“The circle beats the sentients, the sentients beat the rift, and the rift beats the circle.”
“I don’t like any game where the circle doesn’t beat everyone else.” I shrug.
“The Rift was the one place the last circle could never go.” She makes the sign again. “No one that goes ever comes back, so I don’t—”
“Morning, cadets!” Master Daviti appears through a portal, his thin curly hair looking particularly haphazard as he drinks from his usual canteen.
He strides right up to me, his steps only slightly off-kilter.
My Alphas tense, but I silently tell them to stand down.
“I’m sorry, Lana.” He stows his canteen and speaks with an uncharacteristically even tone. “When I took that shot at the Sentient ship, I underestimated how much virudivan energy they had stockpiled onboard. I never wanted to hurt you.” He hiccups, which only lends more authenticity to what he’s saying. “I have to own my mistakes. That’s what my Lirian would want me to do. So here I am. She’s gone. But I’m here, and I have to honor her. My sincerest apologies.”
I reach out and squeeze his forearm. “It’s okay. I know you were trying to help me.”
“Mistakes. I made a mistake, and you nearly died.” His stern bravado falters, and he looks down at my hand. “Remember what I told you? About what happens to pilots?” His voice is quieter now.
“Yes.”
“I told the council, too.” He looks up, and I focus on his center eye. “I told them I didn’t want to train you anymore. That you should stay grounded. That if I taught you to your full potential, you could be the best pilot since my Lirian. Maybe better. But it would only get you killed. Like her. Like all the rest. I didn’t want that for you.”
A lump forms in my throat at the sheer emotion in his words. “I can’t run from this. From the Sentients. From the circle.” I don’t let my voice quaver, not when he needs confidence just like I do. “Training me to fly might be the only thing that gives us an edge, that helps us end the threat for good.”
“I’m sorry.” All three of his eyes mist.
“I’m okay. Seriously. I bounced back thanks to sealing the circle.” I kick out my right leg. “See? Ready to dance the night away. No damage.”
He shakes his head. “Not for that. Though I am sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry the council found you in the first place.”
I look around at my Alphas and my friends, each of them proving they believe in me by showing up today, by being there for me. “I’m not.”
“Well, foolhardy never hurt.” Master Daviti pulls back and slurps another gulp from his canteen, his usual drunken mask covering his true self—the heartbroken Alpha whose Omega awaits him in the next life, or dimension, or whatever comes after.
I can’t let it go, not like this, so I reach for him again, taking his hand this time. “May Lirian be at ease in the star-filled night.”
My Alphas repeat the prayer, and even Uaxin’s rusty voice rings out with the sacred words.
Master Daviti gives us a nod and wipes at his eyes with the sleeve of his uniform. Clearing his throat, he squeezes my hand, lets me go, then says, “All right, let’s get some space under our wings.”
“Space?” I don’t think my eyes will go any wider.
He pats my shoulder. “If we’re taking the fight to the Sentients, space is where we’re going.”
“Master Daviti, do you know anything about what’s going?” Ceredes asks. “About the war? If they’re massing forces somewhere? Or the fleet’s plans?”
Master Daviti runs a steady hand through his hair. “The fleet keeps me in the dark like everyone else. But that incursion on the academies? I think if you look back on this in another three centuries, that attack will be marked as the first battle of the war. The opening salvo.” He slides his gaze to me. “And the circle may be the only thing that can save us. Perhaps the Sentients knew that beforehand.”
I didn’t think of that angle, maybe because Warverian had been so insistent that I was his Omega. “So maybe Warverian didn’t want me, specifically, not like it seemed? It wasn’t aboutme. Not really. They just wanted to take the centering Omega? To stop the circle?”
“Makes sense.” Tilda nods. “If they somehow knew about the circle, and that you were the Omega—”
“How would they know?” Jeren arches a brow. “How in the Pillars could they have known about Lana?”
“The council knew.” Kyte wraps his arm around me, and I lean into him. I can’t help it. Our souls are kindred. “Why else would they send to earth for her?”
“Then the Sentient spy informed Warverian.” Ceredes nods. “Makes sense.”
“If we have a spy on the council, our problems are far bigger than we thought.”
