My fingers tingled, but I fought the urge to fist them and tip him off. “You think I’ve gone soft?”
“The Raas lives, which means you couldn’t kill him,” he hissed, flicking a blade out of a pouch on his pants. “A failure I’m here to correct. As soon as I deal with your treachery.” Without another word, he flung the blade at me.
I ducked, hearing it whiz by my ear and embed in the steel doorframe behind me. Shit. He wasn’t messing around. Spinning, I wrenched the blade from where it had landed and turned back around to see Rennick launching himself at me. I barely had time to twist so that he only caught one side of my body, and when we hit the floor, I arched my back to propel myself into the air and back onto my feet.
He grunted as he pushed off the floor, muttering Zagrath curses and advancing on me again.
I readjusted my grip on the blade. “Did you really think it would be so easy?”
“You were never as good as they thought you were,” he said through gritted teeth. “Or you thought you were.”
“We’ll see.” My eyes scoured his snug clothing, searching for more weapons he’d tucked away. It would be tricky to kill him with only a single blade, although I’d assassinated targets with much less.
He rushed at me, reaching one arm behind his back and revealing a set of metal nunchucks. As he concentrated on flipping them toward me, I reached behind me and grasped a railing, hoisting myself high in the air and whipping my legs around his neck, the leather of my kilt slapping my thighs. I came down hard, bringing him with me, but I didn’t release my legs, tightening them around his neck as he thrashed.
Rennick struck out with the nunchucks, hitting my legs hard enough for me to gasp and loosen my grip. He jerked away from me, leaping to his feet and coughing as he backed up. I also scampered to my feet, crouching low in anticipation of his next attack. He’d always been good. Not as good as me, but good enough to stay alive this long. And in the world of imperial politics and murder, that was an accomplishment.
In the distance, heavy footsteps thundered toward us. Part of me hoped it was Bron, and part of me hoped he was far away from the empire’s assassin.
“You know there’s only one way off this ship for you,” I said, spitting out the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. “The Vandar will never let you live. If you kill me, the Raas will tear you apart with his bare hands.”
He cocked his head at me. “If I didn’t know what a cold-blooded killer you are, I might even think you admired these brutes and this Raas of theirs.”
“I know he’s more of a warrior than you could ever be.”
Rennick let out a hiss of breath. “You don’t know me.”
The steel walkways shook beneath my feet as raiders thundered closer. “I know you’re going to die.”
He chuckled low. “Maybe, but taking you with me will be worth it.” Running at me again, he lashed out with the nunchucks.
I dove out of the way, but the metal bar slammed across my back. I rolled across the floor, dodging as Rennick brought his weapon down again and again, the sound of metal against metal reverberating loudly. Jumping to my feet, I leaned back against the railing as he squared off against me, his face red and his eyes wild. My body ached where he’d hit me, but I lifted both my legs and punched out, catching him in the chest and sending him staggering back.
I didn’t wait for him to recover, striding forward and pivoting before landing a roundhouse kick that sent him flipping backward over the waist-high railing. Rennick’s scream pierced the air as he toppled off the walkway, but before I could celebrate, his hand closed over my foot that was closest to the edge.
As he plummeted down, his weight pulled me with him, dragging me to the edge of the metal walkway. Before going all the way over, I grasped a steel bar and held it with one hand while Rennick held tight to my foot.
“Like I said,” he panted beneath me, his maniacal smile wide. “I’m not going without you.”
I shook my foot, but his hand held my ankle like a vise. A loud rumbling of voices surrounded me, but I couldn’t look up. My grip on the bar was slipping. I had to get Rennick off me or I’d fall.
I realized that my other hand still clutched the blade, so I carefully aimed, then threw it at him. My shaky aim hit him, but only in the shoulder. His smile morphed into a grimace, but he didn’t let go.
“Nice try, Mantis. Too bad you’re out of options.”
I felt my resolve slipping as my fingers lost their hold on the bar, then Rennick’s mouth fell open as an axe blade swung down, severing his arm at the elbow and cutting him loose from me. He screamed as he fell back, his arms cartwheeling and his one stump sending a spray of blood through the air.
I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t get splattered and so I wouldn’t watch myself fall after him, but a thick hand closed over mine just as I started to drop. I opened my eyes and looked up, seeing Raas Bron holding me.
“You were not out of all your options.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bron
“I don’t understand, Raas,” Svar said as we rushed onto the raiding ship. “How could us leading a raiding party onto a lone imperial cruiser put our horde ships in danger?”
I couldn’t explain to him that it wasn’t so much the horde I feared for as the female in my quarters. I’d honed my instincts over a lifetime of raiding and serving as majak, and they were telling me that
