by Lili Zander
I’ve heard enough. I round the corner and see two bitten human guards there. The moment they see me, they both reach for the weapons. “I wouldn’t do that,” I say quietly. “Because your friend is right. The camps are gone. If a war is coming, you don’t want to be on the losing side.”
“Who says you’re on the winning one?” It’s the guard that had bet on Tomas.
“Oh, I am,” I answer, faking a confidence I don’t feel. “But even if you don’t believe me, the real question is, are you willing to take the chance?”
“What do you want?” The other guard asks. “We can’t free a prisoner. The Overlord will have our heads for it.”
“Nothing so risky,” I assure them. “I just want to talk to someone. An old woman. Ma Kaila.”
They exchange glances with each other, and then one of them nods slightly. “Five minutes,” he says.
That’s all I need. “Thank you.”
I follow him down a long, cold passage. He opens a thick metal door halfway down the corridor. “I want no part of this,” he says. “I’m going to take a piss. When I return, I’m locking this door. You understand?”
Loud and clear. I nod and wait for him to disappear down the long hallway before I enter Ma Kaila’s cell.
It’s cold in here, and unfurnished. There’s a small toilet in the corner, a dim light bulb overhead. A tray of half-eaten food lies near the door. Ma Kaila herself is sitting in a corner, hunched into herself. “Ma Kaila?” I say tentatively, moving toward her. Great Spirit, have they tortured her? I will kill Zimmer if she’s been hurt.
She looks up. “Raven?” Her voice is thin with disbelief.
“It’s me.” I crouch next to her. “I can’t stay,” I whisper, squeezing her hand. “But things are going to be okay, Ma Kaila. Things are going to be better.”
She stares at me. “I’m going to be moved tomorrow,” she says tonelessly. “It’s been decided. Twenty years in Glacis.”
Twenty years at her age. It’s a death sentence. Or it would have been, had Lula Kenner not stormed the re-education camps.
“You’re going to be okay,” I tell her again. “Trust me. The camps will be gone soon.” It’s so good to see a familiar face, even under these circumstances. My life has been upended in the last eight days, ever since the Shayde bit me. Everything is changing. Some for the better, some for the worse. Everything is uncertain, and it makes me want to cling to Ma Kaila and confide in her, tell her everything. “I’m going to have to leave soon,” I whisper. “And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to come back to Boarus 4.”
“Why?” she asks dully.
I take a deep breath. “I’m carrying a disease in my blood that can destroy the Shayde. I’m going to have to go into hiding.”
Her eyes spark to life. “What?” Her voice seems to pick up strength.
I nod tightly. “Olaf Vander tried to drink my blood.” A picture of his body flashes in front of my eyes, and I shake my head to dispel that horrible image. “He died. Badly.”
She grabs my shoulders. “This is it,” she says, a wild note in her voice. “You know what you have to do, don’t you, Raven? The colony’s reserve blood supply is here. In the Overlord’s palace. You need to break into it. Contaminate it.”
I pull back in shock.
“They’ll all die.”
She nods eagerly. “Yes,” she says. “All the Shayde will die. Or starve to death,” she adds indifferently. “It doesn’t matter either way. This is it, the moment I’ve been waiting for all my life. The moment where we rise up and overthrow our Shayde masters.”
I shrink back, my entire body flooding with disillusionment. I looked up to this woman. I learned from her each week.
And she’s been shaping my attitude ever since I got out of Glacis. Filling me with her poison, convincing me to see every vampyr as my enemy.
Bile fills my mouth. “You want me to kill every single Shayde on Boarus 4,” I say, staring at the old woman. “Every man, woman, and child. If I do that, I’ll become a monster.”
“It’s the cost of war, child. Nobody said it would be easy. Do you want to avenge your parents?”
“Not like this. Never like this.” I get to my feet and move toward the door. I can’t look at her anymore. She’s broken something inside me. “I would trust Saber, Zeke, and Nero with my life, Ma Kaila. Not all Shayde are bad. I hope one day that you can see that.”
I hear footsteps. It must be the guard. I step out of the door. “I’m ready to leave,” I start to say, and then freeze. Because it’s not the dungeon guard standing there.
