The transport shot forward at three times its normal cruising speed. The unexpected lurch sent her flying back into the seat and caused her to drop her weapon as Caillen took control of their vehicle and sent it careening through traffic at a pace that was horrifying and disorienting.
That being said, he was good at controlling it as he narrowly missed hitting bystanders, obstacles and other vehicles. He might lack all manners and social graces, but when it came to communicating with electronics, she doubted if ayone could be better.
Two Enforcer transports stopped in front of them, cutting off their escape route.
Without slowing down the least bit, Caillen skidded their transport sideways and somehow managed to wedge it through the Enforcers who opened fire on them. He righted their transport and kept moving forward. The back window shattered under the heavy shots, spraying glass fragments all over them.
He started to push her toward the floor out of harm’s way, but she stopped him.
“I know how to fight.”
She saw the respect in his dark eyes before he nodded. He went back to driving while she shot out the remaining pieces of the back window, then laid down cover fire for them. The transport skidded as he narrowly avoided slamming into a large fuel hauler, then straightened and lurched forward again.
“Air support’s coming in,” he warned as he did something with the wires that made the transport speed up even more. Now they were flying.
Desideria crawled out of the back window before she fired up at the hovercraft that was tailing them. Her shots glanced off the craft and did nothing more than burn their paint. It didn’t even cause them to swerve to miss her blasts. Cursing her weapon, she slid back into the transport. “You got anything with more kick?”
He pulled a smaller blaster out of his boot and handed it to her.
Was he serious? It looked like a child’s weapon.
He grinned at her. “It has a plasma recoil. Be careful.”
Yeah, it’d hurt her to fire it, but with the right hit, it should bring the craft down. She leaned out the side window only to have Caillen jerk her back in before she could shoot. She started to yell at him for his actions, until she realized that he’d kept her from being flattened by a cargo transport that roared past them.
Had he delayed even a nanosecond, she’d have been cut in half. The thought made her stomach shrink.
“Thanks.”
He inclined his head as the air support opened fire on them again. She ducked down as blasts narrowly missed her and cut through their transport. Now her anger was forefront and the taste of bloodlust was heavy in her mouth. Determined to pay them back for the assault, she leaned out the window and braced herself. Then she opened fire. The shots sizzled up, shattering the hovercraft’s glass and taking out their upper rotor blade. But instead of falling back, they fell toward them, heading at them so fast all she could see was her death.
“Heads up!” she shouted as she returned to the transport’s seat and ducked for cover.
But it was too late. The hovercraft hit the ground right beside them, slinging sideways and catching the transport with its tail section. It sent them careening down the street before they rolled over and over again. Her stomach pitched as dizziness consumed her. Pain slammed into every part of her while she tumbled around the transport, banging into Caillen and everything else in the vehicle.
I’m going to die. She knew it. There was no way they could survive a wreck so vicious. She waited for the darkness to take her, but to her amazement she remained conscious.
When they finally stopped rolling and skidded to an abrupt halt, she was completely disoriented. Her stomach was contracting with such ferocity that she waited for the indignity of spilling its contents. Somehow she managed to keep it in as Caillen tried to open the door that had been crushed by their wreck. The transport was so damaged that there was no escape that she could see. It had them cocooned in a twisted metal pod.
“Get down.”
She didn’t question his order. The moment she ducked, Caillen pulled out a tachyon charge. He set it on the door, then covered her body with his as it blasted a hole in the side of the transport.
He got out first, then pulled her with him.
As she ran away from the transport, she noticed that she was covered in blood. It was on her clothes, her skin and in her hair. Her heart stopped as panic consumed her. Where was she injured? Every part of her body ached so there was no telling.
It took her a full minute to realize she wasn’t the one hurt.
Caillen was.
Still he didn’t slow down. He led her into an abandoned warehouse and slammed the door shut behind them and locked it, then fried the lock so that no one could enter easily. His hands shaking, he shrugged the pack off and gave it to her. “Keep running. Darling knows where we are. He’ll send help as soon as he can. Just stay hidden until they find you.”
She frowned at his calm tone and the fatal determination she’d heard in his voice. “What about you?”