"In an enclosed space, he has all the advantages. Enhanced strength, enhanced speed, and apparently enhanced resistance to mental manipulation."
"Then we don't fight fair," she said. "We fight smart."
The sound of the pursuing motorcycle echoed into the canyon, then cut off abruptly. Silence fell, broken only by the whisper of the wind through the rocks.
"I know you're here," a voice called out. "Lord Navuh wants you alive, but he didn't specify in what condition. Your female, however, is expendable."
Carol's expression hardened. "Expendable?" she whispered. "I'll show him expendable."
"Wait," Lokan cautioned, but she was already moving, using the boulders as cover to circle toward the canyon entrance.
The enhanced Doomer appeared between the rocks. Up close, Lokan could see the signs of what the chemicals were doing to him—the micro-tremors in his hands, the dilated pupils, the way his head cocked at odd angles as if listening to voices only he could hear.
This thing was eventually going to fry his brain, but regrettably, not soon enough.
"Come out, brother," the Doomer sing-songed. "I promise to make it quick for your worthless human. A mercy, really. Better than what awaits her in the island's whorehouse."
Rage, cold and precise, flooded through Lokan.
He stepped out from behind the boulder, hands in the air, his rifle left behind. "Let's discuss terms."
The Doomer wasn't going to kill him because Navuh wanted his wayward son alive, but he might shoot him to disable him.
The Doomer's grin widened. "Terms? You have no leverage for terms."
"You can't kill me," Lokan said calmly. "My father will execute you on the spot if you do. And you can't capture me either. I have a lot of money that could be yours if you just let us go."
He knew the guy wasn't going to do that. He was just buying time for Carol to creep into position.
"You think I care about money?" The Doomer laughed. "I'm the future of the Brotherhood. Enhanced. Evolved. I haven't slept in six days, and I feel invincible."
"You feel insane," Lokan corrected. "The drugs are destroying your mind. I can sense it from here—the chaos, the fractures. How long before you snap and lose your mind completely?"
The Doomer's expression darkened. "Long enough to complete my mission."
He moved faster than any immortal should. But Lokan had been expecting it, diving to the side as the Doomer's fist shattered the rock where he'd been standing. Stone shrapnel peppered his back, tearing through his jacket.
Carol's shots rang out from across the canyon, precise three-round bursts aimed at the Doomer's center mass.
He staggered but didn't go down, the bullets barely seeming to register through whatever chemical cocktail was flooding his system.
"Pathetic," he snarled, turning toward her.
That was his mistake. Focused on Carol, he didn't see Lokan retrieve the blade from his boot.
Lokan moved with all the speed his three-quarter-god heritage granted him, driving the blade between the Doomer's ribs and up into his heart, but even that wasn't enough to drop him.
Hopefully, Carol would know what to do.
The enhanced immortal spun, backhanding Lokan with enough force to send him flying into the canyon wall.
Stars exploded across Lokan's vision, and he tasted blood. But he'd done enough. The Doomer stood swaying, looking down at the blade protruding from his chest with something like surprise.
It wasn't enough to kill him, but the three rounds Carol emptied into his back, right where the blade was, should do the trick.
"I'm... invincible..."
"You're dead." Carol stepped out from behind cover. "You just haven't figured it out yet."
