"Better make them count," Jace muttered. He stepped back until his spine pressed against hers. The heat from her body was the only thing keeping him grounded. "Back to back?" "To the death," she whispered.
Kaelen holstered her empty gun and managed a grim smile. "Always."
"Back to back?" Jace asked, wiping a smear of blood from his lip.
Kaelen clicked her empty pistol, the sound echoing like a death knell. "Three shots. That’s it."
The final two were "Goliaths"—heavy-duty security bots repurposed for murder. They moved with a terrifying, hydraulic precision. One raised a massive, electrified fist. Jace braced for the impact, but Kaelen didn't fire her last shot. Instead, she grabbed Jace’s harness and swung him around.
It was a dance they had practiced a thousand times in the simulation pits, but here, the stakes were flesh and blood. Every time a blade whistled past Jace’s ear, Kaelen was there to deflect it. Every time a club swung toward Kaelen’s ribs, Jace intercepted the blow with a brutal kick. "Two left!" Kaelen shouted over the roar of the rain. "I see 'em!"
Using her momentum, Jace launched himself into the air, driving his knife deep into the Goliath’s sensory array. At the same moment, Kaelen pressed her barrel against the second Goliath's power core. Click-boom.
"You still got those high-yield rounds?" Jace hissed, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He gripped his combat knife so hard his knuckles were bone-white.
