Hey Rogues!
Dan and I are closing in on the finish line of Iron Legion Book 3, Hunter. So to get you all in the mood here is an action packed excerpt for your enjoyment!
Hope you are all looking forward to the release!
Hunter – Iron Legion Book 3 Excerpt
The wall exploded behind me in a flurry of splinters and sparks. Four shots rang out in quick succession, punching through the wall in a diamond shape as Alice spread them around a little, maximizing her chances.
I dived forward. Buckshot sprayed over my head, raking across my back and shredding my jacket. Pain seared my skin, but it was just a glancing blow.
Roquefort’s chest exploded in a flurry of scarlet mist as the second bullet hit him just above the heart. The first had gone wide, but the third punched a hole in his collar, missing his neck by a centimeter. The fourth struck him just below the ribs and he spun backward, spurting blood onto the floor.
My elbows hit the ground and I sprang sideways, driving my shoulder into Food stains’ gut before he could drag his shotgun back down from the recoil. He grunted and staggered backwards.
Out of my peripheral, I could see our Everett’s legs close like a vice around the little Everett’s neck. She twisted him up, still tethered to the girder, and dragged him backward as he tried to scramble for the curtain.
I regained my feet, ignoring the pain in my back and shoulder and reached for the shotgun barrel. My fingers closed around it and twisted hard. Food stains sagged and I threw a stiff hook right into his jaw. My knuckles sang, but I hit him again.
He let go of the shotgun and tried to defend himself, pulling his arms up into a wide block.
I grit my teeth and jumped up, slamming my knee into his stomach again. His cheeks puffed like ripe blueberries, his lips puckered as the air was expelled out of him. His guard dropped, and my right hand joined my left on the shotgun. I heaved it around, swinging hard and watched as the stock came up over Food stains’ shoulder and clattered into the side of his face with a dull thud.
His features crammed themselves against the stock and then slingshotted away as he tumbled through the air, spinning into a heap on the ground.
Everett was still caught up in our Everett’s grip as I turned, the door bursting open. Alice darted in low, sweeping the muzzle of her Arcram around the room with practiced precision. She lined it up on Roquefort, then Food stains, aiming at Everett only when she was satisfied the other two were dealt with.
I wrung my right hand out, noting the deep ache between my second and fourth knuckle, and the seeming absence of my third. Broken. Had to be. It was hurting like a bitch.
Our Everett twisted the other Everett around and kicked him into the room, gasping for air.
He needed to be dispensed with. Whether it was the pain in my back and hand, the fact that he’d just threatened someone I cared about, the fact that I really didn’t like him, or just that I was losing my empathetic streak, I wasn’t sure. But as I wound up, lifted my knee, and then lashed out with a crescent kick, feeling something crunch under my heel as it connected with Everett’s temple, I didn’t really feel anything except a warm wash of relief.
He spun to the ground and laid still. By the time he settled, I was already untying the knot around our Everett’s wrists. Alice was checking the pulses of Roquefort and Food stains by the time I got her down. She collapsed onto me and I held her up. She was clutching at her ribs and stomach — though he couldn’t reach her face, it seemed like he’d given what he could, where he could. But, luckily nothing really seemed broken — nothing except my own knuckle.
“This one’s still alive,” Alice said, turning to us, her fingers on the neck of Food stains. “What do you want to do?”
I looked at our Everett, her features set and grave. “It’s your call,” I said.
Alice sighed. “What are we doing here — are we calling this in?”
“No,” Everett said. “We’re not. Kepler — it’s why I didn’t want to involve you. It’s why I asked for Red, because… Because he knows something that—”
She held her hand up. “I get it. But I’m here now. And, while I don’t pretend to know what’s going on, if you don’t want this getting back to Volchec, then you know what needs to happen.” She stood up from Food stains and walked towards us.
Everett nodded and sighed. “Yeah.”
“I’ll do it,” I said quietly.
“What?” Everett asked, surprised.
I took her arm from around my neck and Alice stepped under the other side, supporting her.
“Get her out of here,” I said to Alice. “Back to the ship, or… Wherever. Let me know where you are. I’ll catch up.” I was already rolling Roquefort over to get at my Arcram that’d been stuffed in his belt.
“You sure about this, Red?” Everett asked, her voice thin, her hand pressed to her stomach.
I nodded, standing up and pulling back the barrel to cock it. “Yeah, I’m sure. Now go.”
The door closed behind them and I thumbed the pistol up to the lethal setting, sighing, telling myself that this is what it was about. Not doing what felt right, but what was right for the team, what was right for the mission, for me. It was separating what I feared and what I knew.
I stood over Food stains, staring down at the rolls on his neck, the beads of sweat oozing out of his greasy skin, and pulled the trigger, barely wincing at the dull thunk from the Arcram’s muzzle.
A little red hole appeared behind his ear and the gentle pulse in his neck halted and fell still.
I could taste the blood mist in the air, metallic on my tongue like old copper as I turned and walked over to Everett. I pulled the Arcram up again, leveling it at the side of his head. I didn’t even bother to check if he was alive or not. There was no point, and there was no other option. We couldn’t leave them alive. We just couldn’t. The very purpose of our being on Notia was to tie up loose ends, not make more of them. This needed to be done, and it needed to be over, and Volchec, or Mac, or Fish would never need to know. It was just one more secret to be locked down and buried in blood.
I exhaled slowly, wondering how my life had come so far from Genesis, and then I pulled the trigger.
Everett jolted and then lay quiet, and even before the blood started eeking out from under his face in a thick, dark puddle, the door was snapping shut behind me.