“No!” she shrieks, fighting the belts, straining forward. “Garokk!You son of a bitch, you can’t just—don’t you dare leave me!”
I step back.
Her fists slam into the glass as it seals with a pneumatic hiss.
Her eyes lock with mine—wide and brown and wet andfurious.
“Don’t you dare die on me!” she screams.
Her palm hits the glass again. And again.
My chest burns.
I put one hand flat against the pod window. My claws leave a smear of soot against the transparent polymer.
“I won’t,” I say. “I promise.”
I hold her gaze. Gold into brown. No words now. Justknowing.
The pod clicks.
Engaged.
Reflector floats beside me, lens flickering wildly.
“You’ll stay with me?” I ask.
He hums—damaged, glitchy. “Until the end.”
The pod launches.
One blast. A roar. And she’s gone.
My jalshagar—my mate—shot into the void like a prayer with teeth.
And I’m still here.
Alone.
With a ship tearing itself apart around me.
CHAPTER 12
ISOLDE
Ican’t breathe.
The pod bucks once, hard enough to slam me back against the seat and knock every thought out of my head. My stomach lurches. My ribs are tight bands. My throat—gods, my throat’s got no sound left in it, just ragged breath and bile.
He threw me.
He actually threw me.
The straps cinched me in before I could fight back. I tried—stars, Itried—but the damn thing locked me down like a coffin, and now I’m just here.
Alone.
The viewport blazes white.
