Page 69 of Sy

“Welcome back, Your Highness.”

The ancient battlefield faded, but the sense of command, of absolute control, remained.

She was the planet now, every particle of its being an extension of her will. Through legion, she felt it all. The orbital platform’s weapons charging, preparing to rain death upon the surface. Upon her people. The warship’s engines burning hot as it maneuvered into position.

Anger surged through her. White hot and terrible.

Destroying them was as natural as breathing. A thought and power surged through the ancient tech, through her, through theplanet itself. She reached up with hands made of energy and will, and simply…

Crushed them.

The orbital platform crumpled like paper in a fist, its supposedly impenetrable shields meaningless against technology older than their civilization.

The warship tried to flee, engines flaring desperate and bright against the darkness of space, and she smiled, catching it just as easily. Metal twisted, engines exploded, and both threats disappeared in spectacular blooms of light against the stars.

In the mindscape, she turned to Kal and Tor and smiled. She could do so much more, so much more?—

Then the universe blinked out between one heartbeat and the next.

The skyabove them lit up with fiery Armageddon. The orbital platform’s destruction painted the heavens in shades of orange and crimson, burning debris carving blazing trails through the darkness like falling stars.

The enemy is no more…His legion’s voice cut through his paralysis with crystal clarity. He blinked, dully realizing that the orbital platform was gone. They’d succeeded. Kal, Lila, and Tor had completed their mission.

The realization barely registered before panic seized his chest, crushing the air from his lungs as he dropped his gaze back down to the battlefield in front of him. Through the rain of fire and ash, the gun emplacement where Ashley had been was nothing but twisted wreckage, flames licking at its remains.

“Ashley!” His voice tore from his throat, raw and desperate, as he launched himself to his feet. The battlefield before him wasa hellscape of shattered metal and hungry flames, smoke coiling upward to meet the burning sky. “Ashley!”

He sprinted across the charred earth, each step carrying him over treacherous debris.Focus. Listen. Your mate needs you.The voice in his mind was calm, a stark contrast to the chaos raging in his chest. But how could his mate need him when she was dead? He had to find her. Had to find her body.

His boots slipped on ash-slicked ground, but he caught himself, refusing to slow.

Through the chaos of destruction—the groan of collapsing metal, the distant explosions as more debris rained down, the crackle of flames—Zeke’s voice cut across the field. “Sy! Over here! I have her!”

Relief and terror warred in his chest as he vaulted over a section of scorched metal. The blinding smoke burned his lungs, filling his mouth with the taste of destruction, but he pushed through it. His legs burned as he scrambled over the remains of the gun emplacement, sharp edges tearing at his clothes and skin.

There, behind the wreckage, lay Ashley. Blood streaked one side of her face, matting her hair and staining the collar of her jacket. He froze, his eyes wide. She was still. Too still. The sight of her motionless form sent ice through his veins. Michelle sat next to her, holding a dressing against the side of her head.

“They leapt clear.” Zeke, crouched beside Ashley, looked up. His voice cut through Sy’s panic. “She’s injured but alive. We need to get her back to the garrison.Now.”

Alive. She was alive.

His mate was still alive.

“Let me have her. You get Michelle.”

Sy’s hands trembled as he gathered his precious mate into his arms, cradling her against his chest as if she were made of glass. Her head lolled against his shoulder, and the weight of her—soprecious, so terrifyingly vulnerable—drove him to his feet with fierce determination.She’s strong,his legion murmured.She’ll recover. Move now. Protect your mate.

Above them, the sky continued to burn, but he only had eyes for her, searching desperately for any sign of consciousness as he turned toward the garrison. Each second she remained still was an eternity of fear, each breath she took a desperate relief.

Every step up the rain-slicked stone road toward the garrison felt like a lifetime. His muscles screamed in protest as he carried her, but he refused to slow his pace even as his boots threatened to slip on the wet steps. She needed treatment in the garrison. Now.

His legion’s steady voice helped him focus through the haze of smoke and the last spattering of rain.Keep moving. One step. Then another. She needs you strong. You’ve got this.We’vegot this.

Above them, the garrison’s automated defense systems came to life. Gun batteries tracked and fired at the falling debris from the orbital platform, transforming the larger fragments into harmless clouds of metal rain before they could threaten the construction site or the garrison itself. Each explosion lit up the sky in brief, brilliant flashes, the thunder of their firing nearly drowning out Zeke’s footsteps behind him.

“I called ahead. The main hall is prepped,” Zeke said between the sounds of the defense systems. “We’ll have her stable soon.”

He nodded but couldn’t find his voice to respond. His entire world had narrowed to the feeling of Ashley’s heartbeat against his chest and the looming silhouette of the garrison ahead. The stone steps seemed endless, yet he couldn’t move fast enough. He almost stumbled when his boot caught on a rain-slick edge.

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