Page 114 of Kai
“It’s not one of ours.”
Cece twisted her mouth into a grimace. “Is it coming for us?”
I typed in the vectors, and my gut yanked. “If it maintains its current course, it will be on us in…” I didn’t need Bellator to do the math for me. “Three minutes.”
“Warning,” Bellator said. “Infrared deployed.”
“Oh, shit.” Cece wrung her hands. “Does that mean the helo is seeking a target?”
“That’s an affirm.” I hit the keys, trying to get a fix on the aircraft, but it was like trying to catch a greased pig. The thing was too fast and sleek to pin down, and it dipped in and out of my camera range.
Before I could get any more answers, Bellator piped up.“Target acquired.”
Cece flinched beside me. “Can you shoot it down?”
“It’s too fast.” I tried catching a set of coordinates, but the helicopter dipped out of radar range again. “Hell, even if it got closer, the weapons I have would only tickle its belly.”
“Unidentified aircraft decreasing velocity,” Bellator reported and then, “Unidentified aircraft engaging hover mode.”
I studied the screen as the helo hovered just below the cliffs on the east side of the island.
“What is it doing?” Cece asked, her voice shaky.
I gave her my best guess. “It’s preparing.”To attack, I didn’t say.
“Weapons engaged,” Bellator reported.
“Can they see us?” Cece’s nails sank into my shoulder. “Is the cloaking device working?”
Before I could answer, the bot announced. “Warning. Missile loaded.”
Best case scenario, it didn’t know we were here. Worst-case scenario, we were done. Perhaps I could blow off all the explosives I’d planted in the cove and hope to shock them long enough to allow us to escape. Or maybe the explosion could create enough turbulence to slow or down the beast. But if I activated my explosive defenses, there was no going back. We’d be at war with a superior enemy armed with enormous capabilities for destruction.
“Target acquired,” Bellator announced.
I pulled up the cap of the explosive’s ignition control. The moment I flicked it on, the helo would know we were here. But then again, there was a chance it already knew…
Cece started, “Kai, I—”
“No.” I pushed the words through gritted teeth. “You and I, we have a future. This is not goodbye.”
I hoped I hadn’t told Cece a lie.
Chapter Thirty-six
Cece
The deafening roar of a powerful engine obliterated my thoughts. My heart shot up to my throat, and my knees quaked as Kai and I looked out the windows. The chuff of the blades cutting into the air preceded the appearance of the flying beast as it rose over the ridge, casting a sinister shadow over the cove’s clear waters and etching the ripples that rolled beneathSerenity.
I couldn’t hear Bellator’s voice over the ruckus, but I caught sight of the announcement that flashed on one monitor in huge red caps. “Missile loaded.”
Kai stared up at the infernal machine now hovering over the tall cliffs. It drifted closer and closer to us, a black and fiery death coming for us. A brief metallic hiss swooshed in the air.
“Fox,” the captions blared on the screen.
I clung to Kai, tucked my head against his shoulder, and shut my eyes.Goodbye, Thena, Missy, Affie, Dash. I love you. Nix, I’m coming, and I’m bringing Kai with me.I had a spare second to thank the universe for gifting me a few days of bliss with Kai. However short our time together had been, it’d changed me for good.
Kai’s hold tightened around my shoulders. He muttered something, but the helicopter was too close for me to hear him. I counted down the seconds.Three. Two. One…
