as our weapons meet in midair. The vibration echoes painfully down my arm, and I can see a detached metal spike protruding from the flesh of my upper arm. My shirt is sticky with blood. I don’t want to bleed to death by trying to pull it out, so I grit my teeth and leave it, hefting my other arm high while protecting my body with my injured arm.
Scanning the room, I notice that the bed frame is blocking the bathroom door and the nearby window is locked, which means precious extra seconds lost trying to unlock it. The Vector’s bulk shields the bedroom door. The window is the only choice I’ve got, and if worse comes to worse, I can go through it headfirst and hope for the best. Either way, it seems that I’m facing the possibility of broken bones. I need to distract the creature to buy some time.
I lower myself into a crouch and sweep my leg out, but the Vector moves out of the way, fast for something of such size. I switch to words, hoping beyond hope that making it think will help slow it down.
“You know how I know you’re lying? About the king?” It watches me like a bird toying with a worm half-submerged in the dirt. “Because people, important people, know about Caden. Cale’s alive; otherwise, Murek would just forget about Caden and rule Neospes as he’s always wanted.”
I pause again, snaking my uninjured arm out to catch it across his left flank. Blue liquid seeps through its clothing and drips to the floor. Now we’re even.
“Did he teach you to lie?” I continue my one-sided conversation, gaining confidence with each breath. “My father? He’s very good at lying. After all, he convinced me to lead your kind. But he had a hidden agenda, didn’t he?”
I spin and jab at my opponent’s body, but it anticipates my movements this time and dodges, only to return a blow that stuns me senseless. Something wet and warm plasters my hair to my scalp, but I can barely feel it beneath the hot welt flowering against the side of my face. I spit a mouthful of blood to the floor and lean against the wall. My vision begins to blur as the Vector morphs into three separate beings, each wavering like smoke.
“That all you got?” I grit out, holding my sword across my body and praying that my shaking legs don’t give out. The Vector pauses with another grin, as if sensing impending victory. My only comforting thought is that Shae and Caden are safe. She’ll get what she wanted – Caden will never return to Neospes.
And I would have failed… in my promise to Cale. But if the Vector is right, then it won’t matter either way. I stare into its dead blue eyes, and smile. “We will never let you take him.”
“You have no choice, General,” the thing says finally, removing the pocket device from his vest. “The boy will go back, and so will you, dead or alive. Your father wants you alive, of course. But Lord Murek has no preference. Regardless, you cannot stop me.”
“But I can,” a voice says, just as the sound of a cannon tears through the room. The Vector pitches forward as gunfire rips through its bulk, June’s hollow-points doing what they’re designed to do. It’s a volley of bullets as Caden holds June’s semiautomatic gun with shaky calm.
“Aim for the head, Caden,” I try to shout, but my voice is barely a whisper as I feel myself sliding downward against the wall. “It’ll only regenerate anywhere else.”
But my words are lost beneath the sound of the exploding shells as the acrid smell of gunpowder fills my nose. I can feel my cells desperately trying to re-engage, when the incongruity of the situation hits me. Caden’s the one protecting me. I want to laugh, but only a choked gurgle takes shape in my mouth as Caden empties round after round into the monster.
After what seems like an eternity, Caden flings the spent gun to the floor and brandishes the sword I’d handed him earlier. My eyes are on fire, but I have to see if one of the bullets has miraculously hit the Vector in
Scanning the room, I notice that the bed frame is blocking the bathroom door and the nearby window is locked, which means precious extra seconds lost trying to unlock it. The Vector’s bulk shields the bedroom door. The window is the only choice I’ve got, and if worse comes to worse, I can go through it headfirst and hope for the best. Either way, it seems that I’m facing the possibility of broken bones. I need to distract the creature to buy some time.
I lower myself into a crouch and sweep my leg out, but the Vector moves out of the way, fast for something of such size. I switch to words, hoping beyond hope that making it think will help slow it down.
“You know how I know you’re lying? About the king?” It watches me like a bird toying with a worm half-submerged in the dirt. “Because people, important people, know about Caden. Cale’s alive; otherwise, Murek would just forget about Caden and rule Neospes as he’s always wanted.”
I pause again, snaking my uninjured arm out to catch it across his left flank. Blue liquid seeps through its clothing and drips to the floor. Now we’re even.
“Did he teach you to lie?” I continue my one-sided conversation, gaining confidence with each breath. “My father? He’s very good at lying. After all, he convinced me to lead your kind. But he had a hidden agenda, didn’t he?”
I spin and jab at my opponent’s body, but it anticipates my movements this time and dodges, only to return a blow that stuns me senseless. Something wet and warm plasters my hair to my scalp, but I can barely feel it beneath the hot welt flowering against the side of my face. I spit a mouthful of blood to the floor and lean against the wall. My vision begins to blur as the Vector morphs into three separate beings, each wavering like smoke.
“That all you got?” I grit out, holding my sword across my body and praying that my shaking legs don’t give out. The Vector pauses with another grin, as if sensing impending victory. My only comforting thought is that Shae and Caden are safe. She’ll get what she wanted – Caden will never return to Neospes.
And I would have failed… in my promise to Cale. But if the Vector is right, then it won’t matter either way. I stare into its dead blue eyes, and smile. “We will never let you take him.”
“You have no choice, General,” the thing says finally, removing the pocket device from his vest. “The boy will go back, and so will you, dead or alive. Your father wants you alive, of course. But Lord Murek has no preference. Regardless, you cannot stop me.”
“But I can,” a voice says, just as the sound of a cannon tears through the room. The Vector pitches forward as gunfire rips through its bulk, June’s hollow-points doing what they’re designed to do. It’s a volley of bullets as Caden holds June’s semiautomatic gun with shaky calm.
“Aim for the head, Caden,” I try to shout, but my voice is barely a whisper as I feel myself sliding downward against the wall. “It’ll only regenerate anywhere else.”
But my words are lost beneath the sound of the exploding shells as the acrid smell of gunpowder fills my nose. I can feel my cells desperately trying to re-engage, when the incongruity of the situation hits me. Caden’s the one protecting me. I want to laugh, but only a choked gurgle takes shape in my mouth as Caden empties round after round into the monster.
After what seems like an eternity, Caden flings the spent gun to the floor and brandishes the sword I’d handed him earlier. My eyes are on fire, but I have to see if one of the bullets has miraculously hit the Vector in
Similar Books
