remembered routes toward the secure storage bay we’d used before. “Just a little longer.”

The station’s systems were failing as Dr. Gondon’s destruction sequence reached its peak. But I barely noticed, all my focus on the fading heartbeat of the woman in my arms.

We reached the storage bay just as the emergency lights shifted to red. I sealed the door with shaking hands, laying Nalina on the narrow bunk.

“Hey.” I touched her face gently. “Still with me?”

Her eyes flickered open, fever-bright. “Think so. Did we... did we do it?”

“Yes.” I gathered her closer, breathing in her scent while I still could. “The compound is distributed. The lab is destroyed. You did it.”

“We did it.” She managed a weak smile. “All of us.”

“Nalina.” I brushed hair from her face. “The claiming bite. It’s time.”

“I know.” She tilted her head, baring her throat with complete trust. “Do it.”

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