Rebel Pax (Shifters of the Primus Book 2) (10 page)

“What’s the plan?” asks Davoso as he checks around a corner to make sure we’re clear to move forward.

“I need to speak to Ferrus. Someone has tried to discredit Mira and I, so my warnings will fall on deaf ears anywhere else. But Ferrus was my most trusted advisor when I was king. He will know what to do. I just need to find him…”

“That should be easy,” says Davoso. “Ferrus is king.”

“What?” I ask, feeling a stab of confusion. “But he swore an oath to serve the crown, not to take it… Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. The more power he holds, the more able he will be to assist us in finding Gaius’ men before they can strike.”

But a lingering feeling in my gut says his role as king is not a blessing. I feared that my return would be a threat to those in power. But I did not think to count Ferrus among them. And he is the only one I can still turn to...

“So we’re just going to walk into the palace as wanted criminals?” asks Mira.

“No,” I say. “We’re going to break into the palace and hope we’re not discovered before we reach Ferrus.”

“I know the perfect way in,” says Davoso.

W
e slip
through several darkened vine-bridges and alleys until we’re on the platform that holds the king’s palace. It’s not as grand as the palace in Jektan, but I am impressed but its stark, military efficiency. The building seems made entirely of straight lines and hard material. But Davoso assures us there is a way in through the back. Beyond the front entrance, the palace is largely empty of patrols. There are no places for Watchers to hide and skulk about, so we are able to confidently know we are still undetected. We reach the back of the palace, where a metal grate leaks some sort of liquid.

Davoso motions to the grate, which looks barely large enough for even me to fit through. Pax glares at Davoso. “This is your way in?” asks Pax. “Only child could fit through there, or…” he looks toward me, eyes growing darker as he realizes what Davoso intends. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Absolutely not what?” I ask.

Pax growls. “He thinks I am going to let you climb through there by yourself. Likely to open up a bigger path for us to come after you.”

Davoso shrugs. “It’s the only way.”

“It’s out of the question,” says Pax, moving a step closer to Davoso.

I take a deep breath and pull the grate free, slipping in before Pax can stop me. My decision is motivated slightly by still being a little pissed at him. Part of me wants to strike back somehow. As soon as I do it, the regret begins to sink in, but I refuse to turn back and look foolish. So I push through the grate while he calls after me. The circular pipe is a tight fit for even me. I shimmy deeper, trying not to think about what the liquid beneath me could be. Before long, I see an open room before me. It looks like some sort of kitchen.

I carefully look around the room to make sure it’s empty before dropping in. I’m about to try one of the doors when I hear footsteps immediately on the other side.
Oh shit
. I don’t have time for much, so I cross my fingers and plaster myself to the wall behind the door. It swings open and I grab the handle to keep it from swinging back to a close. The open door covers all but my feet and I cower, hoping whoever is in the room doesn’t notice.

I hear more footsteps, something heavy being moved from a table, and then the door at the other end of the room opens and closes. I nearly laugh with relief, but manage to control myself. I sneak through the door and into a hallway. To my right, I see a Primus wearing thick black armor with a large spear. To my left, the hallway is empty.

Left it is.

I scurry down as quickly as I can, hoping I’m not seen. But just as I’m about to round the corner, a raised voice calls after me.

“Hey! Who’s there!?”

I curse, running even faster and nearly knocking myself out on a heavily armored Primus guard as I turn a corner. I weave around him, feeling the icy fingers of panic grab me.
Well, what else could go wrong?
A lot, as it turns out. The hallway I’m running down is a dead end. Footsteps pound behind me. There’s one room, but when I get inside I realize it’s an interior room. No windows, no other exits. Just a bed, a bathroom, a huge closet with a wardrobe I would kill for inside, and that is it. I lock the door from the inside, but I know it’s not going to stop an angry Primus any more than a wet bag would stop a bull.

I pace, tapping my lips in frantic thought. I rip off a fingernail with my teeth—bad habit, I know. Sue me. When I spit it to the ground, my eyes track it as it arcs over a table and lands on… A suspicious section of carpet that is lighter than the rest, just slightly. I kneel, even as I hear heavy footsteps and deep voices outside the door. I pull at the carpet and a square of fabric rises up to reveal a trapdoor.

