Page 11

“I tried distributing it on the internet, but they have AI-driven algorithms that catch and erase it within minutes. I’ve tried bringing it to the media multiple times in the past, but Honeybliss has all the reputable outlets bought.

Their fingers are everywhere , in every pie.

We’re talking about the most influential figures in the entire galaxy, some with multiple planets at their beck and call.

Every time I tried something new, it got worse.

They sent hitmen after me eventually and I had to flee my home.

They rewrote my medical history and public records and made me look broken.

Unstable and unreliable. News outlets wouldn’t touch it and Galapol gave me the cold shoulder.

Eventually, I decided to just… take care of them myself, instead.

“But you were the Revolutionary of Sala. I know who you are. You won victory for your people in their civil war when there was no hope left through seizing control of and hacking all your planet’s communications towers and satellites.

You got your message out across the galaxy at large and requested aid.

You got out the truth that your oppressive government tried to silence.

I—I actually wrote part of my Master’s thesis on your method. ”

Niko was in awe of him. Elliott had presented himself so well, had spoken with such clarity and dignity that it left him feeling a little breathless and dazed. He felt a rush of affection blossom warm in his chest and fought to tamp down the smile that wanted to grow across his lips.

He wasn’t the only one.

Death smiled too. It seemed even she was charmed by Elliott. She looked pleased to have her work recognized, her remaining eye carrying a fond shine that made Niko ache with nostalgia. She used to look at him like that, a long time ago.

“So, you want me to take these files and get them past the wall of silence,” she said.

“Precisely. Niko says you have the unique connections to do something this big. Combined with your experience…”

“There’s more to it than getting the data transmitted,” Niko interjected.

“There've also been copycat kills picking up since we started hitting back at Honeybliss. People intentionally trying to fuck things up and pin it on us. All with the single purpose of driving the bounty higher. They’re killing innocent people. We need to also get a live broadcast message out to show we don’t condone any of it and aren’t associated with those murders.

More are happening every day at this point. ”

“I see,” Death said. Her gaze was alight with fascination now, her branching antennae pulsing with a faint blue. “How did you even learn about any of this in the first place? Honeybliss?” She looked at Elliott again.

Niko’s heart dropped.

All the quietly building brightness in Elliott dulled instantly. “I— They— I—” He was fumbling now.

“They took his sister,” Niko said quietly, trying to help say what he couldn’t.

Elliott glanced at him, gaze dull with pain. Then he simply nodded.

“What happened to her?” Death pressed.

Niko winced. Lady Death was an honorable woman through and through, but she was tough, and she was blunt, and she didn’t shy away from what was painful.

In the end, these were all the same questions he himself had once pelted Elliott with in the past. It made Niko ache with discomfort and shame, knowing he’d taunted him about Cleo’s fate.

Elliott struggled again, before finally saying, “She suffered. She’s gone now.

” The clipped simplicity of his statements felt somehow particularly brutal, like the sharp blade of a knife.

Somehow, it felt to Niko like Elliott was only driving that knife back into himself.

“You’ll see it on the videos if you want to watch them. ”

Niko reached across the gap between them under the table and found his hand.

He wrapped his own around it and squeezed tightly.

Elliott glanced at him again. Niko knew him well enough now to know he was clamping down hard on what must be an incredible, world-shattering pain.

They locked eyes for a moment, and Niko gave him a heartbroken, reassuring smile.

I’m here , he mouthed silently to Elliott.

“Send me these files.” Death then read him her new number and Niko recorded it onto his phone too. Elliott busied himself with his phone.

With a quick dismissive wave from Death, the room began to disperse. It seemed their meeting was formally over. A few people ambled about or hung around still, but the guards exited with a nod, the doorway left unblocked now.

“Aleksi had a whole spiel about you not taking outside calls anymore after a near miss on your life,” Niko said.

“And you actually believed him,” Death marveled.

He heard the chime of Elliott’s files delivered to her phone.

Before acknowledging them, she turned her gaze to Niko again.

It softened a little, becoming something more familiar to the woman Niko remembered as his mentor.

When she spoke, her voice was a fraction gentler.

“I know you’re upset about what happened to him and his friends. ”

Niko glanced away, but nodded.

“But you have to know why I did it. I had to send a message. If anyone else decides they can get away with going behind my back and trying what he did for easy money, they’ll quickly realize that’s not how it’s going to work.

I needed to shut that down, Niko. Or it was only going to happen again and again. ”

Niko nodded again. He hated what happened to Aleksi, but the man had done it to himself, in the end.

Everyone knew not to fuck with Lady Death.

Betraying her was as good as signing your own death warrant.

Niko was almost surprised she hadn’t tried to send someone after him too when he’d vanished on her.

Maybe she had just cared for him that much, even then.

They’d had a bond once. She had taken Niko under her wing when he was young and dumber than he was now, full of sloppy ambition and unrefined technique.

She’d taken the time to train him up in efficient bounty hunting.

Lady Death had taught him how to survive.

And she had, maybe, become a little like the mother-figure Niko had desperately needed after losing his own.

