Then gone.
The sound of gunfire drew Valen back to the world, into his body. He watched as Andi sliced Nor’s arm. Blood dripped from the wound, but they still fought, Nor trying to get control of Andi, to take her to the scanner where she would pass her title on to Darai.
He fell back into his mind, watching his memories drift into the sky.
Another flake floated past Valen’s vision. In it, he saw his father’s face looming over him as he screamed at Valen, calling him worthless. Telling him that he would never be good enough, that he was ashamed Valen carried his blood.
That memory, Valen did not care to hold on to. He smiled as it flew away.
Again, he slipped back into the world.
He saw Androma lift her blade.
Saw her turn it on herself and knew what she was going to do. Only the bravest, the most selfless leader would do such a thing, to turn the tide of the war. To save millions.
But it would only calm things for a time. It would not end the war, for the moment Valen’s body was in full cryo, the moment he was uploaded into the satellite, the threat would remain forever. Even if Androma had managed to kill him, the minds of Mirabel would have remained trapped beneath his compulsion. Only the compeller could release them, by choice.
And his death would prevent that from ever happening.
They’d remain in that state, worshipping the thoughts Valen had placed in their minds, growing useless without new directives from their compeller. He could not release them, not while Darai had him leashed like a helpless dog.
It was almost too late. Valen sensed the uploading nearing its completion, as his mind began to feel light. Empty. And Darai’s power continued to surge through him, still barring Valen’s ability to fight back.
But as that blade touched Andi’s chest, just over the space where Valen had once tried to kill her with his own blade...
Something inside him whispered his name.
It was not Darai’s voice.
It was lighter. Softer.
A delicate voice that called to him. Valen sank into his mind, back into the world that was covered in ashen white, the rubble of his castle a pile at the base of the valley.
“Valen,” the voice called.
It sounded like Kalee.
Even in his mind, he could scarcely move. But some part of him still surged forward, following the sound of Kalee’s voice. It led him to the rubble of his castle, where his power had once thrived.
“Valen.”
The sound was growing dimmer by the second.
He reached out, touching the obsidinite stones.
So cold. His palms ached, bleeding as he began to dig. Tears of blood slipped down his face as he pulled stone after stone aside, searching.
He found it at the very bottom.
A little orb of light, a tiny kernel of it, no larger than a small seed.
Valen reached out with shaking, bleeding hands and scooped it up.
The orb was warm, a welcome feeling to shake off the chill of death. He held it to his chest, letting it soothe him, and as he pressed it close, he found that it gave him strength.
Fight back, Valen, the voice called from the orb.
It was his power.
It was his very soul, all that remained.
Darai must have overlooked it. Perhaps the Godstars were on Valen’s side after all. Perhaps they’d seen his regret for what he’d done to Mirabel.
Perhaps they’d led him back to his power, after all this time.
He could right his wrongs. He could do something, anything, to fix what he’d broken.
With great effort, Valen pushed himself from his mind, back into his dying body.
He saw Androma, nearly ready to press the blade too deep. Blood welled from her skin already, staining her shirt beneath the blade.
“Don’t,” he ground out, using that kernel of his power to speak against Darai’s will. “Andi, stop.”
The old man hadn’t noticed yet. Hadn’t felt Valen breaking through, as he willed his soldiers to keep fighting Andi’s crew.
“Stop,” Valen said again, and by the Godstars’ mercy, she heard him.
Her eyes flitted toward his, the blade pausing over her heart. She moved closer to him, a careful step within earshot.
“What are you doing?” Nor was saying to her, speaking Darai’s words. “Stop that at once! Put down the blade!”
“Kill me instead,” Valen said, praying that she could hear him. “Kill me, Andi. I’m releasing the minds. Do it, before it’s too late. I don’t have...much time.”
He saw her turn, the motion swift as she held out the blade.
Not a second of hesitation as she slid it across his throat. Valen felt the blood begin to drain from him, and he smiled.
“NO!” Darai screamed just as Valen sank into his mind, using those remaining moments of life to undo what he’d started so long ago.
It was cold, so cold inside his mind, where he sat atop the rubble of his castle once more. He moved the final stones aside and clawed at the frozen ground, digging a hole large enough for that kernel of his power to fit. He dropped it inside the small hole as he gasped for air. Blood fell upon it, staining the ground around that tiny bit of power.
The kernel soaked it up.
And then it began to grow.
And as it grew, Valen felt his power returning to him. A final push as his mind tried to hang on to life, even while his body was already gone, his last breaths wheezing from his lungs.
“I release you,” he whispered to no one.
But he saw, little by little, the stones begin to quake.
Each one of them, a mind in Mirabel stuck beneath his compulsion no longer.
With a smile, Valen lay back on the cold ground to sleep.
Peace, he thought, as he closed his eyes and let himself slip away. At long last.
CHAPTER 42
ANDI
The blade was wet with Valen’s blood.
The soldiers began to surge toward her, but as Valen took his last, weak breath, they suddenly stopped.
