Page 176

She was left alone.

She stumbled back to her chair and sat with a thud in it, her fingers gripping the seat rest so hard that her knuckles ached.

Her throat was dry, her pulse roaring in her ears.

She caught the sound of an airlock cycling as Kaal launched into the void.

Through the viewport, she sighted him streaking across space.

‘What is it with these vacuum-spectral wolves?’ she muttered.

The comms crackled, reverberating in theÚltima X’sbridge.

‘Hold on, Miral. Hang tight, brother,’ Kaal’s tone was gentle, softer than she’d ever heard. ‘You don’t get to die tonight.’

Savvine’s eyes locked onto the screen, where Miral and Xander drifted.

Kaal intercepted Miral and wrapped her in his arms.

Xander appeared to gain consciousness.

He thrashed in open space, like a wounded animal refusing to surrender, limbs jerking, the right side of his body charred black.

His jumpsuit torn, his face just visible beneath the blood and ash.

‘Baby, please be OK.’ Savvine’s chest caved in, her knees buckling as she reached toward the display like she could claw him back through sheer will.

Santi launched from his Corvette, a silver arc across the stars, coming to Kaal’s aid.

He flanked Xander, catching him between them with the precision of longtime brothers in arms.

A flash of light announced Boaz’s arrival as he headed in the direction of his stricken twin.

He gathered Bone, still unconscious, in his arms and dragged him back to his ship, the Shadowcall.

Savvine leaned forward as Santi, Kaal, Xander, and Miral vanished into theÚltima X’sdocking bay.

Savvine stumbled to the stairs, catching the sound of an airlock seal engaging.

She met them at the inner chamber, heart jack-hammering.

Xander lay motionless on the deck, and her breath hitched.

His chest was rising, but she could tell he was struggling.

Miral was beside him, a tangle of twisted synth alloy and seeping noids.

Savvine rushed to kneel at her man’s side, her eyes pooling with tears as they took in his blackened, blistered skin, leaking blood, and light.

‘Kaal, is he -?’

‘He’s breathing,’ Kaal said, his voice calm but rough with emotion. ‘His lungs are charred, but he’s still got fight in him.’

She knelt by Xander’s body, fingers hovering over his hand but too afraid to touch him. ‘Tis is my fault.’

Kaal crouched next to her. ‘Nada. This is all on Eugene, who’s nowfokkin’ history.’

‘He’s so burned.’