Suns that could cook you in your own skin. Desert that stretched for days in every direction, red and hostile and utterly indifferent to human survival. The heat alone should have killed them all in the first week.
There were rivers and lakes of fire. Tectonic instability. Giant freaking firebirds determined to pick our bones clean.
But the crew here was trying. And I wanted them to succeed.
My throat tightened. These were my people. Humans who'd made it through the same crash, the same impossible odds. Who'd pulled themselves from wreckage and built this desperate settlement with their bare hands.
I was pissed. So fucking pissed at how they'd taken Nyx and not given me a second to explain, but I was willing to hope it was a misunderstanding that could somehow be worked out.
If Nyx didn't kill anyone in the meantime.
I had to find him.
The settlement sprawled out in a rough circle, buildings clustered together for mutual support. People moved around with purpose, carrying supplies or water containers. Everyone had a job, a role. The kind of efficiency that came from months of survival mode, where every person's contribution meant the difference between living and dying.
And every single one of them was watching me.
I felt their eyes tracking my movement as I walked deeper into the settlement. Subtle glances that tried to be discreet but weren't. Whispers that cut off as I passed. A few people stopped what they were doing entirely, staring with the kind of curiosity usually reserved for zoo exhibits.
There were thousands of people here. But everyone knew everyone else by now. I was the newcomer, the curiosity. Of course they were looking.
The one who'd been rescued from the monsters.
The thought made my jaw clench. If they only knew.
My fingers itched for my knife, but I resisted reaching for it. At least no one had taken that from me. I would cut anyone who tried.
The weight of it against my hip was reassuring. Nyx had made this for me. Had carried it for who knew how long, waiting for the right moment to offer it. The leather grip was already shaped to my palm, like he'd studied my hands while I slept.
It was mine.Hewas mine.
"Larissa, please." A calm male voice came from down one of the narrow alleys.
The sound cut through my spiraling thoughts.
I had my direction.
The alley was barely wide enough for two people to pass. The walls on either side were more salvaged hull plating, the metal still showing scorch marks from atmospheric entry. My boots scraped against packed dirt as I moved cautiously forward, following the sound of voices.
A curtain hung across an opening ahead. Not a door, just fabric rigged to provide privacy. The kind of makeshift solution that screamed limited resources and unlimited desperation.
I paused at the edge, listening. The male voice was still talking, low and soothing. A woman responded, her tone sharp and brittle.
Carefully, I pulled the curtain aside just enough to peek through.
The space beyond was a makeshift medical tent. Cots lined one wall, most of them occupied. Medical supplies were organized on shelves made from storage crates, everythinglabeled in neat handwriting. The setup was impressively organized given the circumstances, but it was still primitive compared to what we would have had on Earth. No diagnostic equipment, no proper surgical tools. Just bandages and whatever medications they'd salvaged from the crash.
Another reminder of how much damage the ship had taken during landing. How much we'd lost.
"I'm fine," said the woman who must have been Larissa.
I saw her on the nearest cot. The resemblance to Kira was there in the bone structure, the shape of her eyes. But everything else was wrong.
She looked bad. Stringy dark hair that hung limply past her shoulders, every bone visible where she wasn't covered by clothes. She was stick thin, starved and gaunt, and had a haunted look in her eyes.
We should have come for her sooner.
Rage surged through me. The Blade Council had debated for weeks while this woman rotted in Ignarath's slave pits. Had weighed the political implications and the resource costs while Larissa and the others suffered.
