Thea plucked a rifle out of thin air and pointed it at her. "Ah. Ah. Let's not be impetuous."
Kira stopped, eyeing the weapon uncertainly. It was a Sinister 3421. Developed since the last war for the purpose of taking off a demon's head.
That must have been what she used on Pallas earlier. If not for his Tuann armor protecting him to some extent, he probably would have been dead.
Kira wouldn’t be so lucky. Her Centcom issued suit might deflect some of the weapon's charge, but she didn't want to risk it with Elena behind her.
If she went down, Elena would be on her own.
"Good choice. If you tried something, I was planning to set off the charges I placed beside your niece."
Kira looked over to find four holes in the restraining device Elena crouched behind. That must be how she'd gotten Pallas too. By using the rifle’s bullets to attach the charges. All she would have needed to do was put them in a few of the bullets and then fire them where she wanted.
And Kira hadn't noticed that they were being fired upon because of Thea's talent with illusions.
Elena stared at Kira with wide frightened eyes. "Auntie?"
"Stay there," Kira ordered.
At her side, she gave the sign for "Prepare."
Thea rolled her eyes. "Just stop. Did you forget I helped come up with those signs?"
No, actually. That was what Kira was banking on.
"Why?" Kira asked.
Thea shrugged. "Why not? We're weapons, Kira. We're meant to be used. Not rot in darkness."
"That's your justification for working with the monsters who destroyed our childhood?"
Thea rolled her eyes as she shadowed Kira. "Don’t be so melodramatic. A little short term pain for an unlimited future. Once we'd passed their tests, we would have ruled as kings and queens at their behest."
"You would have still been their slave."
Thea lifted a shoulder. "Everyone answers to someone. Might as well be the top dog."
"You’re insane."
Kira couldn’t believe Thea had thrown away her freedom to willingly re-enter hell. That's what awaited her as the lapdog of the Tsavitee's masters. No matter what pretty bow she chose to wrap it in.
Thea’s smile was sadistic. "Yes, I am. Isn't it fun?"
"How long have you been betraying your family?"
Since Rothchild, obviously. But Kira wanted to know how long before that.
"Ah, ah," Thea crooned, shaking her finger at Kira. "I know what you're doing. You're pumping me for information, thinking that you'll get out of this alive."
Kira smirked. "You’ve got that right."
This time she didn't bother to try to hide the movement of her hands as she sent another hand sign to Elena. "Horns. Left."
"I’ve already warned you that won’t work," Thea said with a frown.
Kira continued to sign. "Ten. Bee."
Thea lifted her weapon. "Kira!"
Three.
Kira's eyes never left Thea's as Elena rose, Elise on her back.
Two.
Thea switched her target to Elena. "I said stop!"
One.
Kira lunged. Elena broke right, over the central platform toward the opposite side.
Thea didn't have time to get off more than one shot before Kira was on her. She brought the rifle up using it to stop Kira's akieri from cleaving her in two from forehead to pelvis.
Kira bore down with her full strength. "I never liked you."
Thea had always been something of a coward, always willing to let others take the brunt of any punishment. Never stepping up when it counted.
Maybe Kira could have accepted that if not for the other's habit of being so damn smug and superior all the time. As if Thea had the right to judge Selene for being weak when she was the one always at the back, using the others as shields.
Thea's arms shook under Kira’s pressure. "That's fine. Because I always hated you."
Kira’s sudden grin was a little insane. "That's settled then."
Before Thea could disengage, Kira grabbed her arm, jerking the other woman closer. She slammed her forehead into Thea's face.
Cartilage crunched. Blood poured from Thea's nose.
"That's for what you did to Pallas," Kira informed her.
Kira might want to kill her brother for the part he played on Rothchild, but this traitor wasn't allowed to touch a hair on his head.
Unfortunately, a broken nose wasn't quite enough for someone like Thea. Although Kira considered the other woman weak when compared to the rest of the forty three, she'd still undergone the same training.
That made her a threat. Coward or not.
Thea hammered a kick into Kira's thigh. Directly over her knee.
Kira turned into the blow, deflecting some of the force to prevent the bone from snapping.
Pain shot through the muscle. Kira's leg threatened to collapse, barely holding her weight as she sliced the akieri across Thea's stomach.
The other woman dodged, stumbling back.
"What are you doing?" Thea screamed, Elena's voice coming out of her mouth as she held out a placating hand with a terrified expression. "Auntie, it's me.”
Rage clouded Kira's mind. How dare she think to use Elena against her? Who did she think she was?
"You've forgotten Thea. Your tricks don't work on me."
They never had.
Kira swung her sword, following up that blow with another. And then another. Her attack merciless as she drove Thea to the edge of the platform.
Did she really think Kira wouldn't be able to tell the difference between her and Elena?
The two's fighting style couldn't be more dissimilar.
For starters—her niece was so much better than this coward.
Kira knocked aside the rifle Thea pointed at her. "Next time use a weapon better suited for close combat."
Rifles were great at a distance. Not so much in close quarters.
Thea's smile was nasty. "Okay."
Something darted from the ground, wrapping around Kira's calf. The serrated edges of the cord cut through her armor, biting into flesh.
Kira slashed at it, kicking it away after severing the piece around her calf from the rest.
"A briar," Kira snarled.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?"
So named for the thorns embedded in the nine strands protruding from the handle, like briars on a bush, the flogger had been a particular favorite of their masters. Especially as a tool for punishment.
Thea sent Kira a wink. "Don't relax quite yet."
Out of the corner of Kira's eye, she caught a shadow of movement along the walkway. Warned, Kira flipped backwards, arcing over its tip as it snapped toward her. She landed, immediately leaping back into the air as another whip targeted her.
"Dance, Kira!" Thea shouted.
Kira was pushed back, barely evading taking damage from the smooth movements of the whips.
She landed a short distance away, crouching to consider Thea carefully. The handle Thea held was how she controlled the briar. It acted via a neural interface. Only a thought was needed to manipulate its movements.
As such it was a difficult foe to break through. Like fighting nine different enemies to get at one.
A sharp cry broke Kira's concentration.
Thea's smile was evil. "Still think that’s an illusion?"