by Amy Braun
“Run! Get back inside!” Sawyer shouted, drawing his flintlock and firing at any Hellions he could see. It was too dark for him to be completely accurate.
We raced back to the engineering bay, Hellions screaming behind us. Gunshots rang through the metal halls, fierce howls chasing after us. The last two Dogs–Poacher and a man whose name I didn’t know–turned across the hall to hide in another room. Sawyer tried to call them back, but they refused to listen. As we passed through the doors, Sawyer and Nash shoved away the boxes holding the doors back.
They didn’t close.
Riley took the sword off his belt and stood in the doorway, slashing at the Hellions that tried to approach while Gemma and I helped close the doors. They still didn’t move, and Sawyer and Nash eventually gave up to fight the Hellions.
“Get inside, Claire!” Sawyer shouted.
But I wasn’t listening to him.
I ran straight into the fray of Hellions, taking the Volt and pushing the button ever so slightly.
“Move!” I screamed.
I hoped it was enough warning, because every Hellion turned its bloody eyes on me. I punched out, slapping the Volt on the chest of the Hellion across from me, magnetizing it to the buttons on its jumpsuit. Claws raked along my upper shoulder, but I dropped and covered my head. The Hellions screeched as the electricity zapped out at them, boiling their blood and frying their nerves.
I stayed low as the other noises came over me. Shrieks were cut short, replaced by the meaty, chopping sound of metal slicing through flesh. The Volt’s whirr stopped, and someone hissed angrily. That same angry person grabbed my uninjured arm and hauled me to my feet.
“Are you insane?” Sawyer shouted at me. “You could have gotten yourself killed!”
“Yeah, she could have,” a new voice mocked. “So try not to do it again, darling.”
Sawyer dragged me behind him and raised his bloodstained cutlass. I cowered behind him, dreading the voice approaching from the shadows.
He walked into sight with a smile on his face. The same smile he wore just before he tried to kidnap me. The smile that froze my very heart.
Davin stood tall and proud, a dark, twisted version of the younger brother who was protecting me. He wore the same black jumpsuit as the other Hellions, but carried pistols, knives, and a sword across his back.
Behind Davin, more Hellions emerged. They were hunched over and salivating, staring at us with wild, bloodshot eyes.
“Down in front, brother,” Davin called. “I can’t see my bounty. And I finally found the means to persuade her.”
Another shadow began to take shape in the distance. I recognized the smug grin of Ryland, but that wasn’t what drove the icepick into my heart.
Ryland wrenched a little girl into view. His fingers dug into her frail shoulders until she whimpered. She blinked, confused and scared, then stopped when she saw me.
“Claire!”
My world crumbled.
Abby. They had taken Abby.
Chapter 14
I pushed Sawyer’s shoulder, knocking him off balance to run for my sister. Riley replaced him, wrapping his arms around my stomach and pulling me back.
“Abby!” I screamed.
“Claire!” she wailed back. “Claire, they killed Moira!”
Hearing the words from my little sister’s lips made the pain in my chest so much worse. She cried them out, tears streaking and raw grief contorting her face.
I imagined my face was similar right then. Beside me, Sawyer cursed and shoved the heels of his palms into his eyes, gripping his hair with the tips of his fingers. Nash stared out the door in horror while Gemma screamed beside him.
Riley did nothing.
“You bastard!” Gemma howled. “You goddamn bastard!”
“Temper, temper,” taunted Davin. “I have to say, the old bird put up a hell of a fight. She was an animal, all claws and snarls. Kept shouting, ‘Don’t take her, not again, don’t take my Molly.’” He snorted with disgust. “Don’t know who Molly is, but I bet she tasted just as sweet as her mommy.”
When I squeezed my eyes shut, I saw Moira’s face. The gentle, motherly smile, the grey streaks in her hair, the haunted eyes that always offered kindness and love. I tried to remember the way her hands moved when she tucked Claire in or sewed Sawyer’s shirt, but the memory was tainted with the grief digging into my heart.
Had I thanked her for sewing up the wound on my throat? For taking care of Abby when I couldn’t? Did she understand how much she meant to us?
It was too late now. Moira was dead, and Westraven’s most infamous torturer had taken Abby again.
“Claire!” Abby cried again, cutting through my sorrow. “Don’t do what they say! They want to–”
Davin’s open palm crashed into her face. Abby yelped in pain, would have fallen over if Ryland hadn’t been holding her. He set her back on her feet roughly, not caring how much she cried.
