by Eva Delaney
Castor scoffed. “Lady Camilla, you can see from the ansible code that I am on one of my honor guard’s ships—”
“Which these rebel bastards stole a day ago,” Antares cut in. “After failing to claim my Invictus as their own. How are you faring, Calpurnia? Orion?”
I swallowed a chuckle. Antares’s skill at messing with people was coming in handy.
“Hmmm,” the lady said. “Who could this impostor even be? Did they somehow build a program that imitates your voice? Perhaps, it is someone from the court who would have had ample time to record your words?”
“It’s my parrot,” Antares said, jumping in before Castor could. He sneered as he spoke. “My court jester. You remember him, quite a treacherous fellow.”
I peered at Antares, stunned by both his words and the hatred in them.
Antares had been treated as a pet or a joke for Castor to parade around.
If that were true, no wonder he had left the Supremacy.
“That’s not what I thought of you,” Castor, the real Castor, hissed. His voice was brittle, the smoothness replaced by hurt.
My mouth fell open. I looked to Antares for more information, for a sign, but he stared at the comms with a blank expression, giving nothing away.
What had happened between those two?
“Lady of my heart, my soon-to-be princess of the galaxy,” Antares said, never missing a beat. “Look inside yourself. The love you hold for me and that I hold for you will guide you true. You know who the real prince is. You know which of these two men belongs to you.”
I mimed a gag but said nothing. Antares shot me a sidelong grin.
“Oh, come on,” the real Castor said. “We’ve only met a few times. He’s clearly playing you.”
“Those few times were rare delights,” Antares said. “As will be this visit to your jumpship, the lady of my heart.”
Castor sighed. “You think that seduction will work on a keen political mind like the lady’s? She knows why we’re together and how this works. This impostor doesn’t. Camilla, arrest these rebels immediately.”
“Immediately?”
“Yes, immediately. That was the order.”
“Do you forget who you are speaking to? I am the heir to the Sigana family and future princess. I am not yours to order like a common servant.”
Antares grinned. “This debate can be easily settled, my lady. Bring the Invictus on board and see for yourself who is here.”
I shot him a glare. He shrugged. She’ll want to anyway, he mouthed.
He was right. Fuck, even if we fooled her, we were screwed when she demanded to see Castor in person.
“Hmm,” she said. “The real prince would never stand up for a mimic who was sullying his good name nor would he insult me so.”
“But—” Castor’s voice cut off as the lady hung up on him.
I bit my lip to stop from laughing. Antares grinned wickedly.
“Why are you stranded out here, Castor?” Lady Camilla said, a keen edge to her voice.
I celebrated too soon. She was easily fooled, but not a total idiot. Could she be pretending she believed us to lure us into a trap?
“Rebels damaged the engine while they were attempting to steal my ship,” Antares said. “That damage dropped me out of hyperspace; quite unfortunate. I need a boost to rendezvous with the rest of my fleet.”
“Of course,” Camilla said smoothly. “But join me while the tech crews take a look. I will have a proper royal suite ready for you rather than a cramped ship.”
The Invictus jerked under me and the jumpship started rushing toward us. I pulled on the controls, but they did not respond. Alarms blared on the dashboard.
I eyed the scanners. She was tractor-beaming us into the jumpship. It was what we needed, but it still made my stomach twist.
“Ships are hysterical, aren’t they?” Lady Camilla said.
I glared at her voice. Fuck her.
A hand gripped my shoulder hard from behind, hard enough to grind the muscles. I startled and turned. Orion leaned over me, shaking his head.
What, I mouthed.
He shook his head, his eyes wide and his face pale.
“Oh! How rude of me,” Lady Camilla said. “Where will you be meeting with the rest of your company? I’ll have the crew set the coordinates now. You know how long it takes to fire up this thing.”
“Etrea,” Antares said.
My mouth dropped open. He couldn’t. He didn’t.
He just told the Supremacy where we were going to find Agent Winters.
