"He won't be coming for you," Captain Rivers said conversationally, not looking at Amanda. His eyes were on the ruins of the city as his men fired volley after volley of plasma shots into the fog. Amanda prayed that Markath had gotten out of the way quickly enough.

At least Hannah and the others are out of danger for a bit, she thought. That was cold comfort when Markath was in danger, but it was something. The men had come after her fast, and she'd only barely gotten into the cave ahead of them. Not far enough to outrun them, though. But it did mean that Captain Rivers hadn't sent anyone to kill the rest of the crew.

Not yet, anyway.

Finally, the guns fell silent. Rivers looked down into the swirling fog, but there was no way of telling if his men had hit their target. He turned back to Amanda, a cold smile on his lips. He was a tall, thin-faced man, and his icy blue eyes showed no emotion at all. There seemed to be no color, no passion, about him, and that was more frightening than a screaming rage would have been. His men moved with a smooth, almost eerie precision as they scanned the fog-bound cityscape below them.

"There is no way for him to reach us without being torn to pieces by our guns," the captain continued. "Even as a dragon, we'll clip him from the air before he's close enough to spit his fire. These aliens have fought disorganized rabble so far, but against a properly organized military force they stand no chance."

"Yeah?" Amanda knew she shouldn't risk taunting the man but she couldn't keep silent. "Maybe you should tell that to the three men you sent into the fog after him, instead of me?"

Rivers' eyes hardened and for a moment Amanda thought he was going to hit her. But then he shook his head, a small smile tugging at a corner of his mouth. It didn't reach his eyes.

"A point," he conceded softly. "And yet he can't approach us. You are in my hands and quite helpless, and apparently, he cares for you. So I have the upper hand, and will prevail."

"Brave man, talking up how dangerous you are when you outnumber Markath six to one," Amanda forced a smile of her own. She doubted it was very convincing, after all she was terrified, but she would be damned before she let this man think he'd beaten her. "I wonder how you'd feel in a one-on-one fight?"

"Dead, I imagine," Rivers said, and this time his smile seemed almost sincere. "Which is why I have no intention of fighting fair. Bring her."

That last was to Jim, not her. The big man held her arm in a vice-like grip, pulling her forward following Rivers to the front of the formation. Dieter trailed along uncertainly behind them, his nervous eyes darting around. He, at least, didn't seem too confident about their success.

With a shove, Jim pushed Amanda to her knees, and her heart froze as Rivers drew his own gun and put it to her head. Rivers held a pistol rather than one of the heavy rifles, but against her it would be enough. She bit down on a whimper, trying to keep her panic in check.

"Dragon," Rivers called out across the city. A microphone in his suit amplified his voice into a booming echo that filled the vast cave. So close to her ear, the sound was deafening.

"Dragon, I have your woman here. Come out where we can talk, and I promise you that we'll reach a fair resolution of our problems." Rivers paused, letting the echoes die down, but there was no response from the fog. "I have no quarrel with you, dragon. But I also have no intention of letting this drag on for long. Come out now!"

Silence hung over the cave, and then Markath answered from somewhere in the false city. "You just tried to kill me. How can I trust you?"

His voice echoed amongst the buildings, making it hard to track down where it came from. The soldiers brought their rifles around, looking for a target, but none presented itself. Rivers laughed unconvincingly.

"Come, we're both warriors," he said. "Trying to kill each other is what we do. Now, though, I see I can profit more from you alive. And you can get rich, too, if you come to Earth with us. There is so much my employers would like to learn from you."

Amanda swallowed. She knew that was true, but it wouldn't be a good thing for Markath. The corporation that Rivers worked for would rip the knowledge from a dragon if they got their hands on him. The image of her mate strapped to a table, scientists carving him up for the secrets in his body, wouldn't go away.

Don't fall for it, Markath, please don't be that stupid.

"If you want to talk, come down here on your own. We'll talk," Markath said. The echoes had moved — he wasn't staying in one position while they pinned down where he was. "But I'm not going to betray my people, Rivers."

With a quiet click, Rivers flicked off the safety on his pistol. "No, I don't think so. If you won't trust my word, then you'll come out because of what I'll do to Amanda if you don't."

The crack of the gunshot was unbearably loud so close to her head, and Amanda jumped in shock and terror. The bullet kicked up dust ahead of her, and Jim's hand held her in place as Rivers slowly brought the pistol down again. The pistol's barrel tapped against her arm.

"The next bullet goes into her, dragon," Rivers called out. "I've not decided where, yet. A knee perhaps? Or maybe her hand? I am not a cruel man, and I will stop as soon as you come out."

Don't, she wanted to cry out. Don't do it, he'll just kill you and then me. She couldn't imagine this man letting either of them go alive. But she also knew a protest like that was useless. Markath would face any risk to keep her safe from harm, Amanda was sure. She knew it deep in her soul.

