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“I-I have a cruiser,” the Jurou Biljana screamed. As if that made any difference.

“You took my only one,” he roared as he fired again, striking the bastard square in the chest. “My,mybonded!”

He pounded his chest as he fired yet again, making another gaping hole in the despicable piece of shit. As he stood huffing, staring at the body, what the reptile said made it through the angry haze.

Cruiser, you need his cruiser.

“Son of ametcor!” he growled, realizing he might’ve needed the Jurou Biljana alive to get into the cruiser.

His head tilted to one side as he gazed into the unseeing eyes of the foul scum.

I really only need a part of him.He was suddenly grateful he hadn’t shot the piece of shit in the face.

Nude, streaked in blood and mud, Payim grabbed the reptile’s tail and started dragging the body, pausing to collect its severed hand in case its eye wasn’t enough to access the ship.

Hang on, little warrior, I’m coming.

Elena

“Sniping transmitter! I don’t know if the message sent.”

The hissing voice roused her. Elena stifled the sharp intake of breath and the cry in her throat. The reptiles ambushed her. They must’ve been hiding in the brush.

I’m not in the swamp now.The surface she was lying on was hard and from the jostling, it had to be the floor of their ship.

“It’s the thick air. I hate this planet.” A second fucker paced nearby.

She froze, slowing her breath as she cracked an eyelid to confirm what she heard.

“That was an Osivoire vessel. And since this isn’t an Osivoire you know what that means.” The overgrown iguana paused and looked at the one in the pilot seat. “The Vicarius will have our tails if we don’t notify him immediately.”

“I said the comm is fecked,” the reptile snapped. “I’m heading back to Fuzyre now. Crassa and Shilv will take care of the Osivoire.”

Her heart sped up. Payim wasn’t Osivoire, but his ship was. They were definitely talking about him. She started to shake as the memory of Sidi’s murder merged with the image of these fuckers sneaking up on Payim as he slept.

No, no, no.She bit her lips, repressing the urge to vomit.

“Do you really trust those spineless fecks to finish the job?! We should have stayed to see to it,” the irate reptile ranted, his yellow spines quivering as he brandished his gun.

Wait!She reined in her downward spiral.He’s not dead yet. There’s still time.There had to be.The alternative was unbearable.

Frantically, her gaze shifted to the viewscreen. They were already passing her mountain. Soon they’d be too far from the swamp. She had to do something now!

With the spiny reptile’s back turned, she quickly pushed herself off the floor and launched at its knees. The reptile shouted and fired off a shot as its legs buckled. She barely rolled out of the way when the asshole came crashing down. She then slid farther than expected, hitting the nearby seat when the cruiser veered to the side. Her eyes widened, seeing the controls spark.

“Feck!” the pilot barked, futilely trying to regain control as the cruiser careened wildly.

“Shit!” This was not quite what she planned, then again, she hadn’t really planned anything.

Her gaze darted to one of the seats with its harnesses. She looked back at the scaly bastard on the floor and his stunned yellow gaze met hers. In a strange and unexpected détente, they both scrambled for the empty seats.

“I am going to kill you,” the spiny bastard hissed as he strapped in.

Yeah, probably.

Though, she might not survive long enough for him to kill her. She shoved aside the bag still hanging across her chest, desperately tightened the overly large harness then gripped the seat, her knuckles going white as she gaped at the viewscreen. The ground was coming up fast.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” She squeezed her eyes closed and braced herself.