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“Stay behind me,” I ordered, not taking my eyes off the approaching threat. Through the bond, I could feel her fear—not for herself, but for me.

Her engineer’s mind had already calculated our odds, found them wanting.

The first guard fired. I moved, faster than human reflexes could track, my blade deflecting the energy bolt into a nearby console.

Blue-white energy exploded in a shower of sparks and melted composite, the acrid smell of burned circuitry filling the air. The explosion bought precious seconds, enough for me to close the distance.

No time for mercy. These were Hammond’s loyal followers, the ones who captured my kind for experimentation, who treated Zara as a tool rather than a person.

My blade found the first guard’s weapon, severing metal and hand together. His scream was cut short as my tail swept his legs, sending him crashing into two others.

A precise strike to his temple ensured he wouldn’t rise again.

An automaton lurched forward, ancient gears grinding. Its sensors glowed crimson as they locked on Zara, recognizing the energy signature of her markings.

Pre-Division technology corrupted by Hammond’s crude reprogramming, designed to capture marked women for hisexperiments. I intercepted, driving my blade through its central processing core.

Sparks cascaded over my arms as it collapsed, the smell of hot metal and leaking hydraulic fluid momentarily overwhelming my senses.

“Ravik, left!” Zara’s voice cut through my combat focus.

I pivoted, sensing rather than seeing the guard approaching from my flank. Too late to dodge the plasma bolt entirely—burning pain erupted across my back and shoulder as the energy grazed me.

The smell of my own burned flesh filled my nostrils, a sickeningly sweet odor that triggered primal warning signals. I grunted, the injury registering but unimportant.

There would be time for pain later.

My vision narrowed to the path ahead, the world falling away except for immediate threats and the escape route. Freedom lay beyond the perimeter, past the final line of defense.

I advanced relentlessly, each strike creating space, clearing the way for Zara. The bond carried her determination to me, strengthening my resolve.

A guard aimed at her; I caught the plasma bolt on my blade, the energy discharging down its length and into the ground. The metal grew hot in my hand, nearly too hot to hold, but I maintained my grip.

My clan forged these weapons to withstand far worse than Hammond’s technology.

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth—I’d bitten my tongue without realizing it. The pain from my shoulder sharpened my focus rather than distracting from it.

Two more guards fell before my blade, their training insignificant against a Shadow Canyon warrior fighting to protect his bondmate.

Movement behind us—Phillips, Hammond’s second. His thin face contorted with rage and fear as he raised his weapon, targeting Zara.

No conscious thought drove me then, only instinct. I lunged backward, placing my body between Phillips and Zara as his weapon discharged.

White-hot agony exploded across my back, the plasma cutting through clothing and skin in a line of liquid fire. The pain was absolute, consuming, different from the earlier graze—this was a direct hit, full power, at close range.

The smell of my own burned flesh intensified, joined by the copper-sweet scent of Nyxari blood. Nerve endings screamed as damaged tissue registered the full extent of the injury.

But I remained standing, my people’s natural resilience keeping me conscious despite trauma that would have incapacitated a human instantly.

Phillips’ eyes widened as I advanced on him, wounded but unfaltering. His second shot went wide as his hands shook with fear.

My blade did not miss, finding the vulnerable spot beneath his sternum with practiced precision. His weapon clattered to the ground as he fell.

“Ravik!” Zara’s voice pulled me back from the edge of battle focus, from the primitive state that threatened to consume a wounded Nyxari warrior. Through our bond, I could feel her fear, her desperation.

“The perimeter—we’re clear! Move now!”

The cool night air of Arenix registered dimly through the pain and combat haze. We’d breached the compound’s outer defenses.