As one, the entire group collapsed, their bodies and weapons hitting the satellite’s metallic floor with thunk after thunk. Nor fell, too, in a graceless heap beside Valen’s pod.
And then the satellite was silent.
The only sound was Darai as he opened his eyes and stumbled forward, watching the scene play out before him. “What have you done?” he breathed.
He glanced at Valen’s body, the red gash across his throat signifying that he was, indeed, gone.
His eyes were wild as he looked back at Andi. “You fool!” he snarled. “You’re going to—”
“Enough, Darai.”
Andi turned to see Klaren standing over her shoulder, still in that armor, alive and well. She smiled and reached out to take the knife from Andi’s hand, fingertips closing over the handle, still warm with her son’s blood. “You’re growing old, Darai. It’s time you rested. Don’t you agree?”
He sputtered to form words, but they never left his lips.
Because Klaren swung, that wet blade arcing through the air as she slammed it into the side of his neck.
His blood was golden as the sun.
Darai gasped for air, clawing at the blade, but his hands trembled as that golden lifeblood left him. Slowly, the rage in his eyes dulled, and then his body fell to the ground, unmoving.
Klaren stared at him for a moment, then deliberately stepped across his back, his bones crunching beneath the weight of her armor. As if to ensure that he was, in fact, dead.
“You did well,” she said to Andi. “I wasn’t sure that you would be able to stomach the sacrifice, but... I’m impressed.”
Groans filled the room as the soldiers began to stir. Andi tensed, waiting for them to at
tack. But instead, they blinked wearily, as if waking from a long sleep. Slowly, they seemed to come back to themselves.
Some cried out as they saw their fallen comrades. Others began to walk about absentmindedly, reuniting with their friends, calling out for their loved ones. A group of them simply sat and wept, staring down at their hands as they remembered what they’d done, as they remembered the darkness they’d felt beneath the compulsion.
Finally, they were free.
Klaren knelt before Nor, reaching out to rouse her gently. The fallen queen opened her eyes, focusing them on her mother, hope in her gaze. Then she looked to Valen, lifeless in the pod, his body still encased, his eyes still open and unseeing.
“No,” she gasped, turning to Andi with a murderous expression.
Andi held out her hands, ready to defend her choice, but Klaren spoke instead. “It was a mercy, Nor,” she said, her robotic voice as gentle as could be. “Your brother was long gone, lost to Darai’s power. And now...he set the galaxy free.”
Tears poured from Nor’s eyes as she stood, reaching out for Valen. Klaren helped her undo his bindings. Andi turned, giving them their space, just in time to see her crew approach.
Gilly came first, a blur of red hair as she leaped at Andi, wrapping her tiny arms around Andi’s middle. Breck followed, slapping her across the shoulder as she pulled both of them in for a hug.
Lira was the last to approach, her blue eyes holding Andi’s as if she’d seen what Andi had been about to do. As if she knew, and was not impressed by what her captain had almost done.
“I had to, Lir,” Andi said. “There was no other choice.”
“I know.” Her pilot smiled sadly. “But we must thank the Godstars that they found a way around that choice, and made a new one for you.”
Andi realized, suddenly, that she hadn’t yet told Lira about Lon. But her friend seemed to sense that, too. “Did my brother die well?” she asked.
There was pain in her words, but also something more. Adhirans had always had a different way of looking at death, knowing that though a body was gone, the spirit carried on.
“He saved us,” Andi said, watching as Lira’s scaled cheek slowly began to glow, then dim again as she took a deep breath. “He died a hero, Lir.”
Lira nodded, then reached out and squeezed Andi’s hand gently.
Dex arrived next, bleeding, but alive. And more handsome than Andi had ever seen him, a soldier who’d survived a brutal war and grown stronger because of it. He looked past their group as Klaren and Nor placed Valen’s limp body on the floor.
“They have no leader now,” Dex said, but there was no pity in his eyes as he looked at Valen.
“He asked me to kill him,” Andi said. “He wanted it, Dex. Almost like he thought it could right his wrongs.”
Dex shrugged. “Does that really erase what he did, though?”
“He may have been under Darai’s compulsion the entire time,” Andi said. “We’ll never know for sure, but maybe he never had a choice. Maybe he never wanted any of this.”
Andi wondered if the last true Valen she’d known was the one who’d hated her after Kalee had died. She didn’t know if the forgiveness he’d given her, back on Adhira, was truly real or not.
But now wasn’t the time to focus on that.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lira said. “He’s gone now. And we have to start anew. These soldiers will be calling for blood soon, when they realize Nor is still alive.”
“If you’re going to punish her properly,” Breck said, her face twisted in anger, “you’ll need to keep her alive. It won’t be long before they turn on her.”
They were right, of course.
But Andi was tired. So tired.
Dex wrapped his arm around Andi’s shoulder, pulling her close. “You’re the general, love. It’s your decision here, what we do next.”
“What if I don’t want to decide?” Andi asked.
But there were no other leaders left in Mirabel...except one.
