Chapter 48

KHITA

“Hurry!” yelled Khita, as Grey followed in hot pursuit out of the landed ship, along with Rio, Sebastian, Watt, Othin and Vulcan.

They burst into Helio Corps only to find a bloodbath. Bodies lay everywhere. In the corner lay Titus and PuP, the latter unconscious and the former groaning as he lifted himself to his feet. Two women in front of him prepared some sort of energy burst and seemed about to fire it into his defenseless torso.

“Titus!” shouted Khita, nocking and loosing an arrow in one smooth motion. The arrow tore into the neck of one of the two women, felling her on the spot. The other turned to see the group from Hawk Aviation, and sprinted away, disappearing through a door into a maze of corridors. They let her go, and turned to the mess before them.

Meridian and Brynn slowly emerged from a corner, with a bedraggled-looking Oz and Rufflebucket in tow. Lockwood and Titus walked up, the latter still looking somewhat shaken from the blow Juno had dealt him. The former shook some dust off his collar, looking smug as always.

“Where is everyone?” asked Grey.

Brynn shook her head. “No sign of Helio or Zuki.”

Titus frowned. “Celeste should still be in her room, resting. I hope they haven’t found her there…” He looked concerned.

Lockwood clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Go find her, buddy.” Titus nodded and dashed off.

Meridian pondered a moment. “I wonder if Helio installed those tracking devices he mentioned.”

Lockwood nodded. “Yeah, he did. I mean, I’m not wearing one, because I’m not a sucker, but maybe Zuki is. Hang on, I actually have the gizmo…” He fished into his pocket and pulled something out. “Yeah, this baby’ll find her.”

No one said anything. “I’ll go track her down?” he added.

Grey nodded. “Is Helio wearing one?” she asked. Lockwood shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter,” she replied curtly as she began scouring the room. “I’ll find him.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Chapter 49

LEX

Lex threw a hand behind her, cleanly intercepting the bullets. Her reflexes amazed even her. All that combat training with Brynn actually WAS making a difference. Lex’s shields buzzed as they deflected the blast. She fired back her own scorching beam, eviscerating the Blackburn clone where it stood.

“Wow!” said Aethelinde approvingly. “Uh, what a strange malfunction.”

Lex stared hard at the woman.

“Yes,” the fire scion said slowly in a low, growly tone. “Very strange.” She cocked her head, and her flamethrower.

Aethelinde smiled again, then turned tail and ran.