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“Don’t risk it!” I’ve never heard Tasha beg in her life. Now she’s pleading with the foolhardy captain to stay alive.

“Tasha, turn around,” he orders. “You can’t be here! This system is about to become a warzone.”

She cuts the feed with a hard swipe of her hand and powers full speed ahead toThe Instigator.

I know exactly what she’s doing. Aelon can risk himself. He doesn’t care about his own life. He can’t risk his Bonded Mate. His hatred of Toads is less than his species’ urge to be with the one woman who can bear their children…

I hope.

We power towards the loading bay, and it opens up like a gaping maw. Even the huge Aurelian warship is small compared to the Toad mothership on a beeline towards us. Theme’s hands shake as he grabs the controls of his Orb-Beam, aimed straight atTheInstigatoras if the beam would do anything more than a papercut to a giant.

“Tasha, what are you doing?” His face is ashen. “You’re taking us right back intoThe Instigator!”

“Yes, I am—and you need to trust me.”

She knows she can’t convince him from the coms-link, and she needs to face him to sway him. I stare forward into the loading bay. TheWayward Scytheis gone. Chris and the crew escaped, and I hope they went towards safety.

Reavers sit in wait, called back from the moon. Aelon is gathering his forces for one last battle. He stands in the middle of the loading bay, imperious, but so different from when we first saw him. He was arrogant in his confidence, his chest puffed out, facing down our weaponry without fear.

This time he’s flanked by the two brutes that form his triad.

Tasha sets us down gently, in full control of the alien ship. She slams her hand against the button to open the side doors. “Sawoot,” she orders me, pointing to the main controls. “time for you to leave. You don’t need to be here. Take Theme and get the hell out of here. Aelon will let you go—it’s not you he wants, it’s me.”

For once in my life, I must refuse my captain’s command. “I’m not going anywhere without you, Tasha.”

And I’m not leaving Garrick to die.

She nods, giving me the same grin as before we get into trouble. “Alright. That’s your choice. Hang tight, then.”

For a second I almost follow her out, but she needs to face Aelon alone.

She strides to the imperious commander. He’s huge and imposing, but somehow, even in a tiny, wispy dress, Tasha is a lioness. “Aelon, I’m begging you. Don’t try to fight them. Iknowyou can kill them. I know you can beat them, even though there are so many more of them than you. I know you’re outgunned, but that you’ll find a way to defeat the Toads. But what if you get unlucky? What if there’s something else you hadn’t considered. Nothing is guaranteed—and you have alotof people relying on you.”

All those people, but the only one he cares about is her.

He’s a statue. Aelon doesn’t even blink, and if he heard her words, he doesn’t react.

“They’re expecting to catch you by surprise,” she warns. “Even with every advantage, you’re still facing impossible odds. Don’t you haveanythingto live for?”

I’ve never seen Tasha like this. Begging him to rethink, pleading for him to put his hatred on hold in the hopes that he’ll want something bigger. I stare through the viewport, my heart breaking for my best friend. She’s learning the hard way that you can’t change an Aurelian.

“What do you expect me to do, Tasha?” Aelon sighs. “Those Toads are criminals. They’d massacre a defenseless mining camp for profit. I can’t let that evil go unpunished.”

He doesn’t have the same hatred in his eyes. He looks weary, duty bound. While Tasha speaks with her triad, Aurelian engineers are working on overdrive, welding Reavers. Lights flash and flicker from welding torches as they cut corners to get damaged ships operational for one last battle.

Some Aurelians are going to go into battle with damaged armor and half-powered shields.

This crew would follow Aelon into hell if they had to. I stare past Aelon and his triad, looking for a sign of Garrick and his men.

What do they think of me? Will they ever be able to trust me again? Can they forgive me?

They are nowhere to be seen. I gnaw on the inside of my cheek, wondering if they hate me.

“Run,” Tasha pleads. “Please, Aelon, just run.”

Theme clears his throat. He’s white-faced. “Sawoot, we can still get out of here. We don’t have to stay. Tasha might be willing to die for him, but I’m not.”

I ignore the technician, watching Tasha with rap attention. I thought it was an impossible task, but if she can convince the brutal alien captain to avoid a fight, then Garrick and my triad are safe.