HMS Valediction

Chapter 35.3

There are hundreds of pods and panels—all go unused except this one. The wall of Guilded will be sure it stays that way until Juno has her chance to escape.

She's running away. This is nothing I ever expected Juno to do—not after the stories I heard, the tales of her inflicted torture and power, I never thought she'd run.

"Give him to me," I shout over the looping recording. I reach out again. "He's not yours."

"No," she says, curling in and covering him with her body. "Take the ship. It's yours. Take the gold. Take it all."

"I don't want to have to hurt you. Give him to me."

"No."

Another strike rocks the Olympi. It throws me off my feet and smacks me against the wall.

While I'm down, Juno drops and covers my son's body with hers. As quickly as she fell, she rises and completes the sequence on the lock pad. The door opens and shuts behind her, locking her out of my reach.

I scramble to the door and bang on the porthole as she shuts the airlock between us. Slowly turning to face me, in the way I've pictured hers since the moment I heard her speak on the HMS Valediction, she becomes the empress I know. She raises her chin, glares at me over her wide nose, and, with her gleaming eyes, dares me to challenge her victory. She is free.

With one arm cradled under the bundle, she holds my son to her breast. The blankets fall from around his head.

I see his face.

His green eyes.

His black hair.

His nose and the wide shape of his eyes that are so much mine. His perfect cheeks and perfect lips that remind me so much of Kai.

He's so beautiful. I clutch the shirt above my heart unable to grab the organ that's beating so fast and so hard, it might shatter all my ribs if I look at him any longer.

There he is. He's more incredible than any of my dreams could have conjured. He's so close. I could reach out—

The pod clicks, unlatching from Olympi.

"No!" I bang on the airlock porthole. I batter it with my fists screaming the word over and over and over as she spins around to buckle herself into the drop seats. The beep over my head marks the countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

Gone.

They pop off the Olympi and speed into the galaxy with the debris of ARC10 whizzing by.

I watch them fly farther and farther away.

A presence looms over my shoulder.

Moon watches with me as they disappear.

"You let her escape," I scream, punching the door again. I kick it and rush to the one next to it. "Help me open one of these things. I'm going after them."

Again, we're blasted sideways as another piece of ARC10 strikes the Olympi. I gasp and gaze out the porthole.

Beyond the thick glass on the other end of the airlock, I glimpse the escape pod floating peacefully through the torrential field of fire and alloy bullets blazing by.

A large chunk of fiery metal speeds forward on a collision course with Juno's pod.

"It's going to hit them." I jab my finger at the large piece of debris speeding toward us like a meteor. "It's going to hit them. They're not going to stand a chance."