“Oh, no. No!” Fieri swipes frantically through the windows on Allele’s dash.
“What?” Eluni shouts up at us.
Tal joins me, looking worried.
Fieri’s screen flashes with the sent message. “Bakka’s ship made it to one of ours. ToGravion.Allele, I don’t know if you can contact Aura—”
A string of beeps comes over the coms.
“This is Aura.”
Fieri tells him what’s happened.
“We’ve only got ten Silversprites left,” Eluni remarks. “We’re little use out here.”
“Then get your ass toGravion,and don’t fucking miss,” Aura barks. “I’ll get there as soon as I can. Sa’Tai and I have a few more ships to disable.”
“Aura, you’ve done enough out there. Please return to Allele,” Fieri commands.
“They’re cutting down Terran ships! I am Bonded to an earthling and will defend her home like it is mine!” Aura doesn’t sound like he’s going to budge. And as much as I admire his defensiveness of my homeworld, I don’t want to lose him.
“Don’t do this, not to Jovie,” Eluni retorts.
“More are going to die if I don’t stop them! Get toGravion!Bakka needs to die for what he did. King Haeros made his mistake in good faith, and it’s compromised us somehow. A Denarsoan ship should not have made it inside the shield. You get to them. I’ll meet you as soon as I can.”
“You just found her. Don’t choose this war over her!” Eluni protests.
“This is a battle we need to win fast, or Denarso will never back down!”
She gets up and snarls at the com. “Now you sound like your father!”
Sickening dread tears through me. I look out into space as Allele banks us away from Aura, hating that they’re arguing.
“The universe is counting on us to restore peace,” Aura says. “Us!I am a power classsevenout offucking five. Most can’t do what I do. And I don’t…” Metal crunches. “Have time…” An explosion crackles the speakers. “Totalk!”
I clutch the back of Blaize’s seat, my insides in knots over what Aura’s doing. Then I see a ship bloom in fire and parts.
Fieri gives Allele control and snags a spacesuit and a weapons harness. “Allele, get us docked.”
“Yes, sir.”
Allele banks hard and fast, draining the blood from my head.
“Fuuuuck!” I hang on to Blaize’s seat and strain to keep my wits. Then she spools up and darts across space toward the ship that lights up onscreen asGravionwith green brackets.
Genesis?Somehow,I don’t thinkGraviongetting boarded was by accident.
Blaize gets up to join him, must see the terror on my face, and catches himself. “Aura’s a tough son of a gun, Jovie. He will find his way to us.”
I nod but don’t feel as confident.
Allele slows us hard with reverse thrusters and full throttle, docking us in under thirty seconds.
“Stay on board, ladies.” Tal taps my chin with a thumb, then leans around Eluni, who’s back in her gunner’s seat, watching the perimeter aroundGravion.He braces the underside of Eluni’s jaw, tilts her head up, and kisses her with such deep passion that I freeze for a moment and just watch them.
“Tal! Fuck, man. Do that later,” Fieri growls from the top of the ramp where he’s loading and unlocking his rifle. “Stars, this ship is starting to drive me crazy.”
Jorusk, Talros, Fieri, and Blaize form a squad as Allele docks us and lowers the ramp. They glance back at us before they leave. The moment they’ve unloaded, Allele closes the ramp again.
