Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven
Autumn scanned her surroundings, anxiety rattling her to the core. At least thirty guards encircled them with no escape in sight. The sentries closed in on them in one fluid movement, their weapons aimed square between her and Armienti’s eyes.
“Look what we got here, a couple of trespassers,” one of the sentries chortled. “You both look like corpses rotting in the ground.”
She exhaled a breath, eager to defend herself. She wasn’t going down without a fight. Her fists quivered with fury, ready to smash them through one of the guards’ helmeted faces.
At the same time, tears welled in the corners of her eyes. She was so terrified she couldn’t function.
“I wouldn’t get any ideas if I were you little girl,” another guard chimed in, cocking his head to the side. “We’re taking you to our emp?—”
“Well, I’m full of ideas,” she glowered. “So screw you.”
With all her might she raised her go-go boot and rammed him in the shin. He stumbled backwards skidding across the ice. His navy-blue uniform shredded.
The guards swarmed them, and shots were fired, blasting through the rocks and ice. In the distance the music had stopped, and the dancers scattered. She needed to keep her wits about her. Valdez was bound to show up at any time to finish what she started.
Armienti dodged the blue streams of energy, clutching his broken wrist, following close behind her. She could barely breathe, could barely see straight. Her legs wobbled beneath her weight as she ran for her life.
They raced through the commotion, the guards hot on their tails. As they entered the belly of the ship, the premises were far more crowded than she remembered. Holy crap , they couldn’t make their way through the halls without disrupting the food and the festivities. The foot traffic was too dense. A wave of hunger consumed her, leaving her nauseous. The food smelled too delicious.
Colors swirled and melded together as one. Creatures screamed and scattered, making way for them.
When she turned her head, the hairs on the back of her neck stood at perfect attention. They passed by the throne room. She saw flashes of short, braided hair and a long wispy violet gown. Empress Valdez.
She gulped, then gasped as a glove roughly grabbed her hair, pulling her backwards. She landed on her backside with a thud. What little air left in her body escaped her lungs as she was dragged kicking and twisting along the cold metallic floor. She fought with all the strength that she had. Everyone stared, wide eyed.
A heavy boot crushed her chest. Her ribs crunched. A metallic gun cocked and aimed at her head. The heat and smoke from the weapon caused her brow to bead in a cold sweat.
“Any last words, trespasser?” The guard’s fingers slid over the trigger of his gun. A scream erupted, followed by the scamper of footsteps.
“Get off of her, get off. Keep your filthy hands off my sister.” Leyla shouted.
The sentry’s eyes widened with fear beneath the visor of his helmet. He sputtered backwards. “Forgive me, I didn’t know.”
Autumn’s eyes fluttered closed and she collapsed on the ground, fading into the darkness.
Dante knelt, tracing his black-gloved fingers through the snow and ice. He’d searched forty-five planets for Autumn. His chest hollowed as he wiped away a stray tear lingering in the corner of his eye. This was the most humiliating failure he’d suffered in his life—since Maeve. Heaven help her.
It seemed no matter how hard he prayed the gods never cast favor upon him. To be honest, he didn’t blame them. He didn’t deserve their mercy, for he seldom showed any.
He was out of time. Another fruitless mission had come and gone.
Thirteen suns and moons had passed in the blink of an eye and the present day drifted into the fourteenth day, which was the final day Autumn would be alive if what Valdez had told him was true. Despite his efforts, he’d failed her.
He clenched his fists and his soldiers stumbled backwards, gasping. He would make Valdez pay with her life.
He ran a hand roughly through his hair before pulling his helmet back over his head. He couldn’t stand to be seen this way. Weak, pathetic, and heartbroken. What kind of emperor was he if he couldn’t lead by example?
None of his warriors had uttered a word, keeping their distance, and Kyo had been careful to stay out of his way. He remained seated at the control panel of his new station; eyes averted in silence.
Mr. Hiss meowed, and meowed, and meowed. Dante was sure he could sense his sadness as well. He remained curled on his side on the floor, tail flickering back and forth along the cold metallic tiles. His cerulean eyes blinked slowly.
He was all he had left of her.
As Dante reached to pick him up, his pocket vibrated. His stomach flipped. He pulled his communicator from his pants then released an aching sigh. Ronan, drat. He slid up the screen.
“Hello,” he said dryly.
“It’s nice to talk to you too,” sarcasm dripped from his cousin’s voice. “All the trouble I went through for?—”
“Don’t you dare give me sass. I’m not in the mood for your attitude. You and I both know you have your own agenda.” He went to hang up his communicator, barely able to formulate a sentence. The agony of loss crippled him to the core.
“Wait,” Ronan said. “I have him, just like you asked.”
Dante’s throat grew dry. How he dreaded having a conversation with Autumn’s father more than anything in the universes. What would he tell him? He’d murdered one of his fellow humans, abducted his daughter, loved her, then no…he couldn’t bear to have the conversation with him. It was far too shameful. He’d failed them both and an apology wouldn’t suffice.
“Thank you. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up, temples throbbing with an impending migraine.
He sat on the ground and Mr. Hiss climbed onto his lap, purring. He nuzzled his head against Dante’s ribs.
His communicator buzzed a second time. He muttered obscenities under his breath. If the caller turned out to be the Grand Supreme again, he was going to lose his mind. Whatever he needed from him no longer mattered. Life no longer mattered. Damn him.
The characters turned out to be a sequence of numbers he didn’t recognize. His communicator buzzed and buzzed and buzzed. Finally, he sighed, giving in to his curiosity. If it turned out to be the Grand Supreme, they would get “disconnected,” he decided.
He answered. “What?”
His eyes widened as the other party spoke.
“Yes, yes, thank you. I’ll be there at once. Wait— what? ” He couldn’t believe the last part.
The other party repeated the information.
“Thank you.” He hung up his communicator for the second time.
He stumbled to a stand and raced to his seat on the destroyer so fast his feet didn’t touch the ground. A wave of dizzying joy flooded through his limbs that Autumn was found safe. However, red-hot rage boiled through his blood at who she was discovered with. Armienti.