Trials of Conviction, page 43
"And even if you weren't, you'd collapse after being exposed to the oteron field. Just like last time."
Elena's forehead furrowed. "Oteron?"
"It's what cut off your connection to your soul's breath. The pod you're in negates some of the effects but as soon as you step down, it'll return."
"So that's what that was."
No wonder it felt like something had drained the essence out of her.
"It caught me off guard last time is all," Elena declared with a mental shrug. "I'll be better prepared next time."
"Doubtful," Fyr said with a curl of his lip.
"Even if I collapse again. You heard Ajix. Auntie is on her way. All we have to do is wait for her to arrive."
There was despair in Fyr's laugh. A hopelessness that said he'd already given up as he rested his forehead against his knees. "You're so naive. Not even the Phoenix could make it this far."
Elena glared at the ceiling, biting back her argument. He'd see soon enough. Elena wasn't naive. She was confident. Auntie was going to come. And when she did, she'd bring a whole lot of pain down on the Tsavitee and their masters.
Fyr's head lifted. "Someone's coming."
"Wow, that was fast," Elena said.
She'd just barely gotten done telling him about Auntie and here she was.
Except instead of the aunt she was expecting, it was Kai who appeared on the stairs. The Sye's dispassionate gaze swept the chamber, zeroing in on Elise's still form.
"What are you doing here?" Fyr demanded, the arrogance that so irritated Elena infusing his voice with a dangerous rumble that had never been aimed at the Sye.
"Peace, child." Kai couldn't have been more dismissive as the Sye headed for Elena's mother. "You must realize I had no choice."
"I don't have to do anything you say anymore. I'm the Osiri's now."
"Do not speak of them in that tone of voice."
"I will do as I please. I'm not the one trespassing in the Osiri's territory," Fyr snarled.
"I would not stand against me, boy," Kai warned. "Or do you want me to tell the exalted ones just who brought that child to my door?"
Fyr flinched at the insinuation.
The corners of Kai's lips hooked up in a sly smile. "I wonder what they would do if they found out about the generals' conspiracies."
"You don't know anything."
"Are you willing to test that hypothesis?"
There was a look of triumph on Kai's features at Fyr's hesitation.
"Are you kidding me?" Elena shouted. "He just betrayed you and now you're going to do what he says?"
What happened to the big, scary enemy Auntie had always warned her about? Right now, the generals seemed more like pushovers than actual predators.
Kai stepped around Fyr.
"What are you doing?" Elena demanded as the Sye stopped next to her mother. "Don't touch her."
Kai regarded Elise with a half lidded gaze. Almost covetous as the Sye looked her over.
"I never thought I'd get this chance," Kai murmured, glancing Elena's way. "I really have to thank you."
Elena was quiet as Kai went to pick Elise up.
Fyr stopped him. "I can't let you do whatever you're thinking."
"I was afraid you'd be stubborn," Kai said with a regretful sigh.
Fyr jerked, making a pained sound.
Kai looked on with an inscrutable expression. "That's why I made a few preparations beforehand."
Fyr collapsed, falling to the ground.
"Fyr?" Elena called. "What did you do to him?"
Kai squatted beside Elise. "Nothing that will cause long term harm. After all, he is the exalted one's possession now."
Elena's gaze darted to Fyr's still body. "Why would you hurt him?"
Kai looked over at her with an inscrutable expression. "Did you know that when a Sye leaves their haven without the permission of our masters their entire genetic line is stamped out?"
Elena kept quiet, staring at the Sye warily.
The Sye’s gaze deepened. "You've met one of my kind before. I can tell."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Maybe it's not your mother who I should be focusing on."
Elena tried to scoot further away as Kai rose, crossing the walkway to her.
"You have what I want, don't you?" Kai crooned.
There was something strange in Kai's gaze. Obsession and an avarice that made Elena sick.
"I'll ask you one time, child." Kai's hand wrapped around her throat. "Where is that person?"
Elena whimpered, her pulse racing against the Sye’s fingers.
Auntie, if you're going to get here, now would be a good time.
"So stubborn. All the way to the end. Perhaps your mother will be more forthcoming."
Kai started to squeeze.
Despair caught Elena in its grip. No, this couldn't be how she died. She still had too much to do with her life.
A pained grunt came from Kai, the Sye's grip loosening as something wet splashed Elena's face.
There were similar expressions of surprise on her and Kai's faces as they both stared at the blade sticking out of the Sye's chest.
Auntie put her lips next to Kai's ear. "You're right. Odin is alive."
She ripped the blade out of Kai's back. Her gaze cruel as the Sye collapsed.
"Too bad you won't be able to tell anyone."
No wonder the generals feared her aunt. There was no one more terrifying. Or awesome.
Kira
"Let's get you out of those," Kira said, stepping over the Sye's already cooling body.
Odin wasn't going to be happy about the death of a relative, given how far the Sye had gone in trying to liberate them, but Kira couldn’t let herself care about that right now. The Sye had tried to kill her niece. They were lucky she'd given them a quick death.
"Your dad is going to be so mad I didn't wait for him," Kira informed Elena, cutting her niece free of the strange bindings covering her.
