“See you later,” I whisper.
“Count on it,” he rumbles.
I slip out into the hallway. The air feels colder. Too sterile. Too empty. But the crystal pulses faintly against my chest, warm through the layers of fabric.
I touch it.
And for the first time in a very, very long time…
…I don’t feel alone.
Not even a little.
CHAPTER 18
VOKAR
The fire’s still burning in the hearth pit, but my blood runs cold.
Yorta’s words echo in my skull like a war drum. “It’s not just whispers anymore. It’s planning. And it’s Arnab.”
I turn away from the cliff’s edge, wind howling over the stone spires that flank the compound. “Arnab doesn’t plan. He postures.”
Yorta shrugs, arms crossed over his broad chest. “He’s posturing quieter than usual. That’s what worries me.”
My eyes narrow. Quiet is not Arnab’s nature. When silence falls around a predator, it isn’t peace. It’s stalking.
“And Trebuchet?” I ask.
Yorta hesitates. “He’s… hard to read. One minute, he’s sipping brew with the engineers. Next, he’s tapping into encrypted lines like a ghost.”
“He’s always been a ghost,” I mutter.
Yorta watches me, unreadable. “Do you trust him?”
“No,” I say. “But I trust that he won’t move unless it serves his design.”
“And that design?”
I clench my jaw. “Unknown.”
We say nothing for a moment, the wind snapping around us. The sky is bruised purple, stars smeared like battle scars across it. The gas giant that looms above us glows faintly, casting eerie orange light over the outpost walls.
Parfi joins us silently, robes brushing over stone. Her long, deep-set eyes are calm, but I see the worry in his posture.
“He plays a long game,” the Alzhon whispers. “Trebuchet moves not on impulse, but intent.”
“And Arnab?” I ask.
“Moves on ego. And ego is volatile.”
I glance toward the compound, where Freya sleeps. Or paces. Or works late shifts that grind her to dust.
She doesn’t know yet. I haven’t told her.
I’ve conquered a dozen moons, shattered resistance with my claws and fire—but when it comes to her, I tread too lightly. I want to protect her.
And I might be making her a target by doing so.
