Broken Moon Series Digital Box Set

by F. T. Lukens

  “You’re both here. Are you two… near each other right now? Touching while asleep?”

  Ren blushed. The tips of his ears burned. “Yeah, we are.”

  Liam’s mouth quirked up. “So, this is the guy? The soldier?” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. Approaching Asher cautiously, Liam eyed him up and down. “You’re shorter than I imagined.”

  “You must be the brother,” Asher said. He crossed his arms over his chest. He lifted his chin. “Is this a dream?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Ren ignored the stare-off on the other side of the small room and rapped his knuckles on the wall. “Is this where they are keeping you?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’ve hidden it from me.”

  “I’ve tried to project nicer environments. I didn’t want you to worry.”

  Ren frowned. “I’ll always worry about you.” He cast a glance at Liam, and his frown deepened. Liam had dark circles under his eyes like bruises, and his face was pale. His cheeks were hollow, his lips chapped, and he had an abrasion and a collage of purple and green around his jaw. “It’s the older brother’s job to worry.”

  “You’re not much older than me.”

  “Why did you bring us here?” Asher pressed his hand to the wall, fingers spread. He furrowed his brow, as if trying to figure out how their dream environment could appear so real.

  Liam’s shoulders drooped. “I think they’re moving us. There are whispers about insurgencies and rebellions. They’ve made me dream constantly these last few days, going into people’s thoughts, searching for information, manipulating things, and I…” Liam’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I’m so tired. I just want to sleep.”

  “Liam—”

  “I know I said to live your life, Ren, but I… I want to go home. I want to go home.”

  Ren rushed forward and caught Liam in a hug, wrapping his arms around his brother, trying to erase the image of Liam looking worn and lost. Liam rested his head on Ren’s shoulder and clutched at Ren’s back.

  “It’s okay. I’m working on it. I promise.”

  Liam shivered. His shoulders shook, and he sobbed. Ren’s shoulder gradually grew damp, but he didn’t pull away. Hot with shame and worry, Ren held on, upset with himself that he hadn’t yet found Liam, had doomed him to a life in a cell, similar to what Ren had escaped from with Asher’s help. He cast a glance to Asher, whose stoic expression had softened.

  “Do you know where you are?” Asher moved from his spot by the wall. “Any idea at all?”

  Liam shook his head, which was buried in Ren’s shirt. “No.” His voice came out thickly. He took a breath and composed himself before stepping out of Ren’s embrace. “I’ve been trying to figure it out, but they’re keeping me in this cell now. I’m not even leaving for sessions anymore. They come in here and…” Liam trailed off. Ren’s gaze zeroed in on the clamps in the bed. Disgust rose in his throat.

  “Do you have any idea of a timeline?”

  “I don’t… a few days, maybe? It’s been the past week that everything has suddenly increased.”

  Asher ran his hand over his jaw. “Whose dreams have you walked in? Maybe there is a clue in there. Are they Corps members? Drifters? Dusters? Have you spoken to Vos?”

  Liam wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his scrubs. He shook his head. “I just… there is a guy here who can make you do things with his voice. It doesn’t work on the staff, only on others like us. He makes me go into the dreams, and then I forget after I report.”

  Ren jolted. Shock and fear and a vivid memory of Abiathar’s voice compelling him to unlock his cuffs washed over him. He felt sick to his stomach and he staggered away from the bed toward the wall. He leaned against it.

  “Ren?” Liam asked. “Are you okay?”

  Ren nodded, but pressed a hand to his chest to focus on his breathing.

  “We’ve met him before,” Asher said. He moved next to Ren and threaded their fingers; the pressure from both their hands on his sternum grounded Ren. “He’s the one who figured out Ren was a technopath. He was the one who wanted to weaponize your brother.”

  Liam’s eyes went wide. “Oh, weeds, I didn’t know.”

  “It’s okay. He needs a minute and—”

  Footsteps sounded outside the door. Liam’s brow creased and he grabbed Asher’s arm.