“You fucker—” Orion shouted and lunged at Antares.
Shit! The princess surely heard that. I leaped up, grabbing Orion’s arm, clamping a hand over his mouth. He struggled, and I dug my nails into his face to hold on. If he kept yelling, he’d make things even worse.
If they could get worse. Antares had just betrayed us, and Orion had just blown our cover.
Chapter 14
“My gunner appears to be having a fit,” Antares said in Castor’s voice. He lied well, and for once, that was a good thing. “He must be sick. I’ll call you back.”
“Oh my, is it the space madness—” Lady Camilla’s voice cut off as Antares switched off the comms.
He leaped to his feet and whirled on Orion. “What the fuck are you doing? You could have blown our cover.”
Orion shook free from my grip. I grabbed his arm in both hands. It was no good to attack Antares before we had answers. He trembled under my touch.
“You traitor,” Orion roared.
“Yes, but to the Supremacy, not you.”
“You told them where we’re going, where Winters is. You told them to come on board and find Castor!”
Antares sighed and rolled his eyes. “I got us onto a jumpship. Lady Fancy Ass will want to see Castor no matter what I said.”
“You sold us out!” Orion dove at him, throwing a punch with his free hand.
I yanked on his forearm, dragging him back. His fist swooshed harmlessly through the air an inch from Antares’s nose. The bounty hunter didn’t even flinch.
“Orion, stop it! That’s an order,” I yelled.
“They’re pulling us in!” Orion shouted. “They’re pulling us in!”
“Orion?” I said.
He ran a hand through his twisted hair. “They’ll capture us. I can’t…I can’t…go back to a cell.”
My blood ran cold. Was he having a flashback to his time in prison? The time he spent there because I had failed him.
“All because of that lying scum,” he jabbed a finger at Antares. “Like all the other Supremacy assholes I’ve lived with. No loyalty. You’re waiting for a chance to stab us in the back.”
My stomach clenched. Orion had lived in a prison full of Supremacy POWs—what had they done to him?
All because The Uprising didn’t believe in us.
All because I didn’t believe in him.
“I can’t go back. I can’t let Cali go there.”
“Orion, listen to me,” I said.
He shook his head, his eyes wet and panicked. “We have to get ready to fight them. Get to the guns.”
“Orion, please listen to reason,” I pleaded.
Hamal stepped into the cockpit. He didn’t ask what was happening or what had upset Orion. It was as though he didn’t need to; he already knew exactly what to do.
He placed his hands on Orion’s shoulders and turned him to face him. Orion slipped from my grasp, leaving my hand cold and empty in the air.
“Deep breaths, Rion. One, two, three, four…”
Orion trembled and stared at Hamal.
“Come on, Rion, breathe with me.”
I stood helpless as Orion trembled and Hamal tried to calm him down, as though he had done it dozens of times before. He probably had. Hamal had been there for Orion after he was released from prison. He was the only person who was.
“Ori,” I whispered and stepped forward, rubbing his arm to try to calm him. He jerked
away from me, and it was like a stab to the heart.
“Keep breathing,” Hamal said, his voice low and calm. “Watch your thoughts pass by like clouds. Just because you have a thought doesn’t mean you have to embrace it.”
I wouldn’t have thought to say any of that. Hamal knew Orion better than I did.
I wanted to reach out for Ori, to hold him and comfort him, but I didn’t think he wanted me to.
“Prison is not the real world,” Hamal muttered. “Keep repeating that, remember? I am free. I am powerful. This world is different from prison.”
I pressed my lips together. I had no idea Orion needed help. I barely knew him. Was our relationship based on an idea of each other, a memory, that was no longer real?
Was this why he had been so clingy the past few days? He was looking for comfort, and I had pushed him away.
The cockpit went quiet except for Orion and Hamal’s big, deep breaths and the soft beep of the comms that meant someone was hailing us. Polaris and Antares watched me, waiting for me to do something, to take control, to lead.
