Razor's Traitorous Heart: The Alliance Book 2 (19 page)

“Destin,” Kali breathed when she saw her
brother was in trouble.

Not stopping to think, she ran down the
narrow catwalk to the end. A long chain, used to hoist heavy
equipment, hung from a pulley. She jumped over the edge of the
railing, grabbed the chain and slid down it. Right before she hit
the bottom, she let go so that she landed on the backs of the two
men that had Destin cornered.

“Damn it, Kali,” Destin cursed out as she
rolled to the side as one of the men struggled to get up. “Get the
fuck out of here!”

“Not happening, Destin,” she yelled back as
she kicked the man closest to her in the face as Destin killed the
second man. She reached for the gun at the male’s waist. It was
empty. “Damn.”

She gasped as Destin reached down and hauled
her up to her feet. He pressed one of the knives he had taken off
one of the dead men into her hand. His look of rage and warning
told her he didn’t like what he was seeing.

“Are you okay?” He grunted out as they
pressed back against one of the curved pillars for protection.
“You’ve got a shitload of blood on your face.”

“That happens when you hit a brick wall with
it,” she snapped, yanking him back as a bullet flew mere inches
from his head. “What are you doing here with Razor?”

“You and I need to have a serious talk!”
Destin growled under his breath. “The guy claims you are his
Amate!
”

“Oh shit,” Kali muttered.

“Yeah,” Destin bit out. “What the fuck were
you thinking?”

Kali didn’t know how to answer her brother’s
coarse question. She glanced around the side of the pillar and
watched as Razor cut a deadly path through those that stood in his
way. The way he was looking around told her he was looking for her.
She pulled back with a grimace. If she thought she was trapped
before, it was nothing to what she was feeling right now. She
turned to Destin just as another figure rounded the pillar.

“Destin, look out!” She cried out in
warning.

She pulled him backwards at the same time as
Colbert struck. Pain exploded through her as the knife aimed for
Destin struck her instead as she stepped protectively in front of
her brother. The force pushed her back into Destin.

“You son-of-a-bitch!” Destin roared in rage,
striking back at Colbert. He hit him hard in the jaw, knocking him
backwards several steps. “Why? You were like a brother to us.
Why?”

“I was never your brother,” Colbert choked
back as he tried to defend himself from Destin’s vicious attack. “I
didn’t want you as a brother.”

Destin struck hard again, knocking the
bloody knife out of Colbert’s hand as he hit him in the jaw again
with his fist. He rammed his knee into Colbert’s stomach before he
struck him again. The force of the blow knocked Colbert off his
feet. While Colbert might have been the taller of the two men,
Destin was more thickly built from working out continuously over
the years. That strength was only enhanced by his rage.

Destin stood breathing heavily over the man
he used to care about like he was family. No more. Colbert’s
jealousy of Kali and his desire for power made Destin sick to his
stomach.

“This ends here and now,” Destin said in an
emotionless voice. “The city needs to heal. You’re through,
Colbert. Get out before I kill you.”

Destin turned away from the prone, bleeding
figure lying on the ground. Kali needed his help. Her white face
stared back at him in shock and pain. He started to take a step
toward where she was sitting against the pillar when the expression
in her pain filled eyes changed from pain to horror. He deftly
palmed the switchblade he carried strapped to his wrist. Flicking
it open, he turned and threw it in a single graceful arc. The long,
sharp blade cut deep as it embedded itself in Colbert’s chest.

Destin watched with regret as the life faded
from his old friend’s eyes. For a brief moment, he saw the small
boy he and Kali had befriended when they were just kids. The look
of fear and confusion tore at him almost as much as the tears in
Colbert’s eyes.

“I love you. I always have,” Colbert
whispered faintly as the life faded from his eyes.

Destin pushed back against the grief
threatening to overwhelm him. He wanted to cry out against the
unfairness of the world. He wanted to roar out his pain, but he
couldn’t. He was now the leader of Chicago. He had too much
responsibility and too much to do to give in to his own feelings of
grief, pain and despair.