And she couldn't face being the cause of his death. She had to do something, anything, to save him.

Rivers dragged the gun barrel along her cheek, the hot metal making her flinch. There was no response from the city, and he sighed theatrically.

"Very well. Remember that you could have stopped this," he said, lifting his pistol and moving it out of her sight. Amanda squeezed her eyes shut, pulse racing and unable to breathe, trying not to wonder where he planned to shoot her. She never found out.

"Wait!" Markath called. "Wait, I will come out."

Amanda took a long, shuddering breath, her whole body shaking with a mix of relief and horror. Next to her she felt Rivers straighten up. His attention was on the fog now, and all of his men stood ready. Amanda knew with a dreadful certainty that they would open fire as soon as they had a clear shot at Markath. Rivers' promise meant nothing, less than nothing, to him and his men.

She found herself wishing that she'd never met Markath, that she hadn't brought him here into this danger. Now, to save her, he was about to sacrifice himself, and that hurt worse than she could imagine. Worse than any gunshot could. There was nothing that she could do about it.

And worst of all, it wouldn't work. Rivers would almost certainly shoot her anyway, and Markath would have given his life for nothing.

No. I won't let that happen. I can't let that happen. If he's going to sacrifice himself for me, I have to make it count.

With shaking fingers, she fumbled at her belt, hoping that Rivers and the rest were too focused on Markath to pay any attention to what she was up to. Even Jim, holding her in place, was looking into the fog. Amanda's only plan was a desperate one, a huge risk, but what the hell. She was going to die if she did nothing, so she might as well give it a go.

As her fingers found the zip she was looking for, she saw movement in the fog below the ramp she was kneeling on. The soldiers saw it too, smoothly pivoting to aim their guns at it, but none of them took the shot. Not yet, not until they were sure of their target. They could afford to wait.

Amanda swallowed, trying to keep her breathing slow and calm, to stop her panic. Everything seemed to be moving so slowly, and she seemed to have all the time in the world to notice that something was wrong. The shape in the fog was far too big.

No, that wasn't it. There was more than one shape down there.

Then everything happened in a blur. Someone started to shout an alarm as a dozen demon tigers burst from the fog, charging up the ramp towards the humans. The six limbed creatures moved with an almost unbelievable speed, and despite their training the soldiers froze at the sight of them. By the time the first one got a shot off, the devil tigers were almost on them.

Amanda, on the other hand, didn't hesitate. As soon as the devil tigers burst forth from the fog, she grabbed into the hastily-packed medkit on her belt. The syringe she'd filled earlier still lay on top, and in one smooth motion she buried the needle in the thigh of her captor. Jim gasped in shock, grip on her shoulder weakening. Next to them, Rivers snapped off a shot at the charging horde, his prisoner forgotten.

Amanda knew that she wouldn't have another chance. Grabbing Jim's wrist, she twisted, pulling him off balance and sending him staggering forward. He turned, eyes wide and furious, his massive fist rising. One punch from him would be enough to take her out of the fight, she knew. She had one chance.

With a heave, she slammed her shoulder into his stomach.

It wouldn't have worked normally, but between his shock and the drugs weakening his leg, he was off balance already. Amanda's shove was the last straw, and Jim fell, tumbling down the ramp into the oncoming animal charge. As one pounced on him, Amanda looked away. Jim deserved his fate, but that didn't mean she wanted to watch.

Hot plasma blasted one of the devil tigers and it howled, its charge turning into a tumble. Another leaped over its corpse, slamming into the shooter with heavy paws and driving him to the ground. The unit dissolved into chaos as the soldiers tried to get more shots off, but the unexpected charge had thrown into disarray. Now that the animals were amongst them, their guns were as much a danger to their comrades as to the enemy.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dieter. He must have turned to run as soon as the creatures had appeared — he was already in the tunnel mouth, sprinting for all he was worth. With a head start like that, she thought he might even make it, but she didn't even consider following him. The demon tigers were close enough that there was no way she'd outdistance them.

Instead, Amanda turned and ran for the edge of the ramp. Even though fall was steep and into unknown territory, it beat staying here where everyone was her enemy. Glancing back, she saw Rivers raise his pistol toward her and ducked just as he squeezed the trigger. The bullet tugged at the sleeve of her suit, and Amanda found herself tumbling to the floor, expecting the next shot to finish her.

A huge black and red demon tiger jumped between them, and she lost sight of Rivers. Come on, come on, get up, she told herself as she tried to breathe, to move, to escape. The snapping sounds of the rifles filled the air, and all around her was chaos. She had no idea who was winning, and no idea what Markath's plan was.

But she knew that he had one, and that he was coming for her. All she needed was to stay alive until he reached her.