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“You seemed ill-at-ease when you first arrived,” I say. “I worried that we had offended you.”
“You did,” he says. I’m surprised by his frankness—yet, I believe that’s the Lyran way. “I did not understand how you could all be so lighthearted when the destruction of each of our species is on the line. I now realize that I was mistaken.”
“And what convinced you?” I ask.
“I spoke with Reza several nights ago, and I saw that we laugh to…to keep the fear at bay.”
My smile falters, the words ringing too true. I realize that Malix knows nothing about us—he does not comprehend why we are all here on Jaya, why we’ve been roaming the galaxy these past decades rather than living on our home planet.
“Can I speak about this with you, or do you want to let it lie?” I ask quietly.
He raises his eyebrows, the scales there sparking with turquoise light. “Speak, Taraven. I believe that is what friends do.”
I smile, though it fades again quickly. “I do not know if this helps,” I say, “but we understand your pain—better than you might have thought, even. Your people do not know our history, but Zandro, Ravik, Ondari, and myself are all that remain of our planet.”
Malix lets out a short breath, his black eyes going wide. The irises shine inside—glistening like he might weep. “The weapon?”
“Not the weapon that destroyed your moon,” I say. “It was slower than that. Brutal. Dalphox unleashed the full force of the Second House against us, slaughtered and enslaved our people, and then…”
I swallow down a choked breath.
“I suppose there must be others out there, but they have sworn fealty to other Houses,” I say. “Zanpi will never return to its former glory. Our people are gone.”
Silence hangs between us for a moment. I tune in on the drip of the distiller behind me; I’ve asked one of our crew, Soval, to take care of it for me while we’re gone.
I hope I’ll return.
Malix is frowning—first out of despair. But his expression grows more calculated, his eyes flitting across the floor.
“I don’t understand the destruction,” he says quietly. “If Dalphox is truly interested in enslaving and abusing resources…then why not do the same on Rath? With a weapon so valuable, he could have brought my whole species to our knees.”
“Perhaps a warning shot?” I ask. “To set an example?”
He taps his long fingers against his elbow. I find the movement entrancing—though I don’t let him see it.
“Still,” he says. “Rath is a populated, advanced planet rich with resources. He wasted a valuable base for launching and breedingzephtan, if they are so hungry for oxygen-producing plants.”
“He’s a madman,” I say. “His actions rarely make sense; trying to interpret them is folly.”
“But that’s what soldiers do,” Malix says, raising his eyes to mine. “I’m going to figure him out…so that I can stop him. For your people and for mine.”
We gaze at each other for a moment, my body begging to reach out and touch him. His fringe flares at his neck, that beautiful shade of turquoise flashing. I open my mouth to speak—
Footsteps crunch in the brush.
We both snap our heads toward it.
Only to find Frankie—the missing piece of our little crew—standing on the threshold to the spine.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
??
FRANKIE
One hundred and twenty-three minutes until we climb into a feralzephtanwith an even more feral Skoropi behind the wheel.
We leave Azoth behind and start our hop toward Skoropi space, Jaya making just one more pit stop before go-time. We spend our last few hours in transdimensional space, the ship moving imperceptibly through wormholes to deliver us to Liatra.
