Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,53

at the beginning."

"Where are you going?"

"I've already seen it." Raider reached the doorway, leaving as abruptly as he'd come.

Graydon didn't dwell on the human's oddity, accessing the chip and selecting the oldest file on it.

A video of Kira formed in the air in front of him.

Everything in Graydon went still.

He inhaled once, then again as he fought to understand what he was seeing.

A gaunt and broken woman looked out at him, her expression dead. She was skin and bones, her eye sockets and cheeks sunken, causing the rest of her features to jut unnaturally under the skin.

Her skin was waxen and pale as if it hadn't seen the touch of sun in years. Her hair hung lank and limp around her face.

But it was the eyes that truly made this horrifying to watch.

The eyes that always seemed to tease and taunt, filled with more personality than Graydon had ever seen in another, were lifeless and dead. All vitality had been snuffed out of them.

Her expression was blank as she stared into the camera. If it hadn't been for the barest movement of her chest, Graydon would have assumed this was a picture rather than a video.

From off camera a voice said, "Kira, you have to say something. How will he understand if you don't explain?"

There was no shift in Kira's expression. Long moments passed before the video ended without Kira speaking a single word.

The next video started to play as Graydon remained motionless, that image burned into his brain.

It took several seconds for him to register the change in her appearance. She no longer seemed so broken. She was still underweight, but not to the same extent.

The way she held herself was brittle, as if she might break at any moment.

"It's been a long time, Raider." A wry smile stretched her lips. The movement seemed unnatural—as if this Kira was out of practice. "At least I managed to say something this time, right? Improvement."

Kira looked uncomfortable. "So, it seems Jin has been keeping secrets. Shocker, right?" She shot a wry glance at the camera. "You're going to flip when you find out."

Kira looked down. "I certainly did." She nodded to herself. "Anyway, Jin says the Consortium is doing a good job of hiding your and the others’ whereabouts. Too bad they didn't take those steps sooner."

Bitterness touched her features before disappearing as quickly as it'd come. "It'll take us a little while to track you, but you should know we're on our way and we have something that belongs to you. See you soon."

Barely any time elapsed before a different Kira appeared again in the same seat, a background Graydon recognized behind her. It was the bridge of her ship.

This Kira was covered in blood and had that same dead look in her eyes. Once again, she stared into space for a long while as the minutes slowly slipped by.

"I fucked up, Raider." Kira touched a blood stain on her shirt, her expression threatening to crumble. "I thought if I could get your daughter to you, everything could go back to the way it was. But we can't go back, can we?"

A raw laugh escaped. "I can't even send this message to you now that I've mentioned her."

Kira dragged her hands over her face. Only when she dropped them did she speak again. "Ninety-six. That's how many people died today. Many of them by my hand. I can't even say all of them were trying to kill me either. For some, their only crime was knowledge of your daughter's existence."

Kira rubbed her hands on her legs. "I thought it'd be safe. They were in the war with us. Fought side by side. I never thought the Tsavitee would get close enough to turn them into their puppets. If the Tsavitee learn of Elena, they'd hunt her like they did her mother."

Kira shook her head and looked away. She tapped one finger on her knee before staring directly into the camera. "You're not going to forgive me for the decision I'm about to make. I accept that. Elena's not safe with me. I have a contact but their stipulations insist you can't be involved in her life. They're paranoid like that. Worse than Jin even."

Kira nodded, taking a deep breath as if steeling herself. "I promise you'll have the chance to hate me. I will reunite you with her." Her expression turned wry. "But it won't be today—or likely tomorrow either."

The video shut off, the next one already queued to play.

It