Page 108 of The Queen

If Violet hadn’t been holding the crown, she would have been wringing her hands if her expression was anything to go by. “If you don’t mind me saying so, it looks like more than an incident, ma’am.”

What in the stars did that mean? I grabbed the tablet from my waistband and held up the shiny glass in front of me, angling it so the light hit my face, revealing a reflection. When I saw myself, I almost dropped the datapad. My skin was absolutely covered in red. My hair was splattered with splashes of blood. I knew it was bad. I could feel it, but it looked a lot worse than I expected.

“You understand what I mean? We need to get you showered and changed into more suitable clothes right away.”

Violet made a good point, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought she was wrong. “No. Let everyone see what they’ve done.”

I plucked the crown from Violet’s trembling fingers and placed it snugly on my gore-stained head.

We needed to find the others.

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Alexi

The starfighters followed me into a box canyon, thinking they’d cornered me, and called for backup, but they didn’t know the land like I did. Cliffs surrounded us on all sides with no obvious way out. They thought I was trapped, but this wasn’t a trap for me, it was a trap for them.

I left the horses to graze in the meadow below the towering rock faces and disappeared into the mouth of a large cave. Once on the ground, they couldn’t miss it. They’d take the bait.

Long before the new capital was built, prospectors dug into the mountain range looking for gemstones. They didn’t uncover any here, but they certainly left a lot of tunnels snaking between the natural formations that made up the underground maze. I knew the area well enough to lead the soldiers on a chase deep into the cliffs. So far that they’d never find their way out on their own, and then I’d disappear like a figment of their imagination. At least, that was the plan.

As expected, they pursued me into the warren. I grabbed a pair of night vision glasses and hid my pack before slipping into the dark passageways. The soldiers’ flashlights were nearly useless with the rubble and sharp corners blocking their view. My footfalls were silent as I lured them deep underground and through caves that looped back onto themselves until they were lost. Shouts echoed through the crisscrossing catacombs of the maze’s rough hewn tunnels.

So far, so good.

That’s how I found myself listening to the confused cursing of twenty or so soldiers as they scoured the warren of caves, looking for me as I shimmied my way up a crevasse my friends and I had once used as a chimney. No one ever looked up.

I could see the rainbow shimmer of the sky between the crowded boulders just an arm’s length above me. The jagged walls of the fissure narrowed, and I was scraping my skin raw on both sides. It was easy climbing to this point, even with soot getting in my eyes and staining every exposed inch of my flesh black. But the real issue was that I might not fit through these last few feet. The gap was so tight I could barely breathe. Turning my head to look for other options was a challenge.

I’d accepted death as a possibility when I began this mission, but now that I was so close, I wasn’t willing to give up. The love I felt for Saphyra eclipsed anything I could’ve ever imagined. The only thing I wanted in life was to see her smile one more time. That was why I had to get out of this fucking hole.

Just above my head, the walls softened and dirt filled gaps between the mammoth stones. I did my best to knock the rubble loose, trying to clear a space large enough to pass through. Pebbles and dust rained down, but I continued to chip away the debris. The sound of rocks hitting the cave floor echoed up to me, followed by a renewed bout of shouting. My heart rate picked up. Fuck, they found me.

I couldn’t let them catch me, though. Not when I could feel the panic of my girl spike through the bond. Something happened, and I wasn’t there to protect her. If she could overcome what she was going through, then I sure as fuck could find my way back to her side. That was the only option I would accept.

Echoes of pounding feet came from below me, and I redoubled my efforts, but I was stuck well and good. A resounding boom of a blaster fire shook the fissure, knocking pebbles loose around me and sent my ears ringing.

Soldier’s voices carried up from the cave, but I couldn’t decipher their words. What I could make out was the sound of scuffing boots on rocks and an increasingly close grunting noise. Someone was making their way up the makeshift chimney after me. This was going to hurt.

When a rough grip grasped my boot, I was out of options. I kicked downward and was rewarded by a pained cry when something crunched. The hold on my foot released, and I knew this might be my only chance.

I blew out a long breath and shimmied upward, using my toes and arms to drag myself between the rock walls. My shirt shredded against the jagged stones, tearing flesh away from muscle. Inch by inch, I moved, and the passage got narrower and narrower. Black spots danced in front of my eyes. The scent of sweet honey reached out to me on the wind. I was so close.

The warmth of waning sunlight fell across my face and my elbows scrambled for purchase on the crumbling ledge. With effort, I dragged myself over the lip and was finally free, sprawling on the cliff’s edge filling my air starved lungs.

Fingers appeared beside my head, and I vaulted to my feet. “Sorry, this is a ticket for one.” I probably could have done something more inventive, but in the interest of time, I angled my boot over the exposed hand and stomped down, twisting the tread of my shoe into their flesh. The alpha’s howl set off screams from below, and when I lifted my foot, they fell. I could hear the crack of bones as the man hit every jagged stone on his way down.

They’d send more soldiers after me, and while I was confident I could shake them, I’d rather have them trapped in the warren of tunnels until this shit was over. The area around the chimney was covered in rock falls from the surrounding mountain slopes, so I took a moment to collect a few large boulders and shoved them down into the crack. Lights from below streamed up through the gloom but were quickly snuffed as the crumbling ground collapsed under the additional weight. Dirt poured in, filling the hole, and the newly added stones lodged into place. If they wanted out, they might make it, but they were going to have to dig. It’d take them hours, and by then I hoped we would have control of the city again.

The hum of the ships reverberated in the canyon far below. They were out of sight, but there was no reason to risk my heat signature showing up on their scans. It was time to find my omega. I glanced around, getting my heading, and took off in the direction of an abandoned access tunnel.

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Axion

When the bond with Saphyra went blank, my heart froze, and I stopped in my tracks, unable to draw breath.

“Yo, we need to keep moving, fuckface.” Maddox shoulder checked me as he walked past deeper into the old access tunnel.

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