  “They’re coming to wake me up.”

  “Can you fight them?”

  Liam shook his head; his green eyes were wild. “No. I can’t. I can’t.”

  Ren shook off the flood of memories and grabbed Liam’s hand, forming a triangle between the three of them.

  “Hold on! Don’t let go!”

  Ren reached for his power and grasped nothing. He looked to Asher, pleading for an idea. Asher’s expression gave nothing away, but his grip on Ren tightened.

  “I can’t do anything,” Ren breathed. “I have no power here. And if I try any more, I might access the ship we’re on and—”

  The door swung inward, violently banging against the wall. Shadows moved into the room, silhouettes of figures, their details indiscernible. One raised a hand and the impression of a baton folded out.

  Liam’s face twisted.

  “I’ll find you,” Ren gasped. He gripped his brother’s hand; his knuckles were white, and his palm was slick. “I promise, Liam. I will find you and—”

  The figure brought the baton down.

  Liam screamed. His back bowed, he clawed at Ren’s arms, he choked on air, and then he disappeared.

  * * *

  Ren rocketed out of sleep. Scrabbling through the thick fog of the dream, vision awash in blue, he fought against the arms around him. He cried out when they clamped against his wound, and he twisted and thrashed. The strong grip pinned his arms to his sides and he couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He had to get to Liam. He had to free Liam. They had him. They had him and… He kicked and bent, until he could slip his fingers beneath the hands that clutched him. He pried them off, nails biting into the flesh until they released him. Legs tangled, he lunged to get away and fell to the hard deck plating. Fresh waves of pain rent him; agony lit his nerves. Adrenaline thudded frenzied and fast in his middle, and he scrambled along the floor, kicking out with his heel when fingers wrapped around his ankle.

  “Ren!”

  The voice shocked him into the present, and Ren blinked.

  Asher’s room.

  He turned to find Asher half-hanging out of the bed, one hand clinging to the frame, the other holding Ren’s ankle. The blanket and sheets stretched between them. No longer covered, Asher’s bare skin bore a sheen of sweat, and goosebumps blossomed over his arms and chest.

  In the low light, sprawled across the floor, Ren pressed his palms to the deckplate, and the systems of the Star Stream buzzed through him. He shivered in the cool air. With a thought, Ren sent warmth into the room.

  Ren allowed his head to drop and he blew out a calming breath.

  “Ren?”

  “I’m here.”

  Asher released Ren’s ankle and lowered his foot gently. The mattress creaked, and the sheets rustled, and then Asher sat cross-legged, wrapped in the comforter, facing Ren. He looked like a toddler at story time with his hair sticking up and ensconced in the folds of his favorite blanket. A line of dried drool crusted the edge of his mouth, and he had a mark on his cheek from the wrinkles in his pillow. His forehead was creased, and his lips turned down at the corners.

  “Did you hurt yourself?” Asher nodded at Ren’s bandage.

  Biting his lip, Ren peeled away the tape. Penelope’s regular attention to the wound had seen it heal significantly, and Ren could even see differences since he’d woken a few days ago. A trickle of blood slid down his skin from where a bit of medical glue had torn, but otherwise, it looked as it had.


  “I’m fine.”

  Asher’s concern didn’t abate. Instead, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, fingers tented in front of his mouth. “Was that real?”

  Ren nodded, sorrow and grief an internal tumult. “Yes.”

  “That was really your brother?”

  “Yes.”

  Asher tilted his head. “Are you sure? Could it have been a trick?”

  Liam’s pleas for home and his anguished scream echoed in Ren’s head. “No,” he said, voice soft. “No.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “He’s in Perilous Space.” Ren picked a thread in the blanket. “Ollie said he might be there, and it made sense, but I was focused on finding you, on getting to you.” Ren swallowed. “I’ve abandoned him.”

  “No. No, you haven’t.”

  “I’ve lost him.”

  “He hasn’t been moved yet.”

  “They could be moving him right now.”

  “Ren,” Asher gripped Ren’s hand.

