Page 37 of Naughty List Delivery
Behind me, Ober and Krax separate again, circling like exhausted gladiators in an arena designed for their mutual destruction. Ober’s movements are slowing—I can see the cost of his protective fury in the tremor in his hands, the way his enhanced reflexes are beginning to fail him as adrenaline and blood loss take their toll.
But he’s still standing. Still putting himself between Krax and me with absolute determination that makes my chest tight with emotions I don’t have time to process.
“One minute!” Vex announces, but his attention keeps drifting between his brother’s fight and the families, his elegant features transparent with grief that transforms his face into something I’ve never seen before.
“If Lira and Zara were in those energy barriers,” Vex says suddenly, his voice carrying a note of decision that makes my heart skip a beat. “If some madman had taken them hostage to make a point about the nature of justice... what would I want someone to do?”
The question hangs in the recycled air like a prayer waiting for an answer, and I realize the countdown isn’t just timing our deaths—it’s timing his decision.
“You’d want someone to save them,” I say quietly, my voice somehow carrying across the chaos of combat and crying children and systems failing around us. “No matter what it cost. No matter who got hurt. You’d want someone to choose love over revenge, children over conscience, Christmas over consequences.”
“Yes,” Vex breathes, and suddenly his hands are moving over the control interface with desperate precision. “Yes, I would.”
But Krax hears his brother’s words even through his rage, his head snapping toward the control console just as Ober’s next strike connects with his ribs. The impact sends him staggering, phosphorescent blood spraying in an arc that catches the emergency lighting, but instead of counterattacking, he spins toward Vex with growing horror and understanding.
“Brother,” Krax calls without taking his eyes off Ober, his voice carrying exhaustion instead of authority, grief instead of rage. “Prepare the detonation sequence. It’s almost time for our final lesson.”
“Yes, brother,” Vex replies, his melodic voice carrying undertones of grief and determination in equal measure. “It’s time.”
But instead of activating detonation charges, his fingers dance over a different set of controls—the energy barrier frequency modulators that keep the families imprisoned, the guard communication systems that coordinate their positions, the emergency blast door overrides that could open a path to freedom. He’s not preparing for destruction.
He’s preparing for rescue.
“Ober,” I whisper, my lips barely moving as I watch Vex’s hands work with the kind of precision that speaks to years of technical training. “He’s going to do it. He’s going to help us.”
“Noomi,” Ober calls across the platform during a brief separation, his voice carrying the weight of everything we’ve never said to each other while Krax circles him like a predator looking for the killing blow. Blood streams from claw marks across his chest, and I can see the exhaustion building in his movements. “If this goes wrong, if we don’t both make it out... I need you to know that yesterday, when you found me instead of running again... it gave me hope I’d thought was gone forever.”
The confession hits me like a plasma bolt to the chest, stealing my breath and making my eyes burn with tears I can’t afford to shed. Twenty-four hours since he helped me escape that cantina. Twenty-four hours since I stopped running from the only man I’ve ever loved and let him prove he’s changed. Twenty-four hours of him putting himself between me and danger while I finally stopped being afraid to trust him.
“After we save these families,” I shout back fiercely, my voice carrying across the chaos, “we’re going to have a very long conversation about what comes next. And it’s going to involve a lot less running away and a lot more—”
Krax lunges again, cutting off my words as Ober spins to meet the attack. They go down in a tangle of limbs and fury that carries them dangerously close to the energy barriers, close enough that I can see the families pressing back in terror as two apex predators try to kill each other within arm’s reach.
“Forty-five seconds,” Vex says quietly, taking over the countdown from his brother with gentle finality.
His phosphorescent patterns pulse with resolution as the first guard finally realizes something is wrong and starts moving toward the console. But Vex has had years to plan for thismoment, and his hands move with the kind of muscle memory that speaks to endless rehearsal.
Energy barrier frequencies shift to unstable wavelengths. Guard communication systems develop mysterious static interference. Blast door overrides prepare to activate on command.
Around the bay, guards finally start moving as they realize their carefully orchestrated operation is falling apart, but they’re confused about their priorities. The ones by the blast doors maintain position, following their last clear orders. The ones near the families raise their weapons uncertainly, not sure whether they’re supposed to be protecting the hostages or containing them. The two by the console start toward Vex, but they’re moving through a maze of combat between Ober and Krax that makes approach dangerous.
“Thirty seconds,” Vex continues, his elegant features set with determination that transforms his face into something I’ve never seen before—not predator, but protector.
“Mother,” I say into the communication system, my voice steady despite the chaos around me. “When the music starts, dance fast. The barriers are going to fail, the doors are going to open, and some are going to need immediate medical attention.”
“Copy that, girl,” Mother’s voice crackles back, and I catch the subtle emphasis that means she understands exactly what’s about to happen. “Dancing shoes are on. Medical team is standing by. All packages will be delivered safely.”
Around us, families begin to understand that something is changing. Children stop crying long enough to press against the energy barriers, small hands reaching toward freedom they can sense but not yet touch. The elderly Lividians cease their mourning keen and begin what sounds like a prayer for salvation. In Section C, the young adults with their bondingcrystals start moving toward the barrier edges, ready to run the moment they can.
“Twenty seconds,” Vex says, but Krax has heard enough.
With a roar of betrayal and desperate fury that makes every guard in the bay flinch, he breaks away from Ober and lunges toward the control console. His phosphorescent patterns flash with colors I’ve never seen before—pure rage mixed with the kind of pain that comes from watching your last family member choose strangers over blood.
But Ober, bleeding and exhausted, still has enough fight left to grab Krax’s ankle and send them both crashing to the platform deck in a tangle of claws and desperation. The impact reverberates through the metal flooring, and I hear the unmistakable sound of something important breaking—whether bones or equipment, I can’t tell.
“Brother,” Vex says quietly, his hands hovering over the final control sequence as guards finally reach the console. “I can’t do this. I won’t be part of destroying children to heal your pain. Even we have limits. Even love has limits.”
“Ten seconds,” he announces, his voice carrying across the bay with absolute finality.
