“You must think I’m a prize idiot, Navan,” Ezra shot back. “I know she won’t do it here, because if she did, she’d only make a martyr out of him. I know that’s not what you want.”
Navan frowned. “Are you willing to risk that? Your army is weakened. Why should we care if your rebels have a bit of a resurgence after seeing their leader executed? We’ll soon bring you, and them, back down to annihilation again.”
“Oh, Navan, I expected more of you. Haven’t you noticed?”
Navan’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Noticed what?”
“Another party has joined our little game of war.”
Chapter Eleven
Ezra gestured up through the bluish haze of the nudus dome. I followed the line of his hand, my eyes widening at the sight beyond. Human aircraft had joined the fight, circling above the base, though they didn’t seem to be firing on the Fed ships that were patiently waiting, which could only mean one thing: not all of humanity was in cahoots with the coldbloods, and it looked like these people were eager to be rid of the dangerous alien invaders. For now, they didn’t seem to mind the “friendly” ones.
“Why should we worry about them? They want to destroy you, not us,” I said.
“Stone’s dome is the only thing standing between us and obliteration,” Ezra replied. “You are simply collateral damage, Riley. They won’t care if you end up caught in the crossfire, so long as they can rid themselves of us.”
Proving his point, one of the rebel fighter ships shot a blast upward. The projectile hurtled out of the dome, toward one of the human aircraft. It dodged out of the way at the last moment, and the blast whizzed harmlessly away, but it seemed to have rattled the human contingent. Suddenly, a different aircraft turned and launched a missile at the rebel base. The dome absorbed the blow with a ripple of energy that vibrated along the curve and into the ground.
If the human military were freaking out like this, it made me worry how the rest of humanity was reacting to the now-obvious alien invasion. I’d seen some clips in the news on the way to Siberia, but that was before the nudus shield went up—that was before any of it might have seemed real to them. In my global broadcast, I’d been a single human spreading an insane message that could easily have been taken for a hoax. But now that most people had seen the dome, even for that brief amount of time, it wasn’t something they could ignore anymore. I had a feeling people must have been losing their minds, thinking the end of the world was coming.
“You think I’m afraid to see what they might do?” I asked, feigning a confidence I didn’t feel.
“I think you’re very afraid. Because it isn’t just you, is it? Let’s say we ignore this relationship between the two of you for a moment,” Ezra said, waggling his hand at Navan and me. “You might be willing to sacrifice yourselves in an ever so tragic final act of love, but you won’t risk the lives of all those humans we’ve got hidden away in our lab. I expect you’ve seen them by now. You’d never be kind enough to simply let your human ships put them out of their misery. You’d rather try to save everyone.”
He was right, and what made it worse was that he knew he was right. I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face, but right now we were at a stalemate. We couldn’t take Stone and the nudus without the humans razing the base to the ground, killing everyone, including the human victims trapped below, and we definitely couldn’t leave without him. But what were we supposed to do if Ezra wouldn’t make an exchange?
“Can I speak with Stone for a moment?” I asked, a thought popping into my head.
“Why not? It makes no difference to me.”
I smiled. “Good, as long as your men don’t get handsy.”
“What are you doing?” Navan whispered into my ear.
“Trying to save everyone,” I replied wryly.
Knowing I was taking a risk by bridging the gap between Ezra and me, I walked forward and ducked down beside Stone. He was murmuring something in a state of semi-consciousness. I had to act fast, before he passed out completely. I’d seen the nudus act with a hive mind, and Stone had told us that the nudus would only hold on to their chosen host until the strength of that host waned, the nourishment was no longer enough, or the host died. Right now, Stone’s strength and nourishment were waning, which gave me hope that my plan might work.
“Stone, can you hear me?”
A garbled murmur was his reply.
“If you can, I need you to send some kind of mental instruction to your nudus, to move to a different host,” I said softly. “You’re fading, and we need to keep the shield up a while longer. If there’s anything you can do, I need you to do it now.”
