“Mathias and the others are safe,” I say, breaking the silence, and I see Pandora exhale. “We need to get to Ophiuchus so we can end this. Mathias is going to guide me to his location through the Psy, so follow me.”
I shut my eyes and twist my Ring, and I enter the solar system of souls. I see a light a great distance away, and instead of moving toward it, I feel like the world is moving around me.
When the light jolts into me, I open my eyes with a gasp—and I see Mathias’s face in front of me, his blue eyes like twin midnight skies.
I reach out and touch his cheek, which has a bloody scratch on it. “Is this real?” I whisper breathlessly.
“I’m here,” he whispers back, resting his hand over mine.
I hear movement behind me, and I turn to see a panting Hysan and Pandora surfacing from the swamp, and I realize we’re standing in some kind of crater that looks like it was once a body of water.
Mathias dashes over to Pandora and wraps her in his arms, while Hysan comes up to me. “I’ve never seen anyone but Neith run that fast,” he says, his voice choppy.
“I was running?” I ask in awe. “I didn’t feel anything!”
“Your connection to the stars is so strong that when you gave yourself over to Mathias’s Psynergy, it pulled you forward at such a brisk pace that Pandora and I could barely keep up.”
“Where is the location where you first fell?” I hear Eurek shouting.
Hysan and I run over to where the Ariean Guardian and Ophiuchus are facing off. Gathered in a protective circle around them are Neith, Gyzer, Gamba, Mom, Skarlet, Traxon, Engle, Numen, Qima, and half a dozen other Zodai I don’t know.
“Ezra isn’t answering me!” says Gyzer the instant he sees me.
“She’s fine, she’s with Brynda,” I say quickly, and his whole face slackens with relief. “What’s happening here?” I demand, looking from Ophiuchus to Eurek.
“He won’t tell us where to go,” says Eurek angrily. “We’re running out of time and Zodai, and he still hasn’t made up his damn mind what side he’s on!”
Ophiuchus glares defiantly at me, like he’s bracing himself for my outburst. But I don’t say anything. I just approach him slowly, the way one would a wild animal, and I lay a gentle hand on his arm. Then I close my eyes, and I channel the Psynergy surrounding us until I’ve penetrated his consciousness.
You may be a star, I whisper into his mind, but like Aquarius, you’ve been given the power of choice: You can be our light or our darkness. You can save the Zodiac or doom it. You can be the monster the Original Guardians invented . . . or you can reclaim your place as the Guardian of Unity and teach us what it means to stand together.
When I pull away from him, he opens his eyes, and his starlight bathes my face as he whispers, “This is the place.”
So he did bring us to the right location.
He rests a hand on my arm now, and my heart is suddenly infused with emotions that aren’t my own. My eyes shut, and I see how ever since the armada he’s been helping us, even though his heart has questioned his actions. He’s acted on his faith in Unity, though his fear has made him doubt his path. His fear of us and how hateful we can be as a species.
But for the first time, seeing new generations of Zodai from across the Houses come together like this, he has hope.
“Spread out,” commands Eurek to the others. “Rho and Ophiuchus are going to enter the astral plane and close the portal. We need to buy them all the time necessary.”
Hysan turns to me, and he cups my face in his hands. “You’re my hero,” he says, and he kisses me gently—like it’s only a short goodbye and I’ll be right back.
But when it’s over, his lips linger on mine for a moment, and he breathes, “I’m so proud of you, Rho. Come back to me, please.”
I circle my arms around his neck and hug him, holding him close to me, and I whisper, “Meeting you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I’m not saying that because I’m not coming back—I’m saying it because I am. We have too much unfinished business.”
When we let go, I turn to face Ophiuchus. I don’t say bye to Mom or Mathias because I intend to come back. I refuse to let this be the end of the Zodiac.
Ophiuchus walks away to the center of the crater, and I understand this wasn’t a body of water—this is where he crashed as a star when he landed on this planet. When he gets to what could be the midpoint, he digs into the moist soil with his bare hands, until I hear his nails scrape against something solid.
