“It’s easier to cut off the head of the snake from right beside it, where it may not see you coming.”

  “I can’t argue with that. I’m looking for two killers in particular. One of them, a young caucasian male with blonde hair. Muscular, handsome. His name is Matt.

  “Matthew Swanson,” Mio said.

  “You saw him?” I asked excitedly.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m aware of his inclusion in the Spree. I was hoping to be the one to kill him, but we haven’t crossed paths.”

  I did my best not to react to her desire to murder my best friend. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, right? “The other, Quasar. A tall, dark-skinned, muscled woman with sharp eyes and a kind face.”

  I saw the recognition in her eyes before I even finished talking. “I’ve seen her,” she said. “A couple of Coil’s killers had her cornered, trying to get her to join up. Then Janda saw them and told them she was a Royal Marine and they tried to kill her.”

  “Tried?”

  Mio smiled. “She knocked them both out barehanded and took off. Janda shot at her. She might have been hit. I don’t know where she went after that. Maybe those creatures got her.”

  “Damn,” Druck said. “We need to find her fast if she’s wounded.”

  “We need to find them both fast,” I replied.

  “You said you’re making your own rules too,” Mio said. “What did you mean?”

  “It’s none of your business,” Emerald barked. “You already pledged your allegiance. Team Hondo has no vacancies.”

  “Team Hondo?”

  “We’re not all killers,” I explained. “We came here to rescue our people and get off this planet.”

  “How?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Our ride was destroyed on the way in.”

  She laughed. “Well, at least you’re honest. Not promising you can do it like Coil. Still, he has somewhat of a plan, even if it’s a long shot.”

  “I’ve got a backup plan, but I’d rather not try to use it.”

  “What’s that plan?”

  “I’m not sharing the details right now.”

  She laughed harder. “Now you sound exactly like Coil. You have no idea, do you?”

  “Actually, I’m being honest about a backup plan. The problem with it is that it’s all or nothing. If it works, great. If not, we all die.”

  “I see.” She shrugged, still not believing me. “Do you have any other questions, or can I go now?”

  “You aren’t going anywhere, Mio,” Emerald said. “Except to your final resting place.”

  “You can go now,” I said, stepping out from in front of her so she could get to the door.

  “What?” Emerald screeched.

  “We’re coming with you,” I told Mio. “I want to talk to Colonel Coil.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Mio didn’t seem too thrilled with my desire to talk to Colonel Coil.

  “You can’t just talk to him,” she said. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  “Then how does it work?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t,” she answered. “Coil is finished recruiting. Sixty killers, no more.” She paused, biting her lower lip. “Someone would have to die for you to have a shot.”

  “Well, that’s an easy solution,” Emerald said, grabbing the handle of her knife.

  “Emerald, wait,” I snapped, ready to push her away if needed. “I’m not part of the game. I shouldn’t count.”

  She considered it. “That’s not really for me to decide.”

  “Coil can decide, but you need to lead me to him, or at least tell me where he is.”

  “City center,” she said. “The original settlement command post is there. It’s the first floor of what became the administration tower as construction progressed.”

  “The tallest building in the city?” I asked.

  “Yes. You probably noticed it on the way in.”

  “I did.” I motioned to the door. “If you don’t want to come with me, you’re welcome to go on ahead.” I waited for her to move, but she didn’t. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m concerned Coil may view my talking to you, or my inability to kill you as a failure to him. He might cut me down as soon as I leave this room.”

  “So you want to stay here?”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “You seem awfully unsure of yourself for someone who made a sport of killing law enforcement,” Kat scowled, clearly not a fan of the woman.

  I didn’t blame him. I didn’t like her history either. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be useful. Despite recruiting Emerald and Veneel, I wasn’t really here to make friends. And they hadn’t joined me because of who I was. They stuck around because of what I could do…for them. At least at first. Now? I wasn’t as sure. Either Emerald really did have a weird crush on me or it was all an act, hoping to lower my guard for when she was ready to plant her knife in my back. I would continue to assume the latter, though I wanted to be able to trust her. I saw her as another innocent caught up in Sedaya’s web of death and lies, broken by years on Melchior.

  But how did she see herself?

  “You would understand if you’d met Coil already,” Mio answered. “I hunted humans with the background and training to potentially stop me before I brought them down. He’s….something else.”

  “I have no idea how you killed anyone,” Emerald said. “You’re soft.”

  “You caught me by surprise,” Mio countered. “Give me a fair—”

  “Did you make it fair for the people you killed?” Kat interrupted. “Or did you take them by surprise?”

  Mio glared at him but didn’t speak.

  “We’re leaving,” I said, growing impatient. “The problem is, you’re too dangerous to leave behind. So either you go to Coil ahead of us, you come with us, or you die. What’ll it be?”

  “Fine. I’ll come with you. Can I have my rifle back?”

  “Not a chance in hell,” Druck said, holding onto the weapon.

  “Druck, why don’t you keep her company?” I said.

  “No problem, Boss.” He moved behind Mio, shoving the muzzle of her rifle into her back. “No sudden moves, got it?”

  “I didn’t think you were taking me prisoner,” she said. “This is bullshit.”

