Athena's Ashes (12 page)

Fear clawed its way up Renna’s spine as she stared into Larson’s icy eyes. Now that she was standing here, facing him, the reality slammed into her like a Trezian’s fist.

Larson really was a traitor to MYTH.

“Nice to see you again, thief,” he said. “I’d hoped you’d be joining us. I didn’t count on the added bonus of Commander Jayla, however.”

Jayla glared at the man. “You’ll pay for this, Larson.”

Renna stepped forward, hands held in front of her. “Let Jayla go. She has nothing to do with this. I’m the one you want.” Her skin crawled as the two guards’ guns tracked her, ready to fire at any sudden movement.

“You don’t know what I want,” Larson said. “But luckily, you’re exactly right. Pallas will be pleased.”

“Why are you doing this? Why betray MYTH?” Renna asked. Across the room, Jayla’s whole body went rigid as she waited for his answer. Right. His betrayal was especially personal to the commander who’d spent years at MYTH.

Larson shrugged, drawing Renna’s attention back to his tall frame. “MYTH abandoned me when I needed them most, but Pallas offered me an opportunity to become powerful. To make a difference. MYTH has lost its way, but we’re helping it get back to what’s right. And this cybernetic army will make us unstoppable. We’ll be able to protect our people.”

“You sound like a crazy fanatic,” Renna scoffed. “No matter how idealistic you try to spin it, the truth is you want to take over the galaxy with your hybrid army. You want to destroy rather than protect.” She shook her head. “You’re nothing but a thug, and I’ve met plenty of those in my line of work. They all die badly.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think. I believe in Pallas’s vision, and I’ll do what I need to to make sure it comes true. And if I get to have a little fun torturing our enemies in the process…” Larson smirked. “Then so be it.”

“Then take me to him,” Renna demanded. “I want to face him myself.”

“Oh, you will. Trust me. But I plan on having some fun with you first.” Larson nodded at one of his guards. “Take her guns.”

This was not how she’d planned for it to go, but it looked like there was only one way to get to Dr. Samil and the kidnapped scientists now. Through Larson and his men.

She was going to enjoy this.

Renna met Jayla’s gaze across the room and nodded slightly.

One of the guards approached, and Renna held out her blaster. With her other hand, she slowly pulled a knife from beneath her jacket. As he took the gun, she slammed it into his midsection. His eyes widened as the blade slid between his ribs without resistance.

Renna used the momentum to grab his arm, spinning him to use as a full body shield.

He screamed in pain, and the other men reacted instantly, opening fire. The impact of the bullets hitting the man’s body made him shake against her.

Major Larson screamed at his men. “Don’t kill her! Pallas needs her alive.”

The guards jerked the guns out of aim. The bullets went wide, spraying against the metal bunker walls in a staccato screech.

Across the room, Jayla slipped out of her cuffs. With a sweep of her leg, she took down the man closest to her, stomping on his neck when he hit the floor. It crunched loudly and he went still.

But she couldn’t worry about the commander; Renna had her own men to worry about. She snatched her gun back from the dead merc and fired off half a dozen shots. One of the other guards dropped to the ground amidst the ricocheting bullets.

Two down, two to go.

A sudden pounding in her head made her vision go blurry. Gods, not now! She blinked away the fog and yanked her knife from the dead man’s chest.

Larson raised his blaster, set to stun, and she sent the knife flying across the room.

It missed, thudding into the wooden door beside his head. His finger tightened against the trigger, and Renna jumped out of the way as he fired. Her shoulder cracked as she tumbled toward the door to the warehouse, and her breath whooshed out in a rush of pain.

Fuck.

Renna’s right arm throbbed and burned as she scrambled to her feet. Across the room, Jayla struggled with the final guard, but the commander would have to fend for herself. Larson’s murderous expression sent shivers down Renna’s spine as he stalked toward her. She was going to need all her skills to take him down.

