Free Precious Sacrifice by Cari Silverwood Page A

assessed the Ascend and his soldier brothers but made sure not to stray from her side. “Tell me why you’re here.”
    Brask shifted the heavy Berskald rifle that rested in his hands. Things had escalated. Off-world weapons. Why?
    “We’re here to stabilize the situation, to retrieve you, to decide what to do with her, and primarily, to eliminate one…” Brask’s green eyes dead-stared at him, pinpoint focus.
    Oh fuck. “One what?” Brittany? Him?
    “To eliminate multiple Bak-lal killer clones that have appeared.”
    “Holy Ascendants.” Oops. “Where?” He put his hand on the butt of the sawn-off shotgun in his waist holster. He could probably take down one with this primitive thing.
    The Ascend crunched forward, the timber floor creaking and bowing. “You eliminated one already. Over the side of this building. These are obsolete conversions. With the death of the one below, and identical men appearing on the streets, the computations popped up. A man must have been taken in the past and cloned. Possibly hard-wired for faster reactions but not much more. These are old-style clones. There may be a Bak-lal factory queen nearby – an old one in hiding.”
    He thought fast. “They’re coming here?” He pictured them, a small army of cloned killers, circling, closing in. They hadn’t found a factory queen yet, but that was the most likely cause.
    “Yes. Here.” The Ascend crouched before him, hands clasped on knee, and he studied Brittany. “This one is interesting.” He stretched out his hand and adjusted her head to see her better.
    The Ascend touched her. His pet. Jadd clenched and unclenched his fists, snarling inside his head, but striving not to interfere. Brittany was still not recovered. That was obvious.
    “Jadd. Attend me!” Brask was a yard distant. “You’re to accompany the Ascend to the ship.” His voice lowered. “I’ll take care of her. I’ll keep her safe.”
    “You want me to leave her?” That was intolerable. He needed to cradle her until she was okay. But he was a soldier too. This…sucked. “With a factory queen nearby, and clone killers homing in? I don’t care how kakking obsolete they are –”
    “Come.” The Ascend rose and grasped his forearm, steel strength in the grip. “I promise you, I will allow you to see her again. You will be absolved of your crimes if you do your duty. There’s no time for your protests.”
    Before he could summon more arguments, the Ascend whisked him across the room, through the curtains, and sped into the sky. The transition was so abrupt he gaped, and got a mouthful of bug. He spat out pieces of wriggling insect. Wind roared in his ears. The sky rushed past.
    He glanced down, twisting to see, and was struck by the barrage of color from the blossoms of vegetation surrounding the building she inhabited – in parks, on ledges and balconies. Flowers. Thousands of them.
    She was back there.
    “Be still. I promise you, I’ll return you when the battle is over. She’ll be safe. You’re needed.”
    In a situation like this, his duty was to his soldier brothers. The call of a pet to her Master was considered far less important. Then why did he feel like he was still attached to her? Like leaving her there was about to tear him in two? He was so very warped. He should trust Dassenze. An Ascend’s word was sacrosanct, surely? But he’d always wondered if they could lie. Would a god lie if he saw a greater good in it?
    There was still nothing he could do. To his surprise, they headed skywards, higher. The last he’d seen of it, their ship had submerged and burrowed beneath the lake beside their accommodation. Had it moved?
    A blue monolith appeared above, fading in and out like mist until they approached closer. A few last clods of mud and weeds broke away from the edge of a turret and tumbled toward the distant city.
    They landed on the topward hull and the Ascend deposited him on his feet while still running. At the sudden stop, he