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I’m glad it’s not my choice to make. The only choice I have is to stand by silently, or use my voice to try to convince Tasha to reject the plan.

Ethically…

Ethically, I don’t give a damn. I hate myself for it, but all I need right now is to keep Garrick and his triad safe.

“Very well.” The proud, vengeful alien captain agrees with his battle-brother. My eyes go wide. He’s changed. Tasha might have gotten his death-wish, but he can’t imagine a world without her.

Will they accept?

Now my fate doesn’t rest on Aelon’s shoulders.

It rests on the choice of a greedy Toad.

Aelon walks to Tasha, putting a huge hand on her shoulder. “Tasha, could you still bear me if I gave up weapons of destruction to those loathsome Toads?”

She stares back into his eyes. “I can. Aelon. I can.”

Vinicus steps forward, his face stony. “Rig ’em.”

I turn to face him, no longer searching for my triad. “Rig ’em,” he repeats. “Don’t just give them ten Orbs. The best way to beat a Toad is to blind him with his own greed. Give themallthe Orbs—but hide explosives inside of them. When they take the cargo inside their shield perimeter—into the heart of their mothership—we detonate it. Then, we rush in and pick off the stragglers.”

I blink. The mothership is defended by huge shields and thick armor. But if the Toads are greedy—and you can always bet on a Toad to be greedy – they might just let the shipment in without noticing the explosives.

Theme pulls at his hair, anxious. “Sawoot, we need to get the fuck out of here. Even Orb-Shifting gives us better odds than sitting here. Tasha’s gone crazy. There’s no way this plan works.”

I listen as Tasha convinces Aelon to let her on the Reaver. They’ll go into danger together.

“Vinicus! Iunia!” Aelon barks. “Get a team together to bring the Orbs to the loading bay and booby trap them. I suggest Garrick and his men—they’ve always been loyal, and they’ve got a lot to fight for.”

And so will Garrick.

“To work!” Aelon claps his hands, and the loading bay is suddenly buzzing with Aurelians preparing for battle. Vinicus and Iunia rush away to secure a team to rig and pilot the Orbs being carried in the second Reaver, behind us, and Captain Aelon presses his watch to his face.

“Listen up!”

He barks out the words, and they boom through every speaker inThe Instigator.

“My second in command is taking control ofThe Instigatorwhile I lead a trap against the Toads. We’re going to turn their greed against them. We’re booby-trapping a payload and they’re going to take it right into their mothership. Now, I need you guys to behungry—hungry for blood. We’ll cripple them, but you need to finish them off. Get ready to charge out at the signal—you’ll see those fuckers blown apart, and you take your Reavers and pick off anything that’s left.”

There’s a roar from the Aurelians—one that echoes across the landing bay, and that we hear from the corridors beyond. Every Aurelian on the ship is cheering. They are united in their ache for battle.

The doors at the top of the stairs open, and I see them. Garrick, Markrin and Tar’ank, striding down the stairs.

“Stay put, or leave, I don’t care,” I say to Theme, pressing my fist against the doors and hitting the ground running.

Garrick stops still, shock in his eyes.

He didn’t know I was here.

He never thought he’d see me again.

I don’t stop for a second. I sprint to him, leaping up in the air and he catches me, kissing me deep. There’s nothing between us, no hint of anger or resentment. Aurelians stream past us, a wave of soldiers in a flurry like ants, but nothing exists past him and his triad. The three of them surround me, pressing me tight, and I’m so small and safe in the three huge bodies.

But as he lowers me to the deck, breathless, reality hits me. “Sawoot,” Garrick purrs, “whether you are Bonded to me or not, I want you—but I cannot shame myself by refusing this assignment. I have served Aelon for two hundred years because he’s an honorable man. I will not stop now. Imustplay my part.”

I swallow.

Nami’s triad—she wished they were, but they were not—never once told her they’d be with her if they weren’t Bonded.