Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle #2)(92)

“We’re on the trail,” Finian shrugs. “Scar’s upstairs on the bridge right now. I’m still trying to fix Aurora’s damn uniglass.”

I blink, struggling for a moment to identify the feeling in my chest.

Alarm, I realize.

“Scarlett Isobel Jones is flying this ship?”

Finian grins. “She’s not that bad. The auto-guidance is helping. Apparently one of her ex-boyfriends gave her some lessons. And she picked up a little from Cat.”

I feel a pang of hurt at that. The memory of Cat’s face, her smile, her end. The barriers that hold back my responses to these things are not as strong as they once were.

I am not feeling nothing.

“But there’s no telling how far across the Fold the probe originated from,” Finian continues. “We could be traveling for weeks.”

“Let us hope not,” I say. “Our brains are not suited for prolonged Fold exposure. Nor should we tempt calamity with Scarlett at the controls that long.”

Finian nods. “Yeah. And I don’t think the Unbroken are gonna wait long before they let Earth know what they think about the attack on their flagship, either.”

I nod. “It is extremely unlikely an attack by Terran forces against a blooded Syldrathi Templar will go unanswered.”

Finian looks down at Kal’s slumbering figure, chewing gently on his lip. “Pixieboy’s big sister was really something, huh?”

“She was … most formidable.”

Fin checks the bay about us, as if to see if anyone is listening.

“… Kinda hot, though, right?”

I blink. “I did not know you found psychopathy an attractive quality, Finian.”

“Come onnnn,” he grins. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. I sure wouldn’t say no to a short visit to her torture chamber?” I purse my lips, picturing Saedii’s face. Her form. It is true. The aesthetic qualities of Kal’s sister are … undeniable, despite her demeanor.

But still …

“She is too tall for me,” I finally declare.

Finian rolls his eyes and gives me a friendly smile. I feel my cheeks warm a little at the thought of discussing romantic notions with him. I tip my head forward to hide any sign of the vascular response, wondering if this is perhaps what having friends feels like.

I am not feeling nothing.

I nod to Kal and Aurora in an attempt to divert the discussion.

“I will continue to monitor them,” I say.

“All right.” Finian steps back, his exosuit whispering softly as he stretches his arms. “I’m gonna grab snacks—you want anything?”

I contemplate. “Those cookies Scarlett enjoined me to eat were adequate.”

“Adequate? You two have practically eaten the entire supply.”

“The excess calorie intake will result in an upscaling of my mass, which …”

I frown. That is incorrect.

“I mean to say, your affection for me will increase as I also increase in …”

No. That is also wrong.

I fall silent. Look up into Finian’s blank black eyes.

“Still getting the hang of this humor thing, huh,” he says.

I lower my voice to a whisper. “It is extremely perplexing.”

“Well, keep working on it. I’m off to the galley.” His mouth quirks to a crooked smile, and he glances down at Aurora. “I’ll see you kids in a month.”





26

AURI

I’m gliding home on a storm wind, flying on wings of thunder. I can feel the power rushing inside me like a waterfall. All the shackles holding me back, the guilt, the fear, who I was—all of it is gone.

I roar across the Echo, the earth torn up by the force of my passing. My right eye burns like a newborn star, a midnight-blue tempest crackling in my wake, a tornado of pure psychic force that I can beckon with a wave of my hand.

I can’t wait to show Kal.

I think about him waiting for me, like he’s always done. The time we’ve spent here, all he’s come to mean to me. I think about Scarlett and Finian and Zila waiting for us outside the Echo, these people who’ve become my family. All the faith they’ve placed in me, all they’ve sacrificed—all of it, all of it has been worth it.

I’m not that girl who set out for Octavia anymore. I’m not the girl who woke up two centuries later, cut off from everything I was. I am the vessel they made me to be, the unmaking of an enemy set to consume all life, all light, all hope. And I smile fiercely, almost giddy with the thought of it.

I’m the girl who’s going to save the damn galaxy… .

Kal sees me coming, the power raging in my wake, his eyes wide with wonder as I drop down to the beautiful green grass around our camp and throw myself into his arms. I kiss him, letting myself flood into his mind, feeling the golden strands of his psyche entwined with mine, the two of us together, complete and perfect.

“I’m ready, Kal,” I whisper.

I press my lips to his again, caressing his face, his mind.

“I’m ready.”

Not yet.

The voice comes from behind us, soft and melodic. I turn, see the shimmering rainbow form of the Eshvaren watching me. I sense a wrongness in the air—a ripple shivering the trees around us, the golden threads in Kal’s mind. And I can suddenly feel something I’ve never felt in him before.