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Rylec slipped one hand around Inez’s shoulders and glided them through the horde. Limbs flailed in their direction, only to bounce off with a tap of his magic. With Inez at his side, it was effortless.
Even with her digging her nails into his spleen.
When they pushed through the thick of the crowd, Inez launched out of his arms. Her elbow ricocheted backwards in good measure. Rylec dogged it with ease and slipped around her to face the wall of escape pods.
“Don’t you ever do that again.”
“Or what? You’ll glare at me?” Rylec surveyed his choice of escape pods. They didn’t need something big. Enough room for two would do the trick… There. A pod the size of a closet, perfect for his purposes. If he gave Inez all the space in the world, she’d take it. So he wouldn’t. “This one will work nicely.”
Inez crossed her arms. “I’m not going with you. I’m never going back.”
“Don’t say never.” Rylec leaned against the pod with an eye on the still-panicking crowd. He wouldn’t allow anyone to get close, but that meant convincing his wife with non-magical means. “You were on Tertia yesterday. If I let you go, will you stop aiding escapees? If not, you’ll have to return to Tertia eventually.”
“Returning to save my brothers and sisters isn’t the same as going back in chains.”
He hooked a thumb into his pockets. “I don’t see any chains.”
“You cuffed me a few minutes ago.”
“And they broke. I didn’t bring a second pair.”
She sighed. “The point is, I’m not getting in that pod willingly, so—”
Rylec crossed his arms, his pale muscles flexing. “Get in the escape pod, wife.”
Inez crossed her arms back and glared. “Have you gone insane? You helped me escape. You told me to never come back, to move on, to live a great life. Why bring me back?”
Instead of answering, Rylec stepped into the escape pod and settled into a seat. As his long fingers buckled the seatbelt, his eyes found her once again. There was one thing he could say to get her moving. Just like there was one way for his family to get out of this alive and intact. He couldn’t obey the Tertian Council and hand over his wife. Empress Calanthe would pluck her from the Star Temple the second she finished her re-education and Rylec would never see her or Soriya again.
To get out of this, Rylec required Inez’s help. To get it, he needed to tell her everything.
“If you want to see Soriya again, get in the escape pod.”
Chapter 6
Inez lunged into the escape pod and fisted a hand in Rylec’s shirt. He only raised a pale, infuriating eyebrow in response. What had happened to the male she knew? He’d never threaten a child, especially his own. “If you hurt Soriya, Rylec, I will kill you.”
He lifted his hands in mock surrender, but a hard glint had entered his dark gaze. “How little you think of me, Inez. Why do you think I’m doing all this?”
She tightened her grip. “Because you’re a Sollirian.”
“I thought we went over all this before, wife.” He reached out, his knuckle brushing against her cheek. Inez shuddered. Gods, no one had touched her like that in so long. “The rest of my kind can rot in the four hells, for all I care. What matters is you and Soriya.”
“Then why—”
Rylec leaned back in his seat and Inez automatically shuffled forward, drawn to him like a magnet. Any closer and she’d be straddling him. A spark of heat flared in her core.
It died with his next words. “The empress has threatened to kill Soriya if I don’t bring you back.”
Oh, look, my little dove had a baby dove.Inez recoiled from the words, from the concept. Of course. Empress Calanthe was many things, but kind was not one of them. If she wanted Inez back and had access to Soriya, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill a child. Knowing Calanthe, she would make it hurt. Her baby would die screaming and Calanthe would make sure Inez knew every second of that torment.
Inez slumped into the escape pod’s second seat. She didn’t need to say anything. For Soriya, Inez would return to Sollir.
Her star-husband took his chance, tapping the screen and starting the escape pod’s launch sequence. The seat buckled her into place as the engines fired, rumbling beneath her feet.
“Is she…?” Inez swallowed. She didn’t want to know, but she needed to ask the question. Soriya’s fate had haunted her every day since she left. “What happened to her?”
Rylec paused. For a second, Inez thought he wouldn’t answer. But then he closed the space between them and took his hand in hers. His calloused thumb grazed across her palm. Inez shuddered. Gods, she loved his hands.
