Page 28
CHAPTER 28
S asha
The sound of the battle fills the empty streets with the voices of men. Men shouting, men screaming, men crying.
Men dying.
Please let him be okay , I pray to all the old gods and the new ones, even making up some along the way. Let Eirik be safe.
Eirik is somewhere out there, fighting a fight he can’t win against an enemy he doesn’t know. The idea of him in danger makes my chest hurt and I’m so full of fear, I’m sure I’m going to pass out.
I don’t. Somehow, my feet take me back to the Fortress. To home.
I lurk in the shadows of a side street, on the other side of the building where the sounds of battle are coming from. I press myself against a wall as an explosion rocks the night, closer this time. They’re so focused on the frontal assault, they won’t expect anyone to slip in through the back.
I ghost through the shadows, moving faster now. Time is running out.
The familiar walls of the Fortress loom before me as I slip along a side wall. There is only one entrance in the Fortress, one point to defend. This was always something Sargul was proud of.
But as clever as he is, he never accounted for someone as small as me to slip through his defenses.
My heart pounds against my ribs, but my hands remain steady as I slip along the wall and stop below a ventilation shaft. A few minutes later, I hoist myself into it, disappearing from view. It’s barely large enough to accommodate my small frame, but I don’t hesitate as I crawl through the small space. Years of muscle memory guide me as I move in the liquid darkness of the shaft and deep into the Fortress. This was my home, after all. I know every crack, every weak point, every secret passage.
And I know my target as well.
As I finally take the last turn toward my exit, I pause, listening. Footsteps echo from somewhere further down the hallway, guards shouting and running. I wait until the risk of discovery is passed, then I slip out of the shaft and land on the floor without a sound.
Moving silently, I make my way through the maze that is Sargul’s Fortress, dead set on my destination. I stop in front of a nondescript door, then turn the handle. It’s open.
The room is dark except for a single crystal pile casting a warm glow over the sitting area. Still, it’s bright enough for me to see her small room lying in shambles—clothes scattered across the floor, drawers pulled out and emptied, cabinet doors hanging open. So different from the orderly space she usually keeps, where everything has its place. Maitlin stands at the far end, her back turned to me, her striped hair catching the light. She doesn’t turn around.
“I wondered when you’d show up.” Her voice is quiet, resigned. “Did you really think I wouldn’t hear you coming?”
“You always did have good ears.” I keep my voice equally soft, though my fingers tighten around the stolen blaster. “It’s kind of a prerequisite for a spy. Or a traitor, apparently.”
Now she turns, and her feline eyes reflect the lamplight like mirrors. There’s something haunted in her expression, something that makes my chest ache despite everything.
“You don’t understand,” she whispers. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“Then make me understand.” I step closer, anger rising in my throat. “What can be worth betraying me like that? After all I did for you?”
Her laugh is bitter. “After all you did for me? After what Sargul did for me? You all left me to get sick, time after time. Left begging for help when I couldn’t breathe.”
“That’s not fair, and you know it.” The words taste like ash in my mouth. “I grew up here, same as you. I didn’t have any more choices than you did.”
“Things have changed.” Maitlin’s hands clench at her sides. “I can’t stay on Valcan anymore. I need passage and I knew there would be no other way to buy it. Lady Ozura is the only one who offered me a way out and I took it!”
I look down at the floor and see two large duffel bags filled to the brim. She’s not lying. She’s really leaving.
Or at least, she thinks she is.
“Enough bullshit.” I take a step forward, and she mirrors it backward. “Where is the Soul Stone?”
When I look up at her, her face is set in tired, haggard lines. Dark circles line her green eyes and her cheeks are cast in soft shadows. I blink, suddenly aware of how sick and frail she looks.
She’s lost a lot of weight. How could I not have noticed it before?
“Not all of us have a Huugwor warrior wrapped around our finger.”
She casts a quick glance to the side and I follow her gaze. A small blaster lies on a low table, just out of her reach.
She lunges, fast as a snake. I duck and sweep her legs, but she rolls away with feline grace. The weapon discharges, scorching the wall behind me.
We grapple across the floor, knocking over a rickety table. Her elbow catches my ribs as I twist to avoid her teeth. Those elongated canines aren’t just for show.
Suddenly, she freezes.
A wet, rasping cough tears through her chest. Her grip loosens as she curls inward, struggling for breath. I wrench the blaster from her trembling fingers and pin her arms behind her back. Each cough shakes her entire body, and despite what she did, my chest tightens at the sound.
“Where’s the Soul Stone?” I press my knee into her spine, keeping her down as the coughing fit continues.
Maitlin’s coughs subside into ragged breaths. Her body trembles beneath my grip, but I don’t let up. Not until I get answers.
“I gave it to Lady Ozura hours ago.” Maitlin’s voice comes out raw, scratchy. “It’s long gone now. Your Huugwor and his friends are attacking Sargul’s Fortress for nothing.”
All for nothing. All those men outside, dying, killing. All those people in Tartarus who will die when the Empire comes down on us. All the Huugwors, out in their caves.
All because of her. Anger floods my veins and I see red.
“You selfish bitch,” I scream there, right in her face as another coughing fit tears through her.
Maitlin turns her face to the side and looks at me over her shoulder. Her cheeks are streaked with tears and her eyes are red and puffy and she gasps for air like her lungs are full of sand and dust. I don’t give a fuck.
“She promised me passage to Karrula. A real life. Clean air. Rainforests. Everything my mother told me about.”
I dig my knee deeper into her spine. “And you believed her?”
“She showed me the ticket. It’s already paid for.” Maitlin’s words rush out between gasps. “I just needed to get her the stone.”
The words taste like acid. “Do you have any idea how many people will die because of you?”
Her shoulders shake, and for a moment I think she’s coughing again. Then I hear the sob.
“I had to.” Her voice cracks. “I’m pregnant.”
My grip loosens involuntarily. “What?”
“I can’t have this baby here.” The words spill from her lips like poison. “I can’t let this baby live like I do.” Another sob racks her frame. “I’m sorry.”
I sit back on my heels, letting her roll onto her side. Tears streak down her face as she curls around on the floor.
“Who’s the father?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper.
“Kendall, but he doesn’t know.” She wipes her face with shaking hands. “He’ll kill me if he finds out.”
My anger deflates like a punctured balloon. “You could have come to me. We could have found another way.”
“Like what?” Maitlin’s laugh comes out bitter and wet. “What other way is there for me? I can’t stay on this planet, Sasha.”
This, at least, I understand.
Maitlin pushes herself up to lean against the wall. “I saw what happened to my mother. The way she withered away, fighting for every breath until the end. I’m not doing that to my child.”
The memory of her mother hits me hard, the strong, proud Karrula woman reduced to a skeletal figure gasping in a narrow cot. Maitlin ran the streets to steal medicine for her back then, but nothing ever helped.
“She’s going to kill you. Lady Ozura won’t let you leave.” The words taste bitter on my tongue. “As soon as she has what she wants, you’re just another loose end to tie up.”
Maitlin’s face crumples, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. “Maybe that’s better. At least it would be quick.”
My chest aches, but there’s no time for gentleness.
“It still doesn’t make what you did right. Nothing will.”