Shadow, the dock cat, rumbled her approval as I scratched the soft black fur under her chin. She slit her eyes in pleasure, her sleek tail curling up at the end. The sun was about two hours from setting, the sky a cloudy dark blue. I really needed to get going, but I ignored the jumble of activity around me for a moment longer.

  “Yes, yes, the cat is good luck. Are you done with your rituals yet, or can we get this show on the road?” Nox, my cousin, demanded. He was standing beside our hoverbikes, tapping his boot. He wasn’t much taller than me, but made up for his height in muscle. His grey eyes were laughing at me, even though he was wearing his version of a good luck charm, silver beads braided into his dark blond hair. My long hair, so black it shimmered blue, was up in two messy buns atop my head.

  “Hold on.” I snatched a bottle of tequila off the counter and ran to join him. He rolled his eyes. Around us, the sky dock was a flurry of activity as everyone ran to their rigs. This was a much larger crew than we typically raided with, but our mark had a bigger payload than usual. My faded red hoverbike, Lucy, was awaiting me. My custom bike burned through juice quickly but she would make it. Beside me, Nox mounted his own burn and together we revved our engines.

  “Skimmers move out!” Nox yelled over the crowd. The skimmers, our scouts, hopped on their hoverboards and zipped through the air, so high they were almost touching the grey clouds; they quickly disappeared from sight.

  “Burners move out!” Ten of us split away from our port, was it my imagination or were we hovering lower today? I followed Nox’s lead, hovering high over the foggy river, but still not over the escarpments which walled us in. Our crew of ten wound and weaved, racing playfully through the mazelike tributaries. Wind whipped my hair and face. Nox cut me off and I laughed playfully as I sped up to return the favor. The skimmers would send a signal at the rendezvous for the ambush, but for now, I would enjoy the ride.

  We arrived with plenty of time to spare, so I pulled up to my designated hiding spot. The other four pairs disappeared behind various crevices and rocks and we all settled in for the worst part. The wait.

  Eventually the fog moved up and our surroundings revealed themselves. Atop the bluffs, black ash swept across the charred remains of my clan's wasteland. The necrotic ground was a festering graveyard no one dared to enter and I was far too close for comfort. The jagged land gave way abruptly to pus-like growths and squirming carrion. Far below the bluffs, the River of Gore lay in wait, the crimson river churned, its tangy stench familiar, but not quite covering the sweet and sickly scent of our past. We didn’t touch the river or attempt to return to our land.

  I was sitting on my hoverbike behind a rock outcropping only paces away from the bluffs above me, waiting for the signal. This part of the river was narrow so the incoming ship would be trapped on all sides. Deadly River of Gore below, hungry predators above and the unforgiving cliffs and pirates on each side.

  It shouldn’t be too long now. The cliffs opposite the river from me were orange and yellow and tan, the layers displaying the passage of time. Above me, the sky was darkening, ash blue and soft plum clouds shifting as the sun descended. The noxious sounds of shifting ash, churning river, and buzzing bugs were starting to get to me.

  I peered at Nox. “I bet the band started their set. It's their only night playing before they move on. Why are we risking our necks instead of enjoying live music?”

  “Medicine, clothing, and armor we can’t get via traders,” he responded. He was on his own hoverbike next to me, shifting in his seat; we’d been here awhile.

  I huffed. I knew that, but I hated the waiting and the incessant, nagging tension. Not to mention this stench. Where was this damn ship?

  I eyed our clothing, gauging if this was really worth missing the show I was looking forward to. We were dressed similarly in brown leather pants, calf-high black boots and patched-up leather jackets. My armor was a pale shadow of what it once was. The dull black metal scarred from too many battles. Hopefully no one would get in a close range shot, I might not recover from it. I fought not to shiver in the cold breeze.

  “We expect to find entire rooms full of food, enough for a feast.” He pulled his gaze from the river to give me a sassy look.

  I pursed my lips. He wasn’t wrong. The cultists had a plethora of supplies. A splash indicated the leeches were out hunting. One lunged out of the river and snatched a bird out of the air. Those things could leech enough blood out of a human to expand to five times their size. I shivered in repulsion and hovered higher, trying to focus on the goal, not on my disturbing surroundings. Fabric and food without the exorbitant taxes going to the already obnoxiously wealthy were nice, but we weren’t starving.

  “And three vials of bloodchrome.” Nox added with finality.

  Three.

  Vials.

