Page 9 of Only Cold Depths
“Are you sure?” Pollux asked. “It won’t take me long to kill them all.”
Rina tensed, as did her men. Even when facing down more than a dozen armed enemies, Pollux was still certain he could win, and my seer magic was whispering that he was right.
“You know I’m always sure, and I’m always right,” Esmina replied in a chiding tone.
Pollux shrugged, but he stopped swinging his hammer.
I frowned. Esmina and Pollux might be severely outnumbered, but I had no doubt they could still kill the bounty hunters and capture me. So why was Esmina acting like the battle was already lost?
Boom!
A bright green blast of energy zinged through the junkyard, hitting the bounty hunter closest to me. The man screamed and dropped to the ground, his chest sparking and smoking with deadly electricity.
My head snapped up, tracking the blast’s trajectory. A tall man clutching a silver hand cannon stood on top of the building in the center of the junkyard. A dark blue jacket stretched across his broad shoulders, while his tactical shirt and cargo pants outlined the rest of his muscled body. A lunarium sword with a silver hilt dangled from his black leather belt, and a silver blaster was holstered to his right thigh.
My gaze traced over his features, which were as familiar to me as my own. Longish black hair with a hint of a wave. Pale skin. High cheekbones. A long, sharp nose. A strong chin. And eyes that were such a dark blue they bordered on black, just like the sapphsidian chips in the butterfly brooch I had bought in the marketplace.
Kyrion Caldaren looked every inch like the Regal lord, rogue Arrow, and elite assassin he was. The cold, hard nugget of him in my mind pulsed with even more icy fury, but to me, it was as comforting as a warm blanket. My heart quickened, my breath caught in my throat, and a smile spread across my face.
Kyrion fired the cannon four more times, hitting another bounty hunter and forcing a third man to dive behind an old furnace. He released the cannon, which was attached to the silver bandolier slung across his chest, then spun the bandolier around so that the cannon was on his back and out of the way. The second his hands were free, Kyrion plucked his blaster out of its thigh holster and took aim.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
He dropped three more bounty hunters in rapid succession, causing the others to scatter around the junkyard.
“Return fire! Return fire!” Rina screamed, ducking behind a stack of broken transport wheels.
She sent several bolts shooting up at Kyrion, as did the other bounty hunters. He ran forward, leaped off the roof, and dropped down behind a pile of junk.
One of the bounty hunters lunged forward and latched onto my arm. “Come here—”
I snapped up my hand and punched him in the throat. The bounty hunter staggered back, coughing and gasping for air. He tripped over the first man Kyrion had killed with the hand cannon and went down in a wheezing heap on the dirt.
I crouched down and scuttled in the opposite direction, heading toward my shopping bag, which was still lying on the ground. I shoved my hand into the dark depths, searching for my stormsword among the fruits, vegetables, and other items. Where was it? Where was it?
There.
My hand closed around the silver hilt, and I yanked the sword free of the cloth. The lunarium blade pulsed with a dark blue light in a reflection of my seer magic and my connection to Kyrion.
Off to my right, Rina whipped around, aimed her blaster at me, and pulled the trigger.
Pew!
I threw my body down and to the right. The red bolt zinged past me and slammed into a tin can full of nails. The small, sharp projectiles shot out in all directions, pelting my arms, legs, and back, cutting through my clothes, and scratching my skin. So much for taking me alive.
I hissed at the stinging pain, scrambled back up onto my feet, and darted forward, ducking behind the cement blocks that propped up the Regal carriage.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Rina fired a few more bolts in my direction. The corners of the cement blocks cracked, and stone chips flew out and pelted my cheeks. I hissed again, but I held my position, lifted my sword, and blinked through the tears running down my face.
Pew!
Rina fired another bolt at me, then broke cover and headed toward the blitzer parked at the back of the junkyard. Saving her own skin must have been worth more than my bounty.
The remaining bounty hunters hunkered down behind broken transports and piles of metal and kept firing their blasters.
Still crouching behind the cement blocks, I turned to the left, and my gaze locked onto the pile of junk Kyrion had taken refuge behind.Kyrion? Kyrion!
