FREE SAMPLE (Ch.1)

I should have known my ex-girlfriend would try to kill me.

To her credit, she’d set the stage beautifully. She’d trapped us on the Bridge of Seventeen Arches, where the moonlit water prevented any heroic escape. A pair of guards stood behind her on the west bank, while another set approached from across the bridge. On the other side of the lake, Beijing’s iconic Summer Palace sprawled on the hill, aglow with the light and music of the annual United state dinner. It was a stunning backdrop for a crime of passion.

She slithered towards us, the clack of her stilettos on the brick more irritating than threatening. “Dr. Von Nieuwenhuyse, you’re under arrest.”

I took a step back, mostly to avoid her overpowering perfume. “You’ve been saving up for that one, haven’t you, Asia?”

She flicked her tongue like she had hair in her mouth. “You can call me Min,” she said, referring to one of three of her given names.

“I could call you a lot of things, but there are children present,” I returned. I shoved Philadelphia, my ward, behind me, even though I knew it was a wasted gesture.

Phil glanced rapidly between us, as if the motion could help her sheltered seventeen-year-old brain catch up. “Are you two—”

I put my hand up. “Were. Whatever you were about to say, it’s past tense.”

“Nic,” Asia scolded, “you didn’t even give me a chance.”

“If you wanted a chance, you shouldn’t have led with ‘you’re under arrest.’ I have standards.”

“I got desperate,” Asia said in a tone that suggested she was anything but.

“I just never pictured you as someone who would be in a relationship. Ever,” Phil commented, eyeing me like this revelation changed everything.

“And you wonder why.” I gestured at Asia.

She took it as a compliment. “We have so much to catch up on. I’ve been waiting eight years for you to accept my invitation.” She beckoned to her guards, who advanced like a noose cinching.

I stuck both of my arms out to stop them. “Hold on, let’s get one thing straight. I’m Andromeda’s plus one, not yours,” I said, using Phil’s legal name.

“Wait, you’ve been waiting eight years?” Phil shoved my arm aside and faced Asia. “Why didn’t you just arrest him while he was on Mars?”

“An excellent observation,” I praised. I folded my arms and glared at Asia. “If you’re so madly in love with me, why didn’t you propose before now? You knew exactly where I was.”

I remembered, despite my best attempts, the day we broke up. Asia had been just as wealthy and powerful then as she was now; she could have easily had me arrested, or defunded my science station on Mars, or employed any number of threatening tactics. But she hadn’t. She’d accepted her defeat and slunk into the shadows, and the only contact I received from her was an annual invitation to the state gala. It wasn’t until recently that I realized she’d even been paying attention to what I was experimenting with on Mars.

Asia stroked one of the marble dragons that capped the bridge’s railing. “You don’t think this is the perfect place to get engaged?”

“As much as I appreciate the effort that went into this elaborate set-up, no, this seems ill thought out.” It made no sense for Asia to wait so long, only to confront me in a public place. Even though there was no one else on the bridge, there were still people nearby. People that might ask questions—or worse, tell Asia’s father.

General Secretary Mong, the supreme leader of the United, had not been privy to my romance with Asia—or the various illegal schemes she and I had attempted together. I’m sure he’d be fascinated to know that his own daughter had helped me create a world-ending superweapon designed to bring his empire to its knees.

No, nothing about this macabre play made sense for Asia, and that was what I found most threatening.

“Why now, Asia?” I demanded.

She giggled, a disgusting little sound. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No,” I admitted, knowing full well I was about to lose.

Asia strolled over and grabbed Phil’s arm. I reacted, but the guards were faster. I heard the distinct sound of an electric gun powering up and froze.

And that’s when I remembered I was also carrying.

Asia pulled Phil towards her. Phil stopped breathing, her panicked blue eyes begging me to help. I could only watch as Asia ran her deadly manicured nails through Philadelphia’s ashy blonde curls.

“It’s been so long since the great Dr. Von Nieuwenhuyse has cared about anyone but himself…” Asia cooed. She hooked one finger under the pearl necklace Philadelphia wore—the necklace I had given Asia as a gift so many years ago. Asia yanked on the chain, and Phil gasped, clutching her throat.

