Page 81 of Stealing the Star Stone
In the chaos, Zal’s guards surrounded their chief, forming a wall of muscle between him and Orien.
“What the fuck, Orien,” Nova yelled, kneeling beside Zal.
The man lived but with a gaping hole in his chest.Dark blue blood poured from the wound.She held his gaze, trying to convey she’d do what she could.
Eli twirled the machete like it was a rapier and smacked the blaster out of Orien’s hand.The older man leaped back, dodging Eli’s slash.
Applying direct pressure to the wound, she spared them a glance, then caught Frederik’s gaze.“Help me get Zal to the pool.”
Khepan joined them.Between the three of them, they managed to carry a groaning Zal to the eels.
“Why didn’t you run?”she asked Khepan, her breathing ragged when they hefted Zal into the water.The silver weeds shifted, making way for his bulk.The eels swarmed him, slipping around his body to gather at the wound.She rested her elbows on the rocks and washed the blood from her palms and fingers.
“I was there when he killed my chief.”Khepan grimaced.“I prayed to the gods for his death.I mean to witness it.”
“Fair enough,” she said, drying her hands on the front strip of her loincloth.For so long, she’d wished she could see the life leech from Seth’s murderer, even though she didn’t know who’d done it.Hence why she blamed Warden.“And how did you convince them we’re the ones you came to see?”she asked Frederik.
“They know your names.I just repeated them until they took me to their king.”He hitched his thumb at Zal floating in the pool.“What’s with that?”
“The eels heal,” she said, her voice soft.
She was mesmerized, unable to drag her gaze away.
Eli and Orien were in an epic sword fight, dodging swipes and lunges.Orien used a lance, no doubt Zal’s, and had more reach.Eli moved like a snake, ducking and striking.Blood stained Orien’s shirt and cargo pants, appearing to be the weaker of the two.
Never would she have thought Eli could move like that or had any skill with weapons.He met Orien’s thrust with the blade skidding along the lance’s shaft until their faces were inches apart.The scene was incredible, his copper hair trailing him like a falling star.
“It’s like your movieBang Bang, Binary Baby.Ms.Blake moves like you did.”Frederik beamed.
“Yeah, but I don’t know where this is heading.Worst case scenario, she dies.Best case, Orien finally gets his comeuppance.”
Frederik palmed his blaster—looking like a toy gun in his bulky hand.“I can’t fire.They’re jumping around too much.”He met her gaze.“I would prefer not to kill anyone, Mr.Thorne.Even if it’s Lord Orien.”
She got it.Ending someone’s life wouldn’t sit well on anyone’s conscience.Well, maybe not true for Orien.She didn’t want to pull the trigger either.
A yelp snapped her focus to the swordfight.
Orien had jumped to the side, his eyes wide, his expression dazed.
Eli was covered in blue sparks, skittering over his body like static electricity brought to life.They traveled along the machete’s blade, painting Orien’s face aglow with the tip of the weapon a breath away from his neck.Eli’s hair floated around his head, forming a halo.Orien threw aside the lance; it clattered across the floor, distracting her for a second.In that time, he dived for the discarded blaster.
Frederik gasped.
Boom.
Orien flew back, landing on a pile of cushions.Blood bloomed across his chest.
“Shit,” she said, sprinting to him.She cast a glance at Eli amid a blaze of blue.“The pool’s not big enough for two men.”
Frederik stood beside her.“You want to save him?”
“You shot him,” she snapped.“I get it, you hate his guts, but if he dies, how will we explain it to the authorities?”
An image of the half-eaten man fallen into the cave came to mind.What would Orien have told the man’s family?Would he have even bothered?
“I will take him,” Amenkar said, skirting around his guards.
“You have more eels…quet?”She rested on her heels, letting his men carry Orien away.