Klaren Solis knelt beside Nor, helping her wrap Valen in Nor’s cloak. Andi got a final glimpse of his face as they pulled the fabric over his head to cover his eyes. He’d saved the world, but he’d also broken it. So Andi wasn’t sure what awaited him on the other side.
“Well?” Gilly asked. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“We destroy the satellite,” Andi said, for that decision was obvious.
“And then?”
She sighed. She’d never wanted this. The title of general, the mission to save the galaxy. Mirabel had never loved her. It had seen her, in all of her faults, and called her unworthy.
But when she turned to look at her crew, watching her with such trusting eyes...
There was good in Mirabel. If Klaren, an Exonian, had learned to love it, then perhaps Andi could, too. Or at least she could until she found someone else to whom she could pass along the title.
She kept her gaze on Klaren’s back, knowing that it would be so easy to give the responsibility over to her. Klaren would make a fine general, and she could take all the weight of it from Andi’s hands. Klaren would gladly take it, for she’d been a queen of Xen Ptera, once, and she’d led the Underground. She was used to ruling, but Andi could see that, deep down, Klaren still loved power.
Still craved it, perhaps as much as Nor.
She’d have to find a way to deal with the two of them. To establish new leaders of the planetary systems, and together, they’d create an entirely new set of fail-safes for the nuclear arsenal. It was staggering to even ponder on such things. To even consider that Andi—a space pirate, and the Bloody Baroness—would have a hand in that.
“Cap?” Gilly asked.
Andi turned back to look at her crew.
Loyal. Honest. Brave.
All of them, waiting on her word.
“It’s actually General now, Gil,” Andi said, surprised by how the word seemed to feel different now as she said it. Frightening, yes. But it wasn’t a role she stepped into alone. She took in all their faces, one by one. Lira. Breck. Gilly. Dex. A family that had faced the very worst and stayed together through it all.
“We’re going to do what we’ve always done,” Andi said. “We’re going to take it one step at a time. Together.”
She had no idea how to run a planet, but she had a team at her side, and together, they would find a way to restart things. To find the right people to put into place.
“But first...” Dex said, turning so that they faced the exit to the satellite. “We’re going to blow this thing to bits.”
The sun had set, the two moons just beginning to glow in the Arcardian sky.
“Can I do the honors, please?” Gilly asked, running past Andi toward the exit, out into the waiting night. The soldiers were already exiting the satellite, walking in a haze as the compulsion wore away and freedom sank back in. It would take time for everyone to regain themselves. To settle back into their own minds.
So many lives had been lost.
Far too many to count.
Still, Andi found herself smiling softly as she watched Gilly rush away. “Breck, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“On it,” Breck said, following after Gilly’s shadow. “Though I can’t make any promises.”
Lira looked at Andi and Dex and raised a hairless brow. “They say the estate has a very nice Griss cellar. It was Lon’s favorite. In Adhira, we drink for the dead. And I believe there are many souls that need to be honored tonight.”
“Go ahead,” Andi said with a solemn nod. “We’ll catch up soon.”
Then she and Dex stepped out into the night. The wind was cold, giving Andi a sudden burst of energy. Soldiers filed out across the estate grounds, ready to head back to their homes, to find the ones they loved.
Klaren and Nor stood waiting in the shadows of
the satellite. Klaren nodded knowingly at Andi, as if she sensed that Andi did not trust her fully. As if she sensed that her daughter would have to pay for her crimes. As if she knew that she likely would, too, and was not afraid to face whatever that punishment may be.
“Griss,” Dex said. “It’s what every fine general would drink after a brutal war.”
Andi sighed, taking his hand in hers, squeezing tight. “I don’t have time for a drink, Dex. There’s work to be done.”
He kissed her lightly, smelling of gunpowder and lead. “Tomorrow, General.”
“Tomorrow?” Andi asked.
He nodded. “Come on, Androma. The galaxy can wait.”
She let him lead her away, one step at a time.
EPILOGUE
SEVERAL MONTHS LATER
Space was silent.
No sound could touch its depths, and even light had to fight to shine in the darkness. Some people, even if given the chance, would never leave their home worlds. Never explore the dramatic swirls of nebulas or witness the explosion of a dying star.
Life in space wasn’t for everyone, which was why it was perfect for Andi.
Once, she’d hidden within its dark clutches to shield herself from the past. But no longer would she fear her worst demons. She had fought the fight to win back her soul. And here, above the worlds that were scattered across the expanse, there was peace.
Now she was free.
Andi leaned into Dex, allowing his warmth to engulf her.
“What do you think happened to them?” he said into her hair. “Klaren and Nor?”
Once the satellite had been dismantled, they’d buried Valen, as Andi had guessed they would. A funeral no one attended.
But Andi had slipped into the back of Kalee’s garden, where it had been held, and whispered her goodbyes. It wasn’t truly forgiveness, but it was better to let go of the hatred. After all, Valen had died a hero in the end.
Klaren and Nor had been sent into exile for their crimes, with trackers installed beneath their skin to keep them in check. They hadn’t been heard from since, and Andi hadn’t been able to bring herself to personally keep tabs on them, leaving the task to Averia’s security team.
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