I don’t spare a thought for hesitation. So by the time the guards knock down the door, all they find is an empty room. I don’t waste any time making it through the escape tunnel either. As I near the far end, I hear the barely-lowered voices of Pax and Davoso arguing above. The relief that washes over me is palpable as I unlock an overhead hatch from my end and push it free. Dust and dirt crumble away from the disused path and I rise up to see Pax and Davoso still standing near the grate where I entered. Pax has actually managed to
bend
the pipe somewhat with his bare hands, as if he was planning on literally forcing his way through to come after me.

He sees me first and rushes toward me, pulling me into him protectively. “Do not ever do that again,” he says.

“I’ll apologize later, but right now we have bigger problems.”

One of the men who was following me rises from the hatch. Pax gently pushes me aside and then bull-rushes him before he has fully risen from the hatch, cracking his spine against the narrow lip of the opening. I cringe at the sound and sight as the man’s body slips back into the opening. Another Primus rises from the hole, only to be lifted and thrown several feet into the nearest wall by Pax. Davoso squeezes off two plasma-rounds into the man who now lays motionless, tendrils of smoke snaking up from his wounds.

“Quickly,” says Pax.

We move back through the escape hatch. Pax moves confidently through the palace, obviously knowing where he is going from his time as king. We meet no more resistance on our way to Ferrus’ room. Ferrus’ door is ornately carved and gilded in gold. Pax raises an eyebrow at this, as it is clearly a new addition.

He tries the doorknob but when it doesn’t give, he throws his shoulder against the door, knocking it from its hinges and to the ground. A Primus sits on the bed. His skin is dark blue and he has a wide forehead with a long, high-peaked nose. There’s something in his look that reminds me of a vulture, but his blue eyes also hold an intelligence and a promise of clever thoughts and quick wit.

“Pax,” he says easily, not rising from the ornate chair he sits in beside a mirror. Dozens of bioluminescent mushrooms of a golden color I have not yet seen light his face. “I knew you would come.”

I
look
at my former advisor in disgust. The luxury he has surrounded himself does not befit a Primus. It especially is poor for one of the Toltek clan to give in so completely to greed for material wealth. I stalk around him, sensing that my original plan to warn him of the danger is already a wasted effort.

“You do not seem surprised to see me,” I say.

“You? No. Him? A little bit,” he says, nodding to Davoso, who shrugs in response.

“I came to warn you of a threat to your people,” I say.

“Yes. Last I heard, that threat was you. It seems abandoning your people in their time of need wasn’t enough destruction for you. Now you have debased yourself with terrorism and associating with criminals.”

I grit my teeth. “You know I would never…”

He pauses for a moment, face emotionless. And then a grin seeps across his face so slowly and deliberately that it makes my stomach churn. “Yes, I do know that,” says Ferrus. He stands, his golden-threaded robes open down to his chest. He wears an ornamental sabir on his hip and a crown of golden leaves. But no amount of gold finery can hide the blue skin that denies his royal lineage.

“And yet you accuse me?”

“And yet I accuse you. Think about it, my too-muscled friend. What is the most effective way to rid yourself of an enemy who is more powerful than yourself?”

“Train and practice until you can defeat the enemy,” I say.

He chuckles. “Yes, you would say something like that. But no, at least not for those of us who are in more of a rush. The answer is betrayal.”

The word makes my stomach sink and my fists clench. It opens up a torrent of doubt and question that I had held back long enough to forget.

“Yes, I betrayed you all those years ago. Those terrorists you released had such boring plans.” He clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “Start a business, grow their families. . . Some drivel like that. Cowards.

So I set a bomb and framed them, knowing your shame would drive you to some sort of self-destructive act. Of course I had no idea it would work out so perfectly. Exiling yourself?” Ferrus laughs, a quick, barking sound with no humor. “And you practically named me king on your way out the door when you didn’t establish a line of succession.”

I growl, panther claws slowly extending from my fingertips as the rage within my soul grows. “You have made a mistake in telling me this. . .”

“No,” says Ferrus calmly. “You made a mistake in coming here.” He snaps his fingers.

The door behind us opens and Admiral Gaius walks in, flanked by a dozen humans with coil guns. Behind them, ten Primus warriors in full nano armor with plasma-tipped spears stomp in, surrounding us. I nearly fly into a killing rage, knowing I would not survive but wanting to kill Ferrus, Gaius, and as many more as I could before I fall. But I see Mira beside me and know that she needs my protection. I am surprised to find that no part of me, even the beast, desires to find a death in battle here. Has this female truly claimed my heart so powerfully?

