Valen had acted on instinct. He’d lunged, palms spread before him, and, at the last second, shoved the soldier with every ounce of strength left in him. The soldier had fired.
And the bullet, meant for Nor...had hit Zahn in the chest instead.
It was his fault that Zahn was dead.
His fault that Nor was now alone.
The transport slowed, Averia coming into view, the white walls of the floating gravarock estate glittering in the moonlight as it hung in the sky.
“I’m so sorry, Nor,” Valen finally said. His throat felt raw, the words useless. “I’m so sorry.”
His words seemed to pull Nor out of her stupor. Her eyes, red-rimmed, were swollen from tears as she looked at him. “I want every soldier who failed me to be hung from the estate walls.”
Silence reigned for several long moments, with nothing but the sound of the transport’s engine to break the quiet.
“That is a rash decision, my queen,” Darai said carefully. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two siblings, and Valen nodded his head in agreement.
Did she know what he’d done?
No, he thought. How could she?
Nor’s eyes flicked upward to glare at Darai. Her tears were gone now. Only fury remained in their place. “Do not speak to me about rash,” she hissed. “I want to know what happened. I want to know why—”
“The princeling couldn’t have known,” Darai interjected suddenly, calmly.
Valen’s heart felt like it froze in his chest.
“What?” Nor asked quietly.
Please, Valen thought, desperately wishing Darai could hear him. But the old man had no such power. No ability to hear his mental messages.
“Valen was just trying to protect you, my dear. I saw the whole valiant act.” He placed a cold hand on Valen’s shoulder. “Were it not for his actions, pushing the enemy soldier away...the shot would very likely have landed in your chest instead of Zahn’s.”
Valen couldn’t breathe as the truth was revealed.
For a moment, Nor looked like she hadn’t even heard Darai. Valen wondered if their uncle had really spoken the truth aloud, or perhaps it had only been Valen’s exhausted mind playing tricks on him as the guilt ate away at his insides.
But then Darai nodded as the transport landed, a hiss of steam slipping past the windows as the engines began to cool down. “Valen saved you, Nor.” He glanced at Valen and smiled widely. “He saved your life, doing what he did.”
“You,” Nor whispered, her expression turning to stone as she turned, slowly, to look at Valen.
A dark tendril of shadowy dread crept over him at the sound of that single word.
“You pushed the soldier who shot Zahn?”
Valen’s lips parted. “I...” His words failed him. “He would have killed you, Nor.” He looked to Darai, desperate for help, but the old man was already gone from his seat as the transport door opened, commanding the waiting guards to prepare the way for the queen.
“I didn’t know...” Valen swallowed. “You have to believe me, Nor. I had no idea that the bullet was going to hit Zahn instead.”
But his sister just sat motionless, as if so overcome with shock at Darai’s news that she was unable to move.
Through the open transport doorway, Valen saw a floating gurney soar past, directed by a med droid.
Cold metal.
An empty bed, meant for a body that wasn’t going to rise again.
Nor’s eyes fell upon it. Her lips moved soundlessly, forming Zahn’s name.
“You killed him,” she said suddenly. Her eyes flitted back to Valen, then to the doorway again as the droid and Darai moved past. The gurney wasn’t empty any longer. Zahn’s body lay upon it, covered no longer by Nor’s bloody cloak, but by a white sheet, forming a ghostly outline over him.
Nor stared at them as they faded from view.
“You killed Zahn,” she said again.
“I didn’t,” Valen whispered. “Oh, Godstars, Nor, I was trying to save you. I could feel them, Nor. Each time one of our people was shot, and they died. I could feel it like someone was carving them from my mind, from my soul. I ran back to find you, and I saw the soldier preparing to shoot, and I did what anyone would have done—”
“You killed Zahn,” she repeated.
Valen reached across the space and gripped Nor’s wrist. “Please, Nor.”
She jolted upright, ripping her hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me!”
