Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,12

own self-interest—but only if it became absolutely necessary.

They hadn’t reached that stage yet.

The man studied Graydon with eyes that seemed to see through him. "I'll trust in that promise."

Graydon started to leave, then hesitated. "There is one thing I forgot to mention."

The man waited patiently.

"The girl, Elena. She had a warning for us. She said the others are waiting to see how we treat the youngest before they make their decision whether to trust us or not."

"That is an interesting choice of words."

They shared a look, each thinking the same thing.

Kira wasn't the youngest child taken. That was the emperor's eldest son, born three hours after Kira.

THREE

THE HOSTILES CLOSING in on the Wanderer dispersed in specs of golden light.

"We made it," Elena whispered in relief.

"Yes, we did." The question was how?

Elena punched her fist in the air. "I knew you could do it."

Kira shook her head grimly. "That wasn't me."

No matter what tricks she had tried or how hard she had pushed the Wanderer to its limits, she couldn’t lose the target lock. For a minute there, she'd debated the merits of ejecting in a last-ditch effort at survival.

Graydon or Harlow had to have called the beams off. It was the only explanation.

Kira didn't waste time questioning their luck further. Those anti-aircraft defenses could come online at any moment. She needed to be as far as possible from her current position before that happened.

After only a second of hesitation, Kira pointed the nose of the Wanderer toward the sky and punched the ignition. The ship jolted before it leapt forward, heading for the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

The hull shimmied around them as Elena whooped with excitement in her seat. That same excitement caught hold of Kira, and she smiled before shaking her head in resignation.

The pull of the planet lessened as the Wanderer broke from its gravity. There was a sucking sensation on Kira, as if the planet's soul was reluctant to let her leave. The warmth and energy from the Mea'Ave she'd gotten used to over the last weeks drained away, only a small thimble full remaining.

Kira exhaled as her body adjusted to the sudden loss.

"I guess I know now why the Tuann rarely choose to leave their planets."

If this was what they felt every time, it was a small wonder they left at all. While not painful, Kira couldn't say the sensation was comfortable either. It was like an entire set of senses had been stolen from her. The vibrancy of the world around her dialed down a few notches.

It was possible this was another symptom of her ki poisoning. Quillon, the Tuann healer overseeing her treatment, had warned her she'd need to stick close to planets with a Mea'Ave until she was further along in her healing.

Now she saw why.

The Mea'Ave's loss was akin to going from an oxygen-rich environment to a depleted one. Kira could still sense the invisible force she associated with the Mea'Ave, but it was considerably scarcer.

Elena shook herself all over. "It's definitely weird."

"What does it feel like to you?"

Elena pursed her mouth as she considered. "Like fizzy bubbles in my middle. Nice, but it gets itchy after a while."

That was different than Kira's feeling. It could be because of Elena's non-traditional heritage. She wasn't full Tuann, whereas Kira was.

Kira shrugged off the questions, putting them aside for later. Even if she wanted to, she wasn't likely to get answers now. Only a Tuann who understood the Mea'Ave far better than Kira would have an answer.

From above, the sound of knocking came. Almost like something was hitting the sides of the air vents.

Kira and Elena looked up.

Cautiously, Kira unlocked her safety harness, wanting to be free to move in the event of danger.

Before she could do more than touch the release button, a grate popped open, and a ball rolled out.

Elena caught it before the object could hit the deck, peering at it in puzzlement.

"Uncle Jin, where did you come from?"

Jin re-oriented himself, his antigravs whirring as he lifted himself out of Elena's palm. "A place no one should have the misfortune of venturing."

A foul stench invaded the air. Upon closer examination, Kira could see small specks of matter stuck to his shell.

With a grimace, Kira covered her nose. She had a feeling she knew what avenue he'd taken to get here.

"Darling child of my sister, do you know what hells I had to travel? What horrors I've seen?" Jin asked with a false sense of calm that did nothing to hide