The woman touched the console, flicking her red hair back over her shoulder. “I have the package.”
“Good.” A raspy voice came through the console.
Bellamy’s stomach contracted. An Edull.
“Confirm with us when the task is complete,” the Edull said. “Then we’ll transfer the credits.”
“Very well,” the assassin replied. “Expect my call soon.”
Screw this. Bellamy was not sitting around waiting to be killed.
She started working on the cuffs, trying to get them loose. She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out the tool Maxon had made for her. She’d kept it on her since he’d given it to her. Hell, she’d even slept with it under her pillow last night after Maxon had bullied her into getting some rest. She grunted as she worked it out of her trouser pocket.
Then the transport started to slow.
Dammit. Dragging in a deep breath, Bellamy kept herself calm. She gripped the tool and started working on a small link in the cuff. Come on. Suddenly, she heard a small click.
She smiled. The cuffs fell away. The assassin was going to get a fight, that was for sure.
The transport pulled to a stop. The doors opened, and the vehicle dipped as the assassin got out. Bellamy tensed, waiting for the cargo compartment to open, but after a minute, the assassin still hadn’t come for her.
She had no idea how long she had, but she wasn’t going to waste it.
With her hands now free, she pressed on the panel in front of her. She gripped her tool and started undoing the screws.
There. The last one fell to the floor. She shoved the front panel forward, then climbed into the front of the transport.
She slid into the front seat. Nice. The transport had sleek seats that cupped the body and fancy controls. The glass around her was all dark, and the roof was clear. There was no sign of the assassin.
Bellamy started touching the console controls.
“Palmprint not recognized,” the computer voice intoned.
Damn. Using her tool, she pried off a part of the panel. Then she jammed the tool into the wiring and circuits.
Bellamy had hotwired a few cars in her misspent youth. Surely, an alien transport on a desert planet half a galaxy away wouldn’t be that difficult? Especially when this was life or death.
It gave her good incentive.
Suddenly, sparks flew out of the inside of the console, and Bellamy turned her head away. When she looked back, she saw the transport’s console flare to life.
“Yes!”
Then it died.
“Come on,” she muttered.
She jammed her tool in again, and the console lights flickered. Bellamy smiled as they stayed lit. She touched the controls and the transport started forward.
Yes!
She pulled the vehicle jerkily out into the street. It wasn’t smooth, but they were moving.
Suddenly, there was a thump on the roof. Bellamy looked up through the clear glass and saw the redhead’s enraged face.
Shit. Bellamy touched the controls, searching for the accelerator. She swiped the screen.
The transport leaped forward and sped away.
The assassin tumbled off.
Hell, yeah. Bellamy kept working the controls. The transport turned a corner, and joined the busy flow of traffic.
Crap. She didn’t want to crash into any innocent people. She kept her hands on the controls, trying to work it all out. In the distance, she spotted the cream walls of the arena.
She’d head straight there, and get back to the House of Rone.
Bellamy moved over into the next lane, gunning forward.
That’s when two transports roared up on either side of her vehicle. They pinned her between them.
Uh-oh.
She looked over, and in one, saw the female assassin inside. The woman had the side window open and was aiming a weapon at Bellamy.
Oh, shit.
Chapter Ten
Maxon fought the force holding him in place. He wanted to roar out his frustration, but the drakking field kept his voice locked down.
He was going to pulverize that drakking device once he was free.
“Maxon!” Magnus’ shout.
Maxon managed to turn his head enough to see Magnus, Jax, and Mace running toward him. He couldn’t even yell at them to warn them.
He heard Jax curse first. All three cyborgs snapped to a halt. They all had enough enhancements and cybernetics to be caught by the field of the device.
He watched as his fellow cyborgs strained against the magnetic field holding them. Pain flared inside him. The force exerted on his spine made his bones ache.
Then there were more shouts and movement.
A tall, muscular man in a black suit stepped in front of Maxon. A small, blonde woman appeared beside him.
“Hey, hold on, big guy.” The woman crouched and touched the device. “There.”
The force was gone. Maxon staggered, but the man caught him.
“Are you all right?” The man’s eyes were locked on Maxon’s face.
Tannon Gi was head of security for the Dark Nebula. Maxon nodded. “Thanks.”
The woman patted his arm, scanning the street.
“I’m Mina.” Her blonde hair brushed her jaw line. “They took her?”
Maxon growled. “Not for long.”
The woman smiled. She wore a Dark Nebula Security uniform, but he knew instantly that she was from Earth. This had to be Tannon’s mate.
“Bellamy’s tough,” Mina said. “She’s probably planning her abductor’s downfall as we speak.” Mina shot him a satisfied smile. “She won’t be an easy victim.”
“You know her,” he said.
“I’m from the Helios.”
“My security team is tracking the transport,” Tannon said. “We control all the traffic cameras in the District.”
“My hunk-a-licious is a control freak,” Mina added, pride in her voice.
Two black, streamlined transports slid up in front of them, and opened. There was no one inside.
“They’re all yours,” Tannon said to Maxon and the cyborgs. “Tracking information is on the onboard system.”
“Nice.” Jax climbed into one while Mace joined him.
