Page 71 of Venomous Heart
“Ava!”
Arlen said her name as the dark-skinned female approached, eying him warily. She fidgeted with a set of magnetic keys before pressing a round device into the depression on the door. The lock clicked and Arlen stepped out, his eyes on the unknown human female.
“You have to hurry.” The human female looked over her shoulder, her face full of fear. “The other Eoks are in the storage room at the back of the facility. It’s far away, and you’ll have to get through the fighting upstairs, but you have no choice. There’s a transport vehicle in the storage area—it won’t take all of you, though.”
The female stepped away from Arlen, then stared toward the stairs where the sounds of combat were getting louder by the second.
“Come with us,” Ava said.
“No.” Tears fell freely down the female’s silky cheeks and her voice shook. “I’ve betrayed Ben enough as it is.”
“Naomi, please, you know what will happen.” Ava took the female’s hands in her own but Naomi shook her head, her dark eyes full of resolve. “Ben and his men won’t win against the Ilarian guards.”
Naomi pulled her hand from Ava’s grip as Arlen came to stand at her side. He bore down on the female and saw what he had missed before in Ben: pain and fear, the rage borne of losing what one loved most. Their child.
“Go.” Naomi shook her head as a sad smile spread over her lips. “And don’t forget your promise. Save my Derek.”
Then a faint noise in the back made them all turn. Ben stood there, his face slack with shock. He had eyes only for Naomi as he climbed down the stairs. Silently, the human female began to weep.
“I couldn’t let him die, Ben.” She dropped to her knees as he stood in front of her, his ionic gun raised, his eyes brimming with anger and betrayal. “Ava will save him. She promised.”
“What did you do, Naomi?” Ben asked, his face an unreadable façade.
“I sent for her. I warned Prime Councilor Aav!” Naomi cried, tears still pouring down her cheeks as she spoke. “She’s coming. It’s over.”
“You betrayed me.” Ben raised the barrel of his ionic gun as Naomi bent her head. “You betrayed all of us.”
Ben turned to Arlen and Ava, and Arlen pushed his mate protectively behind him. The man’s face was marred with smoke and blood, and Arlen saw it in his eyes. Ben knew he was defeated.
“Go.” Ben threw his ionic gun and Arlen caught it in mid-air. “Save Derek and your men. I’ll fight off Knut’s Ilarian guards for as long as I can.”
“I will send for help,” Arlen promised before turning around. Ava’s wrist felt small and fragile in his fist. It filled him with a sudden fear—not for himself, but for her.
And that fear awoke the bloodlust lurking deep inside him, ready to be unleashed and bathe the world in blood.
21
Ava
Arlen was just in front of her as they made their way up the steps to the first level of Facility Twenty-One. All around them, the sound of men shouting mingled with the metallic stench of blood and the smell of iodine as ionic detonations filled the night air.
Ava’s mind was full of fear as she followed Arlen, his towering shape hiding the worst of what was coming ahead. She had seen her fair share of broken bodies as a doctor, but she’d never seen war. The idea of violence made her stomach squeeze painfully and she was aware of the shaking of her hands as she tightened her arms around the glass jar containing the Exo-Heart.
They arrived at the top of the stairs, then Arlen flattened her against the wall with one arm as he took aim and shot down a tall figure clad in white. The figure fell at Ava’s feet, the familiar white uniform of the Ilarian guards soiled with red, a hole the size of her fist in his chest, blood pooling shockingly fast around his body. The guard’s generic, bland features were turned up to the ceiling, eyes unseeing as his pale yellow skin became even paler with the rapid blood loss.
Dead. He was dead.
Ava stared, dumbfounded. “An Ilarian guard.” She tried to crouch at his side to see if he was still alive, but Arlen maintained his hold on her. “How is this possible? They all left with Knut.”
“No.” Arlen shot her a grim glance. “The Vault wasn’t the only secret hiding place Knut had on the planet. He kept an entire regiment here on Aveyn, just waiting for the right moment to strike.”
Ava blinked as she understood the magnitude of Knut’s deception, the lengths to which he would go to keep his power. An entire regiment—over a thousand guards—hiding underground for months, just waiting for his signal to attack.
“But why? Even a thousand Ilarian guards aren’t enough to fight off Prime Councilor Aav’s forces. He’s not fool enough to attack her in the open.”
“That’s just it.” Arlen’s face took on a nightmarish scowl as his eyes lit from within. “Prime Councilor Aav will be disgraced when it becomes known that Knut stole a negative particle bomb from right under her claws. There will be an uprising, she will lose power.”
“And then no one will be more powerful than Knut himself.” Ava almost faltered at the realization of Knut’s plans. “It was his plan all along. All this was just a long game for him.”