Just hearing that single, heart-rending cry broke me.
“Stop!” I screamed at both of them. “Leave her alone, please!”
Davin snorted. “Or what? You’ll try to kill me? Like you were going to kill him, right?” He tossed his thumb at Ryland. “He told me about that. Bet you’re kicking yourself now.”
I thrashed in Riley’s arms, doing anything I could to get free. I had the Volt. I could use it on Davin. I could kill him and save Abby, get her away from him once and for all.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
He didn’t. “It’s what he wants, Claire. You can’t–”
“I don’t care! Let me go!”
“You should listen to her, Riley,” Davin said. “Don’t want to disrespect her wishes, do you?” He grinned, showing his long, sharp teeth with pride. I was too enraged to be as scared as I should have been.
Another Hellion hissed, and a man screamed. A Hellion dragged Poacher into sight its claws embedded into his ankle. A second Hellion pulled the other pirate into view. Blood trailed from his face as it dragged along the concrete. He made no motions of protest, and I shuddered, knowing he was dead.
“Boss!” Poacher wailed. “Boss, please!”
Ryland looked at his crewmember without emotion.
“Please! I got those Hellions for you! Don’t let them kill me! Please, boss!”
His captain looked at Davin. The Hellion leader shrugged and hissed something in their grating language. The monster holding Poacher dropped his foot and sank its teeth into his leg, gnawing all the way to the bone. Poacher screamed as three Hellions pinned him. He fell silent in seconds.
That was when Gemma made her move.
I didn’t feel her behind me, didn’t know she took the flashbang from my belt until she twisted the ends and launched it at Davin. He grimaced, remembering my weapon, and turned away with one hand covering his face. White light burst when the glass tube shattered on the ground. Gunfire erupted behind me as the marauders shot at the Hellions. I started to panic, terrified they might shoot Abby by accident, but Riley refused to release me. Instead, he dragged me kicking and screaming toward the engineering bay. The white light was fading by the time he got me to the doors.
Four Hellions lay dead on the floor, but the other nine were worked into frenzy. Ryland and Davin were unharmed. Abby was crying and slumping in Ryland’s grip.
Davin barked something in Hellion-tongue, and three of the monsters charged the marauders. They turned and bolted for the bay. Riley set me down next to the Palisade, then helped the others drag tables, chairs and crates to create a makeshift barricade. Anything not bolted to the floor became stacked together in a mish-mash of wood and metal. The awkwardly locked structure covered all but the top corners of the doorway. Hellions slammed into it, making us jump. My heart thudded as they smashed into the pitiful blockade. The Hellions didn’t make it through, but how long would our luck hold out?
Another bang, and this time Gemma landed on her backside.
It wasn’t going to hold. They were
gong to get through on the third try–
There was another sharp command in Hellion-tongue, and the attacks stopped. Sawyer, Riley, and Nash stood panting, waiting for the worst. Gemma got to her feet, taking out a knife and gripping it until her knuckles turned white.
“Nice job, brother. That room only has one exit, right?”
Sawyer didn’t bother to look around, but his curse was loud.
“Those Hellions are eager and waiting outside your little fort there. One word from me, and they’ll break it down and rip you to shreds. You just saw them do it. Can’t promise it’ll be fun for you. But I’m willing to give up some good entertainment for a deal. You give me what I want, you walk away with all your skin on your bones.”
“Remind me what you want again?” Sawyer shouted back.
Davin’s laugh sounded closer than before. He must have moved forward while the Hellions attacked the barricade. “Same thing I wanted since you wrecked the Behemoth, brother. Your little blonde engineer.”
“Not happening, Davin,” he shouted defiantly, though horror was etched on his face.
“Wait!” I cried, pushing off the floor and marching to the barricade.
Sawyer grabbed my arm. “Claire–”
I shook him off and wedged myself into the left corner the barrier. The top corner was exposed, wide enough for my arm to fit through, but too high for me to see anything.
“How did you find us?” I shouted to Davin. “What do you want from me?”
“You want me to ruin the surprise? Where’s the fun in that? Let’s just say the Vesper needs your services. And finding you?” His snort carried through the dead silence. “Easy. Figured out you were at the ports after a month. Ryland sent up a flare and all he had to do was keep you locked up long enough for me to get the kid. Thanks for leaving her pretty much unguarded, by the way. Lost some good Hellions on those traps, but after that I just strolled in.”
