Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)(40)
I can’t go deeper than that.
Still gripping the black opal, I say, “Let’s not use this Ephemeris again.” Ophiuchus knows I’ve left Oceon 6 now. That’s all I needed.
“I’m sorry,” whispers Mathias. “Sorry I didn’t protect you.”
His apology haunts me long after he returns to the helm. He asks forgiveness for pain he didn’t cause, but he’s fine with undervaluing what’s in my head. He thinks failing to save me is worse than not trusting me. I’ve just found the wall: Mathias doesn’t see me as someone with insights to offer—he sees me as a little sister who can’t be left alone.
While he and Hysan work together at the screens, I sit near the nose looking out, trying to think of more important things. Like how the Helios I’m going to earn the Houses’ trust when I can’t even earn my friends’.
We change course repeatedly, but there are no more attacks. “Your veil worked remarkably well.” The sound of my voice is strange even to me after so much silence.
“Of course it did,” says Hysan, his cocky smirk never far from reach. He slides his hand across the console, beaming. “Can this day get any better? ’Nox and I get shelled by invisible bombs, right after a beautiful pirate steals our heart.”
“I’m flattered,” says Mathias. How can they joke when Ophiuchus is so strong, and we have no way of defeating him?
Hysan stares into my face like he’s reading it. “What weapon can attack through the Psy?”
His words startle me. “Did you see him, too?”
“Who?” Hysan reaches for my black opal.
I draw away, gripping it tight. “If we use this, he’ll find us again.”
“He?” Hysan frowns. “I think you have more to tell me.”
I zip the opal into my pocket, next to my Wave. Again, I probe my throat for nonexistent bruises. “Have you heard of Ophiuchus?”
Surprisingly, Hysan has heard the theory of a Thirteenth House. He says the secret society 13 has a strong base on Libra. Among my friends, I’m usually the one who knows the most facts about our universe. Yet for all the knowledge Mom drilled into me, she never mentioned anything about another House in the Zodiac.
When I explain how I saw Ochus in the Ephemeris, and how he’s responsible for the recent disasters in our world and the attack on our moons, I begin to see why I’ve continuously failed to convince Mathias. It isn’t easy to convey the terror I felt in the ice man’s presence when all I have are words.
As I speak, Mathias busies himself at the screens, but Hysan pays close attention. Instead of mocking my story, he seems to be giving it earnest thought. When I finish, he says, “Early astrologers said the first Guardians could project an alternate node of their being through the Ephemeris, because they themselves were once objects represented there.”
Mathias grimaces at his screens. “That’s just a theory; no one knows if they actually spoke that way.”
Hysan looks only at me. “Even so, it fits what you’re describing.”
“But then . . . you believe me?” My voice is so small it probably undermines any credibility I have, but I don’t care. I haven’t registered anything beyond the fact that Hysan hasn’t laughed or scowled at me yet.
Slight lines form on Hysan’s face, framing his confusion. “My lady, why in the Zodiac would I not?”
The ship seems to grow smaller the longer the conversation stays suspended. While Hysan tries to figure out what he missed, Mathias avoids my gaze.
Hysan didn’t jump to doubt. He just met me, and still it came easier to him to trust me than not.
“Have you shared your findings with the Psy?” asks Hysan.
“I can’t. Ochus is in there listening.”
“Let’s not take irrational leaps, Rho,” says Mathias, and I can tell by the red splotches on his face that he’s struggling to keep his emotions in check. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I’m not the only one who can’t accept your theory. Reasonable people don’t believe in Ophiuchus.”
I want to shake him, but instead I cross my arms and glare. “Hysan believes me.”
Mathias’s jaw shakes dangerously, and he finally snaps at me. “Really, Rho? He’s just a kid!”
I don’t say anything in response.
A kid. Hysan is my age, if not a year or two older. A kid. A kid. A kid. I say the phrase so many times in my head that it starts to sound like a tune. In that tune lies the truth of how Mathias sees me: He treats me like his kid sister because to him that’s who I am. A kid.
Hysan’s voice cuts through the dead space. “Maybe ’Nox can convince your . . .” He looks to Mathias like he’s searching for the right word. “Lady of Robes?”
Mathias glares at him, and Hysan calls up a holographic log. “’Nox has Psynergy sensors that can detect a Psy attack.”
Mathias studies the arcane column of symbols. After scrolling for several seconds, he frowns. “I’m not denying there’s been Psy interference or that someone isn’t after Rho. I just don’t think we’re blaming the right person.”
I wall off my annoyance with Mathias. Something else is bothering me—how we got away. Shutting off the Ephemeris got rid of Ochus’s form, but how did the veil shake off the Psy attack on the ship? “You have a Psy shield,” I blurt, looking to Hysan for confirmation.