On Mission

by Aileen Erin

  Good. That was really good. There’d been a time when she would’ve struggled to pull on her power that quickly, but she was getting better at it these days. She still struggled with it in a fight, but right now, she used it like a protective layer. She was alert and that’s exactly how it should’ve been.

  Just that one little thing gave me hope that everything could be fixed.

  I moved around the room to the right, and then ducked through a low doorway to another room.

  Ashino was right. There was a sign declaring this was a cafe, but that was a strong word for this place. The small room had a tiny kitchen—one burner, a countertop cold box, and a sink. A little drying rack next to the sink was completely full with exactly three tea cups and their delicate saucers. In the center of the room, there was enough space for both of the two two-foot diameter tables, and the two squat, tiny folding chairs at each table, but barely. I wasn’t sure that all of those chairs could be used at once.

  Vyic was leaning back in one chair. His long, lanky frame had his legs sticking out under the chair across from him. “Good morrow, my friend.” He picked up a tiny cup from the saucer in front of him and lifted it to me. “Come. Have a drink and be well.”

  If he’d stood, Vyic would have been a little taller than me, and much, much thinner. His hair was long, falling down his back in a pale white sheet. His skin was not as pale as his hair, but still lacked color. But it was his eyes that stood in stark contrast.

  They were black as the dead space between stars. If I looked directly in his eyes for too long, there was this funny sensation that I was being sucked in, almost as if they were portals to another place. A dark, empty, airless place that would eat my soul.

  I’d once confessed to Fynea how I felt when I looked into the eyes of a Gsvinaish. She’d laughed and said I was being dramatic, but then she’d shuddered and wouldn’t meet my eyes. Which meant she agreed.

  The Gsvinaish were terrifying.

  They were bloodthirsty, loved power, and had few to no morals. Which was why it’d been shocking to find Vyic actually cared. He had a sense of humor, and at first, I thought it’d been a lie to ease me into a state where I might give up information. But years later, I realized that Vyic hated his father as much as I hated mine. Which meant we could come to an understanding, and eventually, a friendship.

  “Come now. You’re not still scared of me.” He grinned and it did nothing to ease the effect of his eyes. “It’s been so long since that run across the uncharted regions.” He held the cup higher.

  I’d agreed to go with him on a mission once, and it’d given me night terrors for years. “Let’s not talk about that.” I waved the drink away. There wasn’t a chance that I was going to have anything from any cup in this place. They were already pumping so much mood-altering substances into the smoke in the rooms, and I didn’t want to test my limits.

  I lifted the chair off of his feet and set it down against the wall, making enough room for Amihanna to sit down, and motioned her forward. “This is my wife.”

  Amihanna froze halfway to the chair and looked up at me. “No, I’m not.”

  “Formality.” I winked at her, and she huffed a laugh.

  I grabbed a chair from the other table and attempted to sit. “Goddess. How are you supposed to fit in one of these?”

  “I’m managing just fine.” Vyic took a delicate sip from his handleless cup and then set it down on the equally tiny saucer.

  I tried to stretch out my legs a little, but there was no space. “So, what do you have for me?”

  “So soon? No, how are you, Vyic? I’ve missed you so much, Vyic. My, you’re looking handsome today, Vyic.”

  I laughed. “Of course. How rude of me. We could pretend I asked all of that.”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m actually surprised you came. I thought you hated Telnon.”

  I did. I truly did. “The lure of trying to get the alliance to side with me against SpaceTech was too great.”

  “You’re wasting your time there.”

  I raised a brow. I knew I was, but I was a little surprised that he knew. His father might lead the Gsvinaish, but he spent as much time with his sire as I had with mine. “What’s SpaceTech up to? What are you hearing?”

  He turned to look at Amihanna and I waited for her to jolt with the same shock that I felt when I first met Vyic. The pull of his empty eyes was as equally mesmerizing as it was terrifying. It took years for me to be comfortable around him.

  But Amihanna never paused. She didn’t jolt or flinch or react with anything other than a grin. A real grin. Not one of those horribly put-on ones.

  “I’m Amihanna di Aetes.” She reached out her hand in a very Earther gesture. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Vyic. Likewise.” He leaned forward, taking it, holding it for a moment before letting go. “I have to admit, you’re the reason I reached out to this one.” He nodded toward me with his head but didn’t look away from Amihanna.

  “Really?” Amihanna propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her fist, leaning forward to look deeper in his eyes. “Why?”

  What was happening? Why wasn’t she feeling the pull he had? It was incredibly disarming, and yet, she showed nothing. How? Why? I didn’t understand.

  “I was curious what you would do when you saw me. Curious what I would see in you when you looked into my eyes.” He grinned and every instinct I had went on high alert. “I like what I see.”

  Amihanna tilted her head. “Don’t try to make this creepy.”

  I studied Amihanna like she was a stranger because in that moment, she was. At least a little. “I’m sorry. Try to make it creepy?” It was already creepy. Vyic made everything creepy. He was a friend, and even I could admit that. He’d taken some getting used to.

  Vyic made a sound that must’ve been a laugh but I wasn’t quite sure. It made me hold my breath as I waited to see what might come next.

