Yeah, I no longer feel sorry for what's about to happen to him.
I make a low moaning sound and cling to his leg, pretending to be all weak and girly. I deliberately press my face to his knee and look submissive, blinking my eyes up at him. He's got one of those blasters strapped to his waist, and it's so close I can practically grab it. I just need him to get distracted again. Maybe another boob squeeze—
There's the sound of a scuffle in the distance, and I hear Sterre's low, angry growl.
The clone kneeling next to me immediately starts to stand up, reaching for his gun.
I cling to his leg like a barnacle, throwing all of my weight onto him. "Wait, please, I'm scared!"
He gives me a confused look, and I reach for his gun. Maybe I'm a bit too hasty, because he realizes what I'm doing, and slaps my hand away. Or tries to. I wrestle for the holster at his belt even as he tries to pull his weapon free, and it's a fumble of hands. "Hakiri," he calls out, just as he grabs my wrist tightly and flings me away. "It's a trap—"
Just as he yells out, a big blue arm snakes around his throat. A hand appears in his hair, and then Kas wrenches hard, snapping bones. The clone immediately goes down, collapsing onto the ground.
I'm panting, breathing hard with excitement. "Did you see that?" I manage. "I almost had his gun."
"I saw him grab your keffing breast," Kas gripes, a fierce frown on his face. "He was dead the moment that happened."
"I know," I say cheerfully, extending a hand. "Help me up."
78
KASPAR
My killing mood is still on me as we sneak down the tunnel into the compound. I hate that the clone groped my female. Groped her. She was injured at his feet and he just GROPED her. It makes me realize just how vulnerable Alice is all over again. She's smart to use her appearance against them, but I'm going to have to teach her how to defend herself. How to break a hand that grabs her. How to snap a neck like I did. How to basically dispatch any male that dares to touch what belongs to her.
I suspect I won't feel better about it until she learns some of those moves, but for now at least we can move forward. Things were a little messy out there at the tunnel entrance. Sterre was impossible to hold back the moment Alice started making hurt noises, and when I released her, she quickly pounced on the one guard at the gate, tearing at his throat before racing on to Alice's side. I killed the one on Alice before Sterre could do much, so the carinoux soothed her hurt feelings by grabbing his dead body and shaking it, hard, until Alice pulled her away. Now, Alice holds the harness as we slink through the tunnel, heading into the compound. I glance over at Alice to see how she's handling things, but she's calm, her expression alert as she follows a safe distance behind Salvotor. Our new friend is at the front with one of the shock-sticks, since the blasters are keyed to full-blooded clones. It's a surprising level of protection, but it makes sense if there are gladiators about, I suppose. The shock-sticks are keyed to them as well, but they still hit hard. It'll probably be better to have a club than a homemade spear anyhow.
The tunnel is quiet, the only sound that of our feet on the floor.
"Do you know how many guards are on the other end, Salvotor?" Alice asks in a low voice.
We've gone over it several times before—that Salvotor doesn't remember exactly how many. He thinks three or four. She must be reminding him of what we've discussed before. Alice is surprisingly good with him, calming him when he gets anxious, encouraging him when he shows doubts, and I wonder if she associates him with her friend, the qura'aki clone.
It's clear Salvotor is starting to nurse quite a crush on Alice, too. He's still a little afraid of her, but when she talks to him, he gets this soft, adoring look on his face that makes my innards squeeze. Just a bit. I tell myself that he's young. I tell myself that he's not been exposed to many females.
I mostly tell myself I can't kill him right now because it'd be inconvenient. But maybe he could stare at Alice's breasts a little less.
"At least three," Salvotor says, turning to look at Alice. He gets that dopey look on his face again when he looks at her, glances at me, and then averts his gaze. "Maybe four."
"Okay." Alice nudges me. "What's the plan if there's four?"
"I take two," I say immediately. I'm confident I can disable two before they have time to think. Four with only a club might be pushing it, not when the goal is to be stealthy. "Salvotor, you take one. Alice, you and Sterre take out the fourth. If there's only three, we still go in that order. Understand?"