Page 134 of Twist of Fate

Luke lifted his injured hand. “It looks worse than it is.”

Connal’s mouth tightened.

Luke wanted to grin.

Another attacker forced his way through the broken doorway. Luke rolled left. Connal moved right.

The attacker’s strike passed through the space Luke had occupied. Luke kicked the man’s knee sideways, destroying his balance. Connal seized the opening and drove him into the doorframe.

Avaneel darted from Zer’s hair as he entered the server room, flying above the fight to take shelter among the cable trays. Zer appeared behind the attacker and finished him with a knife between the ribs.

“Romantic,” Luke said, breathless.

Connal’s eyes flashed. “You are impossible.”

“Pfft. I’ve been busy.”

“Yes.” Connal turned as two more attackers pushed toward the breach. “I noticed.”

The fight spilled fully into the server room.

Keir entered next, dragging another man through the ruined doorway by the back of his coat. He threw him into a server rack hard enough to dent the panel.

Asterius followed with Tyson protected behind him. One hand held his sword while the other gripped Tyson’s arm, steering him around the strikes crossing the narrow entrance.

The room had not been designed for this many bodies. Server racks created narrow lanes, cable trays hung low overhead, and the grated floor caught at boot heels. Cold air blasted upward in hard currents while the emergency lights strobed white, flattening faces and breaking every movement into pieces.

Luke caught the edge of a rack and pulled himself upright.

Connal moved beside him, close enough to protect his flank without blocking his movement. Luke understood what that meant. Connal trusted him to fight at his side instead of trying to shield him from danger.

An attacker lunged from the next aisle, his blade angled toward Connal’s exposed side. Luke brought the metal brace across the man’s forearm, knocking the weapon away from Connal.

Connal turned and struck before the man could recover.

Luke ducked beneath a swinging arm and drove his elbow into the ribs of another man trying to reach the console. When the attacker folded, Luke hit him again and shoved him toward Asterius.

Asterius caught him with a grin. “Thank you.”

“Don’t make it weird.”

Asterius broke the man’s nose with his forehead. “Too late.”

Movement flashed near the doorway. One of the reinforcements had found a clear angle on Tyson’s unprotected back. He raised his weapon.

“Tyson!” Avaneel shouted from above.

The fight swallowed her tiny voice.

She folded her wings and dove, striking the attacker’s face an instant before he fired, then raking her small claws across his cheek. He jerked away from her, and the blast scorched the cable tray instead of Tyson.

Tyson spun at the sound.

Keir reached the attacker before he could recover and drove him away from the doorway. Avaneel shot back toward the ceiling, narrowly avoiding the man’s grasping hand.

Tyson stared after her. “Thank you.”

She landed safely on top of the nearest rack and gave him a solemn nod.