Page 142

Savvine jolted. ‘Eugene?’

‘Sí. He’s behind all this, he and Helena.’

‘Fokk.’

While Savvine took in the Don’s confession, Xander narrowed his eyes. ‘He got you to attack his ship, then come after Signet? Why?’

Salvadore shook his head. ‘The attack on Bianchi vessels was a foil for the real prize, Signet, but he didn’t say why you. He just alluded to the fact that you were the biggest threat. The most likely to fight back.’

Savvine, shaking with wrath, leaned into the mob boss’s face. ‘What of the Lombardi-Bianchi feud?’

The Don’s lip twisted. ‘He paid us well to end it, secretly. Publicly, we were to keep the ruse and use it to cover up our fake attacks on the Bianchis.The Odalonwas just a ruse to lure Signet into the game. The schills to build a new frigate were meant to divert away from the fact that he’s coming after you, Alexandr.’

‘A ploy?’ Savvine snarled. ‘You got people killed.’

‘We had no choice. He and Helena and something nasty for sure.’

Xander shared a glance with Savvine, who trembled with fury.

Then Salvadore added, almost as an afterthought. ‘He’s not the real Eugene, and I know who controls him.’

Xander stiffened.

‘Explain.’

The Don swallowed. ‘The Eugene now running theEternais not a Bianchi. It’s some synth facsimile, an alien autobot versionof him. Created by some outer-rim freaks called the Crats. Helena mentioned them in passing during a meet-up.’

Miral went dead still.

Xander sensed her stiffen beside him, turned his head to see her form shimmering in agitation, her noids pulsing with erratic energy.

He opened his mouth and was about to question her when, without warning, she vanished mid-pulse, scattering a burst of noid trails in her wake.

Savvine gasped. ‘The hell?’

Xander swore under his breath and pinged his neural node, trying to reach Miral.

Nada.

He got zero response. Not even a trace signature.

The mention of theCrats, whatever or whoever they were, had shaken Miral so much she’d fled.

Where to?

Xander took an inhale. Damn, the problem was worse than they imagined.

‘Salvadore,’ Xander snapped, rounding on the Don. ‘Who or what thefokkare the Crats?’

The mob boss paled, shaken by Miral’s sudden disappearance. ‘I don’t know. I swear. I heard the name once. That’s it. However, if you think we started this war, you’re mistaken. The fake Eugene did, on the behest of the crats. He’s the one who made the threats, launched those drones, and provided us with theHadesandOedipusmissiles.’

Xander studied him for a long moment. ‘That’s quite the accusation.’

‘È vero! You must believe me, or we all die in the Wildlight without reaching Pegasi!’

The Signet head shook his head at the Don’s impassioned cry, then nodded once to a guard. ‘Get him out of here. Keep him locked until I say otherwise.’

As one of the corrections officers dragged the Don away, protesting, Xander rubbed a hand over his jaw, his thoughts spinning like burning cogs.