“Get her back,” Mina said.
Maxon climbed into the other transport, Magnus sliding into the seat beside him. Maxon nodded at the small Earth woman.
Jax and Mace pulled away first.
As the doors closed them in, Maxon stared through the smoky glass. They slid smoothly into traffic. Maxon leaned forward and ripped open the control panel.
“Rillian just loaned this to us,” Magnus said. “It’s not nice to rip it apart.”
“I’m just finessing some more speed from the controls.” Transports often had speed locks for the city. The transport jumped forward, picking up speed.
An assassin had Bellamy. They couldn’t waste any more time. They sped past Jax and Mace. The others would have to catch up.
Drak. Maxon wanted to pummel something. Preferably an Edull or two.
Magnus straightened in his seat. “There.”
Ahead, Maxon saw two dark transports flanking a silver one.
He spotted the female assassin, her red hair whipping around in the wind, leaning out a window. Her hair streamed out behind her like a river of blood. She was aiming a weapon at the silver transport.
Bellamy.
Maxon touched the controls. They sped up and he watched as Magnus gripped the door.
“Maxon—”
“Hold on.”
They crashed into the back of the assassin’s transport.
The woman jolted and almost lost her balance. Fury choked Maxon. This crudspawn had dared to take Bellamy, threatened her, and planned to kill her.
He wouldn’t allow any of that.
He touched a button and the roof of the transport opened.
Magnus straightened. “Maxon, we need—”
“I’m
getting Bellamy back.”
The imperator sighed. “Be careful.”
Maxon climbed up onto the roof. He balanced on top of the speeding transport, then leaped.
He landed on the assassin’s vehicle with a thud, then yanked his weapon out of his holster.
The redhead popped up through her own roof and shot at him. He ducked down, and fired back.
She popped up again and shot at him once more.
This time, he wasn’t fast enough. The laser hit his shoulder, but he ignored the stinging burn.
The assassin swerved the vehicle and with a curse, Maxon dropped down and clung to the roof.
They slammed into Bellamy’s transport.
He turned his head and his gaze met hers through the glass. Her eyes were wide.
The assassin fired at him again and he ducked back. This time, he watched anger flaring on Bellamy’s face.
Her roof opened.
“Stay down,” he roared.
The assassin popped up and flew bodily out of her roof, a knife glinting in her hand.
Drak.
Avoiding the blade, he rolled, almost tumbling off the edge of the speeding transport.
The woman’s knife cut into the metal.
“You shouldn’t meddle, cyborg.”
“And you shouldn’t kill innocent people.” He swung out and hit her with his fist.
She slid across the roof, grunted, and clung tight.
He heard the crash of metal and glass. He glanced over and saw that Jax and Mace’s transport had smashed into the vehicle on the other side of Bellamy’s. Both vehicles fell back.
Bellamy’s transport kept pace with the assassin’s, her head visible through the roof.
The assassin twisted, the green fabric of her dress flapping in the wind, showing her toned legs. She bunched those legs up and kicked at him. Hard.
Maxon slid across the slick roof. He gritted his teeth, clinging hard. His head dipped down, the ground whizzing past near his eyes.
Then he felt a stab of pain in his left thigh and he roared. She’d stabbed him.
“Maxon!” Bellamy screamed.
Hearing her voice gave him strength. He had to save her. He blocked the pain and then pulled himself up, just in time to see Bellamy launch herself off her transport.
Fear tried to strangle him. Drakking stubborn, brave Earth women.
She landed on the assassin and the two women slid across the roof of the transport. Bellamy got on top of the assassin, punching the taller killer with brutal hits.
“Bitch!” Bellamy growled. “You don’t get to hurt my man.”
Punch. Punch. Punch.
The assassin’s head lolled. But the woman suddenly shoved Bellamy off her. Both women rose, balancing precariously on the moving transport.
“Bellamy.” He climbed toward her. If she fell…
Bellamy launched herself at the assassin. She dodged the woman’s punch and kicked her. With a scream, the assassin fell off the transport, her arms flailing.
She hit the road, then tumbled under another transport.
Bellamy crouched and met his gaze. She grinned.
Drak, she was so damn wild and gorgeous.
Suddenly, the transport went crazy and out of control. It started zigging and zagging across the road.
Maxon clung harder, while Bellamy lost her balance.
No!
They sideswiped another transport. He saw Bellamy start to fall.
Maxon pushed himself up and ran two steps across the roof.
With a curse, Bellamy fell off the side of the transport, and Maxon jumped.
Using all his cyborg strength, he sailed through the air. He hit her midair, curling his body around her.
Then he turned so he hit the ground first.
* * *
They hit the ground with a bone-jarring jolt, but Maxon had absorbed most of the fall.
Bellamy swiveled. “Are you okay?”
He rose to a sitting position and nodded. “You?” His gold eyes were intense.
“Yes, because you saved my ass.” She cupped his cheeks. “And that tool you gave me helped me escape.” She kissed him.
He clamped her to him, his hold hard, and kissed her back.
That’s when she felt something wet. Blood.
“My God.” She glanced down. “You’re bleeding.”
