Page 122 of Star Claimed Omega
She flinched and turned, eyes dilated, heartbreak written in the lines of her face. ‘Santi?’
She twisted midair, startled, almost losing momentum.
Her eyes locked on him, terrified.
With a growl, he activated his neural comms.Miral, get the override ready. Remain on stand by.
He launched up after her in a blaze of gold and violet.
A spectral arc of muscle and light hurtling toward the one thing in this void he couldn’t bear to lose.
Soleil never stopped staring at him.
Santi’s spectral power carried him forward the last few meters until he hovered before his lover, facing the see-through barrier shielding Gage’s cell.
His hands clenched into fists. ‘Mi sol, what are you doing? Why the hell are you here?’
‘Scarlet,’ Varnok purred from beyond the shielded force wall. ‘As I live and fester.’
Varnok chuckled, a rasp like rust and acid. ‘Ah, the lover arrives. Right on cue.’
Santi didn’t glance at him. Rage simmered in his chest; he saw only red behind his eyes, wanting to tear open that vault and burn theCarmine Cardinalto ash.
Still, his gaze never left her face. ‘Talk to me. Are you acting of your own volition?’
She shook her head, and then her entire body convulsed and shuddered, and he spotted a flash of energy arc from her hands and angle all over her.
She cried out in agony, and he tried to lunge for her, but she put out a hand.
‘Nada,’ she moaned as the pain shuddered through her.
‘Fokkthis shit,’ Santi rasped, surging ahead.
Until she reached inside her bag and pulled out a round, silver, metallic, and pulsing device.
‘Don’t come closer,’ she whispered, and the tremble in her utterance made his blood run cold. She shoved her hand forward to show off what she was clutching.
Santi jolted, recognizing the shape.
It was an oscillating core bomb, proximity-linked, with a dual-modulation switch.
Not just dangerous, devastating.
It had the potential to take out half the deck they were on, heavy shielded or not.
Soleil was shaking, but her voice held. ‘If you come closer, my handler will detonate this bomb. It’ll take you and me out, but it’ll also rupture the cage’s dampener field and override the safety locks. He’ll escape regardless.’
‘So this is a breakout?’ he barked, storming closer. ‘You better have anfokkin’ good explanation for this shit show.’
‘We don’t have time for that,’ Soleil whispered. ‘I need to act now or we die.’
From within his cage, Varnok smiled, golden teeth glinting in the shadows. ‘Why so surprised, Signet dog. She wants to be reunited with her father. Me.’
‘Thefokk?’ Santi’s voice cracked, his eyes still locked on Soleil. ‘Varnok Gage is your father. Which makes you -?’
Her shoulders slumped, and she muttered the truth with bitterness. ‘The Red Queen. Of theRed Skulls.’
Varnok crowed. ‘You had no idea she is the Alpha daughter of theMad Wolf King, me?’