I fight against all the instincts I have honed over my long life and stand at ease, choosing my battle. I know fighting now would guarantee Mira’s death, so I do the only thing I can do and wait. Perhaps an opportunity to save her will present itself. I would die for her in a heartbeat, but not if there is even a hope of saving her by living.

Gaius smiles at me and Mira, frowning as he takes in the sight of me. “What a specimen,” he says. “It will be a shame to put you to waste, but I suppose it cannot be helped. Ferrus, I’ll send the men you requested this evening. Oh, and make sure you don’t fuck it up this time.”

Ferrus bows. He actually
bows
to the human. The degree of his cowardice and the shame he brings upon the Primus nearly make me forget my purpose.

“You serve this human?” I ask, disgust dripping from my voice.

Ferrus quirks an eyebrow toward me, not fully looking in my direction. “I’m not content to just sit on this small corner of Markul and rule a single clan like you were, Pax. Gaius can offer me much more than that. It’s time the Primus embrace change. And I believe I am the one to bring about that change.”

I growl. “
You?
How would you have our people change?”

“Easy,” says Ferrus. “We live in a relative technological squalor. Why? Because we’re too prideful to embrace the power available to us for fear that it will make us look weak. But I am different. I do not fear
looking
weak. I will look as weak as I must to gain strength. And I will bring our strength to bear upon the galaxy. We will pillage and harvest every last planet within our reach until every horded secret is ours. And then we will bring our glory upon other galaxies until there is no corner of the universe where the Primus name is not known.”

“And you?” asks Mira, nodding to Gaius. “You’re willing to let him loose? You’ll have the blood of
billions
on your hands.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, little girl,” says Gaius, advancing toward Mira.

I move between the two of them and hear the click and whirr of a dozen pulse-rifles being aimed toward my head.

Gaius smirks, raising his hands in mock surrender. “As I was saying. I will have the blood of billions on my hands if I don’t act. Do you think King Kato is really going to just let us live like leeches forever? What will happen when our population grows troublesome for him?”

“Kato isn’t like that,” says Mira. “Besides, he would do anything to keep my sister happy. She wouldn’t ever forgive him if he turned on us.”

“Oh to be naive again. . .” Gaius says, chuckling. “Your sister has no love for New Hope and the human race. She’s fucking a primitive and living among them. She lounges in luxury while we toil to build the basic necessities. She did her part in opening her legs for that savage and granting us passage here, but her use has come to an end. As has yours. There is no place for sympathizers in the new world I will create.”

Gaius nods to Ferrus, who motions for the Primus men to take Mira.

When one of them reaches for her, I see only red. I shift my arm until its bursting with coiled muscle. I bring my claw down and snap the Primus’ arm in half before he can touch Mira.

“No!” Shouts Mira, seeing the coil guns aiming for me.

Gaius raises a hand for his men to hold their fire. “I’m not done with this one quite yet. But he could use taming.” He pulls a plasma pistol from his hip and fires into my legs and torso.

I move toward him but each blast of plasma saps my strength. Two in my thigh and I lurch toward him. One more burst of white-hot pain in my stomach bends me over. I nearly fall but gain my balance, stumbling toward him. Three more blasts to my chest drop me to the floor. I try to breathe in but the sound is wet and choked. My eyes find Mira, burning with a desire to protect her yet knowing I have failed.

I see Davoso spray one of the Primus and a human with plasma from his pistol but he’s quickly overwhelmed and pinned to the ground. One of the Primus warriors jabs a plasma-tipped spear into his back and Davoso grits his teeth, growling with pain.

“Take these two beasts away,” says Gaius. “I want to question them, so leave them in the dungeons.”

“I’ll take her,” says Ferrus. “My Kolari female has begun to bore me. Perhaps this human will do for a while.”

Mira screams for me and I try to stand but my muscles do not respond. I can feel my body struggling to heal the massive trauma inflicted on me. My head spins and my vision threatens to go black but I fight against it, refusing to surrender my consciousness. Mira needs me, and by all the gods I will protect her. But how will I do anything when my body feels so broken? One of the Primus warriors kicks me hard in the side, lighting my wounds with fresh agony. Mira. . . I will find a way to save you.