Colors rip through the void like a stained glass—violet, silver, streaks of liquid gold.
Guess I’m not going to black out on the return trip.
My body twists, weightless, as if every atom is unraveling and stitching back together.The pressure’s unbearable, crushing and infinite.Is the wormhole trying to peel us apart molecule by molecule?
Kael’s hand clamps around mine, his grip an anchor to reality.His cybernetic arm glows blue, the veins pulsing lightning under the skin.His face, a blur of whipping hair and bone-white horns, burns through the storm.
“Hold on!”he screams, the roar swallowed by the vortex.
The rift convulses, and fragments of space tear past—fragments of stars, the flash of alien landscapes, and echoes of voices not our own.
My lungs seize.A scream rushes out of my chest, a sound I can’t hear.My muscles push and pull, the sharp agony a counterbalance to the soothing grip of Kael’s fingers on mine.
The lifecord on my wrist flares, and its symbols ignite in a spiral of white fire.Kael’s does the same, the threads of light weaving between us chains of life, of love.The cerium shard spins free, tumbling below into the yawning, black void, its glow dimming.
The wormhole bucks and a shockwave slams into us, doing its best to rip Kael from my grip.His fingers slip, the sparks trailing like dying stars.
“No!”I lunge, my nails scraping flesh, and catch his wrist—the real one, warm and trembling.Our eyes are locked, and I’m sure my own desperation reflects in his.
“Ellie—” His tone falters.“If I do not make it—”
“Youwill.”My throat is raw with the words.“You will, damn you.”
The vortex screams, folding in on itself.Light implodes, dragging us toward that pinprick of darkness below.My muscles tear and my bones feel like glass, but I cling to Kael with everything I have.
And then?Impact.
8
Chapter 8
Theworldslamsbackinto existence with a bone-jarring thud.My lungs seize, dragging in sharp air.For a moment, everything is a blur of shattered light, fractured sound, the echo of Kael’s voice still burning in my ears.
Then I feel him.Solid.Alive.His arm’s locked around my waist.
We’re sprawled on smooth white tiles, the hum of Volderen tech vibrating beneath my hip bones.The wormhole behind us flickers as its silver light collapses inward until it’s nothing but a ghostly scar on my retina.
I roll onto my side with a gasp and meet his eyes.They’re wild but alive.Relief crashes through me so hard it feels like my heart’s about to explode.
“You made it,” I whisper.
His lips curve in the bare hint of a smile.“Because you would not let go.”
Before I can answer, chamber doors hiss open.Figures sweep in—Volderen guards, their armor gleaming steel and glowing technology.Behind the guards, the High Council steps forward in flow robes with faces carved from stone.Each member wears a plasma swords on their right.A tiny Volderen book of justice hangs from their left.
This is only the second time I’ve seen the Council, and they still make me nervous.
Kael rises slowly and squares his shoulders, every inch the warrior.One of the councilors speaks in a cold, formal voice.“Kael Vor'ronex.For dereliction of duty, you were marked for exile.”
“Are you insane?”I hiss, raising my eyebrows.“He just saved—”
The councilor narrows his gaze on me but continues speaking.“But your actions have altered the course of this war.The Council offers you pardon.”
Kael’s jaw tightens.“No.Not unless you admit what you did.You betrayed me.You let XVU do this to me, and—without my consent—made me into something I am not, a monster closer to a Quantorian than a Volderen.”
A ripple of shock moves through the chamber.The brittle silence stretches.
I step closer, my hand brushing his, close enough for him to feel me at his side.“Kael,” I murmur, soft but steady.“Stay with me.Make them face the truth.Make it mean something.”