Renna darted deeper into the warehouse toward the only furniture in the space—a heavy, metal desk. She slid behind it just as Larson marched through the door and quickly scanned the space. Light filtered in from windows high on the wall, driving away some of the gloom. Boxes were stacked in the far corner, but otherwise, the space was empty. Where the hell was the med team?

“You can’t hide from me,” Major Larson called. “There’s nowhere to run.”

“I don’t need to. You couldn’t hit the side of a transport ship with that thing.” Her bravado sounded false even to her, and she grimaced. Her arm throbbed in time with her head and she wanted to curl into a ball, but right now, that wasn’t going to happen.

Shifting her weight, Renna clutched the gun even tighter. She straightened from her crouch, pointing it at Larson. “Drop the weapon.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I admire your fight, thief, but you’re trapped. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Where are the MYTH soldiers?” she demanded. “Where’s Dr. Samil?”

“Right where Pallas left them.” A smug smile split his face. “I can’t believe you fell for it. I didn’t think you were that stupid.”

“Did you even consider we might have walked willingly into the trap?” she asked.

The door beside him opened, and Larson glanced back, then saluted crisply. “So glad you could join us.”

Renna’s gaze snapped to the figure standing beside him, and her arm lowered on its own account.

FOURTEEN

The very doctor Renna had trusted with her life stepped further into the warehouse, a soft smile on her face. “I’m glad to see I wasn’t wrong about you, Renna. Being here in person will make it so much easier to verify your death.”

“Dr. Samil?” Renna’s words were barely a whisper.

“Looks like the drugs haven’t worked quite yet, but that’s all right. I’m excited to study you as the change happens.” Samil’s expression was calm and friendly, like this was just another med visit.

Renna’s right arm burned where she’d landed on it, her head felt like it was stuffed with shrapnel, and confusion twisted her insides so tight she thought she’d burst. “I don’t understand, Doctor. What are you doing here? Why are you working with these people?”

“I’m not working with these people, dear. They work for me.”

Major Larson saluted. “And it’s a pleasure, ma’am.”

Samil smiled at him. “You’ve done well, Major. Now please wait at the ship. Renna and I have a few things to discuss.”

Larson glared at Renna, but eventually nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Call me if anything changes.” He marched away through a side door, back ram-rod straight.

But Renna barely noticed as the blood rushed to her head and she put out a hand to steady herself against the desk. “What are you saying?”

Samil shook her head regretfully. “I suppose I should forgive you for not understanding. Those drugs I gave you actually sped up the process instead of slowing it down. I’m sure your brain feels like mush right now.”

“You lying bitch,” Renna hissed.

“I did what I had to do, dove. You should understand that.”

Fear was an iron band around Renna’s lungs as she tried to suck in a breath. She’d never even seen this coming. It wasn’t possible.

Dr. Samil was Pallas?

“Why don’t you make this easy on both of us, Renna?”

“You should know by now, the last thing I am is easy.” Renna tried to rotate her injured shoulder and winced as a flash of pain shot down her arm. “How about another way out of here?” she muttered to her implant. But of course there was no surge of knowledge, no indication the damn thing was even on.

“Poor choice of words. Look, Renna, I don’t want to hurt you. I need your special physiology to finish my experiments. Let’s talk this through. We have a few more minutes before the MYTH bombers arrive on planet.”

“And then we’ll
all
be dead,” Renna snapped. “I can live with that.” She pulled the chair out from the desk and sank into it. This was a fucking nightmare. The woman she’d thought was trying to save her had been behind Myka’s kidnapping, the hybrid army, even the experiments Navang had conducted on Renna. But why?

“What do you want, Doctor? Or should I call you Pallas? Why are you doing this?”

Samil brushed back her hair and glanced down at her watch. “I’m not sure we have time to do this now, and I don’t know that it really matters.”

“It matters to me. If you’re going to turn me into a monster, don’t I at least deserve to know why?”

The doctor sighed. “Very well. I joined MYTH ten years ago. I was young, just twenty-three, and terribly naive. When I got my first assignment, I was proud to be part of this organization, proud to help protect the galaxy. But after a few years, MYTH became too powerful, too corrupted, and they started using their own troops as experiments.”

