Page 40 of Claim
Vug.Had the murmur of transformation in the disguised stones sung to some deeply repressed urge in thePratorim’s captain to repent?
“Give me the rest of the credits,” Szakh said.
Apparently no.
When he brandished his laser pistol, the rest of the shadowy figures in the old depot churned to find their own escape.The arthropod clicked and skittered in agitation, as if stealing from a slaver was rude.At the jostling of the stage, the locked prisoners shouted, adding to the churning mayhem.
Mag stepped in front of June, ready to—
But she elbowed him aside and swept aside the hem of her mantle to whip up her third “leg”—a plasma rifle.He ducked away as her shot went wild.Maybe the Dastard’s second was right about target practice.
But June was already grabbing his hand to yank him away.
Following, remember?Mag stayed right behind her.
But Szakh was following too.June was too small and Mag knew he was too weak from his wounds to get away.
“Give me the credits,” Szakh shouted.“Or die.”
“Wait, wait!All right now.Just don’t shoot!”June wheeled around.“You can have them.”
Before Mag could caution her that the captain would shoot them anyway, she pitched the rest of the credits to the Sauronilan—
And the strand blew apart in a crescendoing pop-pop-POP as each chit exploded.
The final blast lifted him like a hand and threw him into June.She gasped as he curled around her, holding her tight and rolling clear.
“Sil sang the stones into weapons?”He glared down at her.“What about beauty and hope and love?”
Through the crack in her fake respirator, she blinked up at him.“Well, sometimes an explosion is more impactful than hope.”
Impact was right.The improvised bombs had added to the chaos, but they weren’t that big.Through the smoke, he caught a glimpse of the Sauronilan guards.Whatever had happened to Szakh, his crew was still there.
Mag almost laughed.Just like his own.
Struggling to keep up with June, he paused next to the dais.His first kick sent a jolt through his bruises and cracked bones.The second made him growl in pain.The third brought the stand crashing down, busting apart the locked scaffold.The arthropod screamed as the prisoners scattered.
“Come on.”June grabbed his hand again.
The rear of the depot dropped into shadows where chunks of the moon had been scoured away into a ragged abyss.June gasped and clutched at him as their toes dangled above the darkness.
“My turn to take over again?”He grinned at her.
She wrinkled her nose.“You didn’t give it up for long, did you?”
“Just long enough.”He pulled her into his arms, snuggling her up against his chest despite the twinge of pain.Spreading his carapace was even worse.“Hold on,” he warned her.
“That’s all I ever wanted.”
He unfurled his wings and plunged into the depths.
Chapter 12
She was flying, but she couldn’t see anything in the dark.Plus her whole body was numb from panic and cold and the concussive force of the mini bombs.And she could barely breathe through the cracked device still strapped to her face.
But her heart sang.He was here.She had found him.He was free.
The big jerk.
