Colliding Worlds Trilogy 01 - Collision (23 page)

Jax steered them charmingly through a sea of slowly gyrating bodies and toward the edge of the dance floor. What she wouldn’t give to have a fraction of his coordination. Instead, she hung on for dear life as he moved them in a graceful dance toward the other end of the floor.

The room was starting to swim until Jax stopped abruptly. Her head hit his chest.

“I’ll cover you while you check the curtain.”

He gave Sienna the lightest push, but her left leg missed a step, and she torpedoed toward the wall. She stopped herself from meeting the wall face first and turned around. Jax was nowhere to be found. Tightening her lips, she dove behind the curtain, and, sure enough, there was a large steel door with no handle, only a flat electronic screen on the wall.

She backed up to tell Jax but a large body blocked her.

“Eeep!”

Jax held her steady. “Shh.”

“Cheese-and-rice.” She poked him in the chest, accentuating each word. “Don’t scare me like that. What are you trying to do? Give a girl a heart attack?”

He ignored her, and instead leaned her against the wall and stepped up to the screen.

“Apolo gave us a direct order to not do anything to raise suspicion,” she said when she saw him pull out a small pen-like device.

“We can’t get intel unless we get our hands dirty,” he replied, raising the device to the screen.

She crossed her fingers. The com-tec had sworn the thing would work and was one-of-a-kind. He’d also went on and on about it being worth more than Jax and her combined, but she liked to think Tanel was being a touch overprotective of his gadgets. Then again, knowing the Sephian’s complete lack of sense of humor, maybe not.

A light flashed on the screen, and the door opened with a whoosh.

“You good?” he asked.

She hiked up her skirt and pulled out her gun. “Let’s do this.”

From the other side of the doorway Jax held up three fingers, then two, then one.

Showtime.

They jumped through the door and into a bright fluorescent-lit room. She swung her gun around, her back to Jax as they scanned the empty room. After a full three-sixty, she lowered her gun. A row of kegs lined one wall, while the others were lined with boxes of liquor.

She didn’t know what to expect, but this wasn’t it. “Do you think they got to Apolo’s guy earlier than Apolo thought?”

“Maybe. Maybe the intel was bad. From the looks of things, they could’ve closed down months ago. If they were ever here.”

Sienna shook her head. “No way. That girl’s ink was brand new. Something’s off.” she did another full turn to take in the room. “Wait a sec. In the floor plan, this room was longer than this.”

Jax scanned the walls, and then walked to the far end of the room and began pulling boxes out. She followed suit. After moving a couple dozen cases, she froze. “I found something.”

At that moment, something metallic clinked between them. She glanced down at the object. “Chaos-charge! Cover your — ”

Too late. The thing must’ve been on a short timer, and the room erupted in light and screaming. She fell to the floor with vertigo. She felt like a leaf in a tornado, light and sound stabbing her from everywhere.

“Legian!” she screamed, knowing that even though he couldn’t hear her, he would have already felt her pain through the bond. And was probably already running and breaking down doors to get to her.

She rolled over, trying to figure out which way was up when something grabbed her hand. Or more precisely, something grabbed the gun from her hand, and a tremendous pressure held her down. She tried to slap away her assailant, but with vertigo, her hands wouldn’t listen to her brain, and she pretty much lay there, useless, as she was disarmed. She listened to the clinks of various knives and guns and charges dropped onto the floor. Her weapons.

“Bastard,” Sienna muttered, and a deep chuckle broke the now painful ringing silence in her ears. She wouldn’t be surprised if both eardrums had been broken with the way they throbbed. She looked around, taking several moments for the room to quit spinning. After what seemed like forever, her eyes slowly focused onto a shape. A seven-foot Draeken stood over her. Her head jerked around to search for Jax and found him in the exact same position.

“So the rumors are true. The Sephians are also mating with these humans,” another voice said, and she jerked up, only to have a large hand shove her back onto the floor. She hadn’t seen the other Draeken that knelt by her. She struggled but he held her down with one hand.