  “The Corps has him. They took him from our home. How could… how could you be a part of that? How could you have willingly joined them?” Ren looked up and met Asher’s stricken expression. “I don’t understand.”

  “I told you I didn’t know. I didn’t know until we returned to Erden.”

  Ren pulled his knees to his chest, but he didn’t disengage from Asher’s grasp. “Why did you join? You’ve never said.”

  Asher sighed. He ran a hand over his brow. “It’s complicated.”

  “My father was going to turn my mother over to a military organization because her eyes glowed. My stepfather likely killed him. They intended to hide me on a planet I didn’t want to be on and kept from me the fact that I’m a mythical being. I can handle complicated.”

  “Fine.” Asher rearranged his blanket. “I was sixteen and stupid and wanted to get back at my mother for basically ignoring me for her political career.”

  Ren raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

  “Rowan was already off-drift. She’d saved up credits and bought a ship. Penelope went with her. I was lonely and bored and didn’t want to be either. I went to the recruitment office and signed my life away for five years. I went to introduction training at the facility and made some friends. I specialized in tactical operations, and the first few years that meant a lot of travel and the occasional skirmish. And by skirmish, I mean arguments between drifters and the need for protection of a trade route from marauders. It was easy. It was fun. I had friends. And then we received an assignment on a planet.”

  Ren winced. Asher had barely taken a breath. His words were coming fast and clipped, as if pouring it all out as quickly as possible would allow him to outrun the underlying emotions.

  “Erden.”

  “Yes, and we were ambushed. And I was injured but kept alive because of my mother’s influence. I was in a cell for a year wasting away.”

  Ren closed his eyes. “And your friends?”

  Asher’s trip tightened. “Dead.”

  “I’m sorry, Ash.”

  Asher snorted. “Don’t apologize. I’m the fool. I should’ve known the Corps didn’t care the minute they let me stay in that cell for as long as they did. Then I trusted VanMeerten about you and I shouldn’t have.” Asher shuddered. “At first, I thought the Corps was too overwhelmed and bureaucratic to see the consequences of their actions on their soldiers and the civilians they encountered. And that hurt in a way I didn’t expect. But now, I know it’s indifference. They don’t care, as long as they get what they want. They don’t care who they hurt or who gets in their way.”

  Opening his eyes, Ren tipped his face toward Asher. “Ash—”

  “It’s funny, actually. I didn’t understand Vos at all. His motives were foreign to me. Why would a duster baron concern himself with the drifts? But I get it now.” Ren made a face. “I’m not saying he’s right either. He shouldn’t have captured you from your home and raided your village. The way he went about things was wrong. But I get it—that feeling of powerlessness in the face of a military machine.”

  “We can change things.”

  “We can try.” His voice dipped low. “We’ll find your brother. We’ll find him. Even if they move him, he’ll contact you again. Or we’ll find the files from the Corps. We’ll do something. For now, though, we have to tell Rowan. We have to let the crew decide what to do, and then you and I…”

  Ren turned his hand over and threaded his fingers through Asher’s. “You and I?”

  “I’m not leaving you again.”

  The corner of Ren’s mouth quirked up. “I don’t want you to.”

  “Then you and I will find a way.”

  Ren hunched forward. “Perilous Space,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut. “The prison on the edge of the cluster near where the technopaths broke the sky. Heavily guarded and impossible to escape from.”

  “We’ll free him. I promise.”

  Ren believed him. Asher always kept his promises.

  * * *

  “Ren’s brother is in Perilous Space prison. He came to us in a dream, and I met him. The Corps will be moving him soon because of an increase in revolts. Ren and I will be formulating a plan, and you’re welcome to join us. If not, you’ll need to let us off at the next drift.”

  Rowan blinked. Her mouth hung open. The food on her spoon slid off and splattered on her plate. Drops of sauce flew over her shirt. “You want to what now?”

  “So, he is there?” Ollie asked, unfazed. He passed the bread basket to a stunned Darby, who allowed it to drop through her hands.

