“I can work around it,” Quillon said with a determined expression.
Kira held still as for the second time since stepping foot in the ship Quillon’skiswept over her.Tiny pinpricks of pain dove deep inside.Quillon’s forehead furrowed as he concentrated.
She shifted as the sensation grew uncomfortable.
Mea’Ave take her.She hated this feeling.This sense of intrusion.Like tiny ants marching through her veins.
To distract herself, Kira looked at Finn.“Brief me about the situation.”
Although Graydon had given her some idea, she wanted to hear it from Finn.Graydon may have grown up Roake, but he wasn’t Roake now.He was an outsider.There were certain things Harlow may not have shared with him that he would have with Finn.
“It’s bad,” Finn said.
“How many dead?”
“Eight.Four were the guards who were supposed to be on duty in the Nexus.We think the Caius impersonator took them out.”
Kira inhaled, holding the breath for a moment before slowly releasing it as she mentally whispered a prayer for their safe passage to whatever afterlife they believed in.
Mea’Ave or God or whatever higher power was out there, protect them.
Kira wasn’t sure how many of the deceased were people she knew but that didn’t matter.They were Roake; that made them hers.
“I’m sorry,” Kira told Finn.
“The cost of war,” Talon responded.At Kira’s glance, he gave her a bitter twist of the lips.“There will be more casualties before this is over.”
The truth stung.
War brought death.Sometimes the enemy’s.More often your nearest and dearest.
“I found something,” Quillon announced in a tense voice.
Finn and Talon’s expressions darkened.
No one had actually thought the inquisitors would be so bold.
“Those bastards,” Quillon spat a second later “They implanted anetav.”
“What is that?”Kira asked.
“It’s a device meant for spying,” Finn answered.“In addition to tracking your movements, it will also broadcast any conversations you have.”
“Tell her the rest,” Talon ordered.
Finn’s features showed reluctance as he met Kira’s gaze.“Some are programmed with a self-destruct.”
Kira looked around the ship as if it might hold the answers she needed.“Let me get this straight—they implanted me with a kill switch.”
“That about sums it up,” Talon said.
“This is a nightmare.”
An actual, honest-to-God nightmare.
“I’m isolating it now,” Quillon warned her.“This is going to hurt.”
Before Kira could brace, Quillon’skigrew razor sharp teeth that clamped down on the veins responsible for circulating her soul’s breath.A whimper escaped her as that invisible force started to squeeze.
