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Sawoot pulls a keycard out from Gods know where.

“No need. I snagged this from Garrick. Poor guy didn’t know what hit him.”

There’s a trace of sadness in her voice. I guess she wasn’t Bonded to him, after all.

I sigh. I can’t think about the Bond right now. I need to focus on getting us all safe and free.

“Alright – a Reaver it is.”

“Once we get in, we can Orb-shift out of here,” Sawoot says confidently.

“Not quite,” I warn. “There are rumors about Orb-Shifting becoming dangerous – and Captain Aelon says those rumors are true.” My eyes flash. “But don’t worry – I can get us out of here, no problem.”

Piloting is finally where I can demonstrate my value.

Sawoot smiles: “I’ll always trust you, Captain.”

We step outside of the control room and start heading towards the loading bay – our path clear because it’s marked by gaping, open doors.

However, halfway down the hallway, I freeze.

I can’t quite do this.

I turn to Theme.

“Listen - Chris is a grade-A asshole, but technically, he’s still my crew. I need to give him and the rest of the men a chance. Set the doors to his prison cell to open in ten minutes, as well as a path to the airlock. They’re unarmed, and if they’re lucky, they’ll make it to the loading bay. Then, they can take the Wayward Scythe and go wherever the fuck fate takes them.”

Theme hesitates.

“They… they werelaughingat you, Captain. While we were waiting for you to get spanked they were all looking forward to it – making jokes.”

Anger flares up in me. No matter how pissed off I am at them, they’re still my crew. For one last moment, I’ll be their captain. I don’t owe them a certain escape, and I’m not going to risk my most loyal crewmembers to help them out, but I can at least give Chris and the others a fighting chance.

“Set the timer,” I growl, absolutely resolute. “I’m done with them – but I won’t leave them to rot.”

Especially not with a pissed-off Captain Aelon, who’ll no doubt grill them brutally on where I might be going. I don’t think Aelon would stoop to torturing them – I have to believe he’s better than that – but I don’t want to test how far he’d go to recapture his Fated Mate.

“Alright,” Theme nods. “I’ll set it for ten minutes. The Aurelians might get back control of the ship by then, but at least they’ll have a chance.”

Shit. We’ve got less time than I’d thought.

Theme tinkers with the controls, setting the doors on a timed delay. “Let’s go.”

The three of us run down the empty hallways of The Instigator. We must look ridiculous. Two women in skimpy dresses and one geeky guy. I keep expecting us to turn a corner and run into a triad of Aurelians – and if we do, we’re fucked; perhaps literally.

At best, we’ll be captured for sabotaging The Instigator. The worst-case scenario would see us run into the same sort of Aurelians as Kit and his triad had been – the kind that would use the opportunity of having the other Aurelians locked away in order to take advantage of two women.

Theme would be no use against them, and I don’t like the odds of Sawoot and I since we’re dressed in thin slips of dresses and totally unarmed.

But fortunately, the majority of the Aurelians are on the surface of that moon, and Aelon’s probably sending frantic messages to them right now.

We’re running out of time, and it’ll take all my skill for us to escape with our skins. We’ve got no weapons, no backup, and if asingleAurelian is blocking the hallways, we’re screwed.

We rush back past Sawoot’s room. There’s a hard banging against the door. “Open up!” Garrick’s voice is booming with command. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard him raise his voice. He must be incensed to have been betrayed by the same humans he’d so gallantly protected.

Sawoot stops for a moment on the other side of the door. “I’m sorry, Garrick! I’ll miss you!”

She’s not mocking him. I can tell she had affection for the warrior – but she was the one who’d told me to never fall for an Aurelian, and if Sawoot does one thing right, it’s follow her own advice.