Page 232 of Filthy Royal

There’d be no sending orders to hurt Zaya now.

“No!” Darvish raised his arm, preparing to backhand her.

“Scarlett.” Her name was a roar.

A red blur streaked by her and barreled into Darvish.

Damien!

The two males flipped backward over the console.

Andor followed, leaping over the instrument panel.

Chaos ensued.

Several guards charged her at once, lasers raised, their yellow glow indicating their weapons were set to stun. A sign Darvish hadn’t altered his mandate to capture her alive. She knew, without a doubt, he’d not given the same order for her Alpha lord.

She lost sight of Damien as the guards surrounded her.

Her gift struck out.

But the rage and terror were too much, her control over her gift too new, especially with her fear for Damien added to the mix.

The guards flew backward. Dead. But that wasn’t all. An enormous hole punched straight through the shuttle hull, the sights and sounds of the battle outside rushing in, clear and terrifying.

Inside the ship, debris rained down all around her.

Shards cut into her skin. A chunk of wall crashed to the ground. The storage unit containing the vids tipped over onto its side.

Guards crowded through the doorway and filled the cockpit.

Her gift exploded again. Attackers, lasers, and fragments of debris swirled everywhere.

Amidst the pandemonium, she searched for Damien and found him on his back, fighting both Darvish and Andor. His forearm, slick with blood, locked around his half brother’s neck while he kicked out at Kadon’s sire.

Her gift clamored to strike again, but she feared killing Damien.

Or Darvish.

She realized Damien was hampered by the same challenge, as Darvish couldn’t die until they obtained information on Zaya’s location.

Rough hands seized Scarlett’s shoulders, ripping her pretty gown. Her gift reacted.

The hands disappeared as the guard flew backward, but a tear split the hull ceiling as if it were fabric.

Pieces of wreckage continued to plummet to the shuttle floor.

“Damien, watch out!” A large panel crashed to the ground near him.

On the plus side, it forced Andor to jump aside to avoid being sliced in two, leaving Damien to contend with Darvish alone.

Still, she needed to pull it together.

Repeating the words that had inspired and centered her earlier, the sounds of the battles beyond the shuttle reached her. Shouts. Screams. The grunts of Consortium guards dying. The hiss of shuttle-gun blasts. Her and Damien’s families fighting against the Brotherhood and the Consortium for their shared future. Fighting for Zaya.

A guard charged, clutching a tranq blaster tight in his shaking hand.

It was a smarter strategy, but not smart enough.

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