Chapter 40
CHAPTER
FORTY
Somehow, in the span of only a few hours, Rys had commandeered a jumper filled with fine linens and uniforms to be delivered to Charlis’ satellite ship.
We stood in the hold, gripping onto the nets thrown over the cargo pods to hold them in place, listening over the radio as Greabes made contact with security aboard.
“Freight 35426, prepared to dock at your approval,” Greabes rumbled.
“35426, please provide clearance code for docking.”
The quara blade was heavy on my thigh and I pulled the edge of my cowl up over my nose and mouth, the hood drawn down enough my eyes were barely visible.
Beside me Asher wore his full mask, one hand gripping the net while the other rested on the small of my back.
Kal waited across from us, eyeing us speculatively until I looked over at him.
“Easy does it, all right? Take your time and we’ll be out of here before we know it.”
Beside him, Hudzon and Rhiaon nodded and I mirrored the motion, even as my stomach twisted into knots.
I still was wholly undecided, each moment flicking from one choice to the next, over and over until my head spun.
But Kal was right: I needed to focus on getting there, then I could decide what happened next.
“Clearance code alpha zero reja reja seven omega four.”
A long pause and all three males stiffened, hands falling to their weapons.
“35426 cleared for landing. Hangar three. Hangar three.”
“Copy. Hangar three.”
There was a collective sigh of relief before Asher swung himself around and knelt beside one of the pods, pressing a latch. “In you go, June.”
I dropped to my knees and crawled into one of the pods surrounded by piles of white linens.
He passed me a small tube to thread over my nose and behind my ears and I tucked the modulator into the front of my waistband.
There was no saying if there’d be enough air once the door closed.
Once I settled, he followed behind, wide shoulders barely fitting through the door before he crouched beside me.
Kal was next, then Hudzon and Rhiaon, both sporting the same respirators as me before Greabes came thundering down the hall and closed the hatch with a slam.
Darkness swallowed us and only a few moments later the respirators clicked on, sensing the dwindling air supply.
Each muscle in my body vibrated with tension, heartbeat pounding in my ears louder now in the dark.
A hand found mine, thick gloved fingers pressing against my thinner ones, squeezing once.
We were close to the end and I could sense no matter what I chose, I would forfeit this small comfort I’d come to know.
And maybe that was the gift of the universe—I’d had this opportunity to feel something.
To know Kal and his family lived and learn the male in my nightmares was more than just another monster.
Maybe in another life this would be as easy as handing him the stone and returning to the Kuxatana, where Asher would work his magic to get Lunastra to release me from my never-ending contract.
I struggled to even imagine what would happen after, but perhaps it was a life filled with warmth, with new worlds and endless possibilities.
But this was reality, not fantasy.
A loud bang echoed against the side of the pod before it swayed.
I reached out to steady myself, Asher gripping my waist. Muffled voices slipped through the cracks before the groan of a turbo lift, the slide of metal on metal, followed by a booming thud as the pod dropped.
We could only pray to the Maker we hadn’t been placed on the hatch.
Silence stretched for a few minutes before Asher’s voice rumbled through the dark. “Crux, open the door.”
He must have stayed beside it, because a moment later a groan of protesting metal filled the small space and dim light poured in. Kal slid out first, but Hudzon, Rhiaon, and Asher hung back while the latter guided me forward and out before they followed.
The laundry room was nothing like I’d imagined when they’d described it.
It wasn’t merely a room, but an entire wing, pods upon pods spread out in both directions with a large mechanical arm hanging overhead to move them around.
Kal tapped me on the shoulder, jerking his head to the corner of the room where a small door stood.
I followed, Rhiaon behind me with a hand on their blaster, facing away to ensure our backs were covered.
Asher pressed a bare hand to the door and there must have been something in his palm, because a moment later it clicked and hissed open.
The room was small, much more like what I’d imagined, with a large metal tube opening to a hole beneath us filled with used linens, uniforms, and towels.
But before I could duck beneath, Asher stopped me with a hand on my elbow.
I turned, brows raised, but he tugged down my cowl from my face and pulled off the respirator, wrapped the tubing around the pack and tucked it into his pocket.