“Please,” Valen said. “It was an accident... It was war.”
“Then you should have compelled the crowd to protect me. Let them all fall, before Zahn or I were harmed.”
“I saved your life,” Valen begged. He willed her to see reason—that if it hadn’t been Zahn, it would have been her on that gurney.
“No,” Nor said, standing slowly. She walked down the transport ramp, where Darai was waiting, hand held out to help her. She refused it, shouldering past him.
“Nor!” Valen shouted after her. He stood, but his head was swimming, and the transport ramp felt like a rocking sea as Valen stumbled down it.
“Leave her, princeling,” Darai said, but Valen ignored the adviser, nearly tripping over his own feet as he grabbed his sister’s hand.
Nor spun, yanking it out of his grip, the motion so strong that Valen lost his balance and crashed to his knees on the hard ground of the docking bay. She towered over him, tears pouring down her cheeks, her gold eyes as cold as the dead.
“You did not save me, Valen,” she said. “You just stole from me the only person I have ever loved.”
The words hit him like a dagger to the chest.
“You don’t mean that,” Valen whispered. “Nor, please. I’m your brother. I love you.” A sob escaped him against his will. “I’m sorry. Please, please forgive me.”
“Sorry won’t bring him back,” Nor said flatly.
Then she turned and walked away, leaving him alone on the docking bay floor.
Valen wasn’t sure how long he stayed there for, trapped in anguish. It could have been mere moments, or hours. Years, perhaps.
Darai appeared before him, offering him a pale hand. “You did well, reacting so quickly during the attack,” he said reassuringly. “She will come around in time, and see that.”
Valen took his hand, letting the old man help him to his feet. Then he groaned as pain lanced through his skull. His nostrils were dripping blood again, a slow leak that spread the taste of metal across his lips and tongue.
“Still,” Darai mused. “Your compulsion failed us all during the frenzy. Perhaps you aren’t as strong as I thought you were, if you’re already crumbling under the pressure of this mission.” He passed Valen a handkerchief. “I suggest you escape to your mind for a while, princeling. Clean yourself up, and do whatever you can to compel the galaxy to calmness after today’s bloody display. Because when the queen is done mourning...she will pick herself back up. And she will need your power to complete the mission. Of that, I am certain.”
Valen blinked at him, Darai’s words leaving him cold and hopeless. “I’ve always hated you, Uncle,” he said tiredly. “I wish it had been you on the other side of that bullet. Not Zahn.”
He could scarcely see through the specks rapidly filling his vision. He needed to lie down. To sleep, and find solace in the darkness.
So he turned away from a suddenly silent Darai, calling forth one of the med droids who still waited patiently on the edge of the docking bay. The little droid wheeled over a floating chair, and Valen fell into it, weariness clinging to him like a second skin as he wiped the blood from beneath his nostrils.
CHAPTER 22
ANDI
Andi’s vision was swimming when a familiar face walked into the pub. From across the dim room, she could see swirling tattoos gliding across the newcomer’s skin, which
briefly made her wonder if she’d had one drink too many.
Soyina nudged aside a few patrons who blocked her way as she approached. The icy look one Soleran man shot her was colder than his pallor, but Soyina just gave him a wink before sidling up beside an oblivious Dex, jarring him with a wicked slap on the back.
“Enjoying yourselves, it seems,” she commented, leaning against Dex with one arm slung around his shoulder.
Dex gave her an impish grin. “Enjoying may be pushing it after everything we’ve been through.”
Soyina shrugged, shifting her gaze to Andi. “You two coherent enough for a debrief on the attack?”
Andi might have been tipsy—or a little bit more than that—but her mind was still sharp enough to perk up at her words. She sat up a little straighter, blinking a bit to clear her vision.
Soyina idly played with a strand of Dex’s hair, smiling flirtatiously. Andi felt a twinge of annoyance, but pushed it down. Dex wasn’t hers—especially since she couldn’t figure out if she was still mad at him or not.
