Page 75 of The Queen

My lungs swelled, and an unstoppable smile spread across my lips. “It works.”

This was everything we’d come for. All the answers we needed were here. I found myself dizzy and overcome with joy.

The tomb darkened, and a rumble of thunder rustled the trees beyond the door. We all shared a look, and I rushed outside.

The horizon was shadowed, and angry clouds brewed in the distance, sparking with multicolored flashes. The magnetic field thrashed above the storm, but it was fragmented. Strong, but still not cohesive enough to keep out a physical threat. Not until the condenser was back online.

I hoped Ghost had been able to rewire the control panel because it was getting late, and if we were right about the Imperatrix’s trajectory and speed, they’d be here soon.

“We need to get back to the others.” I held the datapad to my chest and started out across the dilapidated gardens, my mates trailing behind me.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Saphyra

The high grass thrashed in the wind, whipped into a frenzy around my legs.

Something was coming. Something bad.

I picked up my pace, heading toward a small postern door. The side entrance led to the kitchen, rather than back the way we’d come. It was a more direct route to the corridor that connected to the control room. I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did.

“Saphyra.” Lex’s voice rang out above the rustle of oncoming weather, but I didn’t stop.

“Something’s wrong,” I called over my shoulder, unsure if they could hear me over the wind.

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but this storm felt like a warning. What was it warning me about, though? Was it trying to tell me that I’d got it wrong? That I misunderstood what I’d seen in the tomb?

I had the records now. The truth would be in there. I was certain of it. There’d be time to research. So why did I have a pit in my stomach gnawing at what should have been a triumphant moment?

I ducked through the dark entryway into the scullery and hurried past more ash and ruin. There was a hallway that ran along the back of the palace. It was open to the gardens on one side through lofty arches before connecting to the passage that descended below the curtain wall. I remembered spending time here with my mother. The shade from the sun and the view of the gardens made this one of my favorite places in the castle. It was secluded and serene, and a shortcut to the tower where the control center was located.

When I stepped into the colonnade, howling wind screamed through the broken stonework and between the pillars as if warning me away. Trees and weeds clawed and the arched openings that framed the storm-buffeted garden below, but I continued on.

The stench of smoke and something metallic hit me. The sky flashed with light and my vision stuttered.

I blinked.

The wind stopped, and the trees froze in place. Cheery light filled the pristine hall overlooking a perfectly manicured lawn.

My mother’s sweet voice, full of panic and pain, shattered the perfect stillness.

“Run.”

That was all she managed to say before crimson blood bubbled from her parted lips. Her soulful, soft eyes were wide with terror.

The last remaining spark of life fled from her face. She went limp, and her body tumbled to the flagstone floor. The fabric of her green gown billowed, obscuring someone standing behind her.

My eyes refused to turn away, no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t want this memory. I didn’t want to see Titus standing in the shadows over my dying mother.

Before I had the chance to run, the smiling face of Edeth rose from behind the fluttering fabric, looking back at me with a scowl of hatred. Sunlight flashed off a blade soaked in blood, glittering as it fell. The clatter of metal on stone jarred me into action. I spun but my tiny legs were no match, and Edeth’s bloody hands clutched at my flailing arms. The scent of anise with a hint of stale omega pheromones filled my lungs.

She shoved me into the grasp of a soldier in an unfamiliar uniform, and I screamed. “Take her to the ships. The deal is done.”

I thrashed, and cried, and kicked as he lifted me off the ground. “No! Put me down!”

My feet touched the floor, and my vision cleared.

Titus trusted her. Lex’s stepmother had betrayed us all. She is why our mothers were murdered and why Shadow was an orphan. She had taken everything from us.

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