Maris’s heart shattered at those words. For him, Ture had killed his own brother. Before he could stop himself, he opened the face shield on his helmet and kissed him.
“Guys!” Hauk shouted. “We need to get out of here while we can. Put it back in your pants. Let’s go!”
“I still have three charges,” Darling told Hauk. “It should get us to the bay.”
Maris pulled away and made sure to keep Ture by his side as they headed toward their shuttle. Like a mother hen, Darling guarded them while Hauk went first as their scout.
They were halfway there when Caillen’s voice came over the link.
“We have company, and they’re throwing us a welcome party.”
Maris flinched at the sound of blaster fire and Fain’s curses. He closed his face shield, then shrugged his blast resistant jacket off and put it on Ture. It wasn’t as much protection as he’d like, but it was better than nothing. He inclined his head to Hauk to cover them as they moved forward with Darling covering their backs.
When they reached the bay, it was crawling with League personnel. His heart hammering, Maris knew he couldn’t carry Ture with his current wounds, and Ture was in no condition to run. “Hauk? Darling? Take Ture and get him on board. I’ll draw fire.”
Darling cursed at him.
“You sure?” Hauk asked.
“Yeah.”
Ture went pale. “Mari?”
He cupped Ture’s cheek as a wave of regret washed through him. I want to make it back to you...
But there was a lot of fire power here.
“Go with them, baby. I’ll be right behind you.”
He saw the doubt in Ture’s gray eyes as Hauk took his own jacket off. Tossing Ture over his shoulder, Hauk used his jacket to shield Ture’s legs. “On three I’m running to the shuttle with Ture,” Hauk announced to the Sentella members who were with them. “Don’t shoot us and someone open the damn door.”
“On it,” Caillen said.
Darling pulled out his bombs. “I’ll deflect them with two charges.”
Maris took one last look at Ture’s damaged face and prayed for a miracle. When Hauk hit two, Maris jerked his helmet off so that the League would know he was the primary target they were after. He set it on Ture’s head to protect him then ran into the bay before the others could stop him from doing it.
Darling’s profanity echoed in his ears as Darling tried to cover him.
“Sulle!” one of their enemies shouted before they opened fire.
Darling’s two charges went off, forcing them back temporarily.
Maris ran between ships and docked cargo, away from the shuttle, making sure that the soldiers had a clean line of sight on him.
“Damn it, Mari!” Darling shouted through the link in his ear. “Where did you vanish to? And what the fuck are you doing?”
“Protecting what I love. Don’t worry about me, Darling. I want you to launch as soon as Ture’s on board.”
Darling went into a round of Phrixian curses that would have made Maris’s father proud.
“Hauks, get Darling on that ship even if you have to shoot him. Fain, sit on his ass tight.” Maris ducked as a plasma blast whizzed by his head. “Lock it down and get out.”
Maris ran toward a large stack of boxes. Hitting his knees, he skidded around and opened fire on the soldiers who were closing in on his back. Then he jumped up and dove for cover.
And slammed against a League assassin.
Shit...
He waited for death. Until the assassin opened his helm.
It was Safir, who’d led them here to save Ture.
Maris scowled at his brother. Saf was supposed to have left already. “What are you doing?”
Saf handed him his blaster. “Use me as your shield.”
“Are you insane?”
“No. I’m repaying a blood debt. At least partially. Now, do it, Maris, or I’ll have to kill you.”
Still, he hesitated. “If I do this, you’ll lose your rank.”
“Better than losing my brother.” Saf closed his shield. “Don’t worry about me, Mari. I’ll live. Just get the others out. You know your crew will never leave you here to die and the League will never let any of you live.
Saf was right.
His heart breaking over what he had to do, Maris pulled him into a hug before he stepped around to Saf’s back and grabbed his neck. “Darling? Are you in?”
“On the ramp, looking for your stupid ass. We’re not leaving you, Mari. Ever.”
He’d been a fool to think they would. But then, that was why they were family.
Family hung together, even when it was insane to do so. They didn’t leave each other to die.
“I’m on my way.”
Saf pretended to struggle as Maris dragged him toward the ship. While assassins were trained to kill each other in a situation like this, the men in the bay were foot soldiers. They wouldn’t shoot so long as Maris held one of their own.
“I love you, brother,” he whispered to Saf.
Saf squeezed his arm to let him know he felt the same way.