Apex Five: Mech Elite novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Door in the Spine

Alder's command frame took one step, and the Ring floor cracked.

It moved faster than anything that size should.

Its fist came down at Old Nail's head, and I threw the frame sideways, and the concrete where I had been standing exploded into dust.

"Wynne!" Hob shouted. "Its pulse is a loop! You can't switch it off!"

"What?"

"It's not answering the cores! He built himself a closed circuit! There's nothing to cut!"

I rolled Old Nail under the next swing and hit the blade across the knee.

Sparks flew.

The knee held.

"I can't scrap this," I said.

"You can't," Ronan said, in my ear. "I can."

"With your hands?"

"It's my design."

I went still.

"Seven years ago," he said, very calm, "I put a door in the spine. A manual release behind the second plate, under the crest. I told no one. If you pin the arms, I can reach it."

"You left a door in his frame."

"I left a door in every frame I built for him."

I laughed, out loud, in a cockpit full of blood.

"Pin the arms," Ronan said.

"On it."

I ran straight at Alder's frame.

He swung and I did not dodge.

I took the whole blow on the blade, and the four cores lit white, and Old Nail's shoulder screamed and began to buckle.

Then I grabbed his wrist.

I closed Old Nail's fist on it and held.

I held with everything I had.

The cores pulled at my chest, and my vision went gray.

Alder's other arm came round.

I caught that one too, with my knees, with the blade, with a stupid, desperate last twist of the hip.

The huge frame stood there with both arms locked and its spine turned toward the black frame.

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend