He didn’t respond. But the expression on his face was a little lighter, the tension in his shoulders a little less.
“We’ll leave as soon as the ship is repaired,” Andi said. “Then you’ll be home.”
“Home?” He said it like a question. He must have felt like this was a dream, that the two of them had been stuck in a nightmare for the past four years.
A breeze drifted through the trees, and with it, the faint sound of music.
“Do you want to go to the festival?” Andi asked hesitantly.
Valen, after a moment, nodded his head. “I think I’d like that.”
They stood and walked a few paces apart toward the rainforest’s edge.
Andi peered back up at the night sky.
The darkness seemed a little lighter now. As if it wasn’t entirely black after all.
Chapter Fifty-Four
* * *
LIRA
LIRA STOOD AT the base of Rhymore, the cool kiss of the night air slowly dancing around her.
She’d always loved Adhiran nights, the peace that came with each flicker of the stars far beyond the mountaintop. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the mountainside, relieved as Andi sent her and the girls a com.
Found him. See you at Revalia.
Lon had helped her find him, then. Good. The two Arcardians could talk more, wade through their tangled webs and hopefully enjoy the festival tonight.
Revalia, Lira thought, still in awe that they were here on Adhira at the same time as the festival. Though it looked as if she was going to be late to the festivities.
Even on board the Marauder, with its limited supplies, Breck and Gilly took ages to prepare for social events. But here, with an entire planet full of beauty supplies they could get their hands on?
Your silent pacing will be our demise, Gilly had hissed at Lira back in the girls’ temporary quarters, right after she’d thrown a moss pillow at Lira’s face. You heard the kid, Breck had said as she winked apologetically, slapped Lira’s behind and shoved her out of the room.
Lira herself had left the mountain fortress in a simple sand-shaded dress and with a pair of twisting sandals on her feet. Now she was fairly certain that she’d be waiting here for her friends forever.
But that was fine with her.
She couldn’t help but smile as she watched the continuous flow of people exiting Rhymore. Each year, Revalia took place in a different quadrant of the planet, the attire changing to suit the location.
Tonight, it would be in the Sands of Bailet. Already, massive cargo wagons, pulled by Albatusks with their many curling and hissing tongues, were carting citizens from Rhymore toward Bailet.
In the moonlight overhead, Lira could see the winged outlines of creatures from the rainforest taking their riders toward the desert. She could hear the distant, tolling whine of Sky Whales, soaring from the Endless Sea with hundreds on their backs.
“I thought you weren’t one for parties.”
Lira glanced sideways as a warm arm sidled up against hers, and with it a familiar musky scent that reminded her of the mountain tunnels.
“And I thought you were supposed to be guarding Andi,” Lira said to her brother.
“She’s fine out there. I have a feeling whatever creatures may come her way would be afraid of her.” Lon grinned and crossed his arms. Though he wore a pair of loose black pants, the rest of him was bare. Muscles and a sculpted chest were out in full view of the people who passed by in their festival attire, some whispering or giggling to each other as they tried to catch Lon’s eye. “And besides, every princess needs an escort to the ball. I figured, who better than your trustworthy, protective brother?”
Lira gave him a glare worthy of Andi. “I’m not a princess.”
“Technically, you are,” Lon said.
Lira rolled her eyes. “And this isn’t a ball.” She shoved away from the mountainside as two familiar forms finally came through the exit doors. Breck and Gilly, at last ready to take on the night, and fully decked out in Adhira’s best gowns. Lira turned back to her twin. “And even if it were a ball, who says I’d want to attend on my brother’s arm?”
“Come on, little bug,” Lon said in a wheedling tone. “I know you’re desperate to perform the dance we learned for our Efflorescence Ceremony. If I remember correctly, those feet of yours could stomp for days.”
She laughed, recalling the countless hours of lessons. The horror of having to stand in public, before hundreds of eyes, and perform. With her brother, of all people. How Andi used to dance for fun, Lira would never understand.
It was the torture of all tortures.
A roar sounded in the night, followed by a series of hisses, as another transport wagon arrived, massive, towering wooden wheels squeaking as the Albatusk came to a stop.
“That’s our ride,” Lon said. “Magnificent night, isn’t it?”
Lira wasn’t listening.
She had turned back to watch Breck and Gilly emerge from the mountainside, looking so alive. Their faces were luminous with smiles and laughter. Gilly’s hair was elegantly braided on top of her head. Breck’s handiwork, no doubt. And Breck’s eyes, the lids painted to look like a desert sunset, were completely mesmerizing.
Revalia was a night for celebration. A time to lose oneself in the joy that came from being on a planet dedicated to harmonious peace.
Lira was home. Her brother was at her side. Her aunt had forgiven her, more or less, for the crash landing. She should feel as light as the wind that tickled her cheeks and tugged at her loose tan gown.
She should feel as jubilant as everyone else around her.
But as Lira looked at Breck and Gilly racing toward her and thought of Andi finally facing her demons when she’d confronted Valen and when spilled her thoughts to the girls about Dex...
Her heart fractured a little more.