Especially since she'd ordered him to wait for her if he found Elena first.
"I think he'll forgive you this time," Elena said.
Kira reached for her, pulling her niece into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're safe."
Words couldn't express the rage she'd felt upon entering the chamber to see that Sye trying to squeeze the life out of her niece.
If she'd been just a little later.
Kira cut that thought off before it could take hold. Her primus rolled under her skin, a reminder of how dangerous it would be to lose control right now.
Elena burrowed into Kira's chest, her shoulders heaving with repressed sobs. "I can't believe you came for me."
"I told you I would, didn't I?"
Kira smoothed a hand over her niece’s hair, thanking the Mea'Ave and every god she knew that Elena was alive.
"Let me get a look at you," Kira said, setting Elena back from her. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Elena shook her head. "Just my pride."
This child. She was going to be the death of Kira.
"If that's all that's been damaged after weeks in the Tsavitee's care, then I'd say you got off pretty light."
"Only because of Mom," Elena admitted in a small voice.
Her gaze slid to the side. Kira followed it to find Elise's prone body next to that of a general's.
"She tried to protect me." Elena's watery looking eyes found Kira’s. "He hurt her."
Elena dissolved into tears, the strong front she'd been maintaining collapsing.
"It's my fault," Elena babbled as Kira pulled her back into her arms.
"No, it's not," Kira corrected fiercely, pressing Elena's face into her chest. "It's not your fault at all. That's what moms do. They protect their children from harm."
Damn it, Elise.
Kira’s gaze fixed on her friend; her vision clouded with tears. From here, it was impossible to tell whether Elise was dead or alive.
Kira cupped Elena's face. "Alright, I need you to be brave. Can you do that for me?"
Elena's nod wasn't as confident as Kira had hoped.
She had a way to fix that though.
"Watch your uncle for me."
Kira unhooked the J1N from the makeshift backpack she'd fastened him into and placed him on Elena's lap.
Elena turned the drone over in confusion. "What happened to him?"
Kira was reluctant to delve into the memory of Jin dropping like a rock upon entering this strange place. It also wasn’t the sort of visual she wanted to saddle an already traumatized child with.
"That's a good question."
Steeling herself, Kira crossed the floor to Elise's side. She crouched, touching Elise's neck with two fingers.
A pulse beat against them. Steady and strong.
"Thank God," Kira whispered with an overwhelming sense of relief.
Elena came up behind her. "She's not dead, Auntie."
Kira started to answer when the cryopods in front of her caught her eye. She froze, staring at them in shock.
Elena glanced over at them too. "My siblings. Mom's been trying to save them."
"I don't think they're the only ones she's been trying to save," Kira said in a grim voice, her gaze trained on the last of the pods. The only one whose shape resembled a sphere.
A boy floated inside, his hair partially obscuring his features.
That was okay. Kira had already guessed the boy’s identity.
"Is this what you couldn't tell me?" Kira asked, looking down at Elise in understanding.
No wonder Elise had been so cagey. She’d known how hard this would hit Kira and Jin. The lengths they would have gone to as a result.
"Who is he? Uncle Jin got very upset when he saw him."
"Yeah, I can understand that."
Kira was a little upset herself.
Elena's gaze followed Kira as she moved to the cryopod, setting a hand against its cold surface and hanging her head. "Damn it."
"Auntie?"
Kira dropped her hand. "He's your uncle."
Elena's gaze was shocked as it snapped to the boy. "How is that possible?"
"That’s a very good question," Kira said grimly.
And one she didn’t have an answer to.
She'd always assumed his body was destroyed when his soul was transferred to the drone. For every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. She’d thought his physical form was the price of that miracle. Her theory seemed to be supported by Himoto’s claim that she and the J1N had been the only things left in the clearing when he arrived.
There was also the possibility that the boy was Jin’s clone. Maybe Kira and Jin had missed something when they'd searched out and destroyed all copies of their DNA.
The thought of other Kira clones running about without her knowledge brought with it a cold feeling of dread. Because if they missed eliminating all of the DNA material taken from Jin, they likely had Kira’s as well.
"We have to save him then." Elena glanced from Kira to the boy with an uncertainty that grew the longer Kira was silent. "Right? We're going to save them all."
Kira took a step back from the tank. "No, we're not. We're going to leave."
Right now. Before the Osiri came back and Kira lost control of the situation.
Elena stood there as Kira stooped to grab Elise.
"We can't! We have to save them,” Elena protested.
It wasn't that she didn't want to save Elise's children and Jin's possible clone. The thought of abandoning them destroyed something in her. She knew the future they'd face. What the Osiri would do when he returned to find his prize gone.
The children would be better off dead.
If Graydon or the others had been here, she could make a different choice. Maybe try to save both the children and Elena.
But they weren't.
This was the hand Kira had been dealt. An awful one to be sure. But that was life. Sometimes shitty. Often tragic.
"This is unexpected," someone announced.
Pallas sauntered into view from the same entrance Kira had used to gain access to this place. "Kira Forrest abandoning the innocent. Is this what they call personal growth?"
Kira moved protectively in front of Elena.