  I nodded solemnly, all complaints forgotten. We wouldn't have this excellent tip without my undercover sister. She would grumble nonstop if she were here. It’s too cold, Naomi. This is too risky Naomi. Did you know the river of gore defies physics, Naomi?

  I missed her.

  “You know they deserve it for what they did to us. For what they took.” Nox clenched his jaw. “The kneelers are lucky we don’t do far worse than take back what used to be ours. I swear, if the crew knew about your bitching…” Nox side-eyed me.

  I shrugged. “I know, I know. But we’re getting too old for this shit. My spine has popped three times while sitting here.” I cracked my spine to prove a point, twisting in my seat. I should probably be more careful with my prodding, if it were anyone other than my cousin, I would be called out for my lack of commitment to the cause. But Nox would never turn me in.

  At last I spied movement across the river. That was our signal to move.

  “Time to earn more ink.” Nox tilted his head, displaying dozens of black lines extending from his collar bone to his chin. He was several years older than me, his neck almost blacked out. I wasn’t too far behind though.

  I checked my weapons one last time. A dagger rested on my thigh, a lash hung off my hips. My holster held a gun, plus a long, curved, bloodchrome sword lay along my spine. Everything was buckled into place. Nox and I tossed back a shot of tequila, steeling ourselves.

  I shook off the burn of the shot and donned my mask. The matte black metal encompassed most of my face and with a tap, became a helmet. I settled into Lucy’s seat, which was practically molded to me, as I eased out, moving into position beyond the rocks around the bend. The ship wouldn’t be able to see me coming, even with radar. I had night vision in my helm, but I didn’t need it. Though unseen, five additional hoverbikes waited riverward, plus four more hovering nearby. The skimmers were invisible, but they would be directly over the ship by now. The Jetters should be further down the river, laying in wait for the first two waves to go in. Ahead, the bow peeked into view.

  A pretentious baroque artist with an unhealthy obsession with gold had his way with this poor ship. Even in the dimming light, the gold filigree and pearlescant white hull was nearly blinding. Bloody kneelers and their gaudy life of excess. It was large enough to hold cargo but small enough not to advertise it, since simple transporters were typically more practical and larger. If we didn’t have inside knowledge, we would have assumed it was transporting rich bitches, not valuable bloodchrome.

  Four other hoverbikes flanked the ship. Showtime.

  The ship was moving fast, but we kept pace easily. They had a semi covered deck and crewmen clearly guarding atop it, so we stayed below deck level and out of sight. The other bikers and I shot my grappler, which fastened right into the hull below the deck, keeping my bike secured. All five on my side of the ship started ascending, not making a sound. My arms strained as I paused shy of the banister, listening hard. No sounds of commotion yet, only the rapid beating of my heart. I fought to slow my breathing, my palms starting to sweat.

  Suddenly we heard a shout, indicating the skimmers had begun their distraction. Boots clambered away from their posts. I nodded to Nox and Rosemary, the two closest to me and as one, we climbed onboard.

  In the waning light, I spotted two men in white uniforms, indicating they were part of the crew, their guns firing up at the skimmers weaving in and out between the vestigial sails. Without hesitation, I lashed the left man’s neck. I stabbed the second man through the throat before any sound could escape him. I lowered them to the ground. The man I stabbed was bleeding profusely, but I tied him up too in case he was godtouched and wouldn’t stay down long.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  My nine comrades had also taken care of their guards. We split, four men checking above decks and the rest of us going below. The diversion wasn’t too loud so we maintained stealth for now. Nox signaled to me toward the first door on the left. The others took position down the narrow hallway. Gold filigree lanterns dimly lit the halls every few feet, but the walls were so shiny I could almost see my reflection in them. I’d heard of some ships so godtouched that they breathed and I shuddered at the thought. This one seemed to be more manmade, just ostentatious.

  I wondered if they would smell us before they heard us. It's a squeeze for two people to pass each other in the hallway, I reckoned the rooms wouldn’t be much bigger. I paused until Nox gave the cue. Once we were all in position, he nodded.

  The time for sneaking was done.

  Rosemary grinned maniacally at us from down the hallway as she tapped on her comm, initiating her playlist. I had no idea how she hacked into the ships comm system but I appreciated the dramatic flare. Heavy rock with a thunderous beat blared through every speaker in the ship. She tapped again and all the doors in our hall unlocked slicing upwards. Let the chaos begin.

