Page 20 of Thruster (Hunted Relics #9)

Her words echo in my mind as her face relaxes and her eyes close.

I love you, too.

Feeling her body give out in my arms ignites something deep within me—a rage I didn't know existed. It builds from my helplessness and my inability to save the only thing that has made my existence worthwhile..

But more than that, Kelta has made me feel the closest thing I can comprehend to human.

ThrusterAlphaDet: Ignite.

Above us, the berserker blooms in the middle, a huge hole that breaks the ship in half. Metal and crushed ships rain toward Ellipsis. It will make for a proper salvage mission for my Brothers. But all I care about right now is one stunning human who rescued me and sacrificed herself to give us a chance.

I Torch the rest of the way toward the planet. The moment the air hits a density better than what Kelta’s suit is at, I open her helmet.

“Kelta?”

She doesn’t respond. Her head bobbles in the suit. Wind rakes through her braids. I fear I waited too long.

I switch on every engine that isn’t touching her and rocket us toward the surface. Ellipsis has rotated since I left, and I find us near an old encampment from our early days after the jailbreak. Air pressure grows as we descend, and it infuriates me. Kelta’s still not moving. I have to hurry.

I find a safe landing zone in the dim light of dawn and slam into reverse thrust. My legs almost give out from the force of landing with her in my arms. Only a sliver of pale blue mixed with the light of my body brings shape to her.

Breaking the suit off of Kelta, I check her pulse and find it non-existent.

“Don’t give up on me, beautiful.”

I do compressions, wondering why her cybernetic heart hasn’t restarted. It had movement. And then I remember the StarJumper’s suits could pull energy from the user in desperate times just like our skin absorbs and stores energy from the sun. There were always backups for backups. The Creators were resourceful. But in this case, it’s had devastating consequences.

It drained her cybernetic heart and used the pulses to charge me. I have no doubt.

I should’ve remembered, disconnected!

Regret weakens my compressions. Reality sinks in, making me hesitate. My human assessment programs blink with red warnings.

“Kelta— Don’t leave me here without you.” I clutch her to me and rock back and forth wishing she’d wake up, smile at me, flirt with me using those dirty little thoughts she always had.

“Just look at me. Please. Give me something.” I choke on water that leaks from my eyes—a human symptom of emotion. I am broken because you are gone.

Brush shifts around me. A handful of colorful lights filter through the dark trees.

I don’t care what happens to me anymore. I don’t have Kelta. I am lost.

A weapon disengages. The soft click of a safety switch snapping back into place tells me we could’ve been shot.

BlasterThruster: Where did you come from?

I look up, Kelta still hanging limply in my arms. Five Titans join us.

“Berserker in the sky. We were captured. Kelta gave the last of her power to me. I don’t know why her Titan core isn’t restarting. It should.”

Another Titan steps forward. Electricity crackles over his body. “Let me try.”

Reactor squats beside us as I lay Kelta down with aching arms.

“We thought you were decommissioned,” I admit.

“We have been stuck here.” Reactor lifts a hand. White electricity crackles over the surface of his skin into his fingers. He taps her chest.

Kelta arches and inhales with a horrid rattling noise. Her eyes widen and fill with shock. Reactor steps back as she coughs. “Thr-ruster?”

I thank Reactor and draw Kelta into my lap. Relief makes me brace the back of her head and kiss her.

“Hi.” I adjust her in my arms so she can look up at me.

Kelta smiles, laughs, then cries and hugs me. “You did it.”

“Technically,” I glance at Reactor beside us. “He is the one who saved you this time.”

“More Titans?”

Blaster slings the rifle over his shoulder. “There’s a wall around us of some sort of metal that’s kept us isolated from the others.”

“The Solcrue dropped it from ships,” Reactor says.

Banshee, who’s decked in gear bags of all kinds, adds, “We can’t navigate or communicate with others. It messes up our sensors like a cloud of chaff on radar missiles.”

"Tunnels are full of mutants." Knurl, a Brother covered in diamond shapes, glints with the first light of day. "They have claws strong enough to scratch even me."

“Welvirs,” I say as Kelta tries to sit up. “They were made in a lab on the other side of the mountain range. I can fly you out, but we’ll want to do it quickly and shortest distance possible.”

“Is this the human you serve?” Banshee asks.

“I do not serve Kelta.”

She grins and wheezes, “Not unless dick counts.”

“She…” Banshee raises his brows.

Kelta hooks a finger in my armor and pulls me to her lips. The kiss is brief as she’s still getting her breath back. And now, she’s just stealing mine.

"I missed this side of you," I whisper to her. I'm not ready to be free of her lips just yet and steal one more tender kiss. "You had me worried. I'm glad you're back."

She wipes her fingers over my cheek and quietly asks, “Were you crying…over me?”

I look down and take her hands in mine. "I don't ever want to return to life without you."

“Wait…” Banshee scratches his head. “You’re her sex toy?”

A strangled laugh leaves Kelta. “He is that for sure. But not just a toy.”

The Titans stare at me. “She’s my mate.”

“A mate? But she’s not Titan?” Reactor remarks.

“No. Leah Krader freed us. We can be with humans.”

Banshee shifts between his feet. “Krader, as in General?”

“Yeah, she’s his daughter,” I say. “She will free you, too. And there are many human females at our rebel camps. Many of us have found mates. But we are also planning…”

Kelta firmly pats my chest. “Stop!”

“What?”

She scrambles up and paces a circle, panting as she looks around us at the shimmering border. “I know this…this very thing happened to another rebel fleet.”

Kelta points to the boundary.

I get up and walk to her. “Explain.”

She shakes her head. “Do not say anything. Do not talk in your heads. Absolute silence. We move, now! As fast as you can! All sensors off.” Kelta motions to the mountains.

“How are we supposed to navigate?” Blaster asks.

She gives him a glance of disbelief. “Like a human. Take a route you know by memory.”

Blaster leads the pack with Reactor. Banshee, Knurl, and Shear, who doesn't speak. His jaw looks broken, and I fear how long it has been that way. Rebel can fix him, I have no doubt. We just have to stick together and get back to the camps in one piece.