Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,165

lifting tables and anything they could get their hands on to block the avenues of attack.

“This is all just smoke and mirrors designed to distract you from their true objective,” Himoto said. “You can’t let them win. Go. Kira needs you.”

“You won’t make it,” Graydon said.

Already the other man could barely stand.

Himoto’s smile was more of a grimace than anything. “Maybe not, but humans had a hand in this mess. We need to help clean it up.”

Himoto’s eyes were steady in a way that said he’d already made his peace with the possibility of death.

He didn’t fear its advance. He would meet it on equal footing come what may. He wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t shirk his responsibilities.

There was nobility in the way he held himself.

“He won’t be alone,” Jace said. “My people and I will stay with him.”

Himoto tried to glare before giving up, too tired to expend energy on pointless things. “I don’t remember inviting you to this party.”

“Try to stop me, old man.”

Graydon’s hesitation lasted only a moment. Time was of the essence. Finn’s last message made Kira and her situation seem dire. He couldn’t afford to linger here.

Graydon’s gaze paused on Noor’s body where Amila knelt beside it. Her head was bowed and one hand rested on his chest.

Sorrow and grief echoed through their bond. All of his oshotas’ bonds.

Graydon’s throat grew tight as loss pulled at him despite the urgency of the situation.

“We’ll take care of him,” Himoto promised.

“I’m trusting you to do exactly that,” Graydon forced out, starting to turn away.

The thought of leaving Noor to strangers wrenched at him with a sense of wrongness. It went against everything Graydon believed in to not see Noor to a proper resting place, but war wasn’t kind. It didn’t leave you the time to mourn.

Sometimes you paid your respect to the dead by surviving.

Today he’d repay Noor’s sacrifice by ensuring Kira lived and the Tsavitee didn’t get what they wanted.

Resolve fed his anger, burning like a banked fire in his chest.

“Tell Kira—” Himoto cut himself off. His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath. When he spoke again, he was the admiral. “Take care of her.”

Graydon stared after Himoto as he limped away supported by Jace, finally understanding what he hadn’t before.

Jace’s eyes caught his eye as he turned away. The human inclined his chin in a gesture of respect.

“I understand what Roake’s heir sees in them now,” Torvald said from Graydon’s side. “They possess unexpected depths.”

“Yes.” Graydon turned on his heel. “With me.”

Liara looked uncertainly between the two groups before taking a deep breath. “We’ll stay.”

Torvald’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move to interfere.

“Are you sure?” Graydon asked.

Liara offered him a faint smile. "She cares for these humans, and they need help. I would be letting her down if I abandoned them."

She moved toward where the humans were fortifying their defenses.

“Let’s go,” Graydon ordered before racing in the opposite direction.

I'm coming. Wait for me, Kira.

*

Curled on her side in the fetal position, Kira fought to stay present as her mind threatened to buckle. All that was in her line of sight were her clenched hands and Elise's legs.

Unable to move, Kira could only listen as there was a pained grunt above her.

Elise dropped to her knees, the light in her eyes dimming. There was a gaping hole in her chest the size of a fist that didn’t belong there.

Kira barely had time to react before Elise toppled onto her side, her head bouncing off the deck.

A person wearing black, calf-high boots, the kind racers tended to favor because of the support they provided to their ankles, stepped over Elise's prone body.

She walked toward Kira and knelt beside her. The thunk of metal against metal told Kira she had set something down outside her line of sight.

The stranger reached over, rolling Kira onto her back.

Even through the madness courting Kira's thoughts, she recognized the individual. This was the waverunner from the semifinal race, the one who'd nearly knocked her off her board. The person who felt familiar and strange at the same time.

Her faceplate reflected Kira’s image. A sense of dread filled her as she watched the strange violet lines that formed her markings crawl up her neck and across her face.

The stranger reached up, removing her helmet and setting it to the side.

Familiar eyes met Kira's.

"Little sister, you've gotten yourself into quite the predicament this time," Elise said in a gentle voice.

This Elise was different than Kira remembered. Sorrow and the pain of time had