A crime syndicate boss, ruthless badass of a mother.

“I’m going to take a look at these,” she said. “And I’ll make you a deal. You help me with that favor and I’ll help you with yours.”

Niko and Elliott glanced at each other.

“Alright,” Niko said.

“Tonight, you’re going to stay here. It’s late, and I want to look through these before we talk again.”

He felt Elliott’s discomfort as the other man tensed beside him. He may have had a moment of connection with the woman who’d inspired part of his thesis, but now it seemed he had fallen back to his usual paranoia. “I—I don’t know if—”

“Stay.” Her tone was clipped and final. There was no room for negotiation. “You’ll be safer in these walls than anywhere in the galaxy. No one gets through here who I don’t want to.”

Niko dropped his voice to a low murmur, trying to assure Elliott. “It’s a sign of trust to her.”

“Which is exactly why I don’t love this,” Elliott muttered back.

“Either we do this, Elliott, or we don't,” Niko said. “We’ve come this far. And she’s willing to help us.”

Elliott relented, nodding. He fell quiet.

Death stood, and they followed suit.

“I’ll get dinner sent to you shortly,” she said. Then she came over and pulled Niko into a tight hug, something that both surprised and delighted him. He wrapped his arms around her in return.

It was like a dam breaking; the relief that washed through him with that embrace was palpable. Niko felt like he was finally back again, back in the past life he’d discarded for so many years. It was like slipping a dusty old glove back on. It still fit the same, like a second skin.

“Welcome back, Niko,” she said, switching over to her native Sala Heenvan, where she’d always been most comfortable.

“Deleera,” he murmured back in her language, using her given name. “I’m sorry, for everything.”

“You’re here now. Help me out and we’ll be even. That’s how we’ve always worked.”

“Anything you need,” Niko said. “I want to do that much.”

“Niko, you could have really gotten yourself hurt coming back to this place. What if I’d decided on the same inclination as Baouban? As the Legend? As Aleksi?”

A heartbroken grimace pulled at the corners of Niko’s mouth. “I knew the risks, Deleera, but I wanted to believe in you, if nobody else out there anymore. The day Lady Death starts putting money above people is the day I’ll hang up my armor and retire.”

“The armor looks good on you,” she said, picking at his chestpiece.

“A nice addition. But, Niko.” She fixed him with a somber stare.

“Don’t ever stop fighting for what you believe in or what’s right, based on the moral deficiencies of others.

In the end, you have to carry your own banner high, even if it means being the one to lead the way alone. ”

“Yeah. I know,” Niko said, glancing over at Elliott.

The man had fought alone for so long, trying to put an end to the misery of Honeybliss.

He had been abandoned and let down again and again, yet here he was now.

He was so beautiful to Niko. “I think you’ll really like him, D. He’s such a good person.”

Death looked over at Elliott now, who stood close by Niko’s side. She switched back to Galactic Standard when she spoke. “What did you study for your Master’s?”

“I majored in mechanical engineering and minored in computer engineering,” he replied in flawless Sala Heenvan. Death looked taken aback, seeming impressed by him all over again.

“ You ,” she responded in Sala Heenvan, “are someone very, very interesting who I’d like to get to know more. For now, though, you should both get rest.”

Elliott looked thrown for a loop at someone wanting to actually be his friend. He said nothing, merely blinking at her. Niko couldn’t help but be reminded of a computer that had crashed and was rebooting.

Then he frowned, remembering something. “Hey. How did you hear we were in Dainna in the first place?” He thought they’d done a decent enough job at appearing inconspicuous.

“Aleksi was stupid, as usual. He started texting his network that you were coming and promised them a lot of money if they wanted to help in his little scheme. Most of them joined in as the mercenary team you’d encountered.

Fortunately, one of those friends was more loyal to me than to him.

She knew you and I were close once and let me know what was up.

She kept an eye on where he was leading you and reported it back to me.

The idiot ran right into her and didn’t even recognize her. ”

Niko frowned. Wait—

Beautiful tentacles, by the way. Very plump.

“The Gheroun woman?!”

Death only gave an enigmatic smile. “I don’t give my spies away.”

“So, you knew what he was up to all along,” Elliott said.

“Yes. But I wanted to hear that weasel admit it himself.”

Sweetheart peeked her head through the door. “Is your meeting over? I hope I’m not interrupting. I just wanted to say hi to Niko again.”

“No, not at all, beloved. Would you do me the honor of taking these two… gentlemen to Niko’s room?”

Sweetheart’s patterns fluttered a delighted gold. “Anything you ask, Mistress.”

It was Niko’s turn to crash and reboot. Something buried deep inside him ached. He blinked at Death. “...My old room? You kept it this whole time?”

“I didn’t want to give up on you, Niko,” Death said. “I always hoped you’d turn up again one day. You were one of the good ones.”

“She’s downplaying that,” Sweetheart said with a soft laugh that sounded like tinkling bells. Her four eyes squinted into mischievous crescents as though she were letting on a precious secret. “You’re our family.”

No one is your friend anymore , Death had told Niko.

But maybe he’d regained something better now, instead.