“—but I know you care for your people. I do.” Zane rubbed his eyes. “I couldn’t watch you destroy them… but I couldn’t watch them destroy you, either.”
Kalie fiddled with a blood-soaked tear in her shredded dress. “Thank you for coming back. And I’m sorry, about all of it.”
It was horribly inadequate, but he muttered, “Apology accepted.”
A weight lifted off her shoulders, though she didn’t deserve it. She owed him more than a rushed apology.
“And you can thank me by giving me Avington back. The whole barony.”
She raked her fingers through her knotted, blood-streaked hair, wincing at the pain shooting through her arms. It would take some effort, but perhaps she could arrange a marriage between the current baron and a contessa, something to elevate the baron’s station and convince him to give up a mere barony.
It all crashed over her at once, and the world fell out from under her. The crack of the pulser as it struck Uncle Jerran’s head—but he wasnotgone. He couldn’t be. Then came flashes of the blasts, her wounds that burned with every move, the crown glittering on Iliana’s head. Her aunt, holy gods. Vale’s pulser, the bodies… and Mylis.
Her ribs burned as she struggled for air. Mylis, who’d made her smile day after day, who seemed determined to erase the stigma of being a Grant. Mylis, who Uncle Jerran loved like a son. Mylis, who she would’ve made a count. Mylis, a traitor, all along. She could still see his blazing eyes and the pulser pointing at her head.
Kalie clenched her jaw. She’d been a fool. A complete and utter fool. How had she not seen it? Why hadn’t she seen the signs from him, from Vale, from any of them?
“We can talk about it later,” Zane conceded, as if he’d taken her silence for rejection.
“I’d give it to you.” She pulled herself upright, though the pain hurt like Zagan’s worst nightmare. “I’d give you twenty baronies, if I could. But it might be a little hard to do, since I no longer have a crown.”
He waved his hand. “Semantics. Oh, and I’m going to need an extra three million credits, on top of the original amount.” He grimaced at the smoke rising from the dashboard’s cracks. “This ship was a rental.”
“A rental with cannons? What were you planning to do with it?”
“I was going to find Mira. Figured I might run into her brand of trouble along the way. I decided to stick around to see your coronation, and here we are.” Zane rose to his feet, stumbled, and winced. “Come on. I have medical supplies in here somewhere.”
His staggering footsteps drifted away. Kalie’s eyes narrowed as she gazed out the viewport. Something was nagging at her. Three million credits, a ship with cannons, because he was going to see?—
“Wait. Do you have a comm?”
He jerked his head towards the dashboard. A pile of scrap lurked beneath it.
“Dammit.” She knocked her head against the stiff backrest. “I need to call Mira. As soon as possible.”
Zane reached into the pocket of his torn, bloody jacket. Pinched between his grimy fingers was a silver orb the size of a grape.
“That, I can help you with. Why?”
“How much does she charge for her services?”
“Depends on the contract. A quarter mil on the low end, but some of her bigger contracts net up to five million.” Zane stopped, then he marched across the cockpit and dropped into the chair across from her, leaning forward with wide, frenzied eyes. “You’re not going to hire her to assassinate your aunt, are you?”
“Of course not! That’s the last thing I need. They’d trace it back to me, and Carik will use that as evidence I killed Aunt Calida.” Kalie huffed. “Just put the call through. I need to talk to her before we drop and lose connection.”
He pressed his finger to a thumb-shaped imprint. A low trill emitted from the pod. The sound was soothing in the midst of sputtering thrusters.
Mira’s head appeared in a miniature projection. Lasers shrieked through the speakers. “Of course you choose the worst possible time to call. What’s up?”
Zane frowned. “Where are you?”
“Oh, don’t look so concerned, playboy.”
Lasers ripped past Mira’s head. An explosion crackled through the transmission, and Kalie was back on the platform, watching the bodies fall…
She brought her shaky hand to her forehead.
Something thundered. Mira swore.