Then he closes his eyes to Center himself, and standing across from him I do the same. Within seconds, I feel my soul completely leaving my body and accessing the astral plane. Only when I open my eyes, I’m still standing in the same place.
I watch Ophiuchus step out of his skin, like a hologram, and I leave my physical shell, too. I turn around and scan everyone around us—they don’t seem to see our ghosts. They’re still staring between our frozen bodies and our surroundings, making sure no one finds us.
The Thirteenth Guardian’s skin alternates from dark to light as he comes closer, his Dark Matter hair falling into his panoramic eyes, the silver irises bright and alive. Are you ready?
I nod.
He closes his eyes in concentration, and he begins to tug on the Psynergy from his land. I feel the pull immediately, and I see that Hysan and Eurek do, too, because they clutch their chests. After a while, Mom and Gamba do the same, until all the Zodai around us can feel the yank on the Psynergy they’re breathing.
The air molecules start shaking around us, like an earthquake in the sky, and I hold tightly to my own Psynergy so I don’t lose my Center.
Suddenly I hear scratching noises, and I look around to see the Ophiuchans crawling out from the swamp and approaching us slowly. My friends all gather closer to our bodies, facing the creatures with their Barers out, their bodies curved inward from the pain in their chests.
But the Ophiuchans keep slithering forward until they’re standing next to the Zodai, watching us. And all at once, they close their eyes.
Suddenly I feel an influx of Psynergy in the astral plane that blows me back a few steps. Ophiuchus opens his eyes and sees his people, who’ve come to donate their Psynergy to him.
I’m shocked to see tears streaming down Ophiuchus’s snakeskin cheeks, and I feel him growing stronger in the Psy, until the Psynergy swirls around us like a hurricane, and at last he begins to glow like a true star.
This is where my part comes in.
I take a deep breath and step forward. Then I take his hand, and I begin to pull in his Psynergy. Once it filters through me, the Psynergy is no longer trapped on Ophiuchus, and it’s free to return to Pisces.
It feels like I’m overdosing on Abyssthe.
Feelings and sensations that have nothing to do with the present begin to pass through me, and my mind is hit again and again and again with pieces of people’s lives, like I’ve inhaled the stardust that makes up existence, and now the whole universe is being processed through my brain. If not for Hysan anchoring me—if not for my longing for a life with him and my hope to see him again—I don’t know that I could hang on.
I think only of his golden face as I’m racked with phantom pains and emotions, and I try to hang on to who I am while the energy of others stampedes through me.
The transferring process seems to be speeding up, and the whirring of Psynergy grows too intense until I can’t catch my breath, and my heart is beating too fast, and I fall forward to my knees.
Ophiuchus draws his hand away from mine, and as the dizziness ends, I open my eyes.
Did . . . did we finish? I ask, breathless.
Almost, he says, his eyes shining brighter than I’ve ever seen them, like pure starlight.
I look up, but the Dark Matter is still in the sky, and the Psynergy is swirling around us. It’s not working.
Because there’s one step left, he says, and then he falls to his knees, too, and looks at me, his whole being glowing with beautiful silver light.
Dread fills me so that I can’t even speak. I’ve suspected this, but Moira didn’t say, and I was hoping it wouldn’t come to it.
Rho, you must kill me.
No, I say, and I get up and take a step back.
It’s the only way. The death of a star opens the portal, and the death of a star closes it. The same release of energy. You must do it now—it must be timed with the release of Psynergy.
I—I can’t. I’ve never killed anyone—
Please. You promised me.
But when I promised, I hated you. I blamed you for the deaths of my dad and Mathias, and now I know the truth.
It’s more than that, though. Ophiuchus is the only person who truly knows me. He’s seen all of me, my soul and my darkness. He understands both because he’s made of light and shadow. And he started out just like me—hopeful and warm, a champion of Unity among the earthlings. He deserves a chance to live among his people. A chance to tell his tale to the worlds. A chance to redeem himself.
Don’t you care what this will do to me? I ask, echoing his old question.
