A handful of our warriors scoop up the injured priests and carry them to the truck thing we rode in on. Others carefully lift the mothers onto the platform, and it pulls out. They shout for Nik, who sends one last piercing look in my direction before sprinting for the moving vehicle. He easily swings up onto it, part of my heart going with him, and then I have to look away, because my guards are urging me up the ramp.
It's all on me now.
The interior of their ship is utilitarian and spare, mostly one open space, as it was designed to transport cargo. The epylium crates are secured in bays to prevent them from sliding around during takeoff and landing. The flight deck is in the same area, within eyesight of the valuable cargo.
The priests march me right past it, taking me exactly where we thought they might: a small room at the back designed for the captain to conduct private meetings, the only one besides the bathroom that has a locking door. It’s furnished as an office, with warm red walls and a simple desk that converts to a single bed with some cabinetry behind it.
“Listen, guys,” I say hurriedly, as they move to lock me in. “As Alara, I can offer anyone who wants it amnesty on Usuri. You are welcome to stay here and live or head to another planet. You don’t have to follow Zomah if your heart is telling you that he’s not on the right path.”
“You just want us to betray him so you can escape,” one scoffs.
“No, I’m serious. I’m not asking for your help. But comm your friends on the space station and tell them the same thing. Ifthey use escape pods or birds before the Eye moves too far away, they can land on Usuri, and they will be welcomed.”
He pushes back his hood. He’s young. A little older than Aqen maybe, but still younger than me. His cheeks look a little sunken, his eyes hollow. I wonder if the Eye’s supply problems are worse than Zomah let on. “May I see your crown?” he asks.
I nod, stepping closer, and he meets me in the middle of the room. The other priests shift uneasily behind him as he leans close to look at it. This is probably not a good time to mention the orgasms.
“Dust in my hand, light in my eyes,” the young priest says. “Light my path and leave the rest in shadow.”
He reaches out, hand trembling, to touch the gold stripe across my forehead. I feel it heat as his fingers near. The instant he touches it, a lightning bolt of energy sears through me, bowing my back and throwing him back a good six feet so he lands on his ass.
Thank you, Alioth. Where were you when Zomah was yanking my hat off, girl?
The young priest is conscious but dizzy, laughing to himself as he looks up at me. “Her teeth are sharp,” he says.
I smile at him with my not-very-sharp teeth. These guys aren’t all bad. They clearly have reverence for the goddess and some critical thinking skills. They just have a bad leader and too few options now that they’ve been cut off from their friends and family.
His friends haul him up by the armpits, never taking their eyes off me, and then they all drop to their knees, bending their necks.
“Get up, please. I’m not going to draw blood right now.” I give a nervous giggle, glancing past them into the end of the cargo bay, praying that Zomah doesn’t look down the short hall and see his dudes bowing to me.
“It would be an honor,” one of them says. “We will do whatever we can to assist you.”
“I don’t need help,” I repeat, trying to be polite but conscious of the clock ticking down. “Go on and lock me up, and remember what I said. You and your friends are welcome here. Please don’t alert Zomah because nothing good will come of it for anyone.”
They nod and back out reluctantly, and I hear the door lock.Finally.
The engines power on with a low hum, so I rush to the storage closet behind the desk. This room was designed as both an office and a sleeping area, and all sleeping areas on Frathik transports are required to have two exits in case of emergency. Feeling around the back of it, I locate the emergency panel. The priests haven’t boarded it up.
A rush of soothing relief rolls over me before Alioth plucks at my crown again. I can’t waste any more time. I break a couple nails prying the panel loose, but it opens up to an opposing panel. The inner latch is right where it’s supposed to be, so I flip it and push until the second panel falls to the floor on the other side with an unfortunate clatter.
Oh well, too late to worry about that now. I crawl through the wall into the cramped bathroom, prop the panel back in place, and peek out the door into the main bay of the ship.
What’s right next to the door to the bathroom? The door to the escape pod!
I could kiss a Frathik right now for this fucking fantastic transport design.
Thankfully, it seems everyone was too distracted to notice the noise, either working through the launch sequence or strapping in for takeoff, so I dart inside, hitting the button and then closing the door as swiftly as I can. I wish I could just deploy it now, but Gemeri said the burn from takeoff could torchthe pod. So I lock the hatch and strap in just as the thrusters fire, and the transport vibrates as it rises from the planet surface.
I squeeze my eyes shut, counting just like I did during practice. Twenty seconds, and the transport will be high enough to deploy the pod safely.
...nine, ten, eleven...
I swear, I can feel the bond between me and Nik stretching between us like a rubber band the farther I get from him. It pulls at my insides, makes my guts want to turn inside out. Is this is what he’s been feeling since he met me?
I have to grin. Even though he claims he was fine with sending me back to Earth, there’s no way he would have ever been able to let me go. That boy would have been after me before I left his star system.
...eighteen, nineteen, twenty...