“What’re you trying to do?” Ezra snapped, his expression curious.
I flashed him a look over my shoulder. “Who’s your youngest recruit?”
“That would be Orval.” Ezra gestured toward a skinny, nervous-looking coldblood who stood to the far side of the circle. He didn’t look like he’d even know how to hold a weapon, let alone fire one. I prayed my intuition was right.
“Bring him over here.” I’d expected Ezra to argue, but he didn’t. Instead, he had the boy ushered over to where I was crouched, where he continued to stand awkwardly, as though awaiting some sort of death sentence. “Hold out your arm for me,” I instructed.
“What are you going to do to me?” Orval’s voice shook.
“These creatures respond to vibrations in a person’s aura. If you’re pure of heart, they’ll come to you, but it won’t hurt when they latch on, I promise,” I said, noticing that Ezra was listening intently. “Now, hold your arm as close to Stone’s as you can.”
The boy did as he was told, though I could feel the nerves shivering off him. At first, nothing happened; the nudus kept glowing, continuing to sap Stone of his waning strength. I realized there must be enough nourishment left—after all, he wasn’t quite dead yet. This was going to take some concentration on Stone’s part, though I wasn’t sure he had much left.
I rested my hand on Stone’s shoulder. “Stone, can you suggest that your nudus move over to this new host? I know it’s a lot of strain on your mind, but we need this to work.”
He mumbled an incoherent reply. I didn’t even know if he could hear me. His eyes were squeezed shut, his face deathly pale, with rivulets of sweat pouring down. He really didn’t look good, and it scared the living hell out of me. I’d grown fond of Stone. He’d become part of our strange mishmash of a team—I refused to lose him now.
Suddenly, the nudus unfurled from Stone’s arm and sniffed out the innocent scent of the young rebel. It looked like Orval was about to recoil in fear, but I lunged for him and held him in place.
He glanced at Orion, who was still kneeling on the ground. “Chief, what should I do?”
Orion smiled bitterly. “Do as the nice lady has told you. Let those creatures use your strength.”
“I bet they’d shrivel up and die if they came near one of us,” Ezra mused, a twisted grin tugging at his lips. “A shame, considering the strongest amongst us are usually the most corrupt. Imagine how fiercely we could wield them, if they weren’t so concerned about purity.”
“I’m guessing that’s the point,” I shot back, watching the nudus closely. At first, they didn’t seem sure, sniffing Orval’s gray skin with some trepidation. Perhaps I’d been wrong about the young recruit—maybe it was already too late for him. Then, to my relief, a fat, red-tinged nudus wriggled over to the boy’s arm, where it latched on with a soft suckering sound and began to glow contentedly. The rest followed suit, evidently satisfied that the new host was a viable one.
“What do I do?” Orval asked, in a panic.
“Focus,” I explained. “Mentally tell the nudus what you want them to do. If you want to forge a shield, let them know that.”
Each time a new nudus crossed over to Orval, latching on and feeding from his fresh supply of nutrients, they joined forces to send up a new stream of the shield’s blue energy. He staggered back in fright
as the final nudus moved over to his arm, releasing the final tie that had bound Stone to the nudus dome overhead. It flickered disturbingly during the final stage of the transfer, making me wonder if it was going to hold under Orval’s power.
Only one nudus stayed exactly where it was—the blue one Stone had always worn, ever since our first encounter. Its glow was worryingly dim, the glassy sheen faded to a dull, almost leathery texture. I guessed, after all that time, it felt some kind of loyalty to Stone. Even though it might signal its own death, it didn’t seem ready to leave him. The creature was dimming its own light so that it wouldn’t sap too much of Stone’s remaining energy. There was a bittersweet sadness in that which, at any other time, would have broken my heart.
The dome kept flickering, my heart pounding with each crackle and dip in strength. If any weakness appeared, the ships—Fed and human—wouldn’t hesitate to swoop through and bomb the living daylights out of the rebel base.