“Interesting.” He grabbed her shirt. There was a ripping sound, and cool air brushed her skin, revealing her
soullare
. He ran a finger across her collarbone, raising goose bumps in response. “I recognize this mark.” She pulled her chin down, but he easily moved her head to the side. “I thought I killed the slave who bore this mark. So he lives still. How disappointing.”

Sienna struggled under him. “He lives, and he’s going to kick your ass.”

He continued to hold her down with one large hand. A slow smile climbed his face. “I doubt that very much, especially since I have his
tahren
.”

She looked up into his eyes and found them familiar. “You must be Laze.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Come here to find me, did you?”

The Draeken next to him chuckled. “Your reputation precedes you. Perhaps she left her
tahren
to experience a
real
man.”

Sienna renewed her struggles under him. “I’d rather eat a forty-five than touch you.”

“Spunk. I like that. But you’re not my type. You wear the mark of slaves.” Laze’s eyes narrowed. “How did you find us?”

“Yellow Pages.”

Laze grabbed her jaw, and she winced. “I don’t like to repeat myself. How did you find us?”

“She doesn’t know anything. She came with me,” Jax called out from his horizontal position several feet from her.

Sienna was about to tell Jax that her
soullare
gave her away, but the sound of a punch quieted her. She couldn’t turn her head toward the sound. She could only look up or close her eyes. And there was no way in hell she was going to let the Draeken think she was scared of him. She watched him turn in the direction Jax was pinned, and he grinned. “Relax, human. We’ll get to you soon enough.” The devious smile was turned back onto her. “You will both tell me what you know. That, I promise.”

She struggled harder, and he laughed. A loud sound cut the air, and warm liquid splattered her face. The Draeken fell like a heavy wall on her, and she fought to get out from under him, unable to breathe.

As quickly as it happened, the weight was gone, and she gulped fresh air. Legian fell to his knees and pulled her into an embrace. “My love.” Then he pulled back and glared. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. What I felt … fuck, Sienna.”

“Glad you could make it,” she said with as much humor as she could muster.

He sighed before wiping her cheek with his hand. “You’re a mess.” She glanced down and saw his hand now covered in blood.

“Thought I’d try the horror movie look.” She reached between her breasts and pulled her bandana out of her corset.

Legian chuckled as he bent down and kissed her, both soft and hard at once, and long. When he pulled away, she let out a deep breath. “Perfect timing.”

“Let’s get you out of here.”

“Sounds good to me. Once we finish checking this place out.”

He helped her to her feet, only to throw her toward the wall again. A laser shot whizzed by her head. Coming to her hands and knees, she turned to see Legian reach for his gun without taking his eyes off her.

“Get out of here now.
Run.
”

Like hell I’m leaving you.

That was Sienna’s first thought when shots fired from the now-open secret door that had been hidden behind crates in the far wall. Both Legian and Nalea — who’d come in with Legian and a couple other Sephians — were directly in the line of fire.

Sienna blasted off the ground like a sprinter and tackled Legian, covering him with her body. An instant later she was flat on her back with a very pissed off Legian glaring down at her. This time, his body covered hers. His weight was heavy but not crushing, and she noticed he leaned on his elbow, taking some pressure off her.

“What the
suvaste
do you think you’re doing?” He yelled out the question over the sounding of gunfire.

“Saving you!” she yelled right back.

He fired a couple shots at the doorway without moving off her. “Go! There’s a dampener in this building. Our coms don’t work. Go outside. Call Apolo for backup.”

And with that, he gave her a brutal kiss. It was over before she could return the kiss. He twisted, and she was sent sliding several feet across the floor until she crashed into the fallen Draeken, who moaned. She turned to see Legian pop off more shots, but then he shot a look right back to her. “Get Apolo.”

Sienna nodded and scrambled toward the door. She hated leaving Legian and the Sephians who came with him, but she knew that they needed backup or else none of them were getting out of there alive. She was the least experienced fighter here, so it made sense she should be the gopher. Something grabbed her leg. She snapped her head around to see Laze, groggy but with a firm grip on her ankle.

“No, you don’t,” he muttered, spitting out blood.