“The assassin stabbed me.” He touched the wound on his thigh. “It’s not critical. My systems are already stemming the bleeding, and it’s healing.”
“Bleeding for me again,” she said quietly.
The damn Edull. They hurt too many people.
“Hey.” He lifted her chin. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. The Edull won’t stop until I’m dead.”
Maxon’s rugged face hardened. “Unless we kill them first.”
Transports pulled up beside them, and Magnus climbed out of the closest one. Jax and Mace exited the other.
“You’re both all right?” the imperator asked.
Maxon rose, pulling Bellamy up with him. “We’re fine. The assassin is dead, so you can’t question her.”
They all turned to look at the smoking, crumpled remains of the assassin’s original transport.
“But we can see if she left anything,” Bellamy said. “There might be data on the transport computer.”
They all leaned over the twisted lump of metal. Bellamy’s stomach did a sickening turn. If she and Maxon hadn’t gotten off it in time…
She shook her head. There was no point torturing herself with what-ifs. They were alive.
She dug around inside the cockpit of the transport.
“In the center, there,” Maxon said. “Press down on that screen.”
She touched the screen. It was badly cracked. She thumped a fist against it, and a small compartment opened. Something came out, and she saw it was some sort of data chip. She grabbed it and turned. “It’s intact.”
Magnus held out his cybernetic hand and she placed it on his palm. The imperator inserted the chip into a small opening on his cybernetic arm. One of his eyes glowed a bright neon-blue, then he frowned. “There’s not much here.”
Maxon grunted. “Any decent assassin wouldn’t keep important data unsecured.”
“There are coordinates in here. A location in the city.”
“Maybe it’s where she was taking me?” Bellamy put her hands on her hips. “Maybe there are Edull there?”
“Let’s check it out,” Maxon said.
Magnus nodded and they moved back to the transports. Bellamy had to sit in Maxon’s lap, but he was holding her close, stroking her arm. She couldn’t say she didn’t like it. It was like he didn’t want to let her out of his sight.
She had to admit, she liked that a lot.
Bellamy leaned forward and drummed her fingers against the console. “We need to take down that arena, burn it to the ground, leave the Edull with nothing—”
“Okay, my bloodthirsty warrior. Calm down.” Maxon shot her an amused look.
She elbowed him, then turned to look out the window.
“I smell blood,” Magnus said.
“Assassin stabbed my thigh,” Maxon said. “Missed anything vital and the bleeding’s stopped.”
Bellamy screwed up her nose. “That bitch, I wish I could—”
Maxon pressed a palm over Bellamy’s mouth. “Calm down. She can’t get any more dead.”
“Any aftereffects from the magnetic weapon she used on us at the Dark Nebula?” Magnus asked.
“I felt some strain on my bones at the time, but it’s gone now.”
“Maybe check in with Avarn later,” the imperator suggested.
Maxon made a non-committal grunt.
Bellamy stared at him. Oh, she’d make him go.
The city changed as they drove. The three-story, cream stone buildings gave way to more rambling structures, with large enclosed walls and gates.
“We’re near the edge of the city,” Magnus said. �
�Close to Varus’ tarnid stables. This is where caravans and travelers head out into the desert.”
They reached the coordinates, pulling up in front of an arched gate. Jax and Mace exited their vehicle, Mace crossing his arms over his chest as he scowled at the gate.
“The Alzen Stables.” Maxon frowned. “Never heard of it.”
“It looks abandoned,” Bellamy said. The place had that neglected, empty feel to it.
“The stables went out of business a long time ago.” Magnus climbed out of the transport.
Maxon helped Bellamy out and they circled around close to the gates. There was movement off to the side, and they turned to see Zaden, Acton, Seren, and Toren striding toward them.
Wow, they kind of looked like a team of superheroes. Bellamy hid her smile. She suspected the cyborgs would hate hearing that.
“I asked them to meet us,” the imperator said.
They all stood in front of the metal gates.
“We could scale the walls,” Acton suggested.
Zaden stepped forward and raised a hand.
The metal gates vibrated and Bellamy’s eyes shot open. A second later, the gates ripped off, flying through the air to land on the ground.
Holy hell.
Maxon grunted. “That works as well.”
They all strode inside.
There were musty smells of old feed and animals. The building had clearly once been used as stables.
Bellamy froze, her feet stuck to the ground with shock and anger. “No.”
“What the drak?” Maxon clipped out.
Cages. There were rows of small cages lining the space.
Not all of them were filled, but enough were. Bellamy stared at the people and she knew the looks on their faces—they were tired, scared, without hope.
Her gaze continued along the cages, and then she saw the kids.
They were mostly lanky teens. Her gut churned. The Edull liked to put young slaves in the battle bots. They had quicker reflexes, were more willing to take risks to try and survive on the track.
“Edull slaves,” she said woodenly.
Some of the prisoners spotted them and called out for help.
Breaking free, Bellamy strode forward. She stopped by one cage, and inside was a young boy, maybe ten or eleven. He was too thin.
She yanked at the door, but it was locked. She pulled on it viciously.
Weapons Master: Galactic Gladiators: House of Rone #6 Page 8