Ares said nothing. He simply grabbed the woman by the head with his metal gauntlets.
He turned his hands, and the movement snapped the assassin's neck. Her body went limp, and her bladder let loose. He held her there for a second, enjoying the look frozen on her face.
Ares couldn’t deny what he saw, which was pure shock. She'd never thought this would happen. She had killed others and manipulated people for so long that in the end, she’d thought herself invincible.
Ares let her drop to the floor and looked over his shoulder at the door. It was nearly finished. His Whip was starting to fall as the door melted. He walked over to it and pulled it out. Ares turned it off but left the dead woman's Whip to finish the job.
He had other things to accomplish, none of which had anything to do with the giant creatures down here.
Chapter Twenty
“While the Gigante’s healing technology will be a great boon to your force, overuse can lead to premature death.”
—From Gigante’s Owner’s Manual, The Orion Corporation
Alistair had stopped the group out of sight of the coming attack.
He knew if they were going to die, it would be here. They were at a disadvantage now instead of the other side.
For all his gifts, Alistair couldn't think of a way through this. He understood that the moment that one of them poked their head up high enough for the enemy to see, they'd make sure they never had to put pants on again.
Alistair was on one knee, as was everyone else. The lights were still off in the tunnel, and his hood covered his face. He could feel the blood on his cheeks dripping, covering his jaw. His entire body smelled of raw, human flesh.
"I'm out of ideas," he told the group. "If we go forward, they're going to cut us down like farmers at harvest time." He looked back the way they'd come.
The giant stood and looked at Relm. "You ready for your chance, little man?"
Relm raised both eyebrows. "’Little man?’"
"Tiny man," the giant said with a grin the size of the quarter-moon. "You ready for your chance?"
Relm chuckled. Everyone was a tiny man to this creature, or everyone except Alistair. "Yeah, I'm ready, broth."
Caesar turned to Alistair. "Attack. I will handle everything else."
Alistair glanced at the giant's hands. He understood what the creature was saying. Whatever he had done to help Faitrin, he was now going to use it on them. Alistair remembered what Faitrin had told him, though—that using the nanotechnology hurt him. If he used too much of it, he could die. "Are you going to survive?"
The giant shrugged, still smiling. "I serve, master."
Alistair thought he saw something in the being's face, something he understood. This creature had been bred to serve but also to kill. He was supposed to go into the most harrowing places imaginable and wreak havoc, but except for the time he’d faced Alistair, he had never been challenged, or not since leaving the school he was born into.
This was his chance to challenge himself. Strangely, he was looking forward to it.
Alistair stood, then carefully reached over and touched the giant's boulder-like shoulder. Caesar was uncomfortable with the act, but he didn't move. "Thank you for what you're about to do."
Caesar cocked his head to the side. He didn't understand what was being said, not fully.
Alistair dropped his hand and looked at the others. "You know what to do." He was quiet as he took the measure of the three. Even with the giant's ability to heal, they would probably die here. He pulled his Whip off his belt and let the lasers drop to the floor, creating a red glow in the dark tunnel. He retracted his hood now that they could see again.
The others did the same.
"See this blood and die."
The group's voice rose as one, echoing off the walls. "Ave, Prometheus!"
Alistair disappeared, and the killer stepped forward. Prometheus was here.
He turned to the enemies; he needed to say nothing else. The five rushed toward glorious death.
Veena was looking for Hel, but she couldn't find the woman anywhere. She wasn't in her room or in her torture chamber. The Primus had popped her head into it to make sure. The smell had forced her out. She had no idea how Hel stood it.
If the bitch could handle the vicious acts she committed, a bad smell probably didn't bother her much.
Veena was searching for Hel because she'd made her decision. She wasn't going to let the assassin kill this Subversive after what she'd done to him. Deep down, Veena felt cowardly for not stepping forward after listening to Ares' speech about waiting. That might be okay for someone like him, but she should have put a stop to it.
She would do so now, even if it meant she had to kill Hel. The Subversive would be taken back to Earth, given medical attention, and put on trial. That was how things should work. That was how they did work; this deviation had to end.
Veena was shocked that Kane had come here, but she had no reason to believe he would survive. He'd only survived so far because of Myrmidons or the bitch she was searching for, outside of Veena's mistake on Pluto. Those factors had been removed, and an entire army of cutthroats would put him down.
Veena would ensure this Subversive was subjected to no more acts of horror. When this was over, she was going back to Earth. If that meant losing her place as Primus and being Clipped or anything else, she'd accept it. She was done with this madness.
She heard Ares' heavy footsteps approaching, his MechSuit making it hard for him to sneak up on anyone. Veena had closed the Subversive’s door. She looked down the hall at the Titan in his crimson suit. "Have
