Page 15 of Revenge (Warriors of the Drexian Academy #6)
Chapter
Fifteen
Sasha
“ W hat the grek are you doing here?” he finally managed, his voice tight.
“What the hell are you doing going rogue?” I shot back, settling more firmly into the seat and crossing my arms. The co-pilot’s chair was cool against my back, and the subtle vibration of the ship’s engines hummed through my bones, but I kept my attention focused on his face.
“I’m heading back to my Inferno Force ship,” he said, but there was something in his expression that told me he knew I wasn’t buying it.
“Liar.” The word came out flat and certain. “There’s no way you suddenly had to leave after what we found last night. So I want to know why you thought you could cut me out of my plan.”
He was quiet for a long moment, his jaw working as he stared out at the blackness of space. The silence stretched between us, filled only with the soft hum of life support systems and the distant whir of the jump drive slowing.
Finally, he exhaled sharply and turned to face me. “I was going to Earth to find out who was behind you being left to rot. And I was going alone because you’re too emotional to handle this objectively.”
I clenched the armrests of my seat so hard I was surprised the material didn’t crack beneath my fingers. Every instinct screamed at me to argue, to tell him I wasn’t overly emotional, that I was perfectly capable of handling the investigation with professional detachment.
But that would only prove his point, wouldn’t it? Besides, he was right, and I hated he was right.
I was boiling over with rage and hurt and a need for vengeance that consumed everything else.
This wasn’t the cool, focused determination I’d learned to channel during my military training.
This was something raw and primal that made my hands shake and my vision blur.
As a pilot, I’d always prided myself on being calm under pressure, on making rational decisions even when the situation was falling apart around me.
But months in that Kronock prison had changed something fundamental within me. The betrayal, the isolation, and the constant fear had left me volatile. I knew this about myself, could analyze it with clinical detachment, but that didn’t mean I could change it.
“Why aren’t you angrier?” I asked, the question coming out more vulnerable than I’d intended. “You were in that prison too. You were abandoned just as much as I was.”
His expression softened slightly, and when he spoke, his voice was quiet. “Because my people did not betray me.”
The words stole the breath from my lungs and made my chest constrict with pain.
He was right, of course. The Drexian military had mounted an unauthorized rescue mission to save both of us.
Admiral Zoran had risked his career and disgrace to bring us home.
His people hadn’t left him, but mine had written me off.
Not only that, they’d declared me an acceptable loss and forbidden any attempt to recover me.
The difference was stark and brutal, and it explained everything about why this felt so personal, why I couldn’t approach it with the professional distance he was capable of maintaining.
“It doesn’t matter now,” I said finally, forcing my voice to remain steady. “You’re stuck with me. I’m coming with you.”
“How did you even get onto my ship?”
“Easy. I slipped onboard when a Wing cadet was doing the final checks of the ship.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I could see him weighing his options against his irritation.
“Fine,” he said grimly, turning back to the navigation console. “But we do this my way, sweetheart.”
I wanted to argue, to establish that this was my mission and my revenge, but I bit my tongue. Getting to Earth was more important than winning this battle. There would be time to assert control once we were closer to our target.
Deklyn’s fingers moved across the smooth surface of the console, inputting coordinates for another jump. The stars outside the view port began to shift and blur as the ship’s engines built up the energy necessary for the hyperspace transition.
The jump itself was nauseating. I still hadn’t gotten used to the strange sensation of being stretched across impossible distances before snapping back into normal space.
I’d never particularly enjoyed hyperspace travel, but after months of captivity, the disorientation was even worse than I remembered.
When my stomach settled, I blinked in confusion at what I saw ahead of us. Instead of the empty space I’d expected between jump points, there was a massive structure floating against the backdrop of distant stars.
“What the hell is this?” I asked, staring at the enormous space station spaced like a vertical double helix. All clear walls and white beams, it looked more like a work of art than a functional space habitat.
Deklyn touched the communications panel and spoke into the pickup. “Island Control, this is Inferno Force Lieutenant Deklyn requesting permission to dock.”
“Copy that, Lieutenant,” came a measured voice. “Hangar bay is clear for your approach. Welcome to the Island.”
Even though I’d heard about the deep space station designed to house tribute brides and host their weddings to Drexians, I’d never been there. I turned to stare at him in disbelief. “We’re making a pit stop at the Island?”
“Fuel and supplies,” he said tersely, beginning the approach sequence. “And there’s someone I need to talk to.”
I wanted to demand more details, to know exactly what this delay would cost us and whether it was really necessary. But as I watched him pilot the ship toward the docking bay, I realized I had no choice.
I just hoped that whatever business Deklyn had here would be quick. Every moment we spent not heading to Earth was another moment for the trail to grow cold, another chance for whoever had betrayed me to cover their tracks or disappear entirely.
But as we settled onto the landing pad and the ship’s engines wound down to silence, I wondered if this was merely a delay tactic. Well, if the Drexian thought he could ditch me or stop me, he was sorely mistaken.