The wrecker smiled.
Smug asshole.
The split-second the charge flowed over Duncan’s weapon, he pivoted, brought his weapon into the open and lifted it to his shoulder.
The wrecker mouthed the words ‘oh shit’, his brows high as Duncan fired both barrels.
The blast cut the warrior in two and spread his internals over a ten-foot radius. The smell alone was enough to make his stomach curl into a knot.
Plucking two more specialized cartridges from a chest-strap, he reloaded. The sound of additional boots slamming against the grid floor and coming from the same direction as the initial wrecker set his heart into over-drive.
Rachel, he shouted telepathically.
Still here. Merl says he’s almost got your location and to get moving.
He turned away from the running feet and while recharging through his wings once more, and gripping his weapon hard, he began to run along the grid in the opposite direction. With any luck, Merl or Rachel would pick up his signal and come to him.
His heart hammered in his ears, the sound like an automatic weapon firing. With his left hand, he wiped sweat from his forehead.
Talk about a nightmare.
I’m on the move, he sent.
I can tell, Rachel returned, each word tense as though she was running right alongside him. Merl just nodded to me. We’ve got you on the scanner as well as Yolanthe. She’s not far from you. But keep running. Movement helps. We’ll fold from our position within fifty yards of your forward trajectory.
Got it.
Suddenly, Duncan could sense Yolanthe’s presence like a wave of heat in front of him. And his wrecking gun wouldn’t be able to stop her. The woman had power.
Rachel, she’s close now.
We’ve folded to position and I can hear you running. Keep going. You won’t be able to see us because I’ve got Merl shielded.
Got it.
But Yolanthe materialized, cutting off his path only a dozen feet away from him.
He came to a halt, almost falling into a roll because of his momentum. Shit. She’s right in front of me.
He tried to fold down the hall, as far as he could see, but Yolanthe lifted a hand and a surge of her power prevented him from moving.
I’m coming to you, Rachel sent, and I’ll use my shield. Merl will hold his current position since he has a location set for Militia Warrior HQ on Two. He’s getting ready to blow the grid wall, but our timing will be tight.
He wanted to respond to Rachel, but Yolanthe had already invaded his mind with her entrancing abilities.
Merl had told Duncan repeatedly he’d need a Third Earth grayle power to fend her off. But Duncan hadn’t yet been able to access it. For a man supposed to have the power to locate Rapture’s Edge, Duncan fell woefully short. He searched within the center of his being for a hint of the grayle power, but found nothing.
Instead, he became painfully dizzy as he stared into the woman’s pale blue eyes.
Princess Yolanthe had on oddly serene presence as she returned his gaze. “I found you again, Duncan.” She held out her arms to him and the dizziness in his head thickened. “Come to me. I’ve missed you and we have incredible plans to forge together. Come.”
She was beautiful in a strange way. A dark purple gloss covered her lips in sickly contrast to her milky white skin. She wore her red hair in at least two dozen thin braids wrapped haphazardly around her head. She looked the same as a month ago when he’d last seen her, wearing a long gown of violet silk to the floor.
Holding his gaze, she added a pressure within his mind, her power beginning to sink deeper and deeper. If she continued, she’d forge another mind-link with him and he’d be lost forever.
“We’ll complete our journey together, Duncan. And I’ll forgive you everything, I promise.”
He began moving toward the woman completely against his will and each of his battle sandals felt weighed down as if covered in cement. The pounding of feet behind him let him know a new squad of wreckers had just arrived, no doubt part of Yolanthe’s army, to back her up. He couldn’t fight them and he couldn’t resist her. If Rachel didn’t get to him soon, he was done for.