Asia held her there and looked up at me, bloodred lips curled in a sneer. “I simply couldn’t waste the opportunity.”

Suddenly, Asia’s eight years of silence made sense. Philadelphia changed everything, as she had an annoying habit of doing. Three months ago, Phil had been my enemy, an incessant reminder of my failure. But somewhere in the process of escaping from prison, destroying my own superweapon, and generally doing our best to get ourselves killed, we’d mutually agreed to update our status. I’d signed a paper making her my legal dependent, and that paper gave Asia the card she needed to play her hand.

For the first time in years, I was a man with something to lose.

“You’re right,” I admitted. “That should have been obvious.”

Asia let Phil go, and she jerked away. “You’ve been using me?” she screeched at Asia.

“Catch up, darling,” I admonished. “It’s basic blackmail.”

“Was this your plan the whole time?” Phil demanded.

“If you mean to imply that I orchestrated this whole ‘thunderbird’ revolution as bait to lure Nic back to Earth…” Asia flicked her fingers, as if the resistance movement was no more inconvenient than a crumb to be brushed off the table. “Then no. I had nothing to do with your adorable little videos trending. I just know an opportunity when I see one.”

Phil slid behind me, even though she probably would have been safer literally anywhere else. “You’re disgusting.”

“Now you know why we broke up.” I took a rallying breath. “Any other clarifying questions? Because we should probably speed this up. That party isn’t going to last forever, and eventually other people are going to want to use this bridge for something other than a standoff.”

“I’m ready to go if you are. Shall we?” Asia nodded at the west bank, where her guards waited.

I took a step towards her. Phil grabbed my arm. “Nic, you can’t!”

“Honey, were you not listening to her evil monologue?” I grabbed Phil’s wrist and pried her hand off my jacket. “If I don’t do as she says, she’ll kill you or something equally pedantic.”

Asia cackled. “I usually warm up with some light torture. Give me some credit.”

“Well, today’s your lucky day, because I don’t feel like listening to Andi scream. It’s a horribly irritating sound, and I already have a headache.” I strode up to Asia, folded one hand behind my back, and bowed. “Shall we go get a coffee? I’ll buy.”

She jerked back. “Beg pardon?”

“I said, let’s go get coffee. Hang on, let me make sure I brought my phone so I can pay.” I patted my pockets. As I did so, I subtly pressed the button on the pistol I had holstered under my jacket.

I grunted to cover the whir of it powering on. “Okay, good to go. You, me, date.” I looked back up at Asia and held out my hand.

She eyed it like a dead fish.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? Us, together. If I go with you, there’s no reason Andi can’t go home, right? Or did I miss something?”

“There’ are a couple of other things I want, but…” Asia grasped my hand and pulled me towards her. “This is a good place to start, if you’re offering.”

Phil finally found her voice. “Nic, don’t—”

“Shh,” I hissed over my shoulder, “the adults are talking.”

I leaned into Asia, pushing her against the railing. Her guards shifted, but Asia put her hand up. “I can handle this one,” she crooned, her dark eyes mocking me.

I put my lips close to hers, then stopped. I watched out of my peripheral until I saw one of the guards power off his weapon and slide it into his holster.

“Min,” I whispered quietly enough that only she could hear. “There’s something I should tell you.”

“Yes?” she begged.

I took a deep breath. “I’m not sorry it had to be this way.”

And then I grasped her shoulders and shoved her over the railing.

She tumbled into the water with a shriek and a very satisfying splash. The guards on the bank reacted immediately, diving into the lake after her.

The two on the bridge were slower on the draw. “Aren’t you going to rescue your boss?” I taunted.

They fumbled with their weapons.

“No? Then you’re fired.” I whipped my warmed-up pistol out of my jacket and shot them both.

Phil screamed. So much for avoiding that ear-splitting sound.

“Run!” I shouted unnecessarily. She kicked off her shoes and raced after me, abandoning her heels in the middle of the bridge like Cinderella.

Asia got her head above water long enough to shout something wholly inappropriate after us.

It was a stupidly long bridge, and I cursed every one of its ostentatious arches as we passed. At this rate, they’d have Asia fished out of the water before we got to the other side.

