Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,151

right. This was going to bring Kira nothing but heartache and grief.

Kira forced herself to the table, taking a seat and projecting a calm she didn't feel.

"Answer Jin's question,” Kira ordered. “Where have you been?”

Elise ignored Kira’s words, staring at Jin in a way utterly unlike any in the past—like he was a science experiment she was trying to figure out the answer to.

"I've always wondered. Do you feel?" Elise asked Jin.

Under the table, Kira's hands clenched.

She's trying to get into your head. Treat her like any other enemy. This Elise isn't the one you knew, Kira told herself.

"You must," Elise continued. "Otherwise, you'd go crazy, right?"

"I think we're done here," Kira said.

Jin was her line in the sand. She wouldn't risk him or his safety.

"Did I hit a sensitive spot?" Elise asked, faking contriteness. "I did, didn't I?"

The question helped clear Kira's mind, washing away the feeling of being off-balance as logic reasserted itself.

This wasn't the way Elise did things. Words that hid sharp blades designed to draw blood. Barely veiled taunting.

Elise had always been direct. She wasn't as sarcastic as Kira, but she'd never backed down from a fight.

They'd butted heads on more than one occasion, and never once had Elise used this subtle verbal sparring to make her point.

"Why did you attack the race?" Kira asked.

Seeing she'd failed to elicit the reaction she'd intended, Elise made a moue of disappointment and sat up. "Who said I did? I'm an innocent bystander who got caught in the commotion."

"Do you really think I'll believe that?" Kira asked.

If the Haldeel had arrested her and arranged her transfer to Almaluk, they were sure of her guilt.

Kira simply didn't understand the why behind it.

Until she did, there was no point in continuing this conversation.

"Where are you going?" Elise asked as Kira made to stand. For the first time there was a hint of concern in her words.

"I've learned what I need to know," Kira said.

"What about Rothchild?" Seeing Kira's hesitation, Elise chuckled. "Didn't you ever wonder why the moon exploded?"

Common assumption was that the miners had set off the charges to ignite the smaralta which caused a massive chain reaction in the tunnels under the moon's crust.

What no one except for Kira, Himoto, and Jin knew was that those charges had failed before they ever saw use.

Her superiors had been in the process of ordering her to use her burst, when the moon unexpectedly exploded early.

In Kira’s nightmares, she sometimes wondered if she’d somehow unknowingly used her burst, directly causing the deaths of the people she cherished the most.

"We both know you didn't do it. You were too busy playing savior. Haven't you ever wondered who was responsible?"

A sick feeling filled Kira's stomach as Elise gave her a cruel smile.

"Someone had to do what you weren't willing to."

Kira shook her head. "You couldn't have."

Kira had reviewed the recordings from Rothchild a hundred times. There was no way. Elise had been too far away at the time of detonation.

"Sister dearest, you're not the only one able to use the burst. Granted, mine is only a fraction of yours, but a small spark was all that was needed."

Kira couldn't reconcile this woman with the one she'd known.

There was no emotion in those words. No care for the fallen.

It was like they didn't even matter.

"Why?" Kira ground out.

"Himoto." Elise’s playfulness turned spiteful. "I tried to tell you a thousand times he was linked to the camps, but you never wanted to listen. He saved you which meant you were willing to ignore everything else."

Kira opened her mouth to respond when the station bucked around them.

"What was that?" Kira asked as the station shuddered again.

Glee spread across Elise's face. "The show has finally begun."

"A Tsavitee fleet appeared next to Jettie's moon." Jin sounded distracted as he tapped into the communication network of the station.

Jin’s horror flooded their link. "Kira, they've started bombarding the planet."

Kira felt like she was hearing those words from a great distance. Fear she hadn't felt in years welled up.

"I hope you don't have any friends down there. Chances are they won't make it," Elise crooned.

Stricken, Kira’s gaze met Elise’s. Elena was still down there.

Before Kira could recover, Elise yanked her hands out of the force cuffs and hit the deck.

Kira reached for her ki as a warning screamed across her instincts.

An explosion ripped through her world, sending her body spinning. She crashed into the window behind her, cracking it.

Darkness slammed into her brain.

TWENTY-THREE

THE CONCERN ON his First's face pulled Graydon's attention from