CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"Again?" Kira muttered, glaring at Jin.
He made a strangled noise, managing to sound both sheepish and defensive at the same time. "Don't blame me. They obviously have some sort of technology to block my sensors."
"Uh-huh." She let her voice show how much stock she put into his excuse.
"Focus," Graydon muttered, not taking his attention from the others.
Liara strode forward, her face set in the icy, haughty expression Kira remembered from their first meeting. "Cousin, I'm disappointed. I opened my House to you, welcomed you to my family, yet you betray me at the first opportunity."
"She does know Graydon essentially kidnapped you; not to mention you've survived two assassination attempts since arriving, right?" Jin muttered.
Kira ignored him, too busy watching Liara's soldiers, considering and discarding a dozen different scenarios.
"I warned you to be careful of snakes in the grass," Alma said, appearing from behind Liara. Her eyes were filled with scorn as she looked Kira over. Kira was sure she was the only one to spot the glint of victory in Alma's eyes. "Nothing good ever comes of raising serpents. They always bite you in the end."
"You'd be one to know," Kira said.
Alma didn't respond to the insult as she turned to Graydon. "We will send you to your emperor in pieces as an example. After you, he will know Luatha won't stand for his meddling. Your betrayal will be the spark that turns the rest from him."
Kira pressed her lips together at the threat. Graydon didn't move, motionless as he watched the Luathans.
Kira needed to do something before the Nexus erupted into violence and they lost any chance of convincing Liara of the truth.
"Jin, if you'd be so kind."
"Gladly," Jin said, gliding forward. The recording started up.
A harsh buzz ripped through the room. Electricity crackled and Jin gave a pained grunt. He hit the ground with a crash, his metal body bouncing before going still.
"Jin," Kira screamed, fear coating her throat.
For a long terrifying second, she couldn't feel the slight shadow of a presence in the back of her mind she associated with him, a thin thread barely noticeable most of the time. Right now, the connection vibrated with pain, the wounds of the weapon leaving it raw and exposed.
An eternity of agony lay before her as she faced the thought he was gone—forever beyond her grasp in the afterlife.
Darkness yawned wide inside. The thin bindings keeping her monster from laying waste to everything and everyone threatened to snap.
She forgot who she was, forgot the honorable person she fought to be. All she knew was rage and vengeance.
The transformation tingled along her skin, pain biting deep as she struggled to contain it. Her blood heated and the urge to kill her enemies gnawed at her.
The connection snapped into place. Kira could feel Jin again, hurt and scared, but alive.
She took a deep breath and settled, physically shaking herself as she grabbed for the gossamer-thin tendrils of composure.
When she opened her eyes again, her vision wasn't red-tinged and she no longer thirsted for destruction.
She stared at Ayela's sweet face, innocent and serene where she stood over Jin's body. The woman didn't know it yet, but she was already dead.
"What did you do to him?" Kira asked calmly.
