“The blood’s not hers,” Blade clarified, as if he could read his leader’s thoughts.
When Styx loosened his hold, I wiped my hands on my pants, not realizing until he’d looked how stained they were.
“The Kronos with the leg wound,” Blade said. “He was at Latiri with Harper.”
Styx stiffened, eyed me. I could practically see his mind working.
“Come.”
Styx led the way out of the room, moving around people, all either well or on their way to it. I could see my services weren’t needed, and I doubted either Styx or Blade would allow me to remain here without them nearby to protect me after my news.
“Where are we going?” I asked, trying to keep pace with his quick gait.
“To the med unit to question the Kronos about Latiri,” Styx said.
“He’s the one who tossed the bomb,” I said, dropping a bomb of my own.
That got Styx to freeze, and I almost bumped into his back. He spun about, looked down at me, put his hands on my shoulders. “You saw him do it?”
Obviously, he hadn’t.
I nodded. “Yes, but I don’t understand. Those on Latiri who I saw, the group who came in the two shuttles, the one who came through the transport with me, all had red armbands.” I pointed down the hallway in the direction of the med unit. “He had a yellow one.”
“Kronos,” Blade clarified. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Red indicates Cerberus. You’re sure—”
“You killed the one who grabbed me just before transport. You saw his armband. It was red.” I wondered how he could question that when he’d snapped the guy’s neck. “Why are the Kronos and Cerberus legions after me? What have I done?”
I was just a MedRec team member from Earth. No one exciting. I did my job, got in and out. Nothing more. Why would they be after me?
Styx spun about and continued walking. He was halfway down the hallway before he spoke again. “You saw them at Latiri. You’re a witness,” he called from over his shoulder. I’d never seen him walk so fast before.
I ran to keep up, Blade on my heels. “To what?” I asked, my breath coming quickly.
“To the attack on Latiri. You saw their faces.” Even when he was getting my name tattooed on his skin I hadn’t seen the same intensity in his gaze as I did now.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, concerned. “The Kronos or Cerberus guy—or whatever legion he’s from—is in no shape to answer questions.”
The door to the med unit slid open. Within, it was busy, the most critical of patients from the explosion were being tended.
“Interrogate him,” Styx said, his voice deep. His eyes hard. He turned to enter, but I grabbed his arm. He looked over his shoulder at me.
“Now? You can’t. He’ll die.”
Styx didn’t respond, instead walked in and went down the line of ReGen Pods until he found the one he was looking for.
“Styx!” I cried. The male was awake, but barely. His eyes were open, but vacant; I doubted he even noticed we were there. The tourniquet was still applied as the pod was being readied. A doctor was waving a wand over the wound as someone else moved an injector toward his neck.
“Not yet,” Styx said, stalling the male’s action.
I grabbed Styx, but he was immovable. “I did my job and saved him.”
He looked down at me, his green eyes piercing. “And now it is my turn to do my job as leader of this legion and get answers. I need him conscious.”
“Wait until he is well,” I countered. The male had lost too much blood to be able to answer any kind of question, even his name.
“Why?” he asked, through clenched teeth. “I’ll only hurt him all over again.”
This was a different side of Styx I’d never seen before. I knew the moon base was ruthless, the people lawless. Without the presence of the Coalition, the legions ruled with a “take matters into your own hands” mentality.