It’s Overlord Zimmer.
30
Raven
He’s smiling at me in a way that sets unease skittering down my spine. “I couldn’t help overhearing that last, touching sentiment, Raven,” he says. “You trust Saber, Zeke, and Nero?” He laughs. “I’d call you foolish, but that seems like such an understatement.”
I back away from him. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I’m unarmed. I’m not planning on hurting you. The only people that are going to do that are the three men in whom you’ve put your trust. Jarl Saber and his associates.”
“I very much doubt that,” I reply. “Saber’s told me everything. I know about the secret facility on Glacis. I know about the weapon you’ve built, and I know I carry it. You want to surrender me to Ragnar so that you can continue to stay in power.”
He shakes his head. “So wrong about everything,” he says, his tone pitying. “But you don’t have to take my word for anything. I’m going to prove it to you.” He inclines his head down the passage. “Shall we? I find the dungeons unpleasant.”
Of course, you do, you callous jerk.
I warily follow him. As we walk, he continues talking. “Let’s start with the most obvious question,” he says. “What are Saber and his men doing in Boarus 4?”
I search my memory. “They’re here to train the enforcers.”
He snorts in disdain. “I can’t believe Jarl Ragnar bought that lie. No, Raven. They came here to search for the woman that Ottar Thistle bit in Sector 21. You.”
No. That’s not possible.
“The next question that’s worth asking,” he says conversationally, “is, why. Why are they searching for you?”
“Because of the weapon.”
“Because their boss, my former partner, Harek Levitan, the man who heads the Shayde Intelligence, told them to. Harek knew I was beginning to have second thoughts about what we were doing. Such a powerful weapon. What would happen to us if it got out? So he decided to clean up the mess and sent his best team to do the job.” He bares his fangs at me. “You’re the mess, Raven Unnuk. The moment they get you back to Starra, Harek Levitan will take what he needs from your blood, and then kill you.”
A cold fist grips my heart. “I don’t believe you.”
“But I have proof, Raven.” He pulls a small screen from his coat and hands it to me. “Just watch.”
It’s Saber on the screen, having a conversation with a man I don’t recognize. I’ve found the human woman, he says. She walked into the Overlord’s palace, asking to enter the Night of the Shayde.
My blood turns to ice, and my hands begin to shake.
Saber continues talking. While she was on Glacis, Zimmer sent one of his men to capture her. They failed, but the woman now trusts us. She confessed that Thistle bit her. Nero and Zeke are keeping an eye on her now, but as soon as the tournament is done, we’ll all be on a shuttle back to Starra.
“I take it, from your expression, that Saber forgot to mention that he works for Levitan?” Overlord Zimmer shakes his head. “Of course he did. After all, you wouldn’t have been quite so trusting if you’d discovered that he was taking you to your death, would you? You’d have hidden on Glacis and made his mission much harder than it needed to be.”
My throat closes, and intense grief rushes through me. I want to burst into tears. I’ve been such a fool. Alone, lonely, I’d believed their sweet words. I
’d trusted them.
I was wrong.
I’ve always been alone. I’ve been alone ever since my parents died. Trust is weakness. Hope is a fool’s game, and emotion is just a tool for your enemies to use against you.
“What do you want?” I’m surprised at how steady my voice is.
“I could use compulsion to get you to do my bidding, but there’s no reason. Our goals are aligned. I want you to go with Ragnar.”
“So that he can kill me?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Jarl Ragnar isn’t going to kill you,” he says. “He’s an honorable man. He’ll take you to Starra. Take a blood sample or two, so that his scientists can start devising an antidote, and then he’ll let you go. You heard him back at the starting line of the tournament. You remember what he said? ‘I have no desire to watch another person die.’”
No. It’s a lie, but a clever one. The kind that someone with hope would believe.
I have none left.
I’ve always been a tool to the Shayde. A weapon. I’ll never be anything else.
It’s time to take control of my own destiny. I crumple to the floor, my head lowered, my shoulders shaking with a grief that I won’t let myself feel, and I reach for the gun that’s strapped to my thigh. In a smooth movement, I grab it and point it at the Overlord’s face.
“You think I’m a fool,” I say steadily. “You think I’m going to believe that the Empress will take a blood sample from me and let me walk free? That she’d let a weapon that could annihilate her people fall into the wrong hands?”
He stares at the weapon. “Don’t even think about using compulsion,” I warn him. “You know there’s a split-second before our minds react, and I will use that time to squeeze this trigger.”
“What are you going to do?”
I smile at him coldly. “I’m getting the hell out of here, Overlord Zimmer, and you’re going to help me do it. We’re going to the spaceport. Take the back way, please, because if we get caught, I tell Ragnar everything.”
Nero planned to steal Zimmer’s ship. I’m going to improve on it.
Breathing hurts. My heart is an empty husk. The magnitude of Saber’s betrayal has hollowed me from the inside out.
But I’m, above all, a survivor. I will survive this.
31
Zeke
“Where’s Raven?”
Saber is engaged in a conversation with Ragnar about troop movements in the Aven system, but at my softly-whispered question, he looks up, and realizes that the Overlord’s missing from his chair as well. His eyes widen with alarm. “Go look for her,” he says out of the corner of his mouth. “I’ll join you in a second.”
I get to my feet, swaying a little. Nero catches on, getting up quickly and propping me up with a steadying shoulder. “I think Zeke here has had too much to drink,” he says, sounding exasperated. “I’m going to get him out of here.”
Ragnar looks up. “An enforcer who can’t handle his alcohol?”
Saber’s eyes flash with mock-anger. “Dunk him in the ice,” he says, his voice hard. “Maybe that’ll teach him.” He turns to Ragnar. “My apologies, Jarl Ragnar. Zeke still has some learning to do.”
Ragnar chuckles. “I’m sure he’ll get there.”
Once we’re safely out of sight, I turn to Nero. “We need to split up,” I snap. “You see if you can find her, and I’ll grab my tracking equipment.” I’m filled with a feeling that something’s wrong, but I push it away. Now is not the time for fear. I need to act.
I have access to the Overlord’s camera fields. We will find her.
Outside the palace, I pull out my screen and cycle quickly through each feed. Where is she? My heart hammers in my chest, and my premonition of doom grows stronger.
Saber and Nero hurry outside. “I checked the freshrooms, and everything on the main level,” Nero says. “Nothing.”
Two familiar figures flash across my screen, and I freeze it. “I’ve got her. She’s with Zimmer, and she’s heading to the spaceport.”
If Zimmer takes her off-world… If we lose her… My mind shies away from the magnitude of that loss.
We take off in a run.
She’s standing next to Ragnar’s gleaming silver ship, and she has a gun pointed at Zimmer.
“Raven?” Saber calls out hesitantly. “Are you leaving without us?”
“Ah. It’s the three of you.” Her voice is flat and lifeless. “I was wondering if you’d show up. Let me see, you’re going to tell me how you’re going to protect me, right?”
I grit my teeth. Something’s seriously wrong. What the hell has Zimmer told her? Is he using the compulsion? “We are going to protect you,” I reply. “We care about you, Raven.”
An expression of pain flashes across her face. “Please,” she says. “No more lies. You conveniently forgot to tell me that you work for the man that built the weapon.”
Fuck. I search my memories. She’s right; we never mentioned Levitan, not even in the conversation with Adam. Zimmer and Jarl Ragnar were always the immediate threats.
“Tell me,” she continues coldly. “At what point were you going to mention that? Right before you turned me in?”
Saber inhales sharply. “You think we would surrender you to Levitan?” he demands. “You think we care so little about you that we could see you die?”
She stiffens. “I saw the vid, Saber. I heard you say it.”
Nero glances at Saber. “What the hell, captain?”
Saber swears out loud. “Are you out of your mind? Of course I’m not going to turn her in. But I had to buy us time. I had to make him believe we were going to bring her in. He has other teams, Nero. You know that. If one of them came for her…”
They’d kill her without a second thought.
I turn to Raven. “I believe him,” I say quietly. “And I hope, that if you search your heart, you find that you believe him too. We love you, Raven. We could never betray you to Levitan or to anyone else.”
Her grip on her gun wavers, just a little, but Zimmer has been waiting for his moment, and he reacts faster than I’d have thought possible. He leaps for her, wresting the firearm from her hand. She flies backward, landing hard on the ground.
“You know, Jarl Saber,” the Overlord says, the gun pointed at Raven, “I’m beginning to agree with you. Going to Ragnar with the girl could work in my favor, but it’s too much of a risk to take. Things would be a lot cleaner if I just shot the girl.”
Time slows to a crawl.
I see Zimmer’s finger on the trigger.
My heart is hammering in my chest like a caged animal.
I see Nero and Saber throw themselves in the way, just as the first bullet is fired.
I’m moving as well. Battle instinct has taken over, and my focus narrows to now, here. I pull my gun out and aim it.
Bullets hit Nero and Saber, and their shots go awry.
But I’m not hit, and my aim is true. I squeeze the trigger.
A hole appears in the middle of Klaus Zimmer’s forehead. His mouth opens in surprise, and then he’s sliding to the ground.
He’ll never be able to hurt Raven again.
32
Raven
Zeke helps me up. “First things first,” he says, not meeting my eyes. “If you’re going to steal Ragnar’s ship, you need to get in.” He walks over to the gleaming silver ship, his eyes flickering just for a second to Saber and Nero’s slumped bodies. Nero’s already moving, holding his right arm with a grimace, but Saber’s alarmingly still.
Great Spirit, no. Please. He can’t be dead.
Zeke plugs his screen into a small port on the body. “Not very secure,” he says. “Then again, Ragnar’s probably not expecting to be robbed.” The ramp swings down, and he nods briskly. “There you go. It’s the latest model. It’s got every bell and whistle possible. Ragnar’s ship will override Zimmer’s security, and it’s more than capable of piloting itself.
I stare at him. What’s going on?
&nbs
p; “Don’t take it to Starra.” Saber’s eyes are hazy with pain, but his voice is steady. “It’s too recognizable. Go to Merin. You can buy and sell anything in their markets.”
Nero nods. “Good idea. When you eventually get to Starra, find Gaia, the hidden city of humans. The last time I was there, it was in the Frostbloom tower. Level 310. Adam will help you find Ivar Karlsson.”
I finally find my voice. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Buying you time,” Saber says quietly. “Leave now. Run fast and hide well, Raven Unnuk. We’ll sort this mess out.”
No. They can’t. Ragnar will kill them when the truth comes out, and whatever else they might be, Saber, Zeke, and Nero are not fools. They know exactly what’s going to happen, and they’re still letting me go. They could use the compulsion on me, but they haven’t. Zeke hacked into Ragnar’s ship. Saber and Nero told me how to survive.
They’re keeping me safe, like they have, right from the start.
Blood stains Saber’s shirt. Nero’s cradling his right forearm. They took bullets for me. To keep me alive. To keep me safe. Like they’ve been promising to do right from the start.
It’s not about proof anymore. It’s time for me to ask myself what I believe. It’s time for me to listen to my heart.
“Help me get Saber on board,” I tell Zeke. “Nero, can you walk?”
Zeke’s liquid brown eyes hold mine. “Are you sure?”
My heart has always known the truth. “Yes. I’m absolutely sure.” I hug them tight. “I should have never listened to Zimmer,” I whisper. “I should have known he’d twist the truth into something that would serve his purposes. Can you forgive me?”
Saber’s eyes rest on mine. “There is nothing to forgive, Raven.”
We hug tight, clinging to each other. Tears fill my eyes. I almost lost them. Never again.
Nero clears his throat. “I don’t want to be the person breaking this up,” he says, “But we have the fastest ship in the Empire in front of us. We really should leave.”
Two hours later, we’re in deep space. Safe, at long last. Zeke has stabilized Saber’s wound, and he’s sleeping now. “He’ll be fine,” Zeke assures me. “We’ll take the long way to Merin, and by the time we get there, he’ll be as good as new.”