Blood and Steel by Angela Knight

Author:Angela Knight [Knight, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Paranormal
Published: 2011-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

The next morning, they went to her hotel, one of several at Kring Station. This one was relatively upscale, and her room was a generous suite. Elyn headed for the safe inset in the wall to reveal a gleaming bracer and a set of rings.

Blade’s brows rose. “You’ve got a sonic ripper?”

“Wouldn’t hunt vampires without one.” Elyn started working the ripper’s power bracer down over her hand to her wrist, then settled the attached silver rings into place on her fingers. A mental order made the ripper flicker into view—a length of three-dimensional light, thin as a rapier blade and about the same length. The light blade itself was harmless, being basically a triddie projection. It served the same purpose as tracer rounds, letting the user know where the actual blade field was. Otherwise you could end up cutting off your own hand with the sonic vibrations the ripper projected.

Blade eyed the glowing weapon warily. “If you had a ripper, why didn’t you use it on me?”

Her gaze flicked away from his. “Because I didn’t get it for you. This is for Urthar. ” Elyn switched the ripper off and went to work attaching the shield bracer to her left arm. “Plus, I didn’t want station security watching my every move. And they would have been once they picked up the ripper. I knew you were monitoring their comp system.”

“Yet, you’re using it now.” He watched as she tested the shield, its repulse field delineated by a glowing disc. It would let her blade through, but nothing else.

She shrugged. “Urthar and Daven are probably after you, and I don’t care to be unarmed when they show up. I’m good hand-to-hand, but not enough to fight a vampire Urthar’s age.” The twin bracers gleaming on her forearms, she moved to the hotel room’s wide closet and got out a single suitcase. It was already packed and ready to go. Elyn gave him a curt nod. “I’m ready.”

He studied her face, eyes narrow and too perceptive for her peace of mind. “It wasn’t just Kruz. You’re afraid of them. No. You’re afraid of Urthar.”

She went still. “I have reason to be. He’s a more creative monster than Kruz. Kruz wanted to break me so he could force me to do what he wanted. Urthar loved listening to me scream. He likes his ripper, but he really likes his whips.” Elyn snapped her teeth closed, realizing too late that she’d said too much. The pity in Blade’s black eyes burned like an acid bath.

He thought she was weak.

And worse, he had reason. Elyn gritted her teeth, remembering the raw terror she’d felt when she’d woken tied to his bunk. Shame scalded her. “Don’t you pity me,” she snarled. “I don’t deserve it. I survived those bastards with my sanity intact.”

“Yes.” He said the word quietly, without condescension. “You did. How did you do it?”

There was enough genuine admiration in the question that she felt her rage die. “You. And the ones he sent me to seduce before you.

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