Even though it hurt to do it, even though my entire being protested it, I had to push Orion away for the moment. It was the only way to save the rest of the team and Agent Winters.
“Hamal, take Orion to the infirmary. I’ll handle things here with the princess and jumpship.”
Hamal nodded at me over Orion’s head.
“No,” Orion said. “I’m not leaving you here with this Supremacy scum. He’ll get us all killed, locked up, or worse!”
His chest rose and fell as though he struggled to breathe. “I’m not going back! I won’t let him lock us up.”
I pressed my lips together. I wanted to hold him, to comfort him, but I didn’t know how. I had never seen Orion like this before. He was always the cocky strong one, acting as though nothing and no one could touch him or get to him.
“Hamal,” I said, gently.
The larger man nodded and took Orion’s shoulders.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you or us,” I said to Orion as Hamal pulled him backwards from the cockpit.
Orion’s green eyes widened with panic. His breath was short and ragged like he was choking. That was the only reason why Hamal was able to pull him away without a fight.
Something vast and terrible had scarred him deeper than I knew. I hadn’t even suspected it and had no idea how to handle it.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I had to keep going, for his sake. I couldn’t let him end up back in the cell, locked away from the sky.
I turned my back to him and Hamal. I couldn’t calm Orion, but I could make sure his fears didn’t come true.
“Antares,” I said coldly.
“I can still save us,” he said. “Let me explain.”
“I’m uncertain if I’ll believe you,” I said. “But talk.”
He frowned, that sad, puppy dog look, as though my distrust hurt him. Well, he hadn’t given us a lot of reason to trust him. I still didn’t know why he was here or what his motivation was.
“There’s a fleet and an army of bounty hunters looking for Agent Winters, so we need to be faster and smarter. We already lost our ten days head start.”
I flinched. We lost our head start because of my bad decision, my attempt to ditch the men.
“Other hunters might be ahead of us and already destroyed evidence of Winters’ tracks. Her trail might be cold. We can’t waste time by spending days traveling to a jumpgate with this ship and then another week traveling to Etrea. The trail will be gone by then and other hunters or Castor will be two weeks closer to finding her. Two weeks ahead of us.”
I winced again. His words made sense; we were never the only ones searching for Agent Winters.
But there was still the matter of trust.
“Why should I believe you?” I said.
“We can trust him because of Mr. Pancake,” Polaris said. He sat in the navigator’s chair with the little dog in his arms.
Mr. Pancake tilted his head back and licked Polaris’s chin. No wonder he liked the dog.
“Antares trusted him with us on Vinera, and Mr. Pancake will be hurt too if things go bad,” Polaris continued. “He wouldn’t put Mr. Pancake at risk.”
Every time he said the dog’s name, that tongue came out, licking Po’s chin.
Antares smiled at Polaris. It was a small smile, but warm as sunlight. I didn’t think I had seen him smile like that before, but then I hadn’t seen anyone be so kind to him before, either.
I sighed. “Okay, we can decide later if Antares revealing our destination is good or bad. He said what he said, and we can’t change that. Right now, we have to deal with a bigger problem. We need to convince Castor’s betrothed that he’s here, he likes her, and he doesn’t want to see her. On top of that, we need to be convincing enough that the real Castor can’t undermine us.”
I fixed my gaze on the looming docking bay as it swallowed us. I had been in a lot of tough spots, and this was probably the worst one of all.
Chapter 15
I slipped into the pilot’s chair and watched the docking bay, counting each ship and its type. Fuck, there were hundreds of fighters and bombers in here.
We could never outrun them or outfight them.
“I have an idea,” Polaris said softly. “We tell the lady that the gunner is mad and vomiting. That means that ship and crew need to be quarantined until the med nanos clear out the strange virus. They can’t enter a quarantined ship. It’s the law.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said, and Polaris beamed like a flashlight. “Assuming the lady follows the law….”