Nevertheless, she found herself glaring at Soyina. Thinking of how to painfully break the woman’s fingers.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Dex adjusted in his seat, making Soyina stand upright. The woman smirked, looking between them before pulling over a chair from a nearby table. She flipped it around and rested her arms on its backrest as she sat down.
“Well?” Andi prompted, brimming with curiosity.
“We definitely sent a message, but... Nor and Valen are still alive. They escaped in the chaos.”
“Were they at least hurt? Preferably in a life-threatening way?” Andi asked, irritated. If she’d been there, both siblings would have a bullet between their brows. They’d taken her family—she wasn’t going to play nice. Even if Valen was Kalee’s brother, he’d betrayed her memory and the Cortas family in every possible way.
“We know someone got hit, but it’s as yet unclear who it was. I know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear,” she said, sounding surprisingly apologetic. “Quite frankly, it isn’t what we wanted to hear, either. We lost good fighters in that attack.” Her expression turned distant as she added, “Just remember, you’re not the only one with loved ones at risk.”
Soyina, usually so snarky and cryptic, was anything but as she said those last few words. Andi couldn’t deny that she was right—everybody in the Underground was affected by Zenith in some way, even if it didn’t actually taint their veins. Affected just like she and Dex were.
“So what’s next?” Dex asked.
Soyina blinked a few times. “Time to put you both to bed,” she said, as if they were small children who had stayed up past their bedtime.
Andi didn’t hate that plan one bit. She knew her head was heavy not only from the drinks, but also from utter exhaustion. They had been on the move nonstop since leaving the nebula. They’d suffered through loss, injury and Klaren’s revelations, all without having a wink of rest.
It was a miracle they were still upright.
Actually, by the look of Dex, he was slumped a bit too forward to be considered awake.
“Lead the way,” Andi told her, stifling a yawn herself.
With a nod, Soyina led them back into the undercity, leading them to a new sector Andi and Dex hadn’t seen earlier. Rows of doors lined a narrow corridor.
“Welcome to your luxurious room,” Soyina said, gesturing to a door marked with the number fourteen.
As they stepped inside, Andi noted it was far from a five-star hotel room, which was fine by her. The interior was largely bare, save for a bunk bed lining the left wall and a small desk and chair pressed against the right.
“I’ll be back for you two tomorrow morning,” Soyina told them. “Bathroom is down the hall and to the right. Don’t use the third stall, though.”
“Why?” Andi asked curiously.
“Just don’t. Trust me.”
* * *
Andi hardly remembered climbing into the top bunk last night, because once her head hit the thin pillow, she was out like a light. Dex, on the other hand, had somehow managed to fall asleep leaning against the doorway and didn’t wake up even as she ushered him into bed.
Blearily, her gaze drifted to the clock mounted on the wall across the small room. Her eyes widened as they focused on the time. It was well past morning and dipping into the afternoon. Andi couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so late. Usually she was the first to wake and the last to go to sleep.
Though technically, right now she was the first to wake. She could hear Dex snoring away in the bed below hers.
Andi hopped off the bunk and landed softly on the stone floor below. Dex was still in the exact same position she’d left him in last night: face plastered against his pillow, legs hanging slightly over the edge of the bed. The only difference was the drool dripping from the corner of his mouth and pooling on the gray sheet below.
And, to her great surprise, Havoc was curled up in his arms, purring happily.
“That’s a sight I never thought I’d see,” Andi muttered. She poked Dex’s cheek.
He didn’t move an inch, so she prodded him again. Still nothing, so she shook his shoulder, but he just kept snoring. Havoc opened one eye, but mercifully didn’t attack.
“Damn,” Andi muttered. Usually Dex could be woken up by someone breathing too loudly. It looked like she’d need to resort to more extreme measures if they were to leave the room at all today.
