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He shook his head. "Not Drexian.”

Another scream echoed through the corridor, closer this time, and my resolve hardened. Whoever these people were, they were suffering the same fate I had endured for months. I couldn't leave them to that nightmare.

"You know, most people would be running in the opposite direction," Deklyn observed dryly.

"I'm not most people."

"I noticed."

I ignored the flutter in my stomach at his tone. This was neither the time nor the place to contemplate why his bad-boy arrogance affected me so strongly, or why the dangerous glint in his eyes made my pulse quicken in ways that had nothing to do with fear.

"Focus," I reminded myself and him, as we approached a heavily reinforced door. I reached for the control panel, but Deklyn caught my wrist, shaking his head.

"We can't just burst in there," he whispered. "We need a plan."

I was about to argue when the door slid open on its own, revealing a Kronock guard stepping out. We flattened ourselves against the wall, barely avoiding detection as the massive reptilian walked the other way.

Before the door could close again, Deklyn wedged his foot in the gap, holding it open just enough for us to see inside.

What I saw made my jaw drop.

Chapter

Seventeen

Deklyn

"You're crazy," Sasha said, shaking her head as I raided the Kronock weapons cache.

I couldn't help but grin at her, taking in her tousled hair, smudged cheeks, and dirty uniform. Even thin and disheveled from months in captivity, she was the most stunning female I'd ever seen. Something about the fire in her eyes and the defiant tilt of her chin hit me in places I thought had hardened long ago.

"Not crazy, just Inferno Force," I replied, tossing her a compact blaster.

She caught it one-handed, her reflexes impressively sharp for someone who'd been imprisoned so long. Then she swept her arms wide, gesturing at the arsenal I was rapidly depleting. "I thought we were going after the female prisoner. How exactly does arming ourselves like we're invading a bunker help with that?"

I was still marveling at our luck at finding a weapons storage room, even though I know Sasha wished we’d found the source of the human screams. I grabbed a laser rifle and stuffed explosives into every available pocket. "We are. But the way to save her is to create a distraction." I tossed her another weapon, a smaller model that could be hidden easily. "The bigger the better."

"Has anyone ever told you about the concept of subtlety?" she asked, expertly checking the charge on the blaster.

"Subtlety doesn't win wars," I replied, securing a bandolier of grenades across my chest. "Never has, never will."

She rolled her eyes. "Typical Inferno Force. You all think every problem can be solved with a big enough explosion."

"And pilots think every problem can be solved from the safety of a cockpit," I shot back, enjoying the way her cheeks flushed with indignation. "How's that working out for you?"

"I may not have logged as many combat hours as you've spent in the gym admiring yourself, but the only way we’re escaping this place is in a ship,” she snapped back, tucking the smaller blaster into her boot.

I laughed, genuinely delighted by her quick wit. "I have friends who were Wings. Good in a crisis, great in formation. But if you want to make a splash—" I patted the explosives strapped to my belt, "—you need Inferno Force."

"Are all Inferno Force warriors so impossibly cocky, or are you a special case?" Sasha asked, leaning against the weapons rack with feigned casualness.

I moved closer, invading her personal space just enough to make her pulse visibly quicken at her throat. "Admit it, Sash, you love the cockiness."

"I don't—" she spluttered, but the flush spreading from her cheeks down her neck told a different story.

I forced myself to step back, to focus on the mission rather than the growing desire to taste those indignant lips. Sasha was exactly my type—strong-willed, sharp-tongued, and fiercely independent. I loved how she challenged me, how she snapped back without hesitation, and how her eyes flashed when I pushed her buttons just right. I wanted more than anything to get her safely out of this hellhole so I could know her when we weren't running or fighting for our lives. And I could take my time pressing all the right buttons.

My mind drifted back to the moment I'd first seen her, when her image had flashed on the viewscreen in Captain Brok's strategy room aboard the Inferno Force battleship.