Blue’s face fell as she rushed to pull apart the connections on the device.
Elena’s convulsions stopped as her body went limp.
“I don’t understand,” Blue said. “That should have worked.”
Elise’s face was sad as she shook her head. “The Tsavitee would have anticipated such a solution. They would have built safeguards into the marker to ensure the target suffered, leaving you no choice but to let this happen.”
Alright. Kira had had enough of this.
She reached for the collar around her neck. She needed her ki.
“Get it off,” she ordered. “Get it off right now!”
“It won’t work, Kira,” Elise said softly.
“You don’t know that,” Raider snarled.
“Even the most powerful ki user wouldn’t be enough to stop this, isn’t that right?“ Elise said with a look in Torvald’s direction.
To Kira’s surprise, the emperor hadn’t evacuated during the attack, instead remaining.
Regret was on his face as he shook his head.
“Did you know about this?” Raider demanded, getting in Elise’s face. “Did you know what he planned to do to our daughter?”
Jin nudged Kira’s arm, slipping under it to press his shell against Elena in wordless comfort.
“I would never do anything to jeopardize our child,” Elise snapped. “You should know that.”
Raider’s laugh was ugly as he pointed at Pallas. “That man said it—traitor.”
Elise flinched. “It doesn’t matter what you think of me. There’s no stopping this once the marker is injected. Either someone uses the recall stone to complete the summons, or she will be torn apart on a molecular level. Your choice, lover.”
For a moment, Kira thought Raider would hit Elise. The other held her ground, not looking away from him.
A hiccupping cry from Elena forced him to back down as he turned toward his daughter, taking Kira’s place.
“It’s going to be okay, sweetie. I’m here.”
Wren looked up from where he was giving emergency aid to Auralyn. Elena’s aunt was conscious, but just barely. Her eyes were glazed with pain as her armor sealed itself around her wound to lessen her bleeding.
Kira could see the willpower it took for the other woman to stay present. Wren cradled her in his arms, an agonized helplessness on his face that matched Kira’s own.
“I can end her suffering if you can’t,” Pallas offered.
In his mind, such an action would be a mercy. A twisted one maybe but mercy nevertheless.
“You know what they’re like. Death would be preferable,” Pallas warned.
“Touch her and I’ll separate your head from your shoulders,” Kira snarled, sounding like someone else in that moment.
Pallas shrugged, unaffected. “She’s your child. Your choice.”
Kira wasn’t listening as her gaze landed on the syringe still clutched in Terrel’s curled up fist. She reached for it, sliding it free.
Raider’s hand landed on hers. “I’m going too.”
Kira’s gaze held his. “Okay.”