It will keep you honest, he says gently. I’m helping you keep your word to the stars. There’s no other way, and we’re out of time.
I close my eyes and fall out of my Center.
When I open them again, I’m standing in front of Ophiuchus, and he’s on his knees before me, just as he was in the astral plane. Only now we’re back on reality.
With everyone watching us, I make a fist and activate my Barer. An aqua blade shoots out from the handle, and I choke as I whisper, “I promise the Zodiac will know your story . . . and your people will never be abandoned again.”
“Thank you,” he says softly, and then I steel my muscles, fighting against the nausea and clamminess trying to take me over.
And I plunge the sword into his heart.
42
THE ZODAI AROUND US GASP as Ophiuchus falls forward, and Traxon cries out in horror to see his beloved Thirteenth Guardian vanquished once and for all. I drop to my knees, sobs erupting from deep within me, because something inside me just died, too.
Hysan’s arms are the only thing tethering me to life. He kisses my hair, my forehead, my wet cheeks, but I can’t stop crying. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers, understanding better than probably any other Zodai here how much this act of violence just shredded my soul.
The Dark Matter begins to grow less opaque, like a day that’s dawning in extreme slow motion, and we know it worked.
The portal’s window has closed, and the darkness that stained the Zodiac millennia ago, with Ophiuchus’s betrayal, is receding. The Thirteenth House is back—and that means the Psynergy is being returned to Pisces, renewing that world, as well.
The Zodiac lives to see another day.
Suddenly everyone starts cheering, the delayed reaction unanimous, and Hysan and I stand up. I watch as Mathias hugs Pandora, and Skarlet hugs Eurek, and Quima hugs Numen, and Mom hugs Gamba. The Ophiuchans are watching the lightening sky overhead like they’ve never seen anything like it; then, without warning, they scatter back to the swamp’s darkness, like the light is a threat to them.
“This change will affect this species and this world’s topography,” I say, sniffling. “They’ll need our help.”
“And they’ll get it,” says Hysan, wiping my tears with his thumbs.
“It’s over,” says Eurek, his white smile bright against the dark air. “Wandering Star, it was an honor—”
“Are we celebrating something?”
I spin to see Aryll strutting over from the swamp. “Why wasn’t I invited?”
Before his question is even out, a swarm of Marad soldiers charge at my friends, and Eurek shouts, “Activate your shields!” right as the Murmurs begin shooting blue light. He, Mathias, Skarlet, and Gyzer rush forward to meet the soldiers, and soon almost everyone is battling someone—but not Hysan and me.
Nobody interferes with us as Aryll casually saunters over, and Hysan grips my hand in anticipation.
Then Blaze comes roaring into the clearing, his eyes rimmed red and his face set in a scowl. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” he booms at me. “YOU’VE RUINED OUR ONLY CHANCE!”
“It’s over,” says Hysan as his former friend joins Aryll.
“It’s not over until that bitch is dead,” says Blaze, glaring at me.
“You’re not touching her.” Hysan’s voice is low and deadly, a darkness rising in him that I’ve only glimpsed a few times before.
“He doesn’t have to,” says Aryll merrily. “That’s what this is for.”
He raises his wrist, and I recognize the black band—it’s a Scarab. “I got this especially for Rho, so she can experience the pain she put me through.”
Hysan tugs on my arm, and we start running. I try to concentrate on keeping my shield up, even though it won’t protect me against the Scarab’s poison—the Barer can only deflect technological attacks.
Something white suddenly collides with Hysan, and we drop each other’s hands as we fall to the ground. I look up to see a Marad soldier wrestling with him, and as they struggle, Blaze rushes over, lacking his usual swagger.
I have no time to defend myself as his hand closes around my neck, and he lifts me off the dirt. But before he can shatter my throat, a fist blows into the side of his head.
Blaze is blasted back ten feet, and I drop to the ground.
“Are you okay, Rho?” asks Neith, offering me a hand and pulling me up.
