Athena’s Ashes (Star Thief Chronicles #2)(62)
Author: Jamie Grey

After her sixth cup of bitter coffee, one of the nurses finally took pity on her. “He’s out of surgery and in the recovery room. You can see him for five minutes.”

“Bless you.” Renna took the woman’s cheeks in her hands and kissed her on the forehead. She followed the nurse back into the recovery room and stopped dead inside the door.

Viktis lay pale and still against the white sheets. The bruise around his eye had darkened to an angry green and a jagged cut stretched across his cheekbone, but at least the holes burned into his skin had been tended to, and his other wounds cleaned.

Renna sank into the chair beside his bed. Gods, she was so tired. Her whole body ached. But she wasn’t done yet. Not until he was out of the woods. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed gently. “Don’t you dare die on me, Viktis. You’re the only one I have left. I can’t lose you, too.”

“Good thing I’m not going anywhere, then,” he said weakly. The one eye that wasn’t swollen shut fluttered open.

Relief surged through Renna like a dam breaking. “You’re awake.”

“And you look like shit. What the hell have you been doing?” He coughed violently, and Renna cringed as she waited for the fit to subside. He grimaced. “Guess I probably don’t look so great either.”

“You look handsome as always. You’d better watch out or you’ll have every nurse in this place eating from your hand by the time they spring you.”

He nodded. “A man can hope. So are you going to tell me what happened?”

Renna had been wondering that herself as she paced the halls, but since she only had five minutes with him, it was time for the abbreviated version. “Samil infected my implant with a virus so she could use me to disable the defenses and communication systems at all MYTH facilities. They’re cut off and alone. She’s going to pick them off one by one. Starting with HQ.”

“You have to warn them.”

“That’s my next stop, but I need a favor. I need to borrow your pilot and your ship.”

Viktis closed his eyes. “Dammit, Renna. I just got her.”

“I’ll be careful with her, I promise. Please? She’s the fastest ship in the sector. She’s the only way I can get there in time to save everyone.”

He nodded, not lifting his head from the pillow. He looked exhausted and pale, and another pang of guilt twisted in her gut like a knife. He’d been tortured because of her. He’d cared about her enough to put himself in that kind of danger. It was an unfamiliar feeling, this new openness, this feeling of connection. Even if she had to do this alone, she knew he’d always have her back.

“Fine. Take her. But if there’s a scratch on her when I get her back…”

“I’ll owe you more than the Star Sapphire. I got it.” She got to