A few guards were posted on the east bank, checking invitations like some imperial bouncers. They rushed to meet us at the foot of the bridge, no doubt drawn by the distant sound of Asia’s enraged yelling.

“There’s been a fight!” I exclaimed before they could ask. “Some lady fell in the water—you have to help her!”

The promise of a damsel in distress did the trick. The guards raced onto the bridge, shouting orders at each other. Attempting to look casual, I hooked my arm with Phil’s and hurried her across the courtyard to the street, where a throng of enterprising cab drivers waited to feast on drunk party guests.

One hapless lad ran ahead of the others and got to me first. “Do you need a ride, sir?” he begged in broken English.

“More than you know.” I gestured for him to lead the way.

He darted to his car on the curb and opened the door. I waited until he had helped Phil into the back seat, then pulled my gun on him.

“Keys,” I demanded.

The driver barked his disagreement in Mandarin, so I turned and shot the person standing closest to us to reinforce my point.

“Nic!” Phil screamed, and several other passersby joined her.

The driver wisely decided the vehicle wasn’t worth his life. He threw his keyring at me, shouting about how he was going to report this.

“Asia’s way ahead of you,” I droned, and shot him to end the conversation.

The crowd devolved into a panic as everyone graciously got out of my way. I ran to the driver’s door and jumped in. I jammed the key in the ignition and swiped commands onto the car’s overly complicated control panel. Thankfully, it was a cheap vehicle and didn’t have any inconvenient safety features like face recognition, so it started on the first turn. I slammed on the gas, clipping the rear of the car ahead of me as I jerked away from the curb.

Phil squealed in tune to the crunching metal. “Nic, what are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, it was set on stun.” I navigated out of the parking lot, slowing down just long enough to make an inconspicuous turn into traffic. I waited until we were a few blocks away before checking the mirrors; there were no flashing lights in my peripheral.

I sped up as much as I could without drawing attention to ourselves. “Turn off your phone,” I barked at Phil.

“J-Jayde has my phone,” she returned, voice warbly from adrenaline.

I shot her an incredulous glance in the rearview mirror. She shrugged. “This dress doesn’t have pockets.”

“Well, I guess that will give them a beacon to find his body.” We’d left Jayde back at the palace, lying unconscious on the third-floor balcony of the Tower of Incense. He was Phil’s former ally in the underground—strong emphasis on former. He had blackmailed Phil into going to this cursed party as part of an absurd assassination plot. I could only hope the government would find him and make him regret his life choices.

Keeping one eye on the crowded road, I fished my phone out of my pocket and turned it off. “Asia will have our files flagged as soon as she gets dried off. If we stay offline, it will buy us some time.”

I glared at the darkened screen of my device as my own words sank into me. I’d never been friends with the law, but I’d always had my clean identity—and my secluded science station on Mars—to fall back on. At any point, I could have shut up, minded my own business, and lived happily ever after in my castle in the stars.

Not anymore. With a few keystrokes, Asia would turn me and Andromeda Nolan—Philadelphia’s legal identity—into the United’s most wanted criminals. We wouldn’t be able to even check our email without alerting the authorities, much less buy a transit ticket off the planet.

“So much for going back to Mars,” I grunted, hurling my phone onto the passenger seat.

Phil said nothing. As much as silence was my preferred mode of conversation, I was smart enough to know that no reaction to circumstances as dire as ours was a bad sign. I looked at her in the rearview mirror and saw all the telltale signs of a panic attack. Her whole body was rigid as she gripped the door handle. She stared out the window with glassy eyes, her shoulders heaving with shallow breaths.

“You need to breathe slowly,” I commanded. “Try to lower your heart rate by at least fifty beats per minute.”

She glared at me. “Is that your way of telling me to calm down?”

I shrugged. “I figured the specific directions were more helpful.”

She grimaced. With great effort, she pried her hand off the door handle and clenched it in her lap. “I don’t… know if I can calm down,” she admitted.

“Keep practicing,” I deadpanned. “You’re going to need the calories.”

She frowned.

I turned my attention back to the road. “We’re going to be running for a very long time.”