“You’ve made powerful enemies.” He kept his voice level, well aware every man here was listening. “The bounty on your head is huge with death to all who help you.” That had several men taking a step back.
Helldrick laughed, but Zaxe heard the forced quality of it. “I’ve always had enemies. People have been trying to kill me for decades.” He held his arms out at his side. “Yet, I’m still here.” Many of his men nodded and some voiced their agreement.
“You’ve never had an enemy like the king of Gravas.”
Everyone went silent. They were all aware the Gravasians were the most powerful and lethal military force in existence. They could conquer the universe but preferred to keep to themselves. If someone stepped over the line and thought to take them on, it always ended badly for the attacker. “The king’s personal assassin killed your older son Balthazar.”
“Then why didn’t he send his assassin for me? I say you’re lying.”
“Call it a personal favor.”
“And just who are you?” Helldrick demanded, his face turning red with rage.
“Zaxe.”
“That’s a weapon, not a name.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile. “It’s the name Artemis gave me.” He dropped the name, wondering if the older man would recognize it. Artemis had run the top assassins in the known universe before her untimely death.
“You’re one of her people? I can bargain with her. She knows me.”
“She doesn’t send her regards. The Gravasians killed her for her involvement in your little plot. The body count is huge and still growing. You should never have tried to take tech from them.”
Now many of the men were backing away. One broke and ran. Helldrick drew his blaster and fired. The man toppled forward, dead before he hit the ground. “I’ll kill any deserters,” he bellowed. His remaining men shuffled in place, their gaze darting from their leader back to Zaxe.
“What you failed to realize,” Zaxe went on, continuing to encourage dissension in the ranks, “was that the man you took the tech from, the one your son held captive, was the king’s son.” He had to keep his target talking a little bit longer.
“Oh, shit.” Jamaeh’s soft whisper calmed him. She was alive. It was his job to keep her that way.
“That is an automatic death sentence. The Gravasians don’t mess around with things like that. There’s no trial, no jury, just the executioner.” Zaxe drew his blaster and fired in one quick, practiced motion. The beam hit Helldrick in the center of his forehead. His eyes widened before he toppled back. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Zaxe threw himself to the ground and rolled, firing in quick succession. An explosion ripped through the camp. Right on time. One after another, the tents exploded. Men raced for the sand sleds, but some fought back.
Tamping down his emotions, he fired again and again. The best way to keep Jamaeh alive was to keep the men focused on him. She’d dropped to the dirt as soon as he’d fired, taking her brother with her. A man to Zaxe’s right went down. He didn’t dare glance over his shoulder, but there was little doubt that she’d armed herself.
The battle was short but vicious. He showed no mercy, left none alive. Two managed to make it to the sleds. He knelt on one knee, took a deep breath, aimed, and fired. His shot was true. He took out one and then the other. The sleds continued on a few feet before crashing to a stop.
Silence descended, but for the crackling of the burning tents. As the smoke cleared, Zaxe stalked toward where he’d last seen Jamaeh.
“Stop right there.” Esau stepped in front of his sister, a blaster in his shaking hands.
“Esau, no.” Jamaeh pushed to her feet, her weapon held down by her side.
“I have no argument with you,” he assured the younger man.
Ignoring his sister, Esau pushed her behind when she tried to get around him. “I heard you. No mercy to anyone involved. Helldrick is our father.” His face turned pasty as he glanced at the body. “Was our father.”
“You didn’t volunteer to come here.”
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“Esau, put down the weapon.” Jamaeh reached for his hand, but he shook his head, his chin going up.
“No, I didn’t protect you before. I have to now.” He swallowed heavily, his throat rippling. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Listen to your sister.” Her brother wasn’t a killer by nature. It wasn’t in his eyes, but accidents happened. “Just lower the blaster and we’ll talk. You don’t want to kill anyone. It leaves a stain on your soul.” He knew that better than anyone. The teen seemed conflicted but determined.
It would be easy enough to take him down, but Zaxe didn’t want to dent his confidence. He liked that Esau was man enough to stand up for his sister, even though he was only eighteen.
“I had no choice.” He was watching Jamaeh as he spoke. She had one hand wrapped around her throat. There would be bruises there, just like the one on her face where the bastard had struck her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She licked her lips, which were chapped from the heat and wind. Dust clung to her clothes and there was a rip in her tunic, but she was alive. Everything else could be healed or mended.
“Jamaeh.” He started toward her, needing to hold her in his arms, to reassure himself she really was safe.
Esau took a step forward, the toe of his boot catching in a discarded flask. When he lurched forward, the blaster discharged, hitting Zaxe dead in the chest. The exact same place he’d taken the hit from the explosive. He fell back several steps and righted himself. “Boy, either kill me or put the damn weapon down. You shoot me again and I’m not going to be happy.”
What little remaining color he had drained from his face. “I didn’t mean to do that.” He stared from Zaxe to the blaster and back again. “How are you upright? Did I miss?”
“No.” Not taking any chances, he strode forward to take the weapon. Jamaeh moved in front of her brother.
“It was an accident,” she insisted. Did she think he’d shoot him?
“This isn’t an accident.” He grabbed her by the shoulders, dragged her against his chest, and kissed her. Mindful of her injuries, he eased his hold, but she threw her arms around him and held on tight. The taste of her settled him. She really was alive.
“I left so you’d have a chance,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
“Once I got over wanting to throttle you, I realized that. You knew I’d follow you.”
She shrugged. “I knew you’d finish your mission.”
She had no idea the power she held over him. He was only being to understand it himself. He tucked several skinny braids behind her ear. “The mission changed the moment Helldrick hurt you. I couldn’t let him live after that.”
“No, I suppose you couldn’t.” Her slow smile filled his world with sunshine. He bent his head to kiss her again when a throat cleared beside them.
“Ah, I take it you know each other.” Eyes wide and a slight smile on his face, Esau watched them.
How would she answer? How much would she want her brother to know? His heart pounded, not from the adrenaline from the battle but in anticipation. He wanted her to claim him as her own. He wanted a place to belong, to call home.