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“It’s not too late,” I say. Taln and Gliss have joined us, and the moment I stand up, helping Nereus to his feet, Taln flashes me a smile. “We’re not going to let her take on this burden by herself.”
“So what are we going to do?” Gliss asks.
“Okay,” I say. “This is…stupid, and it might be dangerous. Okay, it’s definitely dangerous.”
“What’s the plan, Kye?” Taln says.
“We put the ship on hyperdrive and we crash it into the throne room,” I say. “We should be able to phase right through the windows…it’s just a matter of precision.”
“What?” Gliss says. “Think this through. If Fiona is in the throne room, you could hurt her too.”
“Not if we land out of the way,” I say. “And I’m a great pilot, right? So I just have to make sure to maneuver so we splash in there. That should distract Lamia enough that we should be able to pick Fiona up.”
“That’s fine by me,” Nereus says. “I can breathe underwater. What about the rest of you?”
“I can rig a makeshift airlock in the cockpit,” Gliss says. “It’s not designed for it, but I can do it if I start now.”
“What about you, big guy?” I ask, turning to Taln. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”
“I would go to the end of the universe for my mate,” Taln says.
I guess that’s settled. I grab Nereus’ hand and press a gentle kiss against his knuckles. “We’d all do anything we can to save her,” I say. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Ner, and now she has us. We’ll help her.”
Nereus tries for a smile, but it’s a grimace instead. “Okay,” he says. “I trust you.”
Great–that’s one of us convinced, at least. I stride toward the cockpit as fast as I can, the Wrath’s skeleton crew behind me. It doesn’t matter that the cockpit is crowded, we need to do this as quickly as we can. We need to get Fiona out of here as soon as possible.
I’m about to put the ship on hyperdrive as I start interfacing with it when I turn to look at Nereus, who is sitting next to me, concern written all over his face. “Before we do this, I need to ask you for something,” I say, my voice clear and loud. I want Gliss and Taln to hear me. I know this will hurt Nereus, but I need to say it. I need them all to know this before we fly the Wrath into Homeworld’s palace. “And I need you to promise.”
“What?” Nereus asks, his voice thin.
“If Lamia gets her claws in me,” I say. “If we save Fiona, or if she dies, and Lamia somehow manages to survive…you have to promise me you’re going to kill me.”
He swallows hard. “It won’t come to that.”
“But if it does–”
“If Fiona is dead, we’ll keep each other safe,” Taln says from behind me. I turn to face him, and feel at least some comfort when his hand grasps my forearm. “You’re not alone, Kye. Never again.”
I swallow hard.
“Okay,” I say. “I think…I trust you.”
And he’s right–it’s not just Fiona I’m bonded to, but the rest of them, too.
I’ve got some badass dudes backing me up.
The comm crackles, and our eyes all snap to it, finding Ryker hailing us. I activate the comm link right away to see his haggard face, his hair stringy and clumped with dried blood.
“Ryker!” I breathe. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“Did you feel that?” he asks. He’s somewhere fancy–the palace, from the looks of it. “Something…something is happening in the palace. The whole place just shook.”
“We’re still outside,” I say. “Been coasting around the palace trying to reach Fiona, but we were just heading back to the surface to figure out a plan. What do you–”
His eyes go wide, and the rest of us go completely silent. I hear Gliss come into the room and the door slides shut behind her, and she joins us to look at the comm.
“Oh my…Yrsa protect us,” Ryker says, his jaw dropping. “It’s gone.”