I closed my eyes and swallowed the tears that were threatening to build. Moira had never stood a chance.
Keep it together, Claire. Think. But all I could see was Abby trapped in the hands of a traitor and surrounded by the monsters she feared more than anything else.
All I could think was that I failed her again.
“Speaking of lost Hellions,” Davin’s voice sounded farther away. “What was that guy talking about? That you caught yourself some monsters?”
I still couldn’t see Ryland over the barricade, but he sounded nervous when he spoke again.
“They weren’t part of your crew,” he explained. “Found them outside the wall, dragging themselves over the wall to get into the Barren. They were bled raw, probably from the rocks, and I thought my men deserved a chance at some revenge after so many years of–”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Davin said, his tone dismissive.
“You do?” Ryland sounded confused.
“Course I do. Hellions shit in your backyard, you want to make them pay for it. I get that.”
I heard the faintest, relieved pause from Ryland, and then, “Good. Glad we understand each other.”
“Great minds think alike, right?” Davin jeered. “Great minds also take pay when it’s given to them. They also know better than to waste useful resources.”
We heard a scuffle and a surprised shout. Then a scream and a faded gurgle. Abby wailed with fear. Something heavy dropped onto the ground a few seconds later.
“Sorry, Ryland. You’re not a useful resource anymore.”
Abby kept screaming, and Davin was shouting at her. Telling her to get back here, shut up, stupid bitch–
Sawyer grabbed my hand and pulled it away from the barricade. I didn’t even realize I was trying to pull it down. All I knew was something was between me and my sister, an innocent little girl trapped in the hands of a monster.
“Don’t, Claire,” he warned me. His tawny eyes looked pained. “There are too many of them.”
“I’ll make you a deal, darling,” called Davin. “You give yourself up, I’ll let your sister go. Won’t go near her again, on my honor.” He laughed. “Wait, scratch that. How about on my word? Sound good?”
Sawyer was shaking his head at me. “He won’t do it,” he whispered to me. “He won’t let us leave here alive. He doesn’t like loose ends.”
“Is my brother putting ideas in your head? Are you listening to them? Not smart, darling. He’s trapped, and he just doesn’t want the door to be opened. Probably worried he’ll get hurt. Which you will, Sawyer.”
“Claire!” Abby cried. “Claire, don’t do it! He’ll kill you!”
“Hey now,” Davin said gruffly, “don’t tell possible lies about me. The Vesper will be here in two days. Plenty of time for you to think very, very carefully about what you want to happen here. Pretty damn generous of him, you ask me. But if you’re not out by then, all my offers go out the window. And then we take you anyway.”
Davin’s voice began to fade. “Two days, Abernathy. We’ll be hanging around the ship for a while. I don’t want to stand here for two days listening to you mope and cry. Besides,” I could almost see the sick grin on his face, “I want to make sure your darling sister is comfortable.”
The rage finally sliced through me. “Don’t you touch her!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare!”
Davin’s laugh echoed off the walls and froze my very bones. “Then you better get to work. I like to explore, but I get bored easily. Come find us when you’re ready.”
He roared in Hellion-tongue, and we listened until the wheezing monsters disappeared, taking Abby with them. When they were gone, I stepped back and shoved my hands through my hair. A flare of pain went down my shoulder from the scratch, but I barely felt it anymore. My chest tightened and it hurt to breathe. My hands were shaking.
Sawyer appeared at my side. He put his hand on the back of my neck and tried to tilt my head up. All I could seem to do was stand there and tremble.
“We’ll get her out of this,” Sawyer promised me. “I swear it to you, Claire. Davin won’t touch Abby.”
“How do you know?” I asked thickly.
He was silent, as if contemplating the best way to respond. “He likes to loot first. He’ll search the whole ship for some kind of tools or sharp instrument. That way he has a toy that he…”
I was crying before Sawyer started the implication. Heavy sobs wracked my chest. Sawyer pulled me into him, curling his arms around my upper back and holding me close.
“I’m sorry, Claire. I’m so sorry.”
We stayed like that for a long moment–me, desperate for comfort, and him, desperate for my forgiveness. The moment ended abruptly with Riley’s uneven whisper.
“We should do what he says.”
Riley stood in a corner with his hands clasping his elbows. He looked sick, pale with worry. And why wouldn’t he be? The Vesper was crossing the Breach and arriving in two days.