  “She doesn’t think so,” Vyic said, still staring at her. “Do you?”

  Amihanna was quiet for a while, and I honestly had no clue what she was going to say.

  She reclined back in the tiny chair, and something shifted and changed in her frequency. It was subtle. But I knew she was about to reveal something and I had no idea what it was going to be.

  “I died a little while ago.”

  Okay. That wasn’t even on my list of what she might say.

  “I died and for a second I saw the other side.”

  “Ah. That’s it. My question answered and so easily. Usually there’s a fight before I get my answer.” His eyes seemed to get even darker—as if that were even possible—while he studied Amihanna. “What did you see?”

  “I’ve almost died multiple times. I’ve been in pain and suffered, but that? That was different. It was…” She bit her bottom lip and I could almost feel her struggling to come up with how to explain what she’d seen.

  “I wasn’t sure I wanted to be back when I woke up,” she said, finally.

  All the air went out of my lungs. I hated that. We’d talked about it, but briefly and not for very long. I’d brushed that aside—too focused to help her move forward and heal—but now I had questions.

  Vyic gave a small smile. “You went to His Kingdom.” He gave her a once-over. “Of course you did. I see that now. And if you went there, why would you ever want to leave?” He slapped a hand softly on the table and leaned away from her, finally. “But good for you. It’s so hard for mortals to achieve a spot in His presence these days. It makes me want to spend more time with you. I have questions about you, your life, what happened while you were in His Kingdom, how you came back. We need time to discuss everything.”

  “Okay, but maybe today isn’t the day for that discussion.” She glanced at me, and gave me a look that said I’m okay, and I let out a long breath.

  She turned back to Vyic. “But can I ask you a question today? Since I answered yours without a fight.”

  “Only if I can ask a
nother of you.”

  She gave him a nod. “Are you a wraith or death or just an agent of death?”

  “That’s quicker than most catch on, but you’ve been more of a surprise so far than anyone I’ve encountered in years.” He grinned, and I had a feeling he actually, truly liked Amihanna. Vyic and I were friends and allies, but I knew if it came down to it, if we were in trouble, he would choose himself over me.

  I wasn’t sure he felt that way about Amihanna, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about him feeling that way either.

  “To answer your so very astute question, none of the above.” Vyic waved his long-fingered hand through the air quickly. “Or maybe a cousin of all of them.”

  “What does that mean?” Amihanna asked, and I wondered the same. I’d known Vyic for years, and I didn’t know anything about him being a wraith or death or whatever.

  How did Amihanna know this?

  “My home planet is unusual. We exist in the space between planes, flowing between here and there, existing everywhere and nowhere. It’s why we’re powerful even though there aren’t very many of us. Our nature can be useful in many different situations. It’s also why SpaceTech has been working so close on building a relationship with our people. They want the secret to our means of travel, but they wouldn’t like it if they tried it.” He grinned, and it chilled my soul. “My turn?”

  She nodded, as if Vyic’s grin wasn’t horribly creepy. “Sure.”

  “Do you know you’re on death’s door?”

  She froze.

  I froze.

  What?

  I wanted to scream no. He was wrong. But fear’s ice coated my skin because I knew he was right. I knew it because that’s exactly what I’d been thinking before we walked into this cottage.

  “It’s the lucole?” I asked, but I knew it was. That was the only thing that made sense.

  He gave a slow nod, eyes never leaving Amihanna. “Three hits, my new, sweet friend. Three tones, and you’ll need one of mine to collect you.”

  Three hits?

  Three tones? What did that even mean?

  I needed to know more because I wasn’t going to let Amihanna die. “What do you know about the lucole poison that they’re using?” I asked.

  “I know enough, but not a lot.” He finally looked at me. “I know that they used it on her, and I’ve seen what it can do. It’s a quick, easy, efficient way to mass slaughter a people. You dust them with this lucole. They inhale it. Then, a device like a tuning fork is used to activate the poison. It can be a tiny, targeted device, or a larger, mass-killing device. First hit activates it from the neutral state. A second hit, makes the poison volatile.”

  “And a third makes you dead,” Amihanna finished for him.

  “Exactly.”

  Amihanna huffed. “Feels familiar.”

  “Makes your kind sick in the process, too. They’re not sure how long the poison can stay in your system, but it’s looking like months at least. They haven’t had much time to do complete testing, so it could be longer. And while it’s there, it weakens you.”

  That felt painfully accurate. It’s what I was seeing in her, but it didn’t explain why none of our scans were able to find it in her system. We should’ve at least been able to detect it.

  This was a nightmare. A complete and total nightmare.

  Amihanna reached over, placing a hand on my arm, calming me as she stared into Vyic’s eyes. “What about an antidote? SpaceTech wouldn’t use a weapon that they couldn’t fully control.”

  “They did this time. SpaceTech pushed this poison out before it was fully studied. They’re too scared of Lorne and you together. They’ve heard of your High Priestess and her prophecies. I thought they were stupid for believing in them, but now that I see you two together, it wasn’t stupid at all.” Vyic turned his dark gaze on me. “Your prophecies might not usually reach other worlds, but everyone knows that the two of you together will rule not just the Aunare, but everyone. Or you could if you were so inclined. I’m not sure that you are, but that’s not something that the evil souls of SpaceTech could ever understand.”

