Eunha patted her shoulder. “There, there. We’ll probably all live.”
At Cordelia’s withering look, she slipped her unwelcome hand through her hair and took great interest in the sky, wandering off toward the others as she whistled conspicuously. Cordelia turned back to Lyra, who sat in the empty pod that had once been Sophia’s with her hands folded in her lap, looking every bit the well-bred heir to a fortune that she was.
“Are you ready?” Cordelia asked Lyra. The heiress nodded, her face a serene mask. “You’ve still got the?—”
She produced the hypo from between her thighs—one of the sedatives Haerune had been using on Rentir. Cordelia nodded, slapping her affably on the shoulder. Lyra flinched, giving her a disdainful look as she rubbed away the sting with her empty hand.
“You’ve got this,” Cordelia said. “And we’ve got you.”
Lyra sniffed, tipping her chin up, and nodded primly. “Let’s get on with it.”
Cordelia turned in a tight circle, ensuring everyone was in position. There was no trace of anyone else in the clearing, but she knew exactly where each of them was hidden. Fendar, Nyx, and Eunha ducked down behind a boulder at the edge of the clearing. Thalen and Xeth were both in the nearest copse of trees, high up in the boughs. Beneath them were Haerune and Rentir, crouched low in the brush. On the opposite side of the clearing, Yelir and Ven hid behind the broad trunks of the old-growth trees.
Cordelia made her way over to the trees where Rentir was hiding. She ducked down beside him, their shoulders brushing. His eyes met hers and softened with affection, his relief at simply beholding her so plain on his expressive face, and for some reason that twisted in her heart like a knife.
There was so much still unsaid between them, but there was no time to regret it now. She wanted to curse him for his horrible timing. She wanted to beg him to be careful, because angry or not, she still felt sick at the thought of losing him. Something had bloomed between them, something she’d both longed for and run from all her life, and… she couldn’t bear knowing she let it pass her by again.
Later, she told the writhing mass of anxiety in her chest.
But what if…
Later. Therewillbe a later.
She blew out a ragged breath, trading it for a deep, steady inhale, trying to even out the keel of her thoughts. When she was ready, she brought her fingers to her lips and whistled twice to signal Fendar. Rentir’s ears flicked at the sound.
There was a whine from the clearing and then a steady pinging as he brought the pod’s SOS back online.
Now, there was nothing left to do but wait. The silence of the forest turned ominous, broken only by the sound of their soft breaths and the ping of the pod. She jumped when something slithered around her waist, loosing a breath of relief when she realized it was just Rentir’s tail. The tip rattled and twitched against her ribs. He wasn’t looking at her anymore; he and Haerune were both tilted forward in a runner’s stance, braced against their hands and the balls of their feet as they peered through the brush.
Cordelia’s hand fell on the blaster at her hip. Fendar had managed to get the humans keyed into the weapons equipment, which meant she finally had a ranged weapon. Thalen, Xeth, andRentir were the only others in the group who had them, having worked security before the fall of the overseers. Fendar still hadn’t been able to change the permissions for the males who were already in the system, but he was making progress.
Enough time passed that the adrenaline in Cordelia’s blood began to dilute, and her knees ached. Just when she’d given up hope, sure they’d clocked the plan for the trap it was, there was a roar in the distance. She looked up through the boughs. There was a streak of fire entering the atmosphere. A cloud of vapor billowed in its wake.
Rentir’s tail tightened and then slid away. She drew her blaster.
Her mind cooled even as her blood heated. She entered a state of trancelike calm as the dropship decelerated over them.
Lyra squinted, shielding her eyes with one hand against the heat and debris as the ship lowered itself into the clearing. The hand with the hypo stayed pressed between her thighs. Like the ships that had pursued Thea and Sophia, this one didn’t attempt to land. It hovered just above the ground, thrusters scorching the earth.
The side door opened with a hydraulic hiss, revealing two auretian soldiers wearing black masks. Lyra shifted, wrapping her arms around her chest, doubtless trying to tuck away the hypo. She didn’t move when they jumped down, didn’t struggle when they each grabbed an arm and hauled her toward the ship. They shared a look of obvious confusion over her head.
Cordelia’s heart pounded at the sight of another one of her crew being dragged away, but it was too soon to act. If she broke cover now, they’d lose the ship, and this wasn’t likely to work twice once they figured out what the ploy was.
The door sealed shut, and the shuttle began to rise. Worry gripped Cordelia’s throat in a vise, stealing her breath. Had something gone wrong? Had Lyra not been able to?—
The ship lurched, then jerked to the left. It began to spiral, like a maple seed whirling down to the ground. It landed hard enough to make Cordelia wince. If the ship was damaged, there’d be no point to any of this. The fall hadn’t been far, at least.
The door burst open. Lyra sprang out of the ship, pumping her arms for speed. Her golden hair waved like a banner behind her.
She made it halfway across the clearing, then one of the auretians was on her. He tackled her to the ground with enough force that Cordelia feared he would break her back.
“Now!” Cordelia shouted, bursting out of the brush.
The others were a blur around her as they swarmed the ship. She ran for Lyra, feeling a vicious satisfaction when the male on top of her looked up and his gaze fell on her blaster with obvious horror. He let Lyra go and she scrabbled away as Cordelia looked down the sight of the blaster and squeezed the trigger. What was left of his head after the shot looked at her in astonishment as he slumped backward.
“Are you good?” she called to Lyra, kneeling down beside her.
She was bleeding from her lip and covered in dirt and scrapes, but nothing was obviously broken. She pressed a hand to her ribs, wincing, but she nodded.
