A second speeder had stopped at the end of the alley and disgorged its crew. For the first time, it occurred to her that they were in real trouble, that they might not manage to fight their way out of this. Maybe they should give themselves up. Callum could explain they hadn’t really kidnapped him, and they intended to return him…eventually.
At the thought of Callum, her temper rose. This was his fault. Arrogant bastard. If she got out of this, she was going back there and she was going to—
One shot got through, singeing the skin of her arm, and she swore loudly. “Crap, that hurts.”
It looked like these guys weren’t going to give them a chance to explain anything. They meant business, and their weapons weren’t set to stun. The stench of burning flesh filled her nostrils. Her burning flesh.
“Any ideas?” she yelled over the noise of the laser blasts.
When she got no answer, she glanced sideways. Legs braced, Jon fired off continuous shots, his eyes gleaming with excitement. She shook her head. Next time she took on a new crewmember, she was going to get someone nice and levelheaded. Skylar was no better, though at least she looked her way when Tannis yelled again.
“I’ll stay,” Skylar shouted. “Hold them off while you two get away.”
Tannis didn’t like that idea. She didn’t leave anyone behind.
“You know it makes sense,” Skylar continued. “They can’t kill me. You can work out how to get me out later. Callum will do something.”
It did make sense, but Tannis still didn’t like it.
A huge scarlet-and-black speeder hurtled down the center of street. It collided with the speeder still disgorging its crew, and men flew in all directions. The shooting eased as the militia turned to look.
The new vehicle had stopped momentarily, but now turned and headed down the alley, straight for them. They leaped out of the way, only just escaping. The speeder pulled up beside Tannis and the door was flung open from the inside.
“Come with me if you want to live.” Rico grinned down at them. “Sorry—I’ve always wanted to say that. All the same, I suggest you get in now.”
Whoever was in the back of the vehicle was shooting a continuous stream of laser shots around the alley, completely random, but very effective. Everyone had dived for cover.
Tannis scrambled up into the front of the hovering speeder. Jon and Skylar climbed in behind and the door slammed shut. She glanced over her shoulder at the other person, still blasting shots out the window at the cowering crowds.
“Hey, Sardi, you can stop shooting now,” Rico drawled as he spun the speeder around and headed out of the alley. He rose high above the other traffic and soon they were whizzing away from the scene of the fight.
They traveled for about five minutes, then mingled in traffic with the other vehicles. Though it was hard to mingle in something as ostentatious as this scarlet-and-black monster of a speeder.
“I don’t think anyone is following,” Rico said and pulled over into a parking space. He turned to her. “Having a few problems back there?”
“We came to rescue you.”
“Sweet, but it’s just as well. I didn’t need rescuing.”
“So where have you been?”
Rico gestured behind him at the stranger who sat behind him. “This is Sardi. He’s an old…friend of mine.”
“Shit, Rico, not another of your old friends. We nearly didn’t survive the last one.”
Rico ignored the comment. “Sardi was going for the reward, then he realized it was me, and we went for a drink instead.”
“You’ve been drinking while we were out trying to rescue you?” She leaned in close and caught a whiff of alcohol fumes. “Are you drunk?”
“I may be a little inebriated. We haven’t seen each other in a while—we’ve been reminiscing about old times.”
Tannis looked at the other man closely. He appeared to be human, though the air around him rippled with a strange energy. And even sitting he was exceptionally tall, and he wore a hat that made him appear even taller.
“Is he human?” she asked Rico.
“He’s…never mind.”
“What an insult,” Sardi said. He doffed his hat and bowed low to her. In the thick dark hair just above his forehead, nestled a pair of horns. Either, he was some sort of GM with goat DNA, or he was a…
“I am a demon and proud of it.” He grinned and grabbed her hand where it rested on the back of the seat. He raised it to his mouth and kissed the palm. “Charmed.”
A shiver of something like magic ran through her from the point of contact, and Tannis pulled her hand free and rubbed it against her pants leg. Sardi grinned, not seeming at all put out.
“We need to get out of here,” Tannis said.
“Tell me where you parked the speeder, and we can let Sardi have his vehicle back.” She gave him directions and rested her head against the seat. It took only minutes.
Sardi got out with them, towering over Rico and Jon, who were both big men. He gave them all a little bow, then turned to Rico. “Sure you won’t join me? We made a good team once.”
“Nah, I’ll pass, thanks, Sard. Maybe next time.”