  “Um… can you please repeat that?” Penelope asked. She dabbed her face with her napkin.

  “Yeah, same. Because it sounded like you want us to storm an impenetrable prison to rescue someone we’ve never met who can talk to you through dreams.” Lucas took a bite of his food and chewed obnoxiously. “I’m just saying a little more explanation is needed.”

  Ren hunched down in his seat.

  Darby picked the scattered bread from the table and tossed it into the basket. “Is this about freaky science-magic?”

  “No.” Asher shook his head. “Well, yes, kind of. A little bit.”

  “My brother,” Ren said softly, and all attention turned to him. “My brother can manipulate dreams and gather information. I’m not sure how it works. But the Corps has been using him against Vos. He’s tired and frightened.” Ren’s brow furrowed. “I don’t expect you to come with us, especially after everything.”

  “I said we’d talk about it after finding Ash,” Rowan said as she wiped her shirt with a napkin. “But you’re right, Ren. I’ve allowed our lives to be interrupted since you came aboard. We’ve been stuck on a drift for months, we’ve been involved in firefights, and we’ve been on planets where we don’t belong. I don’t think we can do it anymore.”

  “I understand. It’s fine.”

  Asher slammed his fist on the table. Everyone jumped, and the plates and cups rattled. “No, it’s not fine. Don’t you get it? We can’t stay out of this. The conflict between Vos and the Corps will only spread. It already has. First it was Erden and then Mykonos and Phoebus and now Bara. This is escalating with or without us, and soon there will be no safe space for anyone.”

  “You’re right. It’s going to happen with or without us. I’d prefer without us.” Rowan lifted her chin in the face of Asher’s betrayed expression.

  “Rowan—”

  “Do you get what you’re asking of us?” Rowan jammed her fork in Asher’s direction. “Not only is Perilous Space prison a maximum-security facility run by the Phoenix Corps—the very same organization that we blew up a camp to rescue you from, but also the same one that killed Ren. And not only that, but we’d be releasing other star hosts into the cluster who may not be as well-meaning as Ren and who may be even more powerful. We’d be step
ping right between VanMeerten and Vos and embroiling ourselves in a situation that you’ve already said was dangerous beyond what we can imagine.”

  “We’re already a part of it. I don’t understand how you can’t see that?”

  “I know! But I’m not ready to choose a side. I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. I only know that both sides have tried to kill us.”

  “We don’t have to be on either side. We can be our own side!”

  “We’ll lose! We are no match against the Corps or Vos, especially if he has Millicent.”

  “We have to take the chance.”

  “We don’t! And we’re not!”

  They shouted at each other over the length of the table. Rowan was almost out of her seat, and Asher bent his fork with his grip.

  Ren placed his hand on Asher’s trembling fist. “It’s okay.”

  Asher yanked his hand away. “How are you so calm and meek? Why are you not mad? Why are you not threatening to take over the ship and take us there anyway?”

  Ren recoiled. “Because I’m not a jerk. The Ren that did those type of things died, remember? Yes, I want to rescue my brother. After finding you, it was the top of my list. It still is. I’m terrified about what’s happening to him. But I’m not forcing your sister and Ollie and Pen and Lucas into anything. They’ve already done so much for me. You have done so much for me.”

  “Why don’t you ask them?” Darby asked, dark eyes darting between Asher and Rowan. “Don’t they get a say, or are you going to make their decisions for them?”

  “Why don’t you stay out of it?” Rowan’s voice was sharp. “We’ll take you to Echo drift as we promised and drop you off, but you have no say in what happens aboard this ship. Got it?”

  “Wait a minute, Darby did risk herself to rescue Asher.” Ollie planted his elbows on the table and met Rowan’s hard gaze. “You can’t discount our opinions on this, Rowan.”

  “I can. I’m the captain. You’ve placed your trust in my decisions since you became crew so many years ago. I’ve bent over backward for the past year to accommodate these two. I’ve disrupted all of our lives. I’m done. There is no discussion.”