She swung out with her free leg, and the heel of her boot connected squarely with his jaw. His head snapped back, but he didn’t let go. She kicked again and knocked him loose. Jumping to her feet, she dove toward the entrance, only to be tackled into the wall by Laze. Her head crashed into the brick wall, and white spears shot through her vision. Momentarily dazed, she swung out an instant too late. Laze swiped his hand over the screen on the wall near the steel door, and her escape route slammed shut.

She elbowed him where his shirt was soaked with blood, and he was on his back a second later. He tried to get up but was knocked back when Nalea stepped on a wing. He cried out and slapped at her leg, but a second Sephian grabbed the downed Draeken’s hands and banded them, then moved and did the same to his ankles. He gasped for air when she removed her boot from his wing.

It was then that Sienna remembered her training. Draeken wings were the most sensitive part on their bodies. She mentally kicked herself for fighting him like he was a human, for not focusing on his weakness.

A hand grabbed her neck, and she fell back against Legian.

“Stay down,” Legian growled. “And don’t leave my side.”

She looked into feral eyes and knew there was no reasoning with him at times like this. “They got my weapon. I need a gun.”

He reached inside his coat and pulled out a small laser gun. It was Legian’s least favorite of all Sephian weapons, finding it too small for his grip. She knew he carried it for her. Her
tahren
romanced her in the sweetest ways. With a smile, she grabbed it, checked it, and slid it in the waistband of her skirt. She turned and shoved over a stack of boxes. They didn’t offer any shielding, but at least they wouldn’t be sitting ducks in that room.

“I don’t suppose you brought any charges with you?” she asked above the sounds of battle.

Legian shook his head. “Blood-charges, but they won’t do us any good in these close quarters.”

She pulled the gun out of her belt and fired random shots through the door in the wall. She could see no Draeken, but she had no problem seeing their weapons when they stuck them around the doorway to fire. They had to be out of chaos-charges or else they would have been drowning in light and noise.

There was no way to tell if they outnumbered the Draeken or not. They were stuck in a catch-22. They were pinned down, but at least the Draeken were faring no better. It was obvious Apolo’s intel had been good. They’d surprised the Draeken, and it gave her a warm fuzzy thinking they got the best of them, even if this was a small operation. They still owed them plenty.

Sienna looked around them. Definitely time for Plan B. That was, if only she had a Plan B. “We could sure use some cavalry right about now.”

No sooner she said it when an earthquake shook the floor. Pieces of concrete and plaster rained down on her, even as she covered Legian with her body. Wiping dust from her eyes, she peered over the box of broken booze bottles and saw a gaping hole where the steel door had been.

What she saw next was the coolest sight of her life. The Army Rangers poured into the room, hitting the deck when the Draeken started firing in their direction. “Hoo fucking rah!” Sienna shouted as the Americans spanned out, many behind boxes, others running under cover fire toward the wall with the secret door.

The sound of gunfire amped up by the power of ten when machine guns went off around her. Bullets hit the brick wall outside the door, but no shots were very close. It was like the Americans were trying to miss. Her brow furrowed. Why wouldn’t they want to take out the Draeken shooters?

Her eye caught an object flying through the air and through the door. Smoke hissed out through the small doorway, and the Americans stopped firing. She followed suit and watched the doorway. There were fewer shots coming through the door than before. A wing brushed through the gray haze, and she saw a Draeken turn and run, his buddy providing cover fire.

“They’re getting away!”

The Rangers were moving toward the door in a synchronized manner. But they were moving too slow. The Draeken would be gone by the time they got the guy left shooting at them.

She was no hero, but she had to do something. Legian reached for her, but she jumped over the boxes, shooting madly at the doorway. When she landed, she hit a wet patch of spilled liquor, and she fell. The momentum of her jump propelled her forward like a slip-and-slide right through the door. Her foot hit the Draeken in the shin, and he went down.

No longer being shot at, everyone else lunged forward, and Legian was on the fallen Draeken at the same time a blade went for her throat. She backed away and pried the knife out of the Draeken’s clenched hand.

Legian gave her a glare that put all other glares to shame.