Pallas’s expression contained a cruel edge. "I didn't appreciate being imprisoned on my own ship."
"What a coincidence. I don’t appreciate you killing my friends."
There, now they both had something to hold against the other.
"That was for your own good. You were never going to do it. You were going to sacrifice yourself. Someone had to do what was necessary."
"That wasn't up to you to decide!" Kira screamed.
"It was!" Pallas roared. "You were ours! Our sibling! Our friend!"
With Elise in her arms, Kira eased back, using her hip to keep Elena behind her. The girl was careful not to hinder their retreat, clutching the back of Kira's armor with shaking hands.
"Auntie," Elena called softly.
At the sound of her voice, Pallas's gaze flicked to her niece and Elise before returning to Kira's face. Calm replaced his anger.
"Besides, it wasn't like I was operating on my own. I was under orders. Your admiral's orders."
"Bullshit."
"Do you think so?" Pallas flashed her a cruel smile. "Who was it who taught you about the 'greater good'? The admiral, wasn't it?"
Kira's heart went cold, her veins filled with ice.
"We were in contact with him for years," Pallas informed her, digging the knife a little deeper.
He really did like to talk. And talk. And talk.
How had she never realized he was so chatty?
"All that time and he never told you," Pallas mused.
Her eyes locked on Pallas, Kira addressed Elena. "When I tell you to—run."
Kira sensed her niece’s instinctive resistance, catching her stubborn expression out of the corner of her eye. Elena's hands clenched on Kira's armor before loosening.
"Alright, Auntie," Elena whispered.
"Good girl."
Pallas’s expression was incredulous as Kira turned back to him. "You can't be serious. The forty three don't hurt each other."
"I warned you what would happen if we met again."
Did he think she was lying?
"How did we get to this point?" Kira asked, feeling weary all the way down to her soul.
She'd really like to know. How did that little boy who'd once hated causing pain to others become so used to death that he thought nothing of taking the lives of her loved ones?
He wasn't even remorseful. He acted like it had been his right. Like he'd done her a favor.
Kira loosened her hold on Elise, preparing to drop her. Sorry, Elise. This might hurt a bit.
Pallas’s eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare do what I know you’re thinking. I'm responsible for the moon’s explosion but not Rothchild. Someone el—"
A shot came from the dark. Several others followed in a rapid burst.
The first took Pallas in his shoulder. The rest deflecting off his shields.
Kira crossed the short space, taking refuge behind the monstrous cradle Elena had been strapped into earlier. She set Elise on the ground and pulled Elena down with her.
"Stay here," Kira ordered.
It took effort and concentration to send ki into the akieri. Something in the room making the task as difficult as it had been the first time she’d attempted it.
To her relief, the metal snapped together at last, forming a blade smaller than usual. Something between a dagger and a sword.
All those years operating in ki depleted environments, only reliant on the soul's breath her body could produce, had come back to pay dividends in this moment. She could feel how wrong this place was. How painful it was to draw ki from the pool in her center.
Kira was betting this was how the Osiri kept Elise under control all these years. By keeping her vulnerable. Her soul half-starved and locked down tight to protect itself.
With her weapon formed, Kira peeked over the bed to get an idea of the situation.
Strange.
She hadn't expected to find Pallas in such a sad state. Like her, he was having trouble accessing his ki. It left his normally ironclad defense full of openings that their assailant had taken advantage of. Blood leaked from several holes in his armor. One at his shoulder. Another in his thigh. A third in his abdomen.
Pallas glared in the direction the shots had come from, not quite out of the fight yet. A junkyard dog baring his teeth in warning.
The person hiding tsked as something solid hit the metal walkway. Probably the discarded clip they'd burned through in their ambush.
A woman sauntered out from behind the bank of metal cannisters lining the opposite wall. "I should have known our enforcer wouldn't be taken down by a trick like that."
Kira stared at her in surprise. "Thea."
Without the face paint that Thea normally hid behind, Kira almost didn’t recognize the woman. It was the first time she’d seen Thea’s true face since the camps.
Her gaze trailed down Thea’s body, taking in the Consortium made battle armor. The exact type and design that Lieutenant Himoto's co-pilot had worn. Right before they bailed out of a crashing ship.
"You followed me."
"It's a good thing too." Thea waved the muzzle of her pulse pistol, the make and model identical to what Centcom pilots were issued, at the other. "Otherwise, you'd have had to face Pallas alone."
Pallas stared at the other woman with an emotion Kira didn’t quite know how to classify. Rage seemed too mild a term for what was in his expression. A relentless intensity. As if he wished to burn Thea alive with his gaze.
There was also a startling ruthlessness. Something she’d never seen aimed at another member of the forty three.
"He's the traitor, I take it," Thea declared, unbothered by the way he was looking at her.
Pallas bared his teeth, the look in his eyes nearly feral.
"It certainly has been made to appear that way," Kira said softly.
Seconds before she'd been so certain. Not so much now. She'd been too distracted earlier by her hurt and anger over Pallas's culpability in the moon's explosion to really think about things.
Thea threw Kira a careless grin. "Who would have thought the forty three's enforcer was a traitor?"
"You're not angry,” Kira said softly.
