Chapter Seventeen

Biotic energy rippled across Jacana's skin, powerful and untamed. The merc straddling Khalisah was dead, face contorted in horror as his neck lay twisted and broken. Both Quet and Khalisah's restraints had snapped and they were on their feet, scrabbling away from the carnage Jacana had wrought.

Bodies lay warped beyond recognition, limbs shattered or crushed. Some had died instantly while others could still be heard whimpering and wailing. Those capable of standing were staggering to their feet, dazed and disoriented as they reached for their weapons but Jacana ignored them, eyes fixed firmly on Khalisah's father.

He was standing ahead of her, hands outstretched as he carefully stared her down, "Now, now, let's all stay calm," he was managing to keep his voice steady as he smiled softly, but Jacana could see the pulse in his neck racing, "I didn't know you had it in you, my dear."

"You have no right," Jacana snarled, hearing the words as though they were coming from someone else's mouth, "no right to control Khalisah's life, to threaten her daughter, she deserves so much better!"

His watery eyes narrowed into an incredulous frown as she advanced on him, biotics radiating through every nerve, "My, my; she's really had quite the effect on you, hasn't she? You wouldn't be the first person she's dragged into her problems, you know. Robin used to be such a sweet boy, whole life ahead of him; do you know where he is now? Being tortured by the mercenaries who stormed Sha'ira's; they think he knows where Khalisah went after the pair of you escaped."

She heard a gasp and a stifled sob from Khalisah's direction but didn't look away.

"That's what she does Jacana, draws people in, uses them as scapegoats and lets them bear the consequences of her actions. She took Donovan's daughter, my granddaughter and now look at what she's done to you; betraying the Shadow Broker, getting mixed up in things that are really none of your concern. Is she really worth it, Jacana?"

Jacana felt the rage prickling in her skin as every nerve flared with a power she hadn't known she possessed. He could see it too; she saw her own glowing reflection glinting feverishly in his eyes before he suddenly glanced over her shoulder.

"Now!"

Somehow she felt the shift in the air more than she heard the explosion of bullets as all the mercs left standing opened fire. She turned and dived to the floor and in a moment of pure, blind instinct she expelled all the power she had been building; a biotic shockwave tore through her attackers and sent them flying.

Bodies hit the walls with crushing force and the sound of crunching bones was drowned out only by the screams; she turned to see Khalisah's father on the floor, thrown there by a second wave she didn't even remember generating.

The fear wasn't masked at all now, dancing in his eyes as she advanced on him, held in place by a constant wave of energy radiating from her. She could feel thirty-five years of anger welling inside her, not hers but it didn't matter, she could end it all now; crush his throat, snap his bones, squeeze the life from him, all it needed was the will to do it and Khalisah would be free.

"STOP!"

Khalisah's voice broke through the anger and Jacana stopped dead, realising suddenly how loud her breathing had become as the room fell quiet.

She turned to see the human pressed up against the back wall, blood still dripping from the single cut the mercenary had managed to inflict as her eyes glazed in horror at what she was seeing.

In a split second it was gone. The burning rage, the need for revenge all wiped away by the sight of her.

"Khalisah," she felt the biotic power ebb away as she moved towards her, "Khalisah, it's alright," the human was shaking, her breathing rapid and unsteady as she pressed herself harder against the wall as though trying to get away. As she got closer she saw the look in Khalisah's eyes and it made her heart drop.

Fear. Pure, unrelenting terror.

As Jacana raised a hand she instinctively flinched from her touch.

"Khalisah… I'm sorry, I…" she looked behind her to the carnage, human bodies twisted and disfigured so severely it made her feel sick and she had to turn away, "I… I didn't expect... I just…"

"NO!"

Khalisah's scream was ear-splitting as Jacana suddenly felt herself being grabbed and pulled aside. The pair of them tumbled to the floor together as a bullet ricocheted off the wall where they had just been standing and Jacana twisted herself onto her back to see Khalisah's father advancing on them, pistol raised in his hand.

"Go!" Jacana pushed Khalisah out of the way, knowing he wouldn't kill her and risk never finding Daniyah. Khalisah staggered to her feet and Jacana began to shuffle backwards along the floor, staring down the barrel of the gun now aimed at her.

"You could have stayed out of this you know," Khalisah's father was saying as advanced.

"Father, don't," Khalisah pleaded from somewhere beyond Jacana's view but he ignored her.

"If you had just done what you were being paid to do then all this would be over."

"Father!"

"But you had to interfere, had to let my daughter get inside your head!"

Jacana swallowed, briefly wondering if he had any idea how literally true that was; then her shoulders hit the wall and she realised she had run out of places to go.

It was all gone: the anger, the biotic power that had flared from nowhere and she was left like this; sprawled on floor with no gun and only a bloodstained dressing gown for protection.

Oh, this was really not how I wanted to go out…

"Father! Stop this!"

"She can't protect you Khalisah," he mused softly, eyes never leaving Jacana's, "you're mine. Daniyah is mine and neither of you are getting away from me again."

The gunshot cracked like a whip through the air and Jacana jumped, recoiling instinctivelyand closing her eyes.

To her great surprise she felt no pain. She waited briefly before opening her eyes and frowned for a moment as she saw Khalisah's father still standing there, staring at her blankly. Then the large red dot that had appeared on his forehead began oozing crimson blood and he fell sideways to reveal Khalisah standing behind him, one of the mercs' guns still raised were she had pressed it to the back of his skull.

Jacana blinked and stared as Khalisah's eyes remained fixed on her father, seemingly paralysed.

"Khalisah?" she said after a moment but the human didn't seem to hear her. Jacana carefully got to her feet and moved swiftly out of the line of fire to come up beside her.

"Khalisah?" still there was no response.

Then, with her eyes fixed on her father, Khalisah swallowed calmly, "Guns," was all she managed to mutter, her voice barely audible.

Jacana frowned softly, "What?"

"Thugs with guns."

With that, her knees suddenly buckled, the pistol dropped from her hand and she fell sideways into Jacana's arms.