“What the hell is happening? Did you surrender again?” Rux said, strolling into the cockpit.
Great, he was the last thing I needed. At least he was away from the guns, and surprisingly, he had followed my orders not to fire on the jumpship.
Unfortunately, he was still wearing nothing but his gold jockstrap. His washboard abs and geometric tattoos were on full display. I didn’t dare look any lower than that.
“Put on pants!” I snapped at him.
“When I want to!” he snapped back.
Antares looked Rux over, slowly. The gruff man blushed from his hips where his V-shaped muscle stood out—right to the tips of his hair. But he still glowered back at the bounty hunter all the same.
I sighed. Why did I want them here again?
“Antares,” I ordered, “get on the comms and claim a strange illness as Po said.”
Antares slipped back into the co-pilot chair. I grabbed his wrist before he could push the comms button. His pulse skipped a beat under my thumb, and he dragged his gaze along my body to my face.
Unlike Rux, I wasn’t going to get hot and flustered. “If you tell them anything besides what we agreed on, I will space you when we reach Etrea. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you will not put this mission or my crew put at risk. Got that?”
He glared at me, a cold, flat look—the nerve of him—and pulled his arm from my hand. He hit the comms button.
Lady Camilla’s worried voice echoed around the cockpit. “Baby boy—”
Rux laughed, a loud gravelly sound. I shot him a warning look with all the disgust and anger I could muster. He snapped his mouth shut.
“Who is that?” she said.
“The gunners are quite mad,” Antares said in his Castor’s voice. “Fever and delusions. They’re vomiting and shitting everywhere too.”
“I shall have a squadron of guards at the ship to haul them away.”
I gritted my teeth. Did she want to punish people for being sick?
“Hardly necessary—”
“No man may endanger my prince and live another day.”
My heart thundered in my head. We couldn’t allow a squad of guards onto the ship; they’d blow our cover and capture us. I couldn’t let Orion be caged again. I couldn’t let sweet Polaris languish in a cell or Rux get himself killed by refusing to surrender.
“They are my gun
ners and under my command,” Antares said coldly. “I will not have them harmed for an illness that is not their fault. We will put the ship on lockdown to prevent this disease from spreading to you and the jumpship crew.”
“I cannot allow my sweet prince to be locked in a ship with dangerous men.”
“I’m a dangerous man,” Antares said and winked at me.
My heart fluttered. I rolled my eyes so Antares wouldn’t know he had any effect on me.
“I feel the symptoms starting as well. It must have been something the filthy plebs on Vinera carried. Something that our med nanos have not encountered before and are struggling to fight. You can never trust local cooks.”
“Indeed, I never do,” Camilla said, but she sounded distracted as though she was agreeing for the sake of agreeing. “I’ll have a med team sent to the docking bay at once, along with guards to defend you from your mad gunners. I shall join them and help care for you myself.”
Antares and I exchanged a glance.
“I won’t risk you, my love,” Antares said. “My med nanos will determine a proper response soon, and once they do, I’ll send the software update to you. Only then shall it be safe to see my heart’s desire. We’ll be together soon enough.”
With that, Antares cut the comms.
“She’s persistent,” I said.
“Nobles always are,” Antares said in a flat voice. “They’re unaccustomed to not getting their way.”
Something in his voice made me think he had ample experience with that—and wasn’t happy about it.
It’s my parrot, my court jester, Antares had said. His voice had held so much hatred when speaking of himself. Had it been a ruse or was there truth to it? What had happened between him and Castor?
The tractor beam extended inside the docking bay as well. It carried the Invictus to one of the few empty spots and set the ship down among thousands of enemy fighters.
Hands tight on the controls, I looked around the bay and wished I could fly us out of here.
On Vinera, there had only been a few dozen Supremacy pilots and soldiers. This docking bay alone held more ships than many Uprising bases.
We couldn’t escape them, and once the jumpship entered hyperspace, we couldn’t leave until we reached Etrea.