  “Don’t think of it like that,” I replied. “Think of it as a show of respect. I know you’re dangerous, and I’m not taking any chances.”

  She smiled. “I like the sound of that.”

  “You could give her all of our guns, she wouldn’t be able to kill any of us,” Emerald quipped.

  As I turned and stepped out of the apartment, I noticed the glint of light from one of the windows in the building across the street from us. Glancing down the street, I spotted the quick flash of light from the target acknowledging whatever message the sentry had just sent.

  “He just finished transmitting,” Mio said. “That was the completion signal. Passed along a headcount of your group and a threat level estimate. Though Coil didn’t give us signals to describe jaggers or xixitls.” She shrugged.

  “Will they plan an ambush?” I asked as we started toward the stairs on the city-side of the building.

  She shrugged again. “Most likely. I imagine they’ll pull in additional units from around the city to deal with a group your size.”

  “Sixty against six?”

  “Of course you’ll kill a few of them, but Coil’s okay with casualties. Everyone who isn’t him is expendable.”

  “We’ll kill all of them,” Emerald said. “What will Colonel Dipshit do then?”

  “You seem pretty sure of your team.”

  Emerald squeezed my shoulder. “That’s because we have this guy.”

  “What are you, telekinetic or something?” Mio asked.

  “Something,” I replied. “But I guess it can be like telekinesis at times.”

  “I’m sure that gives you an advantage, but against sixty?” She shook her head. “They’ll lead from sniper positions higher in the surrounding buildings and try to pick you off before you even reach the main group. Can you defend against that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really?” she replied, surprised by my answer.

  “Yes, really.” I looked over my shoulder at her. “I don’t think you realize what you’re—”

  Her head jerked violently sideways into the wall of the building, a streak of blood following her down the wall as she collapsed. “Sniper!” Kat shouted,the sound of the gunshot reaching us too late to do anything about it.

  We all dove for cover behind the half-wall just before a round hit the building where my head had been a moment before. The sniper had made a mistake not going for me first. It seemed like retribution or punishment took priority.

  “Where is he shooting from?” Druck asked, his back against the wall. Now that we were hidden, the shooter didn’t bother to waste ammunition.

  “Farsss,” Ixital said.

  “One of the taller buildings, at least a few blocks away,” Kat translated. “I don’t know where he got a high-powered sniper rifle.”

  “They had a lottery before we deployed,” Druck replied. “Winners got to pick their weapon of choice.”

  “You can’t just choose a gun like that and be a crack shot with it.”

  “Nope. Whoever’s shooting at us, he’s done it plenty of times. We don’t have anything that can reach back. Unless you can pull the rifle right from his hands?”

  “At this distance, the energy required would take me completely out of the fight.”

  “So you’re saying we’re pretty much screwed.”

  “We can go down the steps and circle around to the other side of the building. Unless there’s another sniper there, we’ll be safe. Come on.”

  We stayed crouched down as we made our way along the wall to the protected stairs. It was slow going, but we reached street-level intact. To get around the building would leave each of us in the open for a few seconds, which I knew would be too long. I activated reflect and moved into view, creating a shield for the others.

  “Go, go, go!” I ordered at the same time the first round hit the shield and reversed course. Having to work against gravity would leave it without the velocity it needed to reach back to the shooter, but he couldn’t hit us either.

  “Haha, loser,” Emerald said, waiting behind as the others made a break for it. A second round hit my invisible shield and deflected. “Keep trying, asshole.” She jumped up and down behind me, waving to the sniper and blowing kisses.

  “We’re clear, Captain,” Kat announced through the comm badge.

  “Emerald, let’s go,” I said, turning my back on the sniper. Another loud crack verified his futile attempt to shoot me in the ass. She swung a pair of middle-fingers at the shooter as I put my arm around her waist and forced her to retreat with me. Dropping reflect, we reached the others in no time.

  “Nice work, Captain,” Kat said.

  “Thanks, but we’re not out of this yet. There could be more snipers anywhere, which means I’ll have to keep a bubble of reflect over us the entire way. That’s going to wear me out in no time.”

  “We don’t have to go into the city center,” Emerald said.

  “Yes, we do. I need to know if Coil has Matt.”

  “What I mean is, maybe we can get him to come to us. Maybe we can get a message to him.”

  “How?” I asked.

  Her eyes shifted to Shaq. “What’s cute, blue, extremely deadly, and a very small but fast target?”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, Shaq has trouble speaking English. His mouth wasn’t made for it.”

  “You can say parlay, can’t you?” she asked him.

  “Mmmhmmm,” he said, turning his head toward my face. “I can do it.”

  “It’s risky, bud,” I said.

  “For you,” he buzzed, laughing. “Trust me.”

  “You know I do. Okay. if you happen to run into Matt or Quasar, let them know we’re here.”

  “I will.” He pushed his face against my neck and purred before jumping to the ground and scampering around the corner of the building. Before I could give my next order, he came scampering back.

  “Shaq?” I said, confused.

  “Whoever the hell you are, come on out right now!” A gruff voice bellowed. “I want to meet the sumbitch who put a hurtin’ on those demon friggers.”

