He knew what that meant—there was no other way to decode that movement.
Was she…did she really think he was going to let her put herself in danger fighting the horde before them?
“Hide!”
It was all he managed to say as he leaned out of his hiding spot, cocked his blaster, and pressed the tri—
But the Niftrill closest to them, the one he aimed at, was already falling, shot straight in the wrist.
Its weapon fell just as it received another shot in the leg.
Who…
Ka’Cit’s mouth fell open as he turned, wide-eyed, to look at the human, just as she aimed again, her brows furrowed to match the determination on her face.
Her eyes narrowed a little as she pressed the trigger once more and another Niftrill went down, shot in the arm and leg again.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
She wasn’t randomly spraying laser blasts.
She’d meant to hit them there.
She glanced his way and a slight smile appeared on her face.
Ka’Cit stared at her even as movement caught his eye—a Niftrill approaching from behind.
He cocked his gun and fired, but instead of receiving one laser blast, the Niftrill received two—one from his blaster and one from hers.
Surprise had him glancing her way once more and Nee-ya’s gaze met his.
“Dohnt wohree abowt mee dar-leen.”
Phek.
Chaos erupted in the hold as the rest of the Niftrills charged and danger was coming straight at them. But, in that moment, all he could do was stare.
At her.
His life organ thumped in his chest as she gripped her weapon and unloaded another laser blast.
Never in his life had he ever seen anything more magnificent than the female he was looking at right at that moment.
She was phekking perfect.
As he stared at her, the screeching of the Niftrills charging at them felt like it was far in the background of his mind, and Ka’Cit realized one damning thing…
When this was over, when he had to say goodbye, he was going to have a helluva hard time walking away.
They took down the Niftrills one by one.
After the first ten or so fell, the others had gotten the memo and instead of running directly at them like a crazed horde, the Niftrills had begun seeking cover behind the various crates that were resting in the hold.
When Ka’Cit finally came out of whatever daze he’d gotten into, it had felt almost like being back on Earth shooting targets with her father.
The thrill made her smile and that smile turned to a grin.
Nia peeked over the crate she hid behind and glanced at her blaster, glad that it wasn’t something that needed reloading.
There was a bar on it though, a neon green bar, that appeared to be decreasing after every few shots she took.
She was sure that was the charge and it looked like she only had half a charge left.
Fuck.
She lifted herself up enough to peer over the crate once more, careful not to expose herself too much.
She couldn’t see any movement and the room was silent now, apart from the groans of the Niftrills on the floor.
Ka’Cit had been right about them.
They didn’t even pick up their guns after they were hit. Their sole focus became their wounds.
It wasn’t something she understood but it was something she was thankful for.
For a few moments, she held her breath as she listened.
No more laser blasts were coming their way and she was sure she’d heard the last one about two or three minutes before.
She’d promptly gotten the Niftrill who’d shot at them, too, and the anxiety she’d felt about the fight was completely gone now.
They were going to get out of this. She could feel it.
A grin lit up her face and she turned to Ka’Cit.
He’d been staring at her, his eyes wide, and they widened even more now under the slit in his mask.
“What have I done?” His gaze moved from the blaster she clutched then back to her.
Huh?
Oh yeah, she forgot.
She was showing her teeth.
“No challenge.” She shook her head, hoping he would get her meaning. “I’m just happy.”
She turned her grin into a smile so her teeth were no longer showing.
Ka’Cit blinked underneath his mask but still seemed a little confused.
“Just happy,” she repeated.
Strange she should get such pleasure from shooting bullets into live beings.
But they’d planned to rape her so…they deserved it.
Between Ka’Cit’s blasts and hers, they hadn’t killed any of the henchmen anyway. They’d simply wounded them.
Ka’Cit was still staring at her with a strange look in his eyes, though.
Like her, he had his back pressed against the crate, but the way he was looking at her…
Like a predator that had just seen its prey.
Maybe it was the effect of the mask…the fact she could only see his eyes and nothing else?
Or maybe not.
She wasn’t quite sure.
And what was mad about it? She wasn’t scared.
Instead of the instinctual fear she should feel when someone dangerous was looking at her as if she was prey, his gaze made something thrilling go down her spine.
Nia released a breath and forced herself to focus. This little “excursion” was getting to her head.
“Think it’s safe to go out there?” she whispered.
Ka’Cit blinked and she had to motion behind her, gesturing to the rest of the hold.
It took him a while to pull his gaze from her and he finally looked upward, his eyes searching the roof of the ship.
She didn’t know what he was looking for but the fact there was still that tension about him, she knew they weren’t out of danger yet.
She’d lost count at how many of the maniacs they’d shot down but there had been a lot.
There could be more of them hiding.
“Herza,” he finally said.
Nia stiffened. She’d forgotten about the boss.
Now her own gaze searched above. Seeing nothing of note, she peeked around the side of the crate.
All she saw were the writhing bodies of the aliens. Some were crawling away but, still, none reached for their guns to continue the fight.
She guessed they weren’t as loyal to Herza as she’d thought.
“See that door?” Ka’Cit
