know they have Felicia. Chrisen already called me.”
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
“Do we have their locations?”
“No. They removed their chips. We have no way of finding them.”
Talyn felt his back tingling again. Forcing himself to stay calm and control his wings, he focused on what needed to be done. “Is Cairistiona sober and alert?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“It’s a bad time, Talyn. Nykyrian was almost fatally wounded while extracting his wife from his enemies. He’s in surgery, too. And the prognosis isn’t good. They don’t expect him to survive the surgery.”
While he could appreciate that, Nykyrian wasn’t the most important thing to him. “It’s to save Felicia, Mom. Please don’t make me bury her.”
“What do you need?”
“A miracle.”
After the loyalists had retaken the command center and Lorens had been seriously wounded, the remaining WAR soldiers had withdrawn to Anatole Base, where the majority of weapons and ships were kept. Talyn headed straight there. His plan was to mount a two-soldier mission, just him and Ryn, to get Felicia back.
The last thing he’d expected was the mass of troops who surrounded his fighter the moment he surrendered controls to the tech op on landing. Since his engines were locked down, there was nothing he could do.
He was completely at their mercy.
Disgusted at his luck, he opened the canopy and descended to the waiting mob he was sure would take him into custody.
They didn’t. Rather they stood back to allow a colonel, who was a few years older than him, to approach Talyn.
The colonel saluted him.
Talyn returned it as he cast his gaze around the others, watching for any sudden moves.
“What are your orders, Commander?”
Talyn blinked twice as those words registered. He was tempted to look behind him to see if someone else was there. But actually, it made sense. With Lorens in surgery, he was their XO.
Yeah, that screwed with his head, too. He was the youngest commander in Andarion history, and that responsibility settled on his shoulders like a gravity-dense planet.
Finally recovering from the initial shock of their respect, Talyn cleared his throat. “I need stat reports.”
“The command center is still in Anatole hands. We have strike teams in position and snipers on the surrounding rooftops. If they step one foot out, we’re ending lineages.”
Talyn considered that as he led the colonel toward his new office. “Shoot to stun or wound. Let’s not kill anyone for being an idiot. Or for being loyal, even if it is to a fractured crown.” Honestly, had Chrisen not made this personal, Talyn wasn’t sure which side he’d have been fighting for. “But if it’s Chrisen or Merrell, I give full pardon to anyone who puts them in a grave.”
The colonel relayed Talyn’s orders before he returned to his updates. “We still have no bearings on the escaped tizirani, other than Jullien, who is in Triosan custody. The other two pulled their tracers out before they ran.”
“Do we know who released them?”
“From video feeds, yes. We have the names of several traitors.”
“Has anyone checked to see if their tracers are working?”
A light of respect shined in the colonel’s eyes. “No, sir. But we will now.” Colonel Tievel issued that order, as well.
When Talyn reached Chrisen’s former office, the majors on duty opened the door for him. A weird, uneasy feeling danced up his spine as he entered, not for discipline this time, but for command.
It was the first time in months that he’d entered this office without a sick lump of dread in his stomach. And the weight of his new position and responsibility hit him hard. In the past, only his life had been on the line.
Now…
He held the life of every soldier who believed in Tylie and Saren in his hands. The lives of his mother and Felicia. Of Tylie and Cairistiona.
The future of the entire Andarion empire. It was all up to him.
Don’t fuck this up.
Gods, when I said I wanted my life to change, this was not what I meant. He ran his thumb around the finger that held his homage to Felicia, and let an image of her in his mind soothe his trepidations.
Had he caused all this by daring to defy the gods and take something for his own? Was this his punishment for trying to be happy?
No, he refused to believe that. Just as he refused to believe he would never see Felicia again.
You’re no longer alone. He glanced around at the soldiers who were standing by his side.