And he takes them apart, one by one, and I realize, for the first time, exactly why they called him the Draekon Warlord.
The instant the first one clears the airlock and enters the dome, Danek is on it. He leaps in the air and lands on its shoulders with the balance of a cat. In a smooth motion that’s so fast it’s a blur, he bends down, catches its head between his hands, and flexes his muscles, snapping its neck.
If I’d blinked, I would have missed it.
He jumps off its shoulders, ripping one of the droid’s arms off on his way down. He lifts the arm up, aiming it as if it were a gun at the second battledroid that’s just about clearing the airlock, and he fires, one deadly accurate shot to the middle of its head.
The second robot crashes to the ground.
The third and the fourth robots hesitate, revising their battle strategy. The airlock cycles, and the instant the blast doors open, they rush through. Danek fires at them, but the gun jams.
The robot lifts his hand and fires back. Danek jumps out of the way, but he’s not fast enough. The laser burns a hole in his arm.
I gasp out loud. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
The other Draekons watch, their faces expressionless. I can’t imagine what they’re thinking. Maybe Danek really fights robots like this all the time, and maybe they think it’s no big deal.
Then I notice Sixth’s hands are clenched into fists.
Once again, shit.
Danek flings the robot’s arm at the knee of the battle droid closest to him. It is knocked off balance. The other robot fires, but Danek ducks behind the temporarily downed mechanical monster, picks it up, his muscles bulging, and throws it at the last standing battledroid.
They both go down in a clatter of metal, briefly stunned. Before they can get back on their feet, before they can even bring their arms up fire, Danek skids over, claws open the nearest one’s chest, and rips out the wiring.
It makes a horrible, screeching noise, and dies.
“Use the jolter,” Ruhan shouts.
Danek hears him. For a second, a sheepish expression washes over his face, and then he slams down on the last robot. A blue spark jumps from his hand onto the metal chest, and the final robot goes limp.
The entire fight couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes.
Danek staggers back to me. He has a cut on his forehead, and bright blue blood drips over his eyes. His arm is bleeding too, and his flesh smells singed. Despite that, he’s grinning widely. “That was stupid,” he says with a laugh. He holds up his right hand, his fingers covered in rings. “I can’t believe I forgot the jolter. Ruhan is never going to let me forget.”
He wraps his arm around me and presses a hot, hard kiss to my lips. I kiss him back, relief making my knees weak. “See?” he says. He’s breathing hard, his chest rising and falling. “I told you I’d fought them before.”
“You did.” I smile up at him. “You were amazing.”
Is it over? Have we won? Can we leave now? Because it’s obvious to me that Danek is holding it together out of sheer willpower, and he’s hurt much more seriously than he’s letting on.
“Let’s head to the shuttle,” he says, reading my mind. “No offense to Noturn, but this planet’s messing with my head. Let’s go talk to the Draekons and get the hell out of here.”
That’s when it all goes to shit.
29
Danek
I need to make sure there aren’t any more active threats, and so I head into the shuttle ahead of Naomi, my nerves on edge.
I’m barely holding it together. My arm, hurt by the battledroid’s laser, is growing numb. My muscles ache, and my head feels like it’s being battered by a herd of tussur mammoths.
Sixth’s projection moves near me. He stares into my face, and then he swears out loud. “When did the cranisum stop working?” he asks, keeping his voice low so Naomi cannot hear.
“Yesterday.”
“When yesterday?”
“The morning dose didn’t do anything.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“I’m fine. I don’t know if you noticed, but I just fought four battledroids.”
“Four. I’ve seen you take out two dozen of them, blindfolded and with one hand tied behind your back.”
“Oh, come on. You’re just exaggerating now.” I enter the cockpit. As expected, there’s no one there. Noturn has a reputation, and no Zorahn Commander is going to put her pilots at risk when they can use a bot.
Kadir is a half-step behind me. He’s on comm, so he sees what I see. “This is weird,” he murmurs. “Everything about this is weird.”
“In what way?” I head back to the ramp and give Naomi the all-clear.
“Look at the size of this shuttle. It’s not very big. Last year, two thousand Draekons tested positive. This ship can’t hold two thousand people.”
“Where is everyone, anyway?” Ruhan asks.
“Stasis, I’d imagine.” I wait for Naomi to join me, and then head to the back of the ship. Sure enough, the cargo area has been retrofitted with dozens of stasis pods, stacked one on top of the other from floor to ceiling.
Naomi shivers as she takes in the units. Idiot, Danek. This won’t bring back good memories for her. I put an arm around my mate, drawing some raised eyebrows from my brothers, a reaction I ignore. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Her voice is soft. “Sorry. I’m being an idiot. I was just remembering waking up from stasis and being auctioned off to the highest bidder. I thought they wanted us for
