Page 128 of Falling Princess

I feel so useless. All I could do was wave goodbye to Kenton with my heart in my throat. We stood back from the airplane as he turned it in an awkward circle, facing back the way we came. It looked impossibly small.

“Do you hear that?” Raina tilted her head.

The four of us went still, listening. A whirring, clicking sound in the distance. Lorcan tensed.

“It almost sounds like—”

“Sentinels!” Raina screamed and pointed. The plane had completed its turn, headlights facing down the field to illuminate a pack of them coming straight for us.

The whirring clicks of their mechanical legs, so amusing in my bedroom, are an ominous swarm of deadly insects in the pitch-black night. Their laser eyes glowed menacingly in the darkness.

“Shit.” Lorcan looked at the plane. Kenton gunned the engine, sending it hopping over the rough terrain. “No.No.”

He ran after them, arms waving. Useless.

The aircraft’s wheels lifted off the ground. Higher. Higher still. Not fast enough or high enough. A beam shot out from the mechanical soldiers. More. A dozen shots fired within seconds. It happened so quickly I couldn’t process what was happening.

I screamed.

The plane caught fire, veered, and plunged. Flames erupted in the distance.

Silence descended over us.

“Cata,” I whispered.

“We have to go.” Bashir shouldered the biggest pack.

Lorcan grabbed my hand. Bash took Raina by the arm. We ran. The Sentinels followed, a relentless whirr of death.

From another direction came a harsh buzzing sound. Lorcan cursed. “Fuck.Fuck.How did they know where we landed?”

The insider.Who is the leak? We don’t know; that lack of knowledge is going to cost us this entire war before it even gets going.

Not Lorcan. I’m ashamed I entertained that idea for one single second.

“What is it? What’s happening?” I demanded, trying to control my panic.

“Dirt bikes. The pirates favor them. They’re only good for as long as the petrol lasts, but until it gives out, they can outrun any horse on any terrain.”

We’re fucked. We’re dead. All we can do is run, and pray.

The goddess came through, for once. We found horses in a field—tame ones. Rideable ones. Just as Cata said we would. We have no tack, but Lorcan, Raina and I are all good horsemen and can get by riding bareback with the makeshift halters Lorcan rigged out of a length of rope. It’s our only chance.

Except for Bashir, who is too large for any of them.

“I’ll head off the dirt bikes,” he said, grimly. “Try to lead the machines away.”

It’s an impossible mission, and we all know it. Lorcan clasped his hand. “You’re a good man.”

“It’s been an honor.” Bashir bowed to me. “Princess. Stay safe.”

Raina kissed him on the lips. She can only get to them because she’s already on horseback.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

Bashir’s mouth quirked up. “This whole thing is stupid. Keep yourself safe, beautiful.”

And then we ride. Lorcan knows this land like the back of his hand. He led us over narrow trails and along wooded streams. We heard a crash in the distance. I hope Bashir has gone out with glory.

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