“What if it fails?” Orval squeaked.
“It won’t. You’re doing great,” I encouraged him. “Make sure you keep the focus on what you want the nudus to do. Let them know how strong you want the dome to be. This is your responsibility now, and you have to make sure you don’t lose that focus for a second, do you understand? This is your chance to make a difference. The nudus only choose hosts who are worthy, and they’ve chosen you.”
Orval nodded uncertainly, closing his eyes as a nervous smile crept onto his lips. A moment later, a thrum of blue energy rippled across the curve of the dome, reinforcing the flagging barrier. Covered in nudus, the young rebel was holding the dome up all by himself, and he was doing a pretty good job of it, too.
My happiness was short-lived, as Stone slumped forward, the light in his sole remaining nudus all but gone. I had to fight the urge to rush forward to help him, and I could see, out of the corner of my eye, that Navan was fighting the same urge. The stalemate still wasn’t over, even though we’d managed to resolve the issue of the nudus dome.
Orval opened his eyes, staring at me with a mixture of awe and fear, as a hesitant question slipped from his mouth: “Who are you?”
Meeting his gaze, I had to remember that there were innocents among the rebels. Not only that, but there were those who genuinely thought they were doing the right thing. There were rebels down there, and up here, and wandering around inside the alchemy lab, who really believed that they were fighting for the greater good, a better future for Vysanthe, where everyone was on equal footing. These were the ignored and the homeless, the citizens who’d felt so let down by their leaders that they’d been forced to rebel. Not all of them were Ezras and Orions. Some of them were the same as me or Navan, or Angie or Bashrik, or Lauren or Stone, or Xiphio or Ronad—fighting to defend and protect what they believed in.
“Will the boy be able to hold the shield up like this for a while?” Ezra asked, his tone laced with false indifference. He was as concerned about the shield failing as we were.
I nodded. “He should. Just don’t go shoving energy elixirs down his throat. If he needs a boost to get him through the night, drip-feed it to him. Otherwise, you’ll end up with another catatonic shield-bearer who’s no longer any use to you.” I made no effort to conceal my contempt for Ezra and what he’d done to Stone. Weirdly enough, I felt a strange sense of maternal protectiveness for Orval. He was young, and the nudus obviously valued the purity in his heart. Truthfully, I didn’t want any harm to come to him. He didn’t deserve it.
“Well, then, I suppose you can have your empty shell in exchange for Orion, now that you’ve saved us the job of trying to keep out those ships,” Ezra said, with a casual flick of his wrist.
I was about to move forward to drag Stone away when my comms device buzzed. Knowing we were due for a check-in from Xiphio regarding the other shield-bearers who’d fallen, I snatched it out of my pocket. I felt bad for not running to Stone immediately, but I needed to hear some good news about my friends.
“I need to answer this,” I insisted, stepping back. I didn’t want him to hear any of my conversation.
“First you demand an exchange, now you’re not concerned? I wish you’d make up your mind,” Ezra taunted. “Though, I suppose your friend isn’t exactly going anywhere.”
“I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t touch him, or you’ll have me to answer to.”
“I’m quaking in my boots.” A bitter cackle rippled from his throat as I turned away from him and stalked toward the shaded area of the rooftop, passing Navan, who was still gripping Orion in place. We exchanged a worried look as I moved past him, ducking behind the shelter of the rooftop’s architecture. I didn’t know why Ezra was allowing me to move around so freely, but I guessed he knew I had nowhere to run to. Besides, we still had Orion as leverage—he didn’t have much of a choice, either, if he wanted his leader spared.
As soon as I was safely out of sight, I pressed the answer button and waited for the speaker to say something. All the while, I was conscious of rebel eyes seeking me out from the other side of the rooftop protrusion I was hiding behind, making sure I didn’t try anything.