All she could think of was the image of the starship with her name above it, the promise that she could stay here and live a life where she was always meant to be.
“Lir?” Lon asked. He pointed toward the transport, which was nearly full as everyone piled on. “Time to go.”
Lira nodded.
She tucked her arm into her brother’s, then reached out the other to take Breck’s hand as she and Gilly finally made it to them.
“Ladies,” Lon said, smiling at Breck and Gilly. “The desert awaits us.”
Together, the four of them walked to the transport, joining the crowd. Lon talked to Breck and Gilly, explaining how the festival would go, telling them how lucky they were to be here on Adhira’s most exuberant night.
All the while, even as they climbed onto the transport, even as the wheels began to move, as the pathway toward the Sands of Bailet opened wide and Lira could see, far down the hillside, the expanse of glittering red sand pocked with dancers already twirling in the firelight...
All the while, her heart whispered, You can’t have two families. Her mind hissed, You can’t have two lives.
She didn’t know which she should choose.
Her own flesh and blood or the heart-deep bonds she’d formed with these girls over the past three years.
The clock was ticking, moving toward a decision. If she rejected Alara’s offer...it would never come again.
“It’s time to let loose,” Breck said. “Lir, you look like you’ve just puked up a pound of Moon Chew.”
“Lira doesn’t puke,” Gilly said.
“That’s ridiculous. Everyone pukes,” Breck added.
“I’ve never seen her do it. And I spy on her, like, all the time.”
Lon chuckled beside Lira. “I see it,” he whispered. “What draws you to this crew.” He lowered his voice even more. “Whatever you decide, Lira...I will still love you.”
An explosion rocked the night. A trail
of fire spread into the sky, illuminating it bright pink. Sparkling like a falling star.
“I do so love explosives,” Gilly sighed, staring up as the rest of the show began.
Lira smiled, rolled back her shoulders and shoved the choice she had to make down deep.
She wouldn’t decide tonight.
Tomorrow, perhaps. She’d sit down with Andi and the girls, tell them what she’d been hiding.
For now, she settled into the warmth of her brother on one side, Breck and Gilly on the other, and let the glittering sky call her forth into the promise of a perfect, thoughtless night.
Chapter Fifty-Five
* * *
DEX
IF EVER THERE was a time for Dextro Arez to drink his way into blissful oblivion, it was now.
As he climbed down from the transport wagon, his boots landed on soft desert sand. He felt his face break into a grin that stretched from ear to ear.
The Sands of Bailet.
Dex had been here before, shortly after he’d first met Andi. It was one of the first places they had traveled together. She’d helped him track down a target for Raiseth, his former boss and leader of the Bounty Hunters’ branch. They’d marveled at this planet’s beauty and, later that night, celebrated their victory by drinking and dancing in a small village bar until morning.
Spread across the Sands of Bailet were towering, spiral mounds of red rock, each large enough to house hundreds of citizens.
Tonight, the giamounds had been transformed. Glowing Adhiran spirals were painted on their sides, and some had flags staked to the rock, waving in the wind.
Hundreds of people twirled beneath them on the sand, their loose clothing dancing in the wind as their bodies moved in time with the music. The beat was alive in the firelight, hundreds of hands clapping at once whenever the stringed instruments rose to a sweet, piercing high note.
On the edges of the festival, booths had been set up, and shopkeepers called out their wares to passersby. Colorful garb hung from the booths, fluttering in the wind. A flock of pure white birds soared from a cage, exploding into the sky as the crowd cheered below.
Dex almost tripped over his boots as a pillar of orange flame suddenly spiraled high into the sky before him, then arced back down, where it disappeared into the waiting mouth of a firebreather from the Endless Sea, the green gills on her neck glowing as the fire shot out of the slits.
She must have a hell of a time fire-breathing underwater, Dex thought sarcastically.
Beside her a little round droid rolled around on the sand, collecting Krevs from outstretched hands, depositing them into a waiting seashell the size of Dex’s head.
Dex passed a star-reader, her stand draped in holographic sheets and wind chimes, their music mingling with the sounds of the festival.
As he got closer to the center of the crowd, Dex could smell the mouthwatering scent of freshly cooked meat, likely coming from a booth where orange smoke trailed high into the sky. The shopkeeper, an Uulvecan man with four arms, quickly flipped slabs of meat into the air and slapped them back down onto a fiery table. A long line of patrons stood waiting, some with thick mugs of the sweet Jurum that swept its drinkers up into a warm, bubbling embrace.
That, Dex thought, is exactly what I’m after.
He looked back over his shoulder to where Andi’s crew was making their way down from the top of the hill. Breck looked like a wonder in her gown. Gilly walked beside her in a dress of glittering purple that made her red braids shine bright as moon lava. She was already twirling in time with the music.
Thank the Godstars she’d left her furry horned demon behind in the mountain fortress with Alfie.
Then there was the pilot. Her face was alight with a serene smile as she led the pack, walking as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Lira’s twin brother glided along beside her, his muscular chest bared to the desert.
For a moment, as Dex looked at them, he caught himself thinking, There’s my crew.