Samil’s face darkened. “When they destroyed the thing most important to me, I knew it was time to stop them. And you are the key to revolutionizing this organization once and for all.”

Renna’s arm had begun to shake as she tried to hold her gun level with Samil’s chest. “If you think I’m going to help you, you’re sorely mistaken. MYTH knows about you, and we know how to stop you.”

Samil chuckled and shook her head, her blonde hair grazing her shoulders. She looked so kind, so innocent. How could she be the one behind all of this?

“Have you forgotten that ticking time bomb in your head?” Samil asked. “Besides, I’ve been working on this plan for almost five years. It’s flawless. When I’m done, MYTH will be destroyed, and the galaxy will be changed forever.” Her words rang with conviction.

Great. Another fanatic.

“Look, doc, I respect you,” Renna said, holding her hand out. “I even thought we were friends. Instead of going all vigilante on MYTH, why not just tell a reporter and have them do a smear story? You know how well that works on the politicians. Imagine the blow up with a government operation. They’d be shut down in seconds.”

Samil shook her head, her pink sweater at odds with the ice in her voice. “I don’t want them shut down. I want to use them. But they must be cleansed first. And you’re part of that, dove.”

“Hate to disappoint, but I have other plans.”

“Not for much longer.” Samil pulled a small gun from her vest pocket and fired it at Renna before she could even blink.

Renna gaped at the feathered needle sticking from her arm. “What the hell did you do?” Her fingers trembled as she ripped it away. For the first time since they’d arrived on this planet, the possibility she might fail hit her. Pallas would win, and they’d all die. Or worse.

The gun was suddenly too heavy to hold, and she let it sink to the top of the desk. She’d wasted way too much time talking to this woman. She should have just shot first, but she’d wanted to understand Pallas’s motives. She’d needed to know why the woman was doing this. Renna gripped the edge of the desk as the room started to spin. Look where that had gotten her.

“I need you alive, Renna. Your body is mutating Navang’s experiments in ways even Myka’s didn’t. You will be the lynchpin of my army.”

“Army? We destroyed it with Navang’s facility.” The room was going gray around the edges, like fog rolling in, and Renna blinked furiously to clear her vision.

“You didn’t think that was the only facility I used to produce my army, did you?” Samil laughed, loud and girlishly high.

Renna clutched the edge of the desk even harder as her whole body started to tremble. “I should have guessed.”

“Yes, you really should have.” Samil took another step closer. “Give in, dove. There’s no need for heroics. I don’t plan on killing you.”

“Stay where you are.” Renna tried to raise her gun again, but her arm wouldn’t obey.

“Another minute now and you’ll be out. You and I will disappear, and when MYTH finds the charred remains of my team, unidentifiable because of the bombs, poor Major Dallas will assume you’re among them.” Samil gestured to the back of the warehouse.

Renna’s gaze followed the woman’s finger to the heap of bodies piled in the shadowy corner. All wearing gray MYTH uniforms. “You killed them,” she whispered, pressing a hand to her lips.

As she watched, a trail of crimson blood snaked from the shadows toward Renna. It trickled across the pavement at first, gaining speed as it flowed through the warehouse. Her eyes widened as the thick blood flowed faster, picking up pace as it turned into a river of death. Headed directly for her.

Renna jumped to her feet and lurched away from the oncoming storm. Samil dashed forward to grab Renna’s arm, but she wrenched away from the doctor. Renna stumbled, her foot slipping in the viscous liquid, and she landed on her ass with a jarring thud.

“I’m gonna…killlll…” Renna’s words slurred as her mouth filled with cotton wool, and she tried to swallow.

Godsdammit
.

Terror surged through her in one last burst of mind-clearing adrenaline, and she scrambled to her feet. She threw herself at Samil, her left fist connecting with the woman’s jaw. With Renna’s momentum, the two women landed in a heap on the floor.