Page 43 of Shielded Heart 1
“Alkorin?” Her head popped up from between the bed and the wall.
Relief washed over Arcanthus like a wave of cool water. For an instant, his knees felt impossibly weak, and he feared he’d collapse onto them.
When her frightened eyes met his, Sam leapt to her feet and raced toward him. She didn’t hesitate; she slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “You’re here! You’re here,” she said against his chest. “What’s happening?”
He released the blaster’s foregrip to wrap an arm around her, holding her trembling body close. “We’re going to get you out of here, little terran.”
“Here’s the spare armor,” Sekk’thi said over the commlink.
Arcanthus glanced back to see the ilthurii in the open door of the hovercar. Plasma bolts from below struck the underside of the vehicle and filled the air between it and thebuilding. She tossed the spare set of combat armor in through the broken window.
Drakkal’s voice came over the comms. “We have to break off. We’ll land and try to clear an exit for you.”
Sekk’thi pulled the door closed, and the hovercar banked away and darted out of sight.
“All right.” Arcanthus allowed himself a moment to press his lips to Sam’s hair and take in her tantalizing scent. “Are you hurt, Samantha?”
“No.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know calling you would—”
He pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. She’d said she gave her visitors a false name and hadn’t told them anything about him. He believed her. She’d protected him despite her terror, despite knowing she was in terrible danger, despite barely knowing Arcanthus. She’d kept quiet. She’d refused to betray him.
That meant more to Arcanthus than he could ever express.
“You did the right thing.” Though it pained him, he released her and stepped back, crouching to lift the spare armor. “We need to get this on and leave, all right?”
She looked at the armor with a concerned crease between her brows and nodded. “Okay.”
“I will answer what I can once you’re safe, Samantha,” he said as he helped her into the armor; it was a bit large for her, but it would do. Once the armor was in place, Arc held up one of the auto-blasters. “Do you know how to use this?”
Her frightened yet met his. “No.”
“Do you favor your left hand or your right?”
“My right.”
Arcanthus stepped behind her, positioning the auto-blaster in front of her. He slipped the shoulder strap over her arm, guided her right hand to the grip and her left to the foregrip. “Nestle this against your shoulder. Good. Don’t point at anything you’re not prepared to shoot and keep your finger off the trigger until you’re going to fire. Point the barrel at what you want to hit and squeeze the trigger. It’ll put out enough plasma to do the rest.”
Despite her trembling, she nodded firmly and said, “Okay.”
“I want you to walk behind me, little terran. Right on my heels.”
When she stepped behind him, he slipped his tail around her waist, coiling it tight. “This is going to be frightening, but I’m here. You’ll be safe.”
Shouting from the hallway called his attention to the door. He positioned himself directly between Samantha and the entryway and moved forward, crouching behind the couch. Samantha followed, easing down behind him. Arcanthus aimed his blaster at the door.
An explosion consumed the doorway, its flash temporarily blinding Arcanthus. Something slammed onto the floor with a heavyclang. Samantha flinched and cried out.
Arcanthus squeezed the trigger of his blaster. The weapon made a series of high, thumping whines as it sprayed plasma bolts into the opening. Someone released a choked cry, the sound followed by the thump of a collapsing body.
Arc’s vision cleared to reveal a warped, open doorframe where the door had stood a moment before. The smoke from the explosion slowly dissipated, leaving a haze in the room that wasn’t quite thick enough to obscure the body lying across the threshold. The mangled door lay a meter inside the apartment.
“You’re not getting out of here alive, sedhi,” someone shouted from the hallway.
Narrowing his eyes, Arc shifted his blaster to the right, aiming at the wall beside the doorway. He fired another burst.
The frantic curse from the hallway told him his shotshad been close, but not close enough. Keeping his weapon raised, he hurried forward. Samantha lagged for a moment; a tug from his tail got her moving.
“Surrender and we won’t hurt your terran,” the male in the hall said.