  Goddess. This was bad.

  Amihanna’s hand tightened on my arm. “You wouldn’t ask us here if I were a lost cause. You see death. I know because I see death in your eyes, and I’m sure a lot of people are scared of you for that. But I don’t fear death. I want to live. I will fight until I have no more breath. But when I can’t, when it’s the end, when I die, I know that God is on the other side. And that’s a very good thing.”

  He grinned. “Your soul is such a slippery thing, and I’m finding it most interesting.”

  What?

  Her soul was slippery? What did that mean? How could I know and not know my friend?

  “It’s beautiful? His Kingdom?”

  She nodded. “I was only there for a second, but I hope I’ll end up back there when my time runs out.” She shrugged. “But by the Grace of God go I.”

  I looked at her, not quite knowing what she meant by that, but Vyic whistled and gave a soft slow clap.

  He turned to me then. “You’re a good man. A very good man. I see it in you, and it’s why I’ve worked to maintain this friendship. You’re powerful and fearsome when the need is there, but generous and kind. And yet, even you are not worthy of her.”

  That I understood. “I’m aware.”

  He tilted his chin. “I don’t know that you do. I don’t know if it’s the darkness that she’s faced that has made her soul shine so bright or if she was just made this way, but…” He paused and then nodded, as if coming to some conclusion. “I wasn’t sure how much I was going to help you. I would’ve helped you a little because, even if my father does not see treachery toward the Gsvinaish people in Murtagh’s eyes, I know it is there. If they manage to destroy you, then they will start taking out the next biggest threat. And that is us. No one wants to see us on a battlefield.”

  He was right. They were next. There were a million Gsvinaish—give or take—but their unique powers would call out to SpaceTech. They’d want the power of the Gsvina for themselves.

  “Who did they test the poison on?” I asked. They would’ve tested it, and depending on the results, maybe it could help us find an antidote.

  “Oooh. Good question. Point for you. The Zktra system is quiet these days.”

  That made a sick kind of sense. If I’d been thinking hard enough, I probably could’ve guessed it.

  The Zktra system wasn’t large. It had three planets, but only one of them was partially habitable. The others had been used for various resources on them. There were a variety of people that used the uninhabitable planets for various hiding points. Eventually, people fleeing found refuge there. No one went to the Zktra system. No one really cared about them. The only reason to go there was when you had no place left to hide.

  I’d been there a few times before and—like most people who’d ever visited—I didn’t care to go back, but that didn’t mean that I wished them harm. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the toll?”

  “Complete.”

  That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

  “Everyone? Not just Aunare who are hiding there?” Amihanna asked. “No survivors?”

  “None. The Aunare seem to get especially sick from it, but the poison works on anyone who inhales it. The crystals are superfine, but if you breathe in enough of it, then it’s enough. Get a group of infected people together then hit the vibration three times, and...”

  “And they’re all dead. Like the people of Zktra.”

  Amihanna finally looked at me. “All right. So, we need to get this shit out of me. Thoughts?”

  “I’m terrified.” That was my only thought.

  The fear was so real, so raw, that it pushed out everything else. There was a hum in my brain that I couldn’t silence. The beat of my heart urged me to move into action, but there wasn’t anything I could do.

  Nothing that I could fix.

>   Goddess. What was I going to do?

  Amihanna placed a hand on my cheek and stared into my eyes. As she took a breath, I took a breath, and the panic died down just a little bit.

  She leaned forward, brushing her lips softly against mine. “No time for that,” she whispered as she pulled away. “I learned a lot about lucole on Abaddon. I mined it on Apollyon. This isn’t completely unfamiliar to me. Right now we can assume it’s in its neutral state in my body. Even if someone gets close enough to activate it once before we take them out, it should only stay active for a day. So, I stay careful for that day. And if I get hit twice, then I’ll stay in my room on the ship for three days until it’s inactive again. We have time to figure out how to get rid of the lucole lingering in my blood now that we know it’s there. We can fix this.” She turned to Vyic again. “Can I fix this?”

  The panic started to rise again, but Amihanna reached her hand to me, closing her fingers around my wrist.

  He watched the motion—studying how her fingers wrapped around my wrist—before meeting her gaze again. “Most problems are fixable as long as you’ve the money to fix it. And I believe you’ve got more than plenty. Though it will take more than money to fix this particular problem.” Vyic paused. “I have some leads to share with you.”

  She nodded and just like that, I was on the same page as her. I leaned forward, meeting his eyes, forcing him to focus on me and not caring that he was messing with my soul.

  Nothing else mattered.

  “Tell me everything,” I said.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  AMIHANNA

  I should’ve been scared by what Vyic said, but I wasn’t. After the meeting, we messaged Audrey. She and her team of lucole specialists were working on landing their ships so that they could run more tests on me. Apparently, only a few ships from every visiting alliance were allowed to land. The rest were supposed to stay in orbit. Getting hers down here without telling everyone that I was vulnerable was a thing.