“Oh, brother.” Kryzon’s eyes rake over him. “I’m not stalling. I’meducating.”
“Then educate,” Chief says flatly.
“You think Grytel gives me orders?” A slow smile. “He’s nothing. A puppet. A convenient face for you to hate.” He looks around at the brothers, slowly, making sure he has every one of their gazes. “The orders come from Chronos. They always have.”
My tablet is already in my hand. My stylus is already out. My journalist brain has completely taken over, which is good, because my regular brain has just stopped working.
Chronos.
The Xylan home world. The ancestral planet and the seat of Xylan government. The place every Xylan in the four sectors ultimately answers to.
“You’re lying,” Heavy growls.
“Am I?” Kryzon’s teeth bare. “Your parents. Daxon’s exile. Heavy’s memory wipe. The Midnight Mist. Ines Vieira. All of it. You’ve been chasing shadows on Timbur while the real enemy sits in comfort on Chronos, pulling every string.”
“That’s convenient,” Scar snarls. “A confession that names no one. An accusation that can’t be verified.”
“Oh, it’ll be verified,” Kryzon says. “When the next piece of your family falls apart, you’ll know I wasn’t lying.”
Chief’s voice goes dangerous. “Manipulation.”
“Truth.”
“Who on Chronos?” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
Every head turns toward me.
Kryzon’s eyes land on mine. And he smiles. A slow, cruel smile that I am going to remember for the rest of my life.
“The journalist wants a name.”
“Yes, I want a name.”
“No.” He savors it. “No, I don’t think I’ll give you that.”
“What faction? What are they after? Why this family?”
“No.”
“You just accused someone on your ancestral homeworld of coordinating the murder of two people and the destruction of an entire family. You don’t get to just drop that and walk away.”
“Ms. Vieira.” His smile widens. “I’m not walking anywhere. Your fever-drunk brothers will either kill me or hand me to the peacekeepers. Either way, this is where I end. But what Idoget to do is leave this family with a wound that doesn’t close. You’ve been hunting me for rotations. Now you’ll spend the rest of your lives hunting someone you’ll never find.” His eyes flicker back to Texon. “You have no idea what’s coming for your family.”
Scar steps forward. His whole body has changed. He looks like a creature made of violence. “Who.”
Kryzon just laughs.
I am writing as fast as I can. My stylus is shaking. I have twenty more questions and no time to ask them.Who? What faction? What are they after? Why this family?But Kryzon isn’t answering anything more. I can tell by his face. He’s given them exactly enough to poison their peace of mind and nothing else.
I will find out,I promise myself.I will dig and I will find every thread and I will?—
A heavy green hand closes around my arm from behind and yanks me backward so hard my feet come off the ground.
I scream.
Everythinghappens at once.
Texon roars.
