A monster likeCade,now that he’d taken the wrong side.
“We have to stop him,” Karr said. “If the heart exists. If it’s true…”
“Of course it’s true,” Thali said. “The Great Mother’s beauty is upon the very door you revealed.”
“The source of all things,” Karr said. “The source of life, with great power.”
He pieced it all together.
The energy source that was constantly appearing on Cade’s scanners.
Like a pulse.
A beat.
A beatingheart.
He felt sick, suddenly understanding it all, even though he’d never heard the full story. Even though this planet was not a place to call his own. It had changed him, that much was true, with this power that roiled beside his blood and bones.
“We have to stop Cade,” Karr said. “I think he’s after the heart. He doesn’t realize it—he thinks he’s just seeking out Antheon, this powerful substance, but if Thali is right… what happens if the heart is removed?”
The woman in the mask pressed her hands to her chest as if she wanted to calm the racing of her own heart. “The planet would cease to exist. For what living being can survive without a heart?”
He had to stop it.
For this place may have been where he’d died at Sonara’s hand.
But it also gave him a second chance at life.
To see it fall at Cade’s hands… his brother had no idea what he was about to uncover. What he was about to destroy. All these people, these creatures, the ringed planet that looked like a glittering jewel nestled among the stars. All of it would fall, if it was true. If Cade discovered the planet’s heart.
How many other planets were out there, like this one?
How many others had a source of life, and Geisinger was sending missions out across the stars, conquering entire worlds, enslaving their people and devouring the very planet’s source of life?
Karr knew it would take all of the group’s magic combined to shut down Cade’s mission. To destroy theStarfall’s energy source and set the prisoners free from his brother’s command.
But Karr would do it, for something in Cade had changed the moment he’d taken the job from Geisinger. When he’d discovered Karr trying to fix up the escape pod in the belly of the ship, there was a new light in his eyes. Karr had mistaken it for excitement, for the promise of freedom.
Now he realized it was hunger.
A hunger for power.
For money.
For a life that offeredmore.
Some part of him wondered if they’d ever be able to get out from Geisinger’s fist once he stopped this job. But Cade wasn’t buying them freedom. He was just placing them in thicker shackles.
“Tell me the story of Eona,” Karr said. For he feared that it would mirror Cade’s greed. “All of it, please.”
Thali nodded.
She motioned for the others to join her. Azariah helped Karr stand, and they all led him towards the door, where Thali sat close, examining the details on the rock as she spoke.
“The first Shadowblood was a young princess named Eona,” Thali said, her voice mixing in with the sound of the crackling fire. “She discovered the heart of the planet, and died trying to steal it for herself, so that she could conquer the world…”
As she spoke, Karr gently pressed his hand to the door.