She leaned in and flicked Havoc’s horned head, then darted out of his range as the creature scurried from Dex’s grasp, leaping over the edge of the bunk and out of sight. Then Andi grabbed the edge of the flimsy mattress and pulled. With a satisfying thump, Dex and his mattress fell to the floor, making him jolt upright. He reached for his gun, and Andi threw her hands up in defense. “Whoa there. Easy now.”
Dex blinked a few times before giving her a slow smile. “Easy is boring. I like it har—”
“I’m going to stop you there,” Andi said quickly, cringing at his dirty delirium. “Time to get up. We’ve slept nearly the whole day away.”
Her stomach growled, making Andi wonder where they might dig up some food. After a night of drinking, the long sleep had fortunately managed to offset the potential for a killer headache, but she was dying to eat anything and everything.
“What’s that?” Dex asked, pointing toward the door. A small piece of paper had been slid under the crack. Andi grabbed it and turned it over. The note was short and direct.
When you wake up, follow the signs to the dining hall.
Ask a guard to com me and I’ll meet you there.
—Soyina
“Want food?” Andi asked after reading the letter aloud.
Dex jumped up, teetering a moment. “Desperately.”
The dining hall wasn’t far from the now-deserted barracks. Everyone was milling through the other corridors, going about their business before the day ended, and the dining hall was almost empty, other than a few patrons drinking coffee in the corner.
Rows and rows of tables lined the room from front to back. Every square inch was used, leaving only narrow walkways between the tables. On the left side of the room was a buffet-style food arrangement. It didn’t look like there was much food left from the midday meal, but Andi didn’t care. She’d eat mud at this point.
But before she dug in—unlike Dex, who was already piling beans onto his plate—she asked the steely-looking guard at the door to com Soyina. When he gave her a stiff nod in reply, she turned to the food table and started loading her plate with a bit of everything.
Crispy golden potatoes, green beans dripping in oil, a slab of some kind of purple meat—its animal origins were a mystery—and a smattering of thick gravy to top it all off. Andi was actually quite shocked by the spread of food before her. She’d anticipated dry, military-type rations,
not food fit for a queen.
“Bet you didn’t expect this, did you, Baroness?” Soyina asked as she entered the hall.
Andi quirked a brow. “Not one bit,” she acknowledged honestly.
“We hit the jackpot last week when we captured a ship full of supplies that was en route to Arcardius from Adhira,” Soyina explained. “Usually our dining options are a bit more limited.”
“We’re certainly not complaining,” Andi remarked dryly, gesturing toward Dex, who was shoveling food into his mouth at an alarming rate.
The two women made their way over to his table. “Slow down, Dextro. You’re going to wind up cramping or throwing it all up,” Andi said as she sat down on the bench across from him. Soyina took a seat to her right, plopping a sack on the table before her.
Dex only gave her a wink in response. Andi rolled her eyes.
Soyina pushed the sack toward them. “Clothes and toiletries for you lot.”
Andi thanked her, putting the bag on the ground by her feet. She couldn’t wait to strip off her suit, take a shower and get dressed in fresh clothes. But first, food.
The moment the warm potatoes touched her tongue, she understood why Dex was shoveling the food down so fast. It was exquisitely prepared. The potatoes were perfectly crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, almost melting in her mouth. She stifled a moan as she chewed and dug in with enthusiasm.
“Klaren wants to speak with you two after you eat,” Soyina said after a few minutes of their contented silence.
“Mhmm,” Andi mumbled, mouth full of juicy meat. She’d expected as much.
“What about?” Dex asked, pushing his empty plate away and eyeing the buffet table, as if considering a second trip.
Soyina shrugged. “She didn’t tell me much, but I believe she wants to discuss how you can be of use to the Underground.”
Andi swallowed. “If the Underground wants to take advantage of our skills—and my new title—then it will have to be an equal trade.”
Dex nodded. “We may be fighting the same enemy, but we have to rescue our crew first.”
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