Renegade Runner by Nicole Conway (ebook reader with highlight function .txt) 📗

becoming who you were meant to be. People like Faulbender probably look at humans as raw clay.” He paused, seeming reluctant to go into any more detail than that. At last, he gave a defeated sigh and murmured, “Not to mention, out of all the other species that’ve been planted and grown across this galaxy, humans are by far the closest to being Alzumarian. You’re the closest they’ve ever made to mirror images of themselves.”

I frowned. We were close to Alzumarian? How so? Enola had made it seem like humans were far more primitive than most of the other species they’d planted among the stars. Based on what I’d seen so far, she was absolutely right about that. We were far more fragile and knew basically nothing about the truth of how the galaxy around us really functioned.

A blur of motion caught my eye when I panned the scope across the firefight again. Something else—a smaller, slender figure—darted low around the wreckage, using the smoke and rubble to hide. I couldn’t make out any features, but the glowing purple tip of a long, spear-like weapon sizzled brightly and made it easy to track. Just the sight of it, shining like a star in the distance, put a strange tingle in the back of my mind. What was that thing?

Before I could ask, Phox nudged my foot with his. “Hey, let’s go. We don’t need to get caught out in the open like this, and the suns will be up soon.”

My grip on the rifle tightened. We were a long way from the battle, but I could still put that darting figure in the crosshairs of my scope. I could take a shot. Part of me, a deeply feral, terrified, and desperate part, wanted to. To kill them before they undoubtedly tried to do the same to me. That was how the game was played, wasn’t it?

But I couldn’t. If I took that shot, it would definitely give us away. What then?

I lowered the gun with a restless sigh. What was wrong with me? Since when was killing a complete stranger something that popped into my head like that? What was this race turning me into?

Beside me, Phox let out a deep, animalistic growl and bared his teeth as one of the spec-cams did a zooming pass right overhead, its lens trained on our location. What the hell? Why were they looking at us at a time like this? All the action was down below, where the Furies were still—

“Oh, shit!” Phox yelped suddenly, throwing an arm around me and yanking us both down low. We hit the deck just as a plume of fire erupted from the battle below with a ground-shaking BOOM that echoed through the canyon like the roll of thunder.

I winced, hugging the rifle to my chest and instinctively curling against Phox’s side as another explosion broke through the air, hitting so close, I could feel the heat like a gust off an open furnace. The air filled with smoke and a shower of salt and rubble.

What the hell was happening?

“RUN!” Phox bellowed as he basically thrust me onto my feet and took off back in the direction we’d come.

I threw the rifle over my back and sprinted after him, keeping as low as possible. Black smoke stung my eyes, burned in my throat, and made it hard to see what lay ahead. Somewhere up ahead was a very steep ledge to what would certainly be a deadly fall of several hundred feet.

Out of nowhere, a strong hand seized my arm and jerked me close. I smashed against Phox’s chest, gaping up at him in confused horror as he stood up. One look down and my heart hit the back of my throat. He’d taken the cable and hook on his belt and attached it to a big cluster of crystals at the crest of the cliff face. Oh my god. He wasn’t seriously about to—

“I’m gonna need you to trust me, human!” he shouted over the concussive KABOOM of another explosion as he sternly gathered me up and forced my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. “Hold on to me and don’t let go!”

I did. I gripped him for dear life, burying my face in the crook of his neck as he backed up to the edge of the cliff and jumped. Solid ground vanished. Falling—we were in freefall. I bit back a scream, squeezing him with all my might as the air rushed past. The smash and rumble of crystals and rocks breaking, falling, and shattering burned in my ears. Phox grunted and growled, yelling as his powerful body flexed against mine. What was he doing? Dammit all, I couldn’t see. Opening my eyes, all that filled my view was the ground rushing up faster and faster.

The cable went taut with a sudden TWAAAANG, jerking us to a violent halt for a second or two before it snapped. Phox flung his arms around me as though to shield me from impact as we plummeted the last few feet and landed with a crash and swirl of dust. We hit the ground with Phox on bottom.

I … I couldn’t move. My lungs spasmed as I fought to get my breath back. Then I realized—Phox wasn’t moving. Oh god, what if we’d landed on something sharp or pointed? What if something was broken?

“Phox?” My voice cracked as I pulled back from where I lay straddling him.

He didn’t move.

My body went cold. Oh no. No, no, no.

“Phox! Wake up!” I put my trembling hands on the sides of his face and roughly patted his cheeks. “Don’t you dare die on me! Not after all this! I can’t do this without you!”

His eyes squinted, his chest shuddering with a rough breath as he coughed and stirred.

My body sagged, my arms dropping to my sides in numb relief.

Phox groaned, stirring and blinking deliriously up at me. One of his pupils was blown. A thick, dark bluish