Turning on his heel again, he walked toward
Kali who stared back at him with dark, sad eyes. He knew she could
feel his pain and sorrow. Her own eyes reflected it as she watched
him walk toward her.

“How bad is it?” He asked in a husky tone as
he knelt beside her.

“Not so bad,” she whispered even as the
tears coursed down her cheeks. She raised a trembling, bloodstained
hand and gently touched his damp cheek. “I love you, Destin.
Together, we will rebuild our home.”

Destin turned and stood up as Razor stepped
around the pillar. He studied the huge Trivator’s face as the alien
knelt in front of Kali. A frown crossed his face for a moment as
the male pulled a small pouch out from his waist. Razor pulled a
thin piece of cloth-like material out of it and pressed it against
Kali’s neck. Even as he watched, the look of pain faded from her
eyes and she began to slide to the side.

“What did you do to her?” Destin asked in a
voice thick with emotion.

“I gave her a pain patch,” Razor replied
stiffly as he bent and scooped Kali’s lethargic body up. “She needs
immediate medical attention.”

“No,” Kali said with a weary shake of her
head. “Doc can stitch me up. He’s done it enough times.”

Destin studied Kali’s mutinous face for a
moment before he looked back at Razor. His mouth tightened as he
pushed his personal feelings aside. He had made a deal. Razor would
protect Kali and keep her safe in exchange for the Trivator’s help
in defeating Colbert. It was one deal he hoped he didn’t live to
regret and one that he hoped Kali would one day forgive him for
making.

“You promise to protect her?” Destin
demanded in a hard voice. “You will keep your promise to let me
rebuild the city.”

“You have my word. I agreed to assist you in
defeating Colbert in exchange for Kali. I will instruct the
Alliance council to give you the governorship of this city.
Trivator troops will help you maintain order while the city is
being reconstructed.”

“What?” Kali mumbled, looking back and forth
between Razor and her brother. “Destin, I… I’m coming with you. I
have to protect you.”

Destin’s face softened as Kali’s head fell
back against Razor’s shoulder. He stepped closer. Lifting his hand,
he gently stroked her short hair. She reminded him so much of their
mother. She was a free spirit. She deserved to live a long and
happy life; not one filled with uncertainty and constant
danger.

Tears burned the back of his eyes as he
realized he might never see her again. His eyes turned down to the
blood soaking her shirt. Memories of their mother lying in a pool
of blood flooded him for a second. He couldn’t risk losing Kali. It
was better to know that she was alive somewhere out in the universe
than to watch her die here on Earth.

Razor had pointed that out in the alleyway.
Razor swore that if Destin agreed to his taking Kali with him, he
would protect her. Now, he realized that the Trivator was right. If
Kali remained on Earth, she would more than likely end up like
their mom, a victim of the violence that held the world in its
greedy grasp.

He stepped back away with a firm nod to his
face. “Take her. She’s yours,” Destin said, turning away. “Let’s
move out. We have a lot to do.”

“Destin?” Kali whispered, confused.
“Destin!”

“Take her, damn you,” Destin bit out without
turning around. “Take her before I change my mind.”

“I will protect her with my life,” Razor
replied, turning away.

“No! Destin! Please, no,” Kali cried out,
weakly fighting to break out of the strong arms carrying her.
“Destin! Damn you! You can’t do this! You need me. You promised
you’d never leave me. You promised.”

Destin kept his back to her. He didn’t want
her to see the tears streaming down his face as he walked away. He
hoped if there was a God out there that he forgave him because he
wasn’t sure that Kali ever would.

Destin paused as he saw William’s sightless
eyes. The crazy old man had refused to remain behind. William was
determined to help him find Kali. Kneeling beside the old hot dog
vender and former bookie’s body, he carefully lifted the snarled
hands and laid them across William’s chest.

“Thank you, old friend,” Destin murmured. “I
hope you find that heaven you were talking about. If you do, tell
my mom I said hello and to please forgive me. Please, tell her I’m
sorry I didn’t do a better job of taking care of Kali.”