Though he hadn’t set out to, he’d bonded with the Marauders. Their personalities were magnetic. They each shone brightly in their own ways, and the thought of leaving them behind once this was all over suddenly saddened him.
He looked back up the hillside just in time to see two figures crest the horizon.
Dex actually stopped walking at the sight of them.
Valen didn’t look quite so off-putting as he had before. He was still atrophied and greasy, Dex noted, but there was a smile on his face. He looked more alive, transformed since Dex had last seen him shattering Andi’s heart back in their living quarters.
He was too moody. Too strange. Dex reminded himself to keep a closer eye on him.
But it was Andi who really caught Dex’s attention.
For one moment he saw her as the girl she used to be, standing on a hillside, staring out at the world below—not as if she wanted to burn it to a pile of ashes, but rather run down into it and celebrate everything life had to offer.
Gone was her scowl, and with it the tight braid that made her look like she didn’t have room to smile even if she’d wanted to. Instead, her hair fluttered in the wind like silvery-purple ribbons, and though she still had on her tight black clothing, it showed off her curves in the moonlight.
Dex couldn’t help it. His body warmed, and suddenly he was imagining all the times they’d danced together in the past, the feel of her smooth skin beneath his hands, the heated words she’d whispered that sent shocks of electricity running through his every nerve. The press of her lips to his...
“Godstars,” Dex said to himself.
These were thoughts that he had to shove deep down until they withered and died, just like his feelings for her. He had no right even thinking such things.
Dex allowed himself one last glance at Andi and Valen, wondering about the moments they might have shared together in the darkness. He’d assumed, as everyone had, that the chasm between them could never close.
But not for the first time since the start of the mission...Dex was surprised to find that he’d been wrong.
He sighed and turned on his heel, his mouth watering for a taste of sweet, liquid freedom that would whisk him away.
Revalia had finally started.
Now it was time for Dex to have a little bit of fun.
Chapter Fifty-Six
* * *
ANDROMA
SOMETHING ABOUT THE night had changed.
Andi’s feet felt lighter as she and Valen made their way toward the festival. It had been so long since she had last danced. Actually danced, not just imagined dancing with the dead during her times of remembrance. With the apology between her and Valen set free, it was time to allow herself some freedom. To let go and not be the Bloody Baroness for one night—just a girl who stared up at the stars instead of captaining a pirate ship through them.
Andi knew it was impossible to change things, to shed who she had become in the years past. But for right now, she didn’t mind pretending she was someone she could never be.
Tonight she would drink and dance to her heart’s content, toss herself into a blissful oblivion and sink back into reality once Revalia was over. After all, it was the festival of victory against the Xen Pterran forces, and in a way, the crew deserved to celebrate their successful mission of freeing Valen from Queen Nor’s clutches.
Valen was safe, they were all alive and relatively well, and Alfie was probably still pining over Memory, deep in the belly of Rhymore. It was an added gift, seemingly from the Godstars above, that he wasn’t present.
As Andi reached the bottom of the hill, the crowd before her undulated, then parted like a tossing sea. She spotted her crew disappearing into the wave of vendors and music. At the back was Gilly, dancing on her toes as she followed Breck. Lira led them, a smile lighting her features as she spoke to her twin brother, Lon.
> Where was Dex?
Andi found herself searching for him, hoping she’d catch a glimpse of him in the crowd. They’d danced together on Adhira once before, in a drunken night that had left them both with plenty of hazy memories the next morning. She smiled, thinking of the memory. The laughter. The way their bodies had so perfectly intertwined...
Stop, she told herself. A part of her wanted to find Dex. To speak to him, and be near him. But she knew she shouldn’t be searching for Dex, and she certainly shouldn’t be thinking about him. He only complicated things. The two of them together were like Griss and Rigna. They just didn’t mix well.
Tonight was about forgetting Dex, and everything else from her past.
And besides...Andi couldn’t remember the last time she and her crew had had an outing this alive. The Marauders always worked under cover of darkness, hiding in the deepest parts of shadows so as not to be seen. Today, they’d be a part of the world, and celebrate beneath the stars.
She turned to Valen. “Ready?”
For a moment, she wondered if he’d be able to handle the crowds, the noise, the press of bodies against each other on all sides. His eyes were darting over the scene with stunned excitement, as if he couldn’t take it all in and wasn’t sure if he really wanted to.
“I’m not sure how to—” he nodded slowly, as if walking himself through his own words “—how to do this.”
Andi stepped aside as a group of children sprinted between them, laughing and chasing a creature that looked similar to Gilly’s bloodthirsty little beast. “Well...we’ve attended plenty of military balls before,” she said. “It’s just like that. Only better, because this time, neither of us are bound to any duties. We can simply live.”
“And how does one live?” Valen replied with an anxious glance at her. “I seem to have forgotten.”
Andi shrugged. “I guess we’ll figure it out together.”
She led them into the bustling crowd.
The smells of food, drinks and perfumes assaulted her instantly, wrapping around her senses like a warm blanket. Seated on the red sand were shops selling patriotic flags of the Unified Systems, four lines running vertically under the galaxy’s emblem, a spiral with a star sprouting from its center.
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