Page 41 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

41

Whatever It Takes

B laze

“We need to go. Now,” he says as he grabs my upper arm and races toward our original destination.

I’m not even sure it’s still standing.

People are rising to their feet, calling for loved ones or digging in the rubble. I want to help them. Some people were hit by flying debris, others were injured in the blast itself. When I tug in that direction, Xzavic pulls me down the street.

“They need our help,” I protest. “They came to support us, to camouflage us on our way to the flag. We can’t put their lives in danger and then just walk away.”

“Every single one of them knew this was dangerous. They need us to win, to make a statement, to be something to rally around. If we don’t do this, we’re letting them down.”

“But—” I protest, but it’s weak because he’s right. I feel selfish as hell, but our fight is now bigger than us. There are thousands, maybe millions, of people counting on us.

There’s dust in the air, mayhem all around us, and we’re camouflaged even better because everyone is wearing gray rather than red.

“Red!” I say, my voice panicked when I realize I haven’t seen him since the blast.

“He’s here. He has a strong sense of self-preservation. The whole time that building was falling on me he was hiding under my chin, clutching my shirt’s neckline.”

There it is. Our destination is five buildings up. It looks like a five-story hotel that started out seedy and went downhill from there. Luckily, it’s still standing. When we arrive, Titan uses his elbow to smash the front door’s glass, then flings the door open.

We race up the steps with him in the lead, then he lets me go first. I poke my head into every room on the top floor, looking for the window with the best angle. The one at the end of the building is what I’m looking for.

I open the bag holding the laser rifle and talk to the weapon as I assemble it.

“You’ve been through a lot,” I croon to her as though she’s a bashful virgin. “You’re going to do just fine, though.”

Everything clicks into place just as it should, and then I slip a charged canister into its cradle. At least I hope it’s charged. If Altair lied about this, Xzavic and I are totally fucked. It says charged. I’ll have to believe it is.

I lean the rifle against the wall and roll my head around, first one way, then the other, then tip it shoulder to shoulder.

“Okay,” I whisper.

I don’t waste more than a few seconds trying to pull the window from its centuries-old moorings. When it doesn’t budge immediately, I ask Xzavic to do the honors.

After taking my position and setting the rifle on the aging wooden windowsill, I use the sight to do recon.

“We lucked out,” I say. “Maybe it’s because the network never expected this thing to fire a shot, but the sight is a thing of beauty.”

I hadn’t had time to give more than a perfunctory glance through the sight yesterday when those four guys were coming to rape and kill me. They were close. I didn’t need it.

Now that I’m looking over a thousand yards away, I see how well this weapon is made.

“Which room is it?”

“Our intel says seventh floor, room on the end.”

“Even though it’s an abandoned building, that hotel was far swankier in its day than the dive we’re in. It looks like a suite. They must be in the other room. I’ll wait.”

“ We’ll wait,” he corrects me.

“ I’ll wait,” I say forcefully as my gaze flicks to him. “If the other guys are watching, and they’d be idiots not to, they just may see the flash of my weapon. They didn’t get to be among the last contestants in The Game because they’re slackers. If they see my weapon fire, they’ll use their cannon to take down this entire building in a heartbeat. At least one of us needs to get out of here alive.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Yes, you are. Your concession prize is a kiss, albeit a quick one. And although you didn’t respond when I told you I love you, I’m going to double down on that. Then you and Red are going to skedaddle.” I pause and look down the street.

“See the store with a sign in the shape of a boot? You two are going to hide in the open entryway directly underneath it and wait for me. Kiss!”

I take my gaze off our enemy’s window for a moment and look at him. He’s still gray from the falling debris, at least those parts of him that don’t have rivulets of blood flowing down them.

“I love you, Xzavic.” I look into his blue eyes, the blue of the hottest part of a butane flame. My heart squeezes at the tender feelings welling up in me. I squash them down. Snipers do not perform well with tears in their eyes.

He bends to kiss my lips. It’s not a passion-filled expression of lust. No, it’s full of unspoken affection. No promise, though. What could he possibly promise me?

“Aye. And I love you, Blaze. Red and I will meet you under the boot.”

I should get back to my task, but I allow my gaze to follow him until he passes the threshold, then I focus on getting the job done.

Waiting is the sniper’s stock in trade. As a kid, I think I had a touch of ADD. Sniper school pounded that out of me. I get my body as comfortable as possible in this kneeling crouch, keep my gaze glued on the building where two of our enemies are hiding, and settle in for a long day.

The last time I was in this position was right before I blew my enemy’s head off his shoulders when I fought for the United States government. I thought I handled it well until the wheels literally fell off the bus. I couldn’t force myself out of bed. I lost ten pounds and went from height and weight proportionate to gaunt. I wasn’t performing, and eventually got called into a meeting with my superior officer.

After ten psychotherapy sessions, and my next meeting with my CO resulted in the mutual decision to change my MOS from sniper to systems analyst. I never got to the training because aliens abducted me shortly after.

Can I kill the four males who won’t hesitate to kill not only me, but the male I love? And little Red?

This is different from the Middle East. This is personal. I will do whatever it takes.