16.
REDEK
Redek was the last of his team to appear in the ship, and it was already a war zone.
Lasers were being fired left, right and center from both parties, and there were more people on the ship than he’d been expecting.
He’d thought that the commanders would have kept themselves locked away with a small party and directed troops like Tisya planned to do.
It was an entire battalion on the ship, though, and he was outnumbered. They must have realized this was a possibility.
Redek didn’t have time to look around and see if he could spot Damien before his rage had kicked in.
Pure adrenaline coursed through his veins and it didn’t matter if someone was Damien or not. All that mattered was that they were an enemy.
In this state, he preferred his knives to his pistols, and he clutched them with such tightness that his bright red knuckles turned white.
It was practically autopilot: he dodged bullets and slashes and fired back with hard-hitting stabs that pierced neck after neck. It was impossible to avoid everything in the crossfire, and he knew, in the back of his mind, that a bullet had pierced his arm and he had multiple knife wounds, but the pain didn’t register.
He must have killed at least a dozen soldiers, until suddenly there were none left. Breathing hard, his feelings began to come back, and the first one was disappointment.
Damien hadn’t been on the ship. That must have meant Tisya hadn’t been able to find him.
This fight had only taken fifteen minutes max, though, and only one of their group had fallen in the fight.
That meant they still had work to do.
He looked around and realized people were staring at him with a trepidation they hadn’t had before. It was no longer distrust, but fear. Awe. They must not have seen a Suytovian in battle before. What he’d just achieved was nothing special.
“We should go back to the control center,” he said, falling into a leadership role because of the looks he was getting. They’d listen to him. “Get more orders. There are still things to do.”
There was a collective nod and they pressed the buttons on their bracelets.
The room in the tunnels was his surroundings again in an instant. He took a moment to adjust, then sought out Maddie.
A stab of panic went through him when he realized she wasn’t there. “Where is she?” he demanded over the conversation about where they would attack next.
Tisya jumped at his voice. “She went to lie down. She said she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Which room?” he demanded. It would take him a couple of minutes to jog down there and let her know he was still alive. That wouldn’t affect their next mission succeeding.
He had one last chance to say goodbye to her, and he couldn’t pass that up. He could hold her, kiss her, tell her he loved her.
He had to do that.
“You’re covered in blood,” Tisya said. “You’re only going to make her feel worse.”
In the back of his mind he knew Tisya was right. Maddie had always hated him like this, he could see it in her eyes even if she didn’t say it. When he was in a rage he was a different person, there was no control, and Maddie wanted to be as far away from that violence as she could.
But this wasn’t him coming home from work covered in blood.
This might be the last time he ever got to see her.
“Which room?” he asked again, sheathing his knives. “I’ll be quick.”
Tisya’s back was so tense that he knew Tisya must be annoyed about having to deal with this—he was in charge of coordinating movements, and this was only holding him up. So, he said, through gritted teeth, “In the one you rested in earlier.”
Redek nodded and opened the door to jog down the corridor. Fatigue was pulling at his muscles, but it wasn’t enough to deter him. It always happened after a rage. It was why they were bodyguards, not soldiers—saving someone from one attack and then it being over was the optimal use of his rages.
He was still serviceable, though. He’d still go back and do his best to help win this fight.
Just after he’d seen Maddie.
That would give him the energy he needed.
He reached the room and pushed the door open.
It lit up when he entered and triggered a motion sensor. It was empty.
Panic gripped him, and he opened the bathroom door in the back. That was empty, too. “Shit,” he muttered, turning on the spot and running his hands through his hair.
Tisya wasn’t stressed because of coordinating troops, he looked like that because he’d been lying to Redek.
He sprinted back to the control room and burst through the door. Everyone was still there, and it wasn’t awe on people’s faces anymore, it was straight-up fear.
“Where is she?” he demanded, and they parted so he could stride toward Tisya. He lifted the man by the collar and shoved him against the wall. “Where the fuck is she?”
“She found the man you were looking for and teleported to his ship.”
“And you let her?” his grip tightened until he was blocking Tisya’s airway. “Why did you lie?”
Tisya struggled to speak, and Redek got control of some of his anger, releasing him. He was surprised none of the other soldiers had intervened. “I wasn’t telling an enraged Suytovian that I let his untrained girlfriend go off and fight.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have done it.” He shoved Tisya back into the wall, hard, but didn’t follow up on it. “Give me the coordinates now. I’m going there.”
“They’re already in the tablet. You should all go. If he’s the head of this operation, killing him might end it all.”
Redek had already turned around and walked through the teleporter as Tisya said this. He didn’t care who, if anyone, followed him.
Maddie was in danger and nothing in the universe would stop him from going after her.