Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

Now to wait.

But she couldn’t help being nervous.

He’d gone up there all alone in a fight that wasn’t even his and her heart bled and clenched at that thought.

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She was waiting for maybe ten minutes when movement outside the ship caught her attention.

With the help of the computer, she’d managed to turn the ship toward the service station’s airlock and now she could see straight toward that strange disk-like elevator thing.

Her heart thumped in her chest as she saw Ka’Cit hop on it.

He was still shooting upward and her gaze rose.

Fuck.

There were Hedgeruds on the landing above the lift. Their blasters were pointed directly at him and he was in the open.

Reckless motherfucker.

Her reckless motherfucker.

The thought made her pause for only a second and a strange feeling developed in her chest as she watched Ka’Cit jerk, a laser bullet missing him by mere inches.

She wasn’t about to just watch while they shot him down.

Grabbing her blaster, she punched the button on the ship’s airlock and rushed toward the back of the vessel.

Her heart lodged in her throat as she saw Ka’Cit abandon his position. In one smooth jump, he launched himself from the lift.

But it was still far too high. Surely he would break his leg.

A laser blast came from above as the Hedgeruds shot at him and Nia felt a surge of anger that hadn’t been there before.

With her own roar, she gripped her blaster, aimed and fired.

The Hedgeruds didn’t expect it, maybe they hadn’t seen her or they didn’t prepare for her accuracy, for she got one of them by the time they realized where the bullet was coming from.

Once, twice, three times she fired before her gaze landed on Ka’Cit.

Miraculously, he’d landed on his feet and was running toward her with something clutched to his chest.

She focused on him for only a second before she ducked under one of the ship’s huge engines and unloaded her gun at the elevator.

The Hedgeruds ducked too but there wasn’t anywhere to run on the elevator.

Nia kept firing and only stopped when an arm grasped hers and pulled her back into the ship.

“We have to go!”

Ka’Cit lifted her, securing a strong arm around her waist as he lifted her backward toward him, not breaking his gait as he headed into the ship.

The doors closed behind them and the secondary doors opened.

He was setting her down and strapping her in within seconds.

Nia’s breath heaved in her chest, her eyes wide as she watched more of the Hedgeruds appear at the top of the lift.