Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle #2)(95)

They never even asked her any questions.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

Her bruised eyes flicker open, and she fixes me with a knife-edge stare.

“I’m sorry they did that to you,” I tell her.

“They will b-burn,” she whispers. “And so will you… .”

“Saedii, please—”

“Coward,” she spits, voice trembling. “Wretch. Terra will be a mass grave.”

I rub my temples, trying to hold my patience, trying to be calm, to be the kind of person I’d want to follow me. “Saedii—”

“We will scatter the Void with y-your ashes, Terran,” she vows, rising up on one elbow. “We will drink the blood from your still-beating hearts. The screams of your children will be the song we dan—”

“For the love of the Maker, Saedii, can you just STOP AND THINK FOR A SINGLE MINUTE?”

I don’t like to lose control. That’s why I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t even swear. But in that moment, it gets to me. I try to hold it back, but I just can’t keep a grip anymore. The weeks of being on the run. The thought of Scarlett, Auri, and the others out there without me. The memory of my dad and the thought of the Unbroken and Terra on a bloody collision course and the Ra’haam just sitting back, silently orchestrating it all, watching through Cat’s brand-new eyes. All of it bubbles up and spills over and I rise to my feet, grab my bio-cot, and sling it into the wall, cables spitting current, smartglass screens shattering, metal buckling as I turn on Saedii and roar through my wounded throat.

“And if you won’t think, then please SHUT THE FUCK UP SO I CAN!”

Saedii falls silent at that. Clearly taken aback. Sinking down onto her cot, she looks me over, toe to crown. Her lips are slightly parted, her eyes lingering on my clenched jaw, my bare chest, my closed fists. She reaches up to brush one stray lock of ink-black hair from the edge of her mouth. And I can feel it in her then, as surely as if it were written in her eyes. Fascination.

Maker’s breath, even approval.

She glances at the camera above the door. Spits blood on the floor.

“As you wish.”

I sink down onto my haunches, back against the wall. Silence rings in the room, and I’m half expecting the marines to burst back in and kick heads, but nobody does. They’re obviously watching us. Waiting to see what happens next. Maybe hoping to learn something they can use? Maybe just to pass the time?

But Saedii’s eyes never leave me, her stare lingering, first on my hands and my arms, and then up to my eyes. And finally, I feel her in my mind again.

You have a temper, little Terran.

Not if I can help it.

You saw. The beating they gave me.

I glance at her, then look away. Strange as talking like this is, I don’t want to let on to the people observing us that we can communicate. It’s one of the few edges we have here, and I need every one if I’m getting out of this… .

Yeah. I saw.

Intriguing.

I didn’t mean to. Your thoughts just sort of… bled into mine.

She scoffs softly, shaking her head and turning her gaze to the wall.

You honestly have no idea, do you?

… What’s that supposed to mean?

She doesn’t reply, eyes glittering as she stares at me.

This is all wrong, Saedii, I tell her. And you know it. I saw the way you led your troops during the attack on Andarael. You’re every bit the strategist I am. They didn’t even ask you any questions when they beat you. Why bother doing it at all?

She sucks her split lip. Her voice echoing in my head.

If the act has no purpose, then the act itself is the purpose.

We’ve been Folding for almost six hours, I point out. At full burn, the Earth FoldGate was only about five, maybe five and a half from where Andarael hit us. We should be there by now.

They are not returning us to Terra, she concludes.

Exactly.

Where are they taking us?

I swallow hard, thinking about Cat’s blue eyes.

I don’t know. I have my suspicions. But think about it. They pick a fight with an Unbroken flagship, but only after giving you time to alert the Starslayer you’re under attack. Against all odds, they manage to capture one of the highest-ranking members of the Unbroken. But they don’t use you as a bargaining chip. They don’t even interrogate you. Instead, they take you totally off the board and let some testosterone boys beat you to a pulp while we don’t fly to Earth.

Her eyes narrow, rage glittering in the violet as I press on.

Think about it. Why would the GIA operatives running this show allow that? Why would they throw that first punch at the Unbroken at all? After two years of TerraGov doing everything they could to stay out of your way?

They want a war, she finally replies.

A war with the Starslayer. A man who can destroy suns. Why would they do that? What could Earth possibly have to gain?

Saedii looks at me, bruised eye and swollen lips.

Nothing.

She breathes deep, and behind the malice and the rage, I can see the intelligence in her eyes. Caersan wouldn’t choose a fool to be one of his Templars, and despite her fury, Saedii is far from being a hothead. Now that she’s had a while to realize I’m not the enemy she thinks I am …

Your GIA would not be goading Caersan if they did not stand to gain.