Page 112 of Shielded Heart

Vaund swayed back, his gangly frame twisting to avoid the pulsing blade. He kept one hand on the disconnected tube as Samantha recovered from her first swing and attacked again. He raised his other arm. The blade burned through his sleeve and bounced off some sort of dark metal beneath, leaving a narrow, glowing orange trail.

“A spirited creature,” he said, his voice seemingly unaffected by his labored breathing. “I may have to break you in myself.”

“Samantha!” Arcanthus yelled from somewhere behind her.

Growling, Samantha reversed the blade and lunged forward, taking another swing.

Vaund deflected the blade with his forearm again, but this time, he released the hose. His hand clamped over both of hers, locking her arms in place. His other hand joined the first immediately, and before Samantha could react, Vaund had pried the sword out of her grasp. He spun her like she weighed nothing and clamped an arm around her neck, tugging her against his rigid chest.

She found herself facing Arcanthus; he stood in front of the workshop door, staring past her with glowing, hate-filled eyes. The blaster in his left hand was aimed at Vaund, and his tail flicked restlessly behind him.

“Arcan—”

Vaund tightened his hold, silencing Samantha. She clutched his forearm with both hands, but he was too strong for her to break free.

He drew in a strained breath as heavy footfalls approached from the hallway behind him. “Don’t shoot the sedhi. I’m going to take care of him myself.”

Several of the gunmen who’d been chasing Sam and her companions entered her peripheral vision with their weapons aimed at Arcanthus.

Vaund raised his sword, stopping the thrumming blade a centimeter from Samantha’s eye. She tried to lean back, but there was no way to move, nowhere to go. Half her field of vision was Arcanthus, his features more demonic than ever in his rage and worry, and the other half was dominated by her imminent death.

She wished that she could tell Arc again how much she loved him. Wished she could tell him that, for once, shewasn’tsorry—when it came to him, Samantha had no regrets.

Arcanthus’s heartwent several moments without beating, and his breath remained caught in his throat. The slightest twitch of Vaund’s hand would cause immense pain and damage to Samantha. Consuming rage and chilling fear warred for supremacy inside him.

“Drop the weapon, sedhi,” Vaund said.

There were only a few meters between Arc and Sam, between Arc and Vaund, but he couldn’t take a shot. There was too much danger to her. Too great a chance that Vaund’s helmet was armored against blaster fire.

Gritting his teeth, Arcanthus dipped his central eye to Drakkal; the azhera appeared to be breathing but was otherwise still. His left arm lay on the floor a meter away from his body, severed cleanly just above his elbow. That sparked fresh anger in Arc’s gut. It was too close to what Vaund had done to him all those years ago.

Arcanthus slowly shifted his finger off the blaster’s trigger, angled the barrel down, and tossed the weapon toward Vaund. It clattered to a stop near Vaund’s feet.

“If you hurt her, Vaund, I’ll—”

“You’re in no position to make threats, sedhi.” Vaund inclined his chin toward the door behind Arcanthus. “Tell your people to come out.”

“They’re not in there,” Arcanthus replied. He could only hope they’d moved fast enough—and that they’d closed the hatch behind them.

Vaund was silent for several seconds.

An explosion boomed inside the workshop—near Arc’s desk, by the sound of it. It was followed by the sounds of raining debris and crackling electricity.

“All of you get in there to support the other team. Kill anyone you find,” Vaund said.

The Syndicate goons hurried forward, keeping to the sides of the partially open blast door. Arcanthus held his gaze on Vaund as flash grenades went off in the workshop; the detonations left a ringing in Arc’s ears that almost drowned out the sound of the Syndicate gunmen storming into the room.

Vaund maintained his hold on Samantha, whose eyes were wide and fearful. The energy blade was impossibly steady in his hold.

“Release her,” Arcanthus said.

“I should kill her.” Vaund tipped the blade infinitesimally closer to Samantha’s pale skin.

She cringed and whimpered softly.

Arcanthus’s insides knotted, and he clenched his fists.

Vaund’s laugh was like electricity arcing out of a broken power casing. “But I’m not going to. I’ll hurt her—you can be sure of that—but I’m going to keep her afterward.”

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