“I’m a Hannover,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “We don’t back down from danger?—”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.” As Zane paced into the room, he blew out a sharp breath, forcing his voice into a more level tone. Barking orders and demands wasn’t going to win her over. “You haven’t seen war. It’s bloody, and it’s quick. If they hit the oxygen tanks or life support systems, or if they board your ship, you’ll die. You have no idea what you’re?—”
“I know exactly what I’m getting into,” Kalie said, her voice low and cold. “Or did you forget that they destroyed my fleet?”
Zane opened his mouth, but Kalie’s glare silenced him.
He looked away. “I don’t want you going.”
“That’s not your choice to make.”
“You’re making a mistake?—”
“Stop telling me what to?—”
“They’re going to kill you!”
She brushed past him, heading for the door. “I know the risks, and I accept them. This is my duty?—”
“Screw duty!” Zane’s chest heaved as he strode after her, kickingup dust in his wake. “You’re being an idiot. What’s the point of fighting for your throne if you get yourself killed? Carik will win. Lexington will reign. Everything that’s happening will keep happening, and your people will suffer?—”
“But they’ll know I fought!” Kalie’s flushed face was damp with sweat, and her eyes were blazing. “I run when things get hard, that’s what everyone says. I abandoned them to Lexington, but they’re my people. I’d rather die fighting for my home than live in exile like a?—”
“I’m calling in your oath.”
Kalie went shock-still. Not even a muscle twitched.
Footsteps thumped down the hallway, but Zane held her gaze. “You promised me anything I wanted back on theChimaera. You swore it on your aunt’s soul?—”
“How dare you,” Kalie snarled.
“Well, well.Whatis going on here?” As Mira sauntered into the room, a frown tugged at her lips. “Dammit, playboy. Don’t tell me you really tried to stun her.”
Kalie’s head whipped between them. Her mouth gaped open as anger twisted her beautiful face. “Stun me?Stun me?”
Mira winced. “I take it you didn’t go that far, then.”
Zane glared at her. She grimaced, offering a half-shrug as if to say,sorry. He ground his teeth together. He had thrown it out as an idea, one Mira had quickly shot down—sure, Kalie would be knocked out and safely out of the way when the fleets deployed, but she would never forgive him for taking away her choice.
Judging by the fury flashing in Kalie’s eyes, she already wouldn’t forgive him.
With a noise of disgust, she marched to the door.
“Wait, Kalie. Please.” She paused in the doorway, and Zane swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’ll never ask you for anything else. Stay here. Let the rest of us fight for you.”
“This is my fight.”
“I thought you died.” The tightness in his throat made speech nearly impossible. “And I—I can’t…”
Her eyes were cold, uncompromising.
He couldn’t lose someone else. Not again. “I held up my end ofthe bargain. You owe me. Anything at all, you said, and this is what I want. Stay here.”
“Don’t,” Kalie breathed. Anguish twisted her features. “Don’t do that to me. Don’t make me choose.”
“You swore an oath. There is no choice. You’re staying.”
Her lips parted, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
