among Terrans for two years now, but I still have difficulty processing how singularly ugly their ships are. Syldrathi vessels are moments of beauty, frozen briefly in titanium and time. They are our songs to the Void they sail inside—graceful patterns and gentle curves and smooth, shimmering skin.
The destroyer chasing us is crude by comparison, with a flat snout and all the blunt elegance of an object made purely for function. The Terran Defense Force logo is emblazoned on its dark hull. Its name painted in white.
“Bellerophon,” Tyler says.
“We knew they were en route to the World Ship.” Cat shrugs. “Looks like they finally caught up.” Her voice is casual, her bluff as good as ever, but she knows what we all know. Princeps is aboard. The first among equals who pursues Aurora with such perfect single-mindedness.
“Hey, at least we can report to the authorities now … ,” Fin says.
Our Alpha’s voice is tense as he speaks.
“Cat, can we outrun them?”
Our Ace shakes her head. “They’ll catch us over a long enough distance. A Longbow is slower than a destroyer, and they’ve got a lot more fuel. And not to harp on it, but we don’t actually have a bloody heading. I’m just flying in a straight line here and trying to make it look fancy.”
Scarlett nods, folding her arms. “And if we stay here in the Fold too long without cryo, we’re all going to start losing it.”
“We need a course,” Cat agrees.
All eyes turn to Aurora. She’s looking at the Trigger in her hands, turning it this way and that, like a puzzle.
“I …” She shakes her head. “I don’t know—”
BAMF!
The flash from a disruptor lights the bridge up white. Aurora is slapped backward by the blast, the Trigger rolling from her fingers onto the deck. In the space of a heartbeat, I am on my feet, overcome with sudden and impossible fury. Zila is standing in front of Aurora, weapon in hand, peering at the girl with unreadable eyes.
“Yeah, she really likes that thing,” Fin says.
“Zila, are you insane?” Scarlett demands.
“I am testing a—”
Zila gets no further. I lash out with an Aen strike to her shoulder, numbing her arm and sending her weapon clattering to the floor.
Stop it.
But the Enemy Within is loose now. The sight of Aurora unconscious on the floor finally lets the beast free from his cage, howling in dark delight. The killing song fills my veins as I reach toward the fallen pistol. My pulse is screaming. My vision razor sharp. My finger closing on the trigger as I raise the weapon to Zila’s head.
Stop. It.
Something hits me from behind, knocking the disruptor loose. I roll to my feet, lashing out at my enemy, feeling my knuckles hit bone. I hear my father in my head, then. Urging me on. I feel his hand on my shoulder, guiding my strike into Tyler’s throat. I sense him laughing as my Alpha grunts, as his blood sprays and he staggers back, breathless. Cat hits me from my flank, but I twist free, blood on my knuckles, hands rising, heart hammering.
Stop.
The Enemy is all I am at that moment. The Pull setting him free. Even here in the Fold, my vision is red. I cannot breathe. Cannot think except to know that Aurora is hurt, she is unsafe, she who is my all, my everything, my—
“KAL, STOP IT!” Scarlett cries.
Stop.
It.
I close my eyes. Fighting with all I have. The Enemy is so strong. The Pull is so deep. So very loud. They would be hard enough to resist alone, but together, they are stronger than the forces that hold my cells together, that bind the universe into one. It is like nothing I have known. I cannot explain. Cannot rationalize it.
But I must master it.
There is no love in violence.
There is. No love. In violence.
And so, slowly, I open my eyes.
The bridge is in disarray. Tyler is rising from where he fell, blood on his chin. Cat is on the floor, holding her ribs. Zila is pressed back against the wall, staring at the chaos with wide eyes and sucking on one tight black curl of hair.
“It was set to Stun,” she whispers.
“And we were all getting along so well, too.” Fin smirks.
I am at Aurora’s side. Everything I have tried to hide is now bubbling to the surface. The walls of ice that guard my feelings utterly shattered. My heart is thundering against my ribs.
She has been knocked unconscious by Zila’s disruptor blast, her