I bare my teeth. “Go to hell.”
His smile doesn’t falter. “You’ll come around.”
He reaches out, fingertips brushing the glass between us. The crystals pulse in response, a soft chiming sound ringing through the lab.
The song swells.
For a terrifying second, my vision doubles. The room tilts. My heartbeat stutters out of rhythm.
I dig my nails into the padding of the chair until my fingers ache.
I focus on the memory of Maug’s voice when he said my name. The way it grounded me. Anchored me.
“Please be coming,” I whisper under my breath as Ciampa turns away. It’s not a prayer.
It’s a promise.
Because if he is—if he’s anywhere in the void between here and Purgonis—then this isn’t over.
And I’m not done fighting yet.
CHAPTER 34
MAUG
The first shot skims my wing before I even breach the outer perimeter.
The defense grid recognizes me for what I am:unwelcome. Automated lasers snap online, carving white-hot slashes across the void. Turrets rotate. Targeting locks blink red across the canopy screen.
I don't hesitate.
Ican’t.
My hands move before thought catches up—flipping toggles, jerking the yoke left as plasma arcs miss me by meters. The old starfighter shudders, metal groaning under stress it hasn’t known in decades. I grit my teeth and dive.
The station looms ahead—massive, ringed in rotating layers like a metal beast waking up hungry. Deep Space 12. She’s inside.
The controls scream at me:WARNING—HULL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED.
I don’t care.
Another shot grazes the nose of the fighter. The plating peels like old bark, sparks vomiting into the vacuum. One wing is shredded halfway through, flailing like a broken limb.
I slam the stabilizers forward and throw the weight of the ship into a spin.
The cockpit blurs—stars and station and fire, all smeared into one. I yank the throttle, ignoring the way the frame rattles under my claws.
I see the docking arm.
Emergency landing platform. Side port. Minimal shielding.
That’s my window.
One second.
Two.
Now.