Turning my attention to the comms device, I held my breath. I wanted to hear any kind of update on where my friends were, but it really couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Chapter Twelve
Answering the call, I willed Xiphio’s voice to be the next thing I heard… but it was Commander Mahlo, her voice crackling through. I thought I’d be disappointed, but I was just grateful she was still alive. Even though a lot of the Fed agents had run for their lives, a defiant group were still fighting below, giving their all on the chaotic battlefield. Having kept our comms devices switched to direct transmissions only, it was hard to know who’d survived and who’d been caught in the warzone.
“Captain Riley, do you read me?”
“I hear you, Commander, though you’ll have to speak a little quieter. We aren’t exactly alone,” I explained, keeping one eye on the corner of the structure that blocked me from view.
“Are you safe?”
“For now. Where are you?”
“In the wake of Orion’s offered ceasefire, myself and the rest of our surviving troops—merevin, lycan, and Rexombra alike—have retreated to the Lunar HQ to regroup before our next attack. We have left a handful of ships to watch the base, but that is all. Truly, we do not know if the queens will bite, but if they do not, then we will have another bloody battle on our hands.”
I nodded, though I knew she couldn’t see me. “We’ve just had a run-in with the queens, actually.”
“What do you mean?”
“Queen Brisha is still alive, and Navan and I were there during Orion’s little negotiation with her and her sister. It didn’t look too promising,” I explained.
“Wait, where are you?”
“We snuck into the alchemy lab to steal back Stone, and we managed to get an old friend to help us. Stone was captured, as you know, but we managed to take Orion as our hostage after witnessing the parlay between him and the queens. They’ve gone back to their ships to mull things over, but we’re still here, and we’re about to make a trade—Orion for Stone.” There was an uncertain pause on the other end that made me wonder if we’d lost connection. “Commander, are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m still here,” she replied, her tone strange. “As noble as your plan may be, I would ask that you do not exchange Orion for Stone. Find a way to bring Orion to the Lunar HQ instead. We have questions for him, and he would be a vital tool in further hostage negotiations. They have many of our agents imprisoned, and we also have to think about the innocent humans still trapped inside the buildings. I know they have more holding pens away from the alchemy lab. There is no telling how many might die if we can’t extract them, so we need all the leverage we can get.”
Her words stung, giving me a hard slap of reality. Stone was important, but he was just one man whose powers were failing him. The only reason we’d sought him out above retrieving the
notebook was because he was the one advantage we had over the queens and the rebels. Without those powers, I knew it would be hard to convince the Fed that his life was worth more than the rest. It would be hard to convince myself, too.
“What do we do about Stone?” I asked anxiously.
“You’ll have to figure out a way to take both of them,” she replied, as though it were the easiest thing in the world. “We need what both can offer, and we need it sooner rather than later.”
“How am I supposed to do that? We’re surrounded up here, Commander. I know you can’t see us through the shield, but we’re outnumbered. The only thing standing between us and execution is our hold on Orion.”
I heard the commander sigh. “I cannot give you those answers, Captain. That is something you must figure out for yourself. We can’t spare any resources, and, even if we could, we have no way of getting them to you.”
“Well… if you don’t hear from me soon, you can presume it either didn’t work or Navan and I are dead,” I said bluntly.
“I wish you luck, Captain Idrax.”
I sighed, pressing the end call button, before muttering a weary, “I’m going to need it.”
I couldn’t believe that Commander Mahlo had put me in this position, after everything. How could she expect us to simply take both Orion and Stone, when there was a gang of rebels standing in the way, not to mention the reinforcements they had on the ground? We were entirely alone here, and that fact irked me more than anything else—we had nothing, and no one, to help us, yet we were expected to do everything to fix the mess that had been made. Plus, it wasn’t like I could communicate the message to Navan. I could give him some pointed looks, but it would never be enough to explain everything.
Slipping the comms device back into my pocket, I rounded the corner of the rooftop, arriving in time to see Ezra land a sharp kick in Stone’s side. Navan and Lazar were helpless to do anything, while Orion remained under their guard.