Chapter 2 2

I know Edan is scared too, because he's being so quiet. He isn't making some snide joke, isn't calling anyone here an insulting name. He's just silently observing with a dark expression in his ever-tired-looking eyes.

I'd reach over and grab his hand to comfort us both, but my own hands are still cuffed behind my back, and I'm tied to this chair.

Slowly, we descend. I can see the courtyard. There's a huge wall built around the whole thing. Behind it is the nothingness of this depleted planet. The side of the courtyard attaches to the Compound. As we get closer and closer, I see soldiers spill out of the building, circling.

What the void was I thinking?

I'm just one slam person. Who do I think I am, taking all of this on?

How could I drag Edan into this?

Stop it, I scold myself. Don't get yourself killed. You have to do this, or you're going to spend the rest of your miserable life not having what you want.

That's him.

But I don't let myself think his name.

I have to keep him locked up in the vault, too.

As I feel The Corsair touch down in the courtyard, I close my eyes once more for a few moments, pulling calm into myself, and making sure that vault and the past five lunars are locked up tight.

Stars, Nova, Zayne had once said back on Korpillion. Why do you have to be so slam epic all the time?

I feel it then. Calm washing over me.

A little smile grows on my face.

I've always been reckless. I run in with my head down.

And I get slag done.

"You ready?" Edan asks.

My eyes side open, and through the view port, I see dozens of soldiers and Kinduri surrounding our ship.

"I'm ready," I say.

The hatch gives a hiss as we decompress. Edan comes to my side, untying me and yanking me to my feet for show. He presses a gun into my side for good measure.

The hatch lowers and it's barely even touched the ground before soldiers are spilling into the ship. Dressed in their dark gray uniforms, they aim their Neron weapons at me.

Through them, steps a figure.

Her frame might be slight, because she is a woman, but she is incredibly strong, toned, trained. Her blonde hair, slightly lighter in color than mine, is pulled back in a severe bun at the back of her head. Her nose is delicate, except the one place that gives away the obvious fact that it's been broken at some point. Her lips are full. Her green eyes are piercing.

She may be beautiful. But she exudes power and dominance.

"This must be the weapons manufacturer," she says. Her voice is low and quiet. If it were any louder around us, I never would have heard her. "Thank you for bringing her to us."

"She may not have made it easy," Edan says, lying as easy as he breathes. "But what is money if it's not hard-earned?"

Her mouth doesn't even twitch with a hint of a smile.

"We can take it from here," the woman says. "The credits will be deposited into your account shortly."

For half a second, my heart jumps into my throat. Edan can't leave. I need him.

"I don't think so, sweetheart," he says, eyeing the woman with dubiousness. "I know how these things work, I've been screwed over before. How about I just hang around until I see things squared away?"

The woman looks at Edan appraisingly. She doesn't say a word, but suddenly turns on her heel. "Follow me, then."

My pulse skyrockets as the soldiers close in around us. One of them extends this...rod, and suddenly a Neron arc darts out of it, just half a second before it attaches to the cuffs around my wrists.

The burn of Neron bites into my skin, arcing through my entire body and a cry of pain barks out of me before I can control it.

The initial sting fades quickly, but instead, I'm left with the buzzing hum. It doesn't necessarily hurt, but it's irritating. Like my skin has undergone too much stimulation and is now sensitive and raw. The feeling races through my entire body.

It makes it hard to breathe.

"Let's go," the soldier says. He shoves that rod forward, and as if it's magnetized to my cuffs, it shoves me forward and I stumble two steps.

I could control the pain. I could harness that Neron that's sending waves of energy through my body.

But there aren't just soldiers surrounding us. Staggered among them, leading from my ship to the Compound, are half a dozen Kinduri.

My eyes meet theirs. There is no white in them anymore. I can't tell if they'd once had blue eyes or green. They're only black now. Glossy and weeping, leaving constant black trails rolling down their faces.

Black spreads from their lips, like ink seeping out in every direction.

Their fingertips are black and withered.

They wear black, tattered clothes, every one of them.

I meet their eyes, and they meet mine.

I could control the pain the Neron is causing me.

But I have to look normal now. A normal person wouldn't be able to do anything about it. So I have to bear it.