Her eyes locked on Pallas, Kira addressed Elena. "When I tell you to—run."
Kira sensed her niece’s instinctive resistance, catching her stubborn expression out of the corner of her eye. Elena's hands clenched on Kira's armor before loosening.
"Alright, Auntie," Elena whispered.
"Good girl."
Pallas’s expression was incredulous as Kira turned back to him. "You can't be serious. The forty three don't hurt each other."
"I warned you what would happen if we met again."
Did he think she was lying?
"How did we get to this point?" Kira asked, feeling weary all the way down to her soul.
She'd really like to know. How did that little boy who'd once hated causing pain to others become so used to death that he thought nothing of taking the lives of her loved ones?
He wasn't even remorseful. He acted like it had been his right. Like he'd done her a favor.
Kira loosened her hold on Elise, preparing to drop her. Sorry, Elise. This might hurt a bit.
Pallas’s eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare do what I know you’re thinking. I'm responsible for the moon’s explosion but not Rothchild. Someone el—"
A shot came from the dark. Several others followed in a rapid burst.
The first took Pallas in his shoulder. The rest deflecting off his shields.
Kira crossed the short space, taking refuge behind the monstrous cradle Elena had been strapped into earlier. She set Elise on the ground and pulled Elena down with her.
"Stay here," Kira ordered.
It took effort and concentration to send ki into the akieri. Something in the room making the task as difficult as it had been the first time she’d attempted it.
To her relief, the metal snapped together at last, forming a blade smaller than usual. Something between a dagger and a sword.
All those years operating in ki depleted environments, only reliant on the soul's breath her body could produce, had come back to pay dividends in this moment. She could feel how wrong this place was. How painful it was to draw ki from the pool in her center.
Kira was betting this was how the Osiri kept Elise under control all these years. By keeping her vulnerable. Her soul half-starved and locked down tight to protect itself.
With her weapon formed, Kira peeked over the bed to get an idea of the situation.
Strange.
She hadn't expected to find Pallas in such a sad state. Like her, he was having trouble accessing his ki. It left his normally ironclad defense full of openings that their assailant had taken advantage of. Blood leaked from several holes in his armor. One at his shoulder. Another in his thigh. A third in his abdomen.
Pallas glared in the direction the shots had come from, not quite out of the fight yet. A junkyard dog baring his teeth in warning.
The person hiding tsked as something solid hit the metal walkway. Probably the discarded clip they'd burned through in their ambush.
A woman sauntered out from behind the bank of metal cannisters lining the opposite wall. "I should have known our enforcer wouldn't be taken down by a trick like that."
Kira stared at her in surprise. "Thea."
Without the face paint that Thea normally hid behind, Kira almost didn’t recognize the woman. It was the first time she’d seen Thea’s true face since the camps.
Her gaze trailed down Thea’s body, taking in the Consortium made battle armor. The exact type and design that Lieutenant Himoto's co-pilot had worn. Right before they bailed out of a crashing ship.
"You followed me."
