Invisible, Niki and Trevor dropped to protect the family even as the algren surged forward to assault them.  

     They didn't bother with their stun lines. 

     They called on their blades. They hovered and hacked away. Then, 

     "Hey!" Trevor yelped. 

     Even though he was invisible, someone still grabbed his leg.

     Cole! 

     Cole grabbed Trevor's ankle hard, although not the ankle of the leg that had been injured. 

     All that weight on Trevor's leg, though, it threw him off balance.

     Fuck this, Trevor thought. I don't care if he is my brother and the only person in this world who at all shares any part of my past. I'm sick of this shit.

     He went for his laser knife. 

     As he did, Cole pulled his own blaster from its holster.

     He twisted so that he could aim it in the direction of his brother.

​     Niki aimed her stun line at Cole's face.

CONTINUE