Jaxon knew she could have snapped his neck, could have killed him instantly, but she merely sought to put him to sleep. Nolan struggled, trying to rip her hands away. Mishka held tight. Finally, the otherworlder’s wheezing stopped and he slumped to the dirt-laden floor.
She released him with a mournful sigh.
“Sure he’s not faking?” Jaxon asked her. “Our drugs may not work on otherworlders.”
“I’m sure. His body chemistry and his vitals have calmed completely.”
“Good. Unlock me, sweetheart. They can communicate through their minds, and if he told the others you were free, they’ll be down here soon. And we need all the time we can get to free Lucius.”
Expression pensive, she rushed to his side and began working at his chains, her metal finger acting as the key. While she worked, her ears twitched as if she were listening to a conversation he could not hear. “They’re not gearing for attack. They’re…” She frowned. “They are watching a movie, I think. A dreadful one, at that, with a gunfight and shitty dialogue. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can hold them, Tyler. You must, you’re our only hope.’ They’re laughing about it, at least.”
Humor burst through him, and he rubbed at his now free wrists. He knew she’d relayed the bit of conversation for his benefit. “Probably hope to learn all of our secrets through our programming.”
“We’re going to have to kill them. Even Nolan.”
“I know.”
“I just couldn’t do it. Not to him, not yet. I’m pissed at him, but anyway”—she waved her hand through the air—“after we’ve killed the others, we can question Nolan about the queen.”
“I know,” he repeated. And he did. Nolan wasn’t too bad a guy. Not great, but not as horrible as some Jaxon had encountered. Still, the Earth’s safety, Mishka’s safety, came first. Always. Ultimately, they would kill him.
“Stupid of me to wait,” she whispered.
“No, compassionate. It’s a good goal, finding love. No one should die without knowing it.” He paused, his mind churning with all the things that could go wrong. “We have to kill them without making them bleed and we have to kill them fast enough that they aren’t able to disappear on us.”
“Yes.”
She unsnapped his ankles, and he rubbed those, too. “Mia and the others should be here soon, but I’m afraid they won’t have any more luck against the invisibility than we did. Any ideas? I mean, right now we’re pretty much weaponless.”
“Right now we are.”
His brow rose in question as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.
“Give me ten minutes. If I can’t put a pyre-gun in your hand in ten minutes, I’ll give you a blow job later in apology.”
“Baby, you need motivation to succeed, not fail.”
A laugh bubbled from her, delighting him.
“Besides, I’d rather you just moved in with me.”
Obviously not the response she’d expected. “Wh-what?”
“I love you, and I want you living with me.” Reaching down, he grabbed her arm and hoisted her up. “Marriage, too, but I figured I’d shove that little gem at you once I’d gotten you addicted to hot-water showers and chocolate.”
Chocolate. She’d read about it. Sweet and delicious, a rare treat since most cocoa plants had been burned, the fields wiped out during the human-alien war. “I—I—you love me?”
Jaxon tugged her to the bars and she crouched, working on the tumbler. Her hands were shaking. “I thought it was obvious when I didn’t shove my foot so far up Estap’s ass it had to be removed surgically,” he said. “Instead, I saved him for you.”
She nibbled on her lower lip, silent.
“Say something. I’m dying here.”
“I’ll say something,” Lucius’s voice echoed from the next cell over. “That ten minutes is ticking, sweetheart. Do I get to reap the rewards, too?”
The lock fell open and Mishka straightened.
Jaxon ran his tongue over his teeth, though he knew Lucius wasn’t serious. The man was too in love with Eden. Otherwise, Jaxon would’ve had to kill him. Violently.
“You can tell me how much you love me later,” Jaxon said.
“Let’s go kill us some Schön. Just don’t be surprised when I kick those pyre-guns out of your hands.”
CHAPTER 26
Mind on the task at hand, mind on the task at hand. Hard to concentrate, though, when one simple phrase kept drifting through Mishka’s mind: He loves me. Earlier he’d mentioned keeping her, perhaps adopting children one day. But love? In all her wildest dreams, she’d never considered such a possibility. Hoped, yes. But a strong, intelligent man choosing her above all else? Of his own free will? A miracle!
She unchained Lucius, knowing she sported a stupid grin. Jaxon and I will spend the rest of our lives together.
Rest of our lives. Okay, that phrase managed to overshadow the other. How long did they have? How long did she have? Would his life end here as Dallas thought?
No, she couldn’t let herself think like that. The Schön had overpowered them once; the bastards wouldn’t do so again. She would make sure of it.
Part of her wanted to take the Schön all by herself. A few weeks ago, she would have. Would have put Jaxon and Lucius to sleep or rechained them and left them in the cells. What happened afterward, the consequences of her actions, would not have mattered. But now, everything mattered.
She could kill a few of the otherworlders on her own, but probably not all. They could use their invisibility and escape or overtake her. They could get to Jaxon, kill him before she realized they’d left the room. And if they left the building and decided A.I.R. no longer deserved a choice about the disease, Jaxon, if he survived today, would be at risk for infection.
None of those options appealed to her.
The Schön had to die, and the best way to ensure that was to fight them as a team.
Without her toys, she did not know the layout of the building or the position of the aliens. Yet she needed to sneak quietly and invisibly and confiscate a few pyre-guns.
“Once I’ve gotten my hands on the weapons, I think our best course of action is to set the pyre-guns to stun,” she said, “flip out the lights so they can’t see us, either, and start shooting. Stun won’t affect either of you, and hopefully they won’t be able to see you.”