  Shaq didn’t need to go looking for Colonel Coil.

  He was already here.

  CHAPTER 26

  “Wait here,” I said to the others as Shaq scaled my arm to settle on my shoulder.

  “Me too?” he asked.

  “No, you’re with me,” I replied, turning to Ixitat. “Can you put some webs down back here? But leave a space for me to get back through. If they chase me around the corner, I want them to get stuck.”

  “Yesss,” Ixitat agreed, clacking soft laughter.

  “I’ll come with,” Emerald offered.

  I shook my head. “I know you don’t like to listen to anyone, but please, please, please stay here. If I need to defend myself, it’ll be much more efficient to keep the actions to just me instead of covering you too. And if I get into trouble, I’ll come to you.”

  She wrinkled her face as she considered my request. “Okay,” she decided, expression brightening. “Just come back to me, boo.”

  As usual, I ignored her fawning. “Kat, keep an eye on our rear. Make sure that the sniper doesn’t get line of sight to start picking us off.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Kat said. “On it, Captain.”

  “Well?” Coil shouted with the roughness of a drill sergeant. “Are you gonna come on out or what? I ain’t about to stand here all day waiting for your sorry ass. And believe me, you don’t want me to come back there after you.”

  I took a deep breath to prepare myself. This was just like going out on stage in front of a hostile audience, and I had a little bit of experience with that. The crowd at McRory’s had always been ready for our sound, but Matt had dragged us to a few music festivals and competitions where we hadn’t been as well received. If you want to be a rockstar, you need to act like a rockstar. Matt had said that a lot over the years. It was a sentiment I had always struggled with. I hadn’t felt that level of confidence. Not like he did. But things had changed. And even if my confidence wavered, my motivation remained higher than it had ever been.

  Heart pounding, I didn’t just meekly step around the corner. I walked into the enemy’s line of sight with my posture loose but upright, channeling my best version of Matt entering stage left. Even as my eyes drifted across the two dozen armed killers arranged from one side of the street to the other, even as I got my first look at the live Colonel Coil, scarier in person, I didn’t break character, locking eyes with the man as I strode toward him.

  It didn’t surprise me when he broke into a wide grin and started laughing. No doubt, I looked pathetic to the grizzled war veteran, even in my combat armor. Restore and exercise had given me muscle, but it was the lean, fast-twitch kind. I looked skinny and small compared to him and most of his recruits.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” he growled as I neared. “You got balls the size of Broncito, don’t ya, son? Though I guess it’s easier to be brave with a jagger riding your shoulder. I know you ain’t alone back there. My man Case tells me so. That’s close enough.”

  I stopped about ten feet away from him, just out of range of Shaq’s leap. He knew Shaq’s species. That gap had to be intentional. “I’m the leader of my group. Whatever agreement we make between us goes for them as well.”

  “Agreement?” he scowled. “Who said frig-all about an agreement? You think I called you out here to negotiate?”

  My eyes danced over the assembled killers again, hoping to find Matt among them. No dice.

  “You look at me when I’m talking!” Coil roared, hands curling into fists at his sides. Some of the killers around him shifted their weapons, but he didn’t make a move on me or order them to attack.

  It took a lot of effort, but I slowly returned my gaze to him, trying to quell the literal shaking in my boots. I had never been screamed at so violently before. Even Sedaya hadn’t frightened me as much as this guy.

  I had to remind myself that as long as I remained alert, he couldn’t actually hurt me. One move to cause me harm and I could raise a shield, enhance my strength, and make a break back to the others. When Coil’s people turned the corner, they’d get stuck in Ixitat’s webs and be easy pickings for the others. Kat might hesitate to kill them when they were trapped. Normally I would too, but the rules of Kill Spree pretty much demanded it. In any case, Ixy, Druck and Emerald wouldn’t have any such hangups.

  “I came out here to negotiate,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice from cracking.

  His loud laugh reminded me of George’s jovial guffaw, only with a heavy dose of menace lurking behind it. He cut if off almost instantly, expression turning serious. “Okay, soldier. I’ll humor you. What are we negotiating?”

  “For starters, I’m looking for someone. The Earthian. Matt Swanson. Do you have him?”

  He licked his lips before shrugging. “Anything’s possible, I suppose. Seen a lot of people perish last night. Perished quite a few myself. Can’t say for certain he wasn’t one of them. What do you want with him? It's a bad strategy to single out targets for kills and make it personal.”

  It took another effort not to get upset by his statement. I knew there was every chance Matt had died already, but I wouldn’t accept it until I saw his body with my own eyes. “Maybe someone in your group saw him?”

  “Maybe. Truth told, we could tell you pretty much anything. Why would you believe it?”

  “I’ll believe it on your word as an officer,” I replied.

  He nodded. “The only word of mine you can trust. Good call, son. You want to get, you got to give. That’s how negotiation works, right? I’ll ask my crew in exchange for something.”

  “What?”

  “How the frig-all should I know? This ain’t exactly the ideal place to bargain anything but souls. But you wanted to negotiate, so you’d better find something quick. Because the way I’m looking at it from here, my squad and I can cut you and your friend down before you can take two steps.”