Desideria glared up at the fighter that opened fire on the ground again as if the pilot knew they were here. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to shoot that down, would you?”
“I could try your shoe theory, but I doubt it would do anything more than land on our heads and give us a concussion. And I think we’ve both had enough head injuries for one day. What I carry isn’t quite that strong. However, I can poke out his eye should he come near us.”
“What is it with you and this eye-poking business?”
“Another thing I picked up from my sisters. They never fought fair, especially not Tess.” He held his hand up to midchest. “And she’s only this tall. Vicious little thing. Reminds me of you.”
“I think I’m insulted.”
“Don’t be. I admire strong women… most days.” He cursed as the fighter went over and dropped a smoke bomb on the ground. “Hold your breath.”
She did so without question while he pulled out two small masks from the pack and handed her one. Coughing, she covered her face. Still her eyes burned. “How do they know we’re here?”
“I don’t think they do. The pilot’s flying too wide a radius. Bastard’s just hoping to get lucky.” He made an adjustment on the GPS on his wrist. “We need to get out of here before he locates us.”
“How far do we have to go?”
Caillen coughed twice before he answered. “The nearest town’s a haul. But there are outlying burbs and he won’t be able to fly over them. Sooner or later another Andarion patrol is bound to get here and take him on.” He held his arm out so that she could see the satellite photos on his chronometer of the nearest town.
Lightly settled, the houses were rather advanced for a colony. “Are you sure about where we are?”
“Yeah. I think the town we’re looking at must be where the local governors and politicians live. Which is not a good thing if we get caught, but if we can get there and snag some sleep, everything should be all right come morning.”
Now he decided to turn optimistic? That was almost more frightening to her than the assassin bombing the forest around them. She pointed up at the ship as it zoomed past again. “What about our friend?”
“Once we hit town, he’ll have to land, and then he’ll have the same problem with the authorities that we will.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Me too. And if I am wrong… It’s all right. There’s only one assassin I think I might not be able to defeat and Nyk’s not here. The rest are just target practice.”
She rolled her eyes again at the ego in those words. “You are so arrogant.”
“Not really. I know I’m the best in a fight. It’s a fact. Plain and simple.”
Yeah, right. “I’m sure you’ve lost a few rounds.”
“Only when I wasn’t trying to win. I’ve never once lost a fight or a battle against an enemy when it counted. Ever.” With those words spoken, he stepped back from their cover as if daring the fighter to shoot him.
She watched in stunned silence while he tested their safety. Once he was sure the fighter couldn’t see him, he motioned for her to join him. She’d only taken four steps when she heard a new set of engines barrelown on them. Looking up, she realized more Andarion craft were moving in to pursue their “friend.”
Never had she seen a more welcome sight. But that caused Caillen to pick up his pace.
“We need to put as much distance between them and us as we can while they’re distracted.”
She couldn’t agree more.
The two of them ran for so long that she couldn’t even begin to keep up with how much distance they’d gone. Her lungs ached and her legs were starting to protest. Still Caillen ran with an endurance that was as frustrating as it was impressive.
I can’t believe I can’t keep up.
But her pride wouldn’t let her slow down. By the gods, she’d keep running until she died. And at the moment, it really, really felt like she would.
How could he keep running on his wounded leg? How? Her injuries were throbbing and aching to the point she feared she’d be sick from it. All she wanted was to lie down. Just for a minute.
Still he ran… Gah, I could kill him. It was tempting to shoot him just to make him stop.
Caillen ground his teeth as every step sent a fierce wave of pain through him. Damn his leg. He wanted to scream it hurt so badly, but he was used to pain. He’d been hurt worse. Although at the moment, he was hard pressed to remember a time in his life when he’d ached more. But he was sure that he had.
The only thing that kept him going was the knowledge that his father and Desideria would die if he failed them.
He glanced back over his shoulder to check on her.
She was keeping pace with him at a small distance, but her face was pale. Her features drawn tight. Shit. She looked like she was about to hurl. Slowing down, he allowed her to catch up to him. “You all right?”
Her eyes sparked with pride as she gasped for air. “Of course.”