“Now I am,” I say, my throat sore. I search for Hysan. He’s fighting off two Marad soldiers at once, and I start to run to him, but Neith won’t let go of my arm.
“I’m sorry, Rho, but I’ve been programmed to protect you and Ophiuchus at all costs. Even if the price is Hysan’s life.”
“What?” I whirl around to look at him, and I see tears in his eyes. He’s struggling against the directive, but he can’t defy it. He’s a machine.
Pandora runs over to me, still shielded by her Barer. “Mathias is helping,” she assures me, and sure enough I look over to see that Mathias has materialized at Hysan’s side, and when they’ve fought off the soldiers, they run over to us.
“Hysan, order Neith to stop protecting me!” I demand.
“Rho, I can’t—”
“Hysan, please! We’re all putting our lives on the line here. He deserves to make his own choices. You can’t control all our destinies.”
He sighs and looks into Neith’s eyes, beaming something out from his Scan. After a moment, the android’s shoulders sag with relief. “Thank you,” he says to me.
“We have to help,” I say, seeing some of my friends battling up to three Marad soldiers at a time. Mom, Gyzer, Skarlet, and Eurek can hold their own, but Engle, Gamba, Qima, and Numen are struggling.
I run into the fray, and the others follow. The Marad are no longer fighting with their Murmurs because the Zodai are all shielded, so most have resorted to hand-to-hand combat, though some carry daggers or pistols.
I force a shield around me, and I make a fist until I’ve grown a set of electric brass knuckles, and then I come up behind one of the soldiers fighting with Gamba and land an electric blow into his unprotected neck. He falls immediately.
I run and do the same with one of the three soldiers Engle is fending off, and when I turn, I’m face-to-face with Mallie of Aquarius.
She raises a pistol.
“Mallie, do you even know what you’re fighting for?” I ask as she cocks the gun.
Her eyes look glassy and lost, and her suit is covered in dirt and blood. She has no idea what she’s doing, but she’s given up so much of her soul to this cause that she can’t stop now.
“Sorry,” she says, a tear fal
ling from her eye, and she fires.
My whole body hits the ground, and it takes me a moment to realize I wasn’t shot—I was shoved. I look up to see a dark-skinned woman wearing Cancrian blue disarming Mallie and knocking her out with the butt of her own gun. Then Sirna turns and offers me a hand.
“You sure took your time getting here,” I say, grinning as she pulls me up.
“Mind if I apologize later, Holy Mother?” she asks as bullets sail over our heads.
“Sounds good!”
We race through the chaos, and I’m relieved to see only a few Marad soldiers are still fighting—we’ve beaten most of them back . . . or worse. Then I see the fallen Zodai on the ground. Numen. Qima. Traxon.
Before I can mourn their deaths, I notice that Mom and Gamba are outnumbered, and I point them out to Sirna. “Can you help my family?”
She nods and immediately goes, while I look around to see who else needs help, and I spy Hysan’s golden figure racing over. “Are you okay?” he asks, and I nod, pulling him into a tight hug.
“We need to get back to the ships,” I say.
“Let’s get—”
“Now where were we before that rude interruption?”
Aryll appears behind us, the Scarab on his wrist aimed at me. “I believe I was going to share some empathy with Rho. But I had a better thought.”
Hysan shields my body with his, and Aryll laughs. “You really are a mind reader! That’s exactly what I was thinking. To kill a Cancrian properly, first you must take out her heart.”
He’s going to shoot Hysan.
I wrap my arms around him and try to push him out of the way, but Hysan is too strong, and he won’t let me. “I’m sorry, Rho,” he says, blocking me from Aryll’s view.
Then he turns his head slightly in my direction and shouts one final word at me: “RUN!”
“NO!” I hug him tightly as Aryll presses down to shoot—but something huge soars in front of Hysan right as the poisonous dart flies out.
“NEITH!” shouts Hysan as the android falls before us.
“He’s okay—” I start to say, then I remember Scarab poison renders technology useless. Neith’s mouth is open, his eye twitches, and smoke comes off his Kartex skin.
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