  My heart raced in earnest as I rolled forward over one shoulder. Sure enough, I heard a blast shoot over my head. I kicked a large figure still standing in the doorway. My heels slammed into his kneecaps, knocking him off his feet. He grunted in surprise, then I shot both kneecaps as he tried to rise. He howled in pain. I ignored it and stunned him into unconsciousness.

  That done, I moved along the hallway. An alarm blared, lights blinking as a rumble announced many boots stomping our way. One man tried shooting but it was absorbed by my armor. I stepped closer, elbowing him in the face, then pulling him into my knee. He made an oof sound as he dropped to one knee. He started to reach for a blade but I stepped back to get enough space to kick him square in the face. His head snapped back, blood spewing in an arc.

  “Take it, you bloody kneelers!” Rosemary cackled as she slashed at her opponent, a curved blade in each hand. More were coming down the hallway; I stepped over the now unconscious man in front of me but before I could get any further a sharp pain seared through my back.

  Someone had shot me at closer range this time. It didn’t pierce my skin, but damn did it hurt. I pivoted so my back was against the wall, swinging my knife as I turned. The blade struck metal with a clash that reverberated up my arm.

  Bloodchrome armor. This man was covered in the stuff, shiny crimson plates like blood artfully draped over his muscles. Filigreed gold bordered each plate, similar to the gold that was vomited all over this ship. He should look preposterous, all six feet of swirling bloodchrome and baroque bullshit, but instead was horrifying, because it announced to the world his status as a Syndicate Guardian.

  Shit.

  “Surrender now. And you might survive this mistake,” he said in a deep baritone voice.

  I stepped backwards as I aimed my gun. It wouldn’t pierce his armor, but it would hurt. “Guardian!” I yelled over the clashing and bashing.

  He rushed me. I tried to twist, but he pivoted with me, and we slammed into the room I’d bashed open earlier. His heavy body crushed me to the ground, his armor digging into my stomach. I could twist my gun hand, aiming into his abdomen as I pulled the trigger several times. For a moment nothing happened, he didn’t move, but his oppressive weight was crushing me, making it difficult to breathe. Luck was on my side though because he shifted and I sucked in a deep breath as his weight lifted. I was hoping someone had rolled his dead body off me, instead he was towering over me, not even a drop of blood in sight as he pointed his gun at my head. I wouldn’t survive that shot even with my helmet, so I rolled to the side. The sword split the floor open where my head had been. There was no room in here to maneuver, his feet practically between mine as he heaved the sword out of the floor and lifted it high above his head, clearly aiming between my eyes. I grabbed my lash off my belt and snapped it towards his sword arm, flinging it to the side as it descended. There was nowhere left to roll so I kicked at his shin when a bloodchrome sword suddenly protruded out of his stomach.

  “Run,” Nox yelled from behind the Guardian. I didn’t think twice; I ran for the exit.

  Bodies and slick blood filled the hallway. I tripped on the stairs, then turned to confirm Nox had followed. Instead, the Guardian stepped out.

  Time seemed to slow as we took each other in. With all that armor his shoulders almost brushed the walls. Where there should have been a bleeding hole in his gut, the armor had shifting, melting into a kind of tourniquet. He wasn’t even limping, his posture almost casual like taking a sword through the gut was his warm up. He perused me up and down and I imagined behind that mask he was smirking like a cat who knew they had caught their canary. I had heard the godtouched were powerful and terrifying, but this was inhuman.

  “Why hit this ship, I wonder? A meager transport, nothing of much value?” his voice had a depth to it, an echo behind each syllable. It was deep and resonant, and reminded me of the time Nia and I found a cave in the escarpments outside our port, but eerie echoing of creatures living inside scared us off. This creature was far more terrifying. He was godtouched and thus far had not even bothered to use his powers. I should be running, but I stood frozen, like a deer foolishly trying to hide from a predator.

  “A transport this small isn’t worth the time of a hit this large. It's almost like you were expecting to find something else, something far more valuable.”

  It wasn’t a question so I kept my mouth shut. We were still alone in the hallway but I could hear the battle out there, it must have moved to the deck. Still he hadn’t even approached me. Between us lay several bodies, twisted into unnatural positions, blood pooling around them.

  He eyed the floor in disgust, still not moving towards me. “Who is the little birdy I wonder?”

  He cocked his head at me. His face was hidden behind his scarlet mask but golden hair parted on the side revealed he wasn’t completely adapted. I heard some godtouched no longer even resembled bipedal humans.

