Page 87 of The Sterling Acquisition

“Whatever we can find. Unless you’ve got something I don’t know about.”

Dante’s smile was sharp and without humor. “I’ve got a few things you don’t know about. The question is, can you run in your current condition?”

“I can run. Can you fight two Berserkers while keeping me alive?”

“We’re about to find out,” Dante said. “When I say go, we head for that alley. Stay close, stay low, and if anyone gets between you and me, you bite whatever you can reach.”

The Berserkers were closing the distance, and Orion could smell the aggressive anticipation coming off them. Other people in the area were starting to notice the tension and either moving away or positioning themselves to watch the show.

So much for a quiet medical consultation,Orion thought, his body coiling with the familiar tension that came before violence.

“Ready?” Dante asked, his fingers tightening on Orion’s back.

Orion looked at the man who pulled him out of one nightmare and was now preparing to fight his way through another one. Despite everything—despite the heat, despite the danger, even though he still didn’t trust Dante’s motives—he found himself nodding.

“Ready.”

“Go.”

Chapter thirty

Feral Heat

Orion

Theymadeitthreesteps toward the alley before Orion realized they weren’t going to make it.

A third Berserker stepped out from behind a vendor stall, blocking their escape route with deliberate calm. He was massive—easily six-foot-seven—with a strangely kind pale, freckled complexion that made him look like a lost farm boy with his curly red hair.

“Easy there,” he said, holding up his hands. “Nobody needs to run. We just want to talk.”

The other two closed in from behind, trapping them in the open area. People began backing away as vendors started closing stalls.

Everyone’s afraid of them,Orion realized.Even when they’re being polite.

The scent of Orion’s heat was affecting all three men. Orion could see it in the way their pupils dilated, the slight tremor in their hands, the way they kept breathing deeper than necessary.

“Look, we know what you’re thinking,” the gentle-voiced Berserker continued, his eyes flicking between Dante and Orion. “But we’re not animals. We can take care of him. Better than some corporate thug who’s just going to drug him senseless and make him sit around looking decorative.”

One of the others shifted restlessly, his control clearly not as strong. “Riot, we don’t have time for this. His scent is—“

“I know what his scent is doing,” Riot said, though Orion caught the way his jaw tightened with effort. “But we’re going to do this right. No one gets hurt if everyone’s reasonable.”

Dante moved to put himself between Orion and the approaching men, his hand reaching for something under his jacket. “He’s not interested in your protection.”

“How do you know?” Riot asked, his tone still conversational despite the obvious strain. “You even ask him what he wants? Or are you just assuming corporate ownership trumps everything else?”

The question hit close to home, and Orion saw Dante’s expression flicker with uncertainty.

“I can speak for myself,” Orion interjected. Sweat prickled down his spine, and his head was pounding with each heartbeat, but he wasn’t going to be discussed like he wasn’t there.

Riot’s attention focused on him with uncomfortable intensity. “Then speak. Do you want to keep traveling with someone who sees you as a mission objective, or do you want to be with people who understand what you’re going through? We know what it’s like to have biology that makes other people uncomfortable. We don’t judge.”

The other two Berserkers were struggling more with Orion’s proximity. One had his hands clenched into fists, and the other was breathing hard enough that Orion could hear it from several feet away.

“Riot,” the struggling one said, his voice tight with strain. “We need to decide this now. I can’t—the scent is too—“

“I said we’re doing this right,” Riot snapped, though his own control was clearly fraying around the edges. “But we can’t wait much longer. Your friend there is smart—he knows what’s going to happen to you in the Static Zone without proper protection. Berserkers out there aren’t like us. They won’t try talking first.”