“You too,” Rylick said into her ear.
Arden moved just as slow as the others had. She threw the phaser to the ground while keeping her other hand raised and visible. She kept her body loose, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Rylick kept his arm around her, the phaser to her head the entire time.
“I’ve seen you,” he said into her ear, low enough that the words wouldn’t carry to the others. “I’ve followed him. Imagine his surprise when he sees you in chains.”
She couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran down her spine. Her heart beat loudly in her chest, filling her ears with the noise. She wanted him to shut up. Didn’t want to hear his taunts.
“Maybe I’ll tell his daddy about your fling.” He chuckled. “Or maybe I won’t.” He leaned even closer so that she felt the heat of his breath practically searing her ear. “Perhaps I’ll just kill you. You can’t imagine how much pleasure that would give me.”
“You don’t scare me.” But the fact that he could ruin Dade did. She tried to keep her spine straight. To swallow down the lump that had formed in her throat. To not let him know just how much he’d affected her.
His arm slid up from her waist to squeeze his hand around her neck. “It might be more amusing to watch when my uncle gets his hands on you.”
Arden could only imagine. The stories of what Dade’s father had done in the past were horrific. She wouldn’t outlive the night, especially if Rylick told about her relationship with Dade.
He squeezed, cutting off her air. “He had her, and he chose you. Why?”
Arden fought against his hand, prying at his fingers. Struggling for an ounce of air. She couldn’t wonder at his statement. Couldn’t focus on anything but the darkness creeping around the edges of her vision.
Then Uri stepped out from behind the van. He fired multiple shots at Rylick. It wouldn’t have worked if Rylick hadn’t already been angry and distracted. He should have been expecting it.
Rylick startled enough that Arden was able to shove her elbow back into his gut, twist, and break his hold. Already moving, her body reacted before her mind caught up. She dropped and rolled, picking up her phaser as she went.
Phase-fire shot from all directions.
Arden headed for cover but wasn’t fast enough. A blast of energy hit her left shoulder. Hot and intense, flashing pain flooded through her system. Moving despite the agony, she managed to wedge herself behind a large machine. Her back pushed to the wall, her good shoulder to the side of the metal. Pressing her fingers to the wound, she winced. Her breath came out in fast pants, and she thought she might be sick. She pushed the fabric of her suit apart to check the damage. It looked bad, but not life-threatening.
Focus, Arden. Focus.
She leaned out, taking a shot at where Rylick had sought cover. Pulling back when he fired in her direction. She looked the other way to check where the boys had disappeared. Uri was still on the other side of the van, while Colin low-crawled under the chassis. He wasn’t quite on the other side yet, his lower half still underneath.
There wasn’t any sign of Niall. That concerned her. She prayed he hadn’t gotten shot and had at least made it out of the line of fire.
The next few seconds went faster than Arden could process, though later she would relive it until it made her sick.
Arden rounded the machine to shoot at Rylick. Uri rose at the same time from the far side of the hovervan, also shooting. Colin finally gained his feet and lurched around the opposite side of the van.
Rylick shot a few rounds toward her. She ducked back behind the machine as large chunks of debris went flying. Then he changed focus to shoot in Colin’s direction.
She watched as Colin was too slow to shield himself behind the vehicle. Saw the moment the phase-fire hit him in the center of his chest. His eyes rounded, and his mouth dropped open. A large red hole bloomed in the middle of his body.
It lasted seconds, yet it seemed to take forever, moving slowly.
Colin’s body fell backward.
Arden let out an anguished cry. Rage and disbelief filled her. She pushed out of her hiding space, sending out a series of phase-blasts toward Rylick. Uncaring that she was no longer shielded, she stepped forward, shooting as she walked. Tears streaked down her face. Anger, more than thought, propelled her.
“Arden, enough,” Niall screamed loud enough so that she could hear him.
And then it was quiet.
Arden’s chest rose and fell, her breath heavy sounding and harsh inside her ears. Focusing on the hitch it made was the only thing that kept her standing. Heaviness settled over her, making her numb. Her limbs felt like lead as the adrenaline burned off.
The “Stay with us” from Niall, from somewhere behind the hovervan, snapped her into motion.
First she checked that Rylick was no longer a threat. Keeping her phaser up, ready in case he was playing possum. She rounded the sorting machine he’d used as cover.
He lay on the ground, his body slumped at an unnatural angle. His torso leaned over his folded legs. She pushed him back with the toe of her boot, so that his body moved into a prone position. His arm splayed out.
His face was slack.
His eyes stared sightlessly.
Void.
Arden closed her own eyes, gulping back the nausea that threatened to bubble up from her throat as she lowered her weapon. He was dead, and yet she still leaned forward to press her fingers to his throat to make sure there wasn’t a pulse.
She’d killed lots of people. Every life she took broke a little of her inside. But in this case it was more.
She’d killed Dade’s cousin. After Dade had pointedly asked her to give up her feud against his family. How could he forgive her? She’d gone crazy at the sight of Colin being shot. How could Dade not feel the same?
The impact of what this meant, that she’d broken her promise to Dade, had her clutching her chest as she turned away.
She still gripped her phaser as she crossed over to where Colin lay beside the van. Niall knelt at his side, holding Colin’s hand. He pleaded with Colin. “Open your eyes. Fight. You can’t die.”
Colin lay in a pool of blood, while more dribbled from the corner of his lip, shiny and slick. The fibers of his stolen uniform were burned, his middle soft and oozing. His skin grew paler as Arden watched.
He wouldn’t make it.
She felt only terror and anger and overwhelming guilt.
His lips moved, forming words that he didn’t have the breath to speak. Arden dropped her phaser, pushing Niall out of the way so that she could lean close to press her ear against Colin’s lips.
“Choose.”
Then the last of his air expressed from his lungs, and he was gone.
Emotion erupted inside her. Unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She cried out, sobbing and begging, pleading for Colin to come back. Knowing the whole time that she’d lost someone infinitely precious to her. Who left a void that could never be filled.