  He knew. This was probably a trap all along. They sent along a single Guardian with the bait. I took a careful step backwards, hoping I wouldn’t slip on blood. “Who is your little spy?” He pointed his sword at me, then unexpectedly, resheathed it.

  He didn’t know who the leak was. My sister was still safe.

  Perhaps he wasn’t here to guard it. What if his sole purpose here was to capture one of us to find out who our informant was. I took another step back. Something told me he had decided who to leave alive. Was my cousin still alive? I wouldn’t survive if I tried to get past the guardian. Ineeded to get the fuck out of here. I took another step back, the distance between us a false comfort.

  I expected him to advance slowly, stalking me as if he had all the time in the world. He certainly seemed confident that I wouldn’t escape. Instead, he flipped backwards, landing on the ceiling like a fucking spider. Four sets of sharp, double-jointed limbs detached from his armor, latching onto the roof as his head rotated in a revolting manner until he was facing me again.

  This was an excellent reminder that he was not just another kneeler, but a godtouched Guardian. They were powerful, unpredictable, and horrifying.

  I shook off my shock, turned and raced up the remaining stairs, leaping over two at a time. I could hear him clomping across the ceiling after me. Once on the deck, I dove right trying to dodge in case he jumped on me again, but I only made it a few steps before the Guardian slammed into me yet again. My knees slammed painfully into the floor, I elbowed behind me, but he was already by my side reaching behind for his sword again.

  “I thought you needed me alive.” I croaked, still on all four, thinking furiously how to get out of this. I had more maneuverability here, so without waiting for an answer I rolled backwards to put distance between us.

  “You’ll survive without your legs.” He responded, then red flashed, his sword raised high. He moved so fast I wasn’t able to move in time as the sword descended towards my legs as promised.

  “Hey!” Nox yelled from behind him. A blast shot out and the guardian's arm flinched mid swing, slicing the outside of my right calf.

  Nox was holding his bleeding side with one arm, shooting with the other. I lurched clumsily up. Taking position opposite Nox, I eyed the Guardian's back. I pulled my sword out and struck; he shifted out of the way as if he had eyes on the back of his head-he didn’t though I checked-and I struck his shoulder instead of his head.

  Fuck. He was too fast.

  Nox moved to pierce his abdomen, and I went low, aiming for the knees. Rosemary showed up and whipped her desert snake tail at his throat—and succeeded. Taking the advantage, Nox and I closed in while he was struggling to breathe. I went for the kill. My sword nearly there, the Guardian leapt straight up, landing high on the mast, the whip still wrapped tightly around his throat.

  Bloody beasts, these guys were hard to kill. Two more of our crew joined us and surrounded the mast. There were five of us now but we still couldn’t take him. He appeared to be battling the skimmers, but it was hard to see with the tatters of sails in the way. We aimed our guns but couldn’t risk hitting our crew.

  “Nox?” I asked, breathing heavily. He knew what I was asking. We were in trouble if he got away. This was supposed to be a low key hit. Now he knew we must have been tipped off. Would he stay to kill all but one or leave to notify the others there was a leak? I needed to get up there. I started running towards Lucy so I could fly up there.

  Before Nox could even reply, the Guardian flew off the top of the ship. His eight extra limbs flowed into double sets of wings as he swooped out of sight, back to Xenalba. I had never run so fast in my life as I leapt over the ledge, landing hard on Lucy and flew after him. I squeezed the thrust, pushing the vehicle as far as I dared, walls of stone flashing past but he flew up higher over the escarpments and into the clouds where I couldn’t see him. Up I flew until the dark fog swallowed me, no hints of the guardians' whereabouts. I turned on my night vision, but still nothing showed up.

  He was gone.

  I stared, numb, my hand loosening on the thrust. What was I going to do if I caught up with him anyway? He would have just grabbed me and dragged me with him. But maybe that would be better than leaving my sister to fiend for herself. Eventually I turned back, returning to the ship.

  Cheering shouts jarred me out of my shock. I looked around, realizing we had taken the ship successfully. Only because the Guardian allowed it though.

  Bloody bodies decorated the deck, as several large crates were brought up from below. Rosemary had removed her mask and was grinning as she flourished our prize. The three vials of bloodchrome. We did it. Most of us seemed to have survived. I noted two were missing, though I wasn’t sure who. I probably should have been more concerned about them, but my thoughts were stuck on family.

  How long until the Guardians discovered my undercover sister was their leak?