Destin knelt on one knee with his head bowed
and let the pain and grief wash through him. The fading sound of
Kali’s hoarse pleads echoed around him as members of the Trivator
and his forces started cleaning up the dead and wounded. His
shoulders shook for a moment as the pain of losing so much ripped
through him. Throwing his head back, he breathed in deep, gulping
breaths as he begged for the pain to ease. After several long
minutes, he felt Tim’s hand on his shoulder. Turning tortured eyes
to his friend, he nodded.

“Make sure he gets a decent burial,” Destin
said gruffly, standing up.

“I will,” Tim replied, motioning to two men.
“Kali?”

“She’s gone… she’s gone. Hopefully to a
place where she will be safe.” Destin replied thickly, looking over
his shoulder toward the dark tunnel they had come through a short
while before.

Razor held Kali’s silent form tightly against
his chest. She had finally quit fighting against him. He knew every
move she made must have hurt her. He knew she was still conscious
from the occasion
al
movement of her
head.

He nodded to Cutter who stood to one side as
he approached one of the attack transports that had arrived with
the troops he had ordered. He ducked his head as he stepped inside
the back of the transport and continued down the long open back
where the troops normally stood ready for departure to the front.
He carefully laid Kali down on one of the medic cots that folded
down from the side of the transport.

“Lift off,” he ordered to the pilot. “Notify
Patch that I need his presence at the landing site.”

“Yes, sir,” the pilot said, immediately
opening communications with the main base.

“What about Councilman Badrick?” Cutter
asked. “The council will have questions about why he was not
transported out.”

Razor’s eyes glittered with barely
suppressed rage. “Let them,” he snapped. “Badrick is dead. Usoleum
custom is to immediately incinerate the body. Have it done.”

His head turned when he felt slender fingers
wrap around his wrist. He threaded his fingers through Kali’s short
dark hair as he leaned forward. Her soft, warm breath caressed his
cheek as he bent to hear her faint words.

“You promised… to find the… women he took,”
she reminded him.

Razor pulled back and shook his head in
wonder. She was bleeding, bruised and exhausted and she was more
concerned about the women Badrick had taken than her own wounds.
His fingers tightened in her hair when she tried to pull away.

“Send Thunder and Vice to Badrick’s
apartments to search it and confiscate his Starship,” Razor
ordered, never breaking the contact between him and Kali. “I want
them to find the women that were taken.”

“I’ll notify them immediately,” Cutter
replied quietly, turning toward the front of the transport.

Razor relaxed his fingers when Kali released
his wrist. He watched as she licked her dry licks several times.
Leaning forward again, he bent so he could hear her again.

“You are totally on… my shit… list,” she
whispered, closing her eyes as she gave into the medication of the
patch and her exhaustion.

Razor sat back on his haunches and smiled
down at her relaxed face. Dried blood coated one side of her face
and dirty tracks from her tears stained the creamy skin, but he had
never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He raised a
trembling hand to stroke her cheek.

Lowering his head, he rested it next to hers
and listened as she breathed in and out. Closing his eyes, he
wondered how she was going to react when she realized what his
plans were for keeping her safe. After what just happened… a
shudder went through his body as he remembered seeing the knife
piercing her body.

He pulled back so he could cup her warm
cheek in his hand. The feel of her warm skin, her soft breath, the
slight rise and fall of her chest reassured him that she lived.
When he had seen Colbert strike her, his blood had run cold. From
the angle he was standing it looked like it had gone into her
heart. Destin’s roar of rage had only re-enforced his fear. He had
fought his way over to her in a desperate bid to get to her as she
slid down the stone pillar.

“You have caused me to feel more fear in the
few weeks that I have known you than I have felt my entire life,”
he murmured as he gently stroked her hair. “Your brother thinks you
will not forgive either of us for wanting to protect you. I would
rather have your rage than to lose you and so would he. You do not
understand how precious you are, my
fi’ta
. For a Trivator
warrior to find his
Amate
, only to lose her is a pain no
warrior wants to endure. You are far too brave, far too proud, far
too precious for your own good. I hope you forgive us for… for
loving you enough to want to keep you safe from harm,” he
whispered.