Where was the building's security? She prayed.
With a cloud of smoke and a loud triumphant shout, a group of men came through the door. Rachol fired, killing the first two.
Rachol made a holy gesture to his lips and ran into the chaos of the hallway. She couldn't believe her eyes. Nykyrian wrapped his right arm around her waist like a safety belt, then pulled her to her feet.
She trembled in fear, praying she wouldn't trip and cost them their lives. Nykyrian held her against him, his body shielding her from the blasters' fire. She stum bled against him as he led her into the smoke infested hallway.
He fired his blaster, his arm tightened around her. In spite of her fear, she wanted to see what was happening.
"Don't look," Nykyrian said before pulling her around behind him. "God, I hate this job," he snarled, spinning around and firing at something behind them.
He pulled her down the corridor, away from the lift. Kicking open the stairwell, he scanned the stairs, then pushed her through the door. He pulled a device from his pocket and used it to seal the door closed behind them.
"Wait here, I need— "
"Don't leave me!" Kiara gasped, desperately grabbing onto him.
He clenched his teeth. Taking a deep breath, he took her hand and led her down the stairs and into the landing bay in the basement of the building.
Her legs trembling, Kiara stumbled twice. "Leave me," she said, as he helped to her feet.
"They'll let you go."
Nykyrian snorted at her words. "Believe me, Aksel would much rather hang my scalp in his house than yours. Just calm down, you're doing fine."
"How can you be so damned calm?" she snapped.
He shrugged and continued leading her behind the docked shuttles. "Either we'll make it, or they'll kill us. If they kill us, they can't torture us. It's a win-win situation."
For some reason, Kiara didn't subscribe to that philosophy. Then, she heard them. Her heart pounded as she realized someone was approaching! Nykyrian covered her lips with his finger and motioned her into the shadows of the landing bay.
As the soldier paused several yards away, Nykyrian removed his finger from her lips.
"Listen," he whispered in her ear, "I have to leave you alone. I have to clear the sentries from my ship, okay?"
She rubbed the chills on her arms. "I'm scared."
He nodded. "Me, too," he said, and was gone.
Kiara crouched down behind the fighter, straining her ears to hear what was going on.
Footsteps returned and she pressed herself deeper into the shadows.
Nykyrian moved atop the ships as silent as the specter for which he was named. From his hearing, he deduced there were three soldiers in the bay, two together and one roaming about. Taking a deep breath, he checked the setting and charge of his blaster to make sure he had enough juice to get them out of here alive.
The cold lump of dread he had always hated to feel, sat in his stomach like a rock. Well, time to do business. He rolled off the ship and came to a standing position between the two soldiers.
One guard faced him, the man's mouth falling open and moving spastically like a fish.
The man gurgled before bringing his weapon up. Nykyrian fired, then spun about to catch the second guard before the soldier could shoot him in the back. A chill raised the hair on the back of his neck. "I've got her, hybrid!"
Nykyrian clenched his teeth in anger and frustration, it wasn't Aksel, but worse. His demented younger brother.
"Turn yourself over to Aksel, and I might let her go.”
"Yeah, right," Nykyrian muttered, resetting his blaster. "And I'm a one-legged dung dealer."
Damn! How had Arast doubled back behind him and found her? His hearing was not what it used to be. Nykyrian skirted around the ships to where the idiot stood, his blaster aimed at Kiara's head. "Hybrid!"
"Nykyrian, run!" Kiara shouted. Arast tightened his grip around her throat. "Another word, harita and I'll snap your neck," he hissed.
Nykyrian knew he had one chance and one chance only. "You want a piece of me?" he asked, his voice echoing in the bay.
Arast turned around, looking for the direction it came from. Nykyrian watched, his hands trembling in fear for Kiara's life.
"Where are you, hybrid?"
"Let her go and put your weapon down."
"And let you shoot me?" Arast laughed sadistically. "I'm not stupid."
"About as smart as my boots," Nykyrian whispered, doubting his own intelligence for letting the imbecile get the upper hand.
Clenching his teeth in determination, Nykyrian slid his blaster across the floor. The hollow, piercing sound of metal against pavement grated against Nykyrian's ears. Arast wanted much more than just to kill him, and Kiara was only icing on the gundry.
Nykyrian had always known it would come to this one day. "Let her go and you'll get the chance you've been waiting for," he shouted, watching Arast carefully.