I nodded—the fewer things that could fall during the climb, the better.
The reflection of my face in his mask was pale, lips as white as my skin, and I hoped he would believe it was fear.
Because I was afraid, especially as he brushed his thumb across my chin once, lifted the cowl back over my face, and touched the top of his helmet to my brow.
“I’ll see you soon, j’ska mahsi,” he rumbled so low I wasn’t even sure the others would hear.
My throat clicked with my swallow as I nodded, ducking beneath the metal, careful of the edge so I wouldn’t fall thirty feet into the pile below.
Then I began what I did best: I climbed.
Pressing my foot against one of the walls, I pushed, hopping a little so I could brace my hands and feet on either side and start to shimmy up the metal shaft.
Sweat dewed over the back of my neck and I wished I’d kept the respirator, if only to help me breathe.
I was grateful for my gloves—if it’d just been my hands I would have fallen already.
Every so often there were a few lips in the metal, just enough for me to stop and perch, shaking out my wrists before continuing up.
“How’s my arana chia doing?” The communicator in my ear groaned before Rys’ voice came through clearer. “You know what an arana chia is, right?”
I didn’t answer, focusing above me where the tube veered slightly to the left.
“It’s this furry six-legged creature that spends most of its time in the trees on Ko’tu. They’re excellent climbers. Absolute assholes.”
A chuckle slipped through as I huffed, twisting my hips as the shaft turned. A whoop echoed through my ear and I winced.
“Got her! Maker, that feels good.”
“Rys.” Asher’s voice was sharp. “Focus.”
“Right, right. Juniper, you’re almost there. Just a few more feet and you should be good to punch through.”
I climbed, eyeing the small lip in the metal. “Left or right?”
“Left,” he answered.
“Shift change happening in three…two…” Rys murmured.
Through the communicator there was the rumble of voices, a soft groan, and a thump.
“One,” Asher finished for him. “You’re clear, June.”
I unsheathed my quara blade. The hilt hummed in my hand, ripples of electricity threading up my arm.
But I didn’t have time to examine the sensation.
Instead I punched the blade through the thin metal, dragging it down slowly.
There was resistance, but in a few minutes I’d created a hole big enough to slip through.
I waited for the bright orange edges to cool back to silver before I slipped in.
My gloves caught on the melted metal and I tugged for a few moments before they ripped and I was forced to abandon them.
Standing, I surveyed my surroundings. I stood behind a large white panel, almost as if someone had put it there to hide the chute.
When I stepped around it, rows and rows of items in glass boxes and metal containers fanned out in either direction.
Across from me sat a large door with a square window, big enough for someone to look through to check on the floor.
Asher looked back at me through it, helmet still in place, but I felt the moment his eyes met mine even through the layers.
I tugged down my cowl so he could see my lips while I pulled the communicator from my ear. “I’m sorry.”
I threw it to the floor, smashing it beneath my heel.
“Juniper!” His voice was muffled through the door, but I didn’t answer before I ran down the row to my right, counting in my head until I found the fifth case.
There, on a bright red velvet cushion, lay a shiny black stone. I flipped the blade and slammed the hilt down on the top until the glass cracked, then shattered. Rys must have turned off the electromag field, because no alarms sounded as it fell around my feet.
Asher screamed again, pounding on the door so hard I was sure it would cave in. “Don’t touch it! JUNIPER, DO NOT TOUCH THE STONE!”
But I was fixated on the black, glossy surface, so shiny I could see a tiny version of myself in it. My hand lifted of its own volition. Asher’s cries were the first note of a song in my mind.
The stone was cool against my palm.
The stone seared against my skin.
Light splintered behind my eyes.
My back bowed.
A scream tore from my lips.
Galaxies burst behind my lids. Worlds crumbled only to begin again.
The endless cycle of life and death, of decay, of power and greed over and over.
I heard the laughter of children and the wails of grief.
Someone tapped a finger to my temple, then my lips, before wiping tears from my cheeks.
My bones broke then mended; my skin ripped then sealed.
And I knew now what Asher meant, because I could hear it too.
I heard the song of the universe, its unending melody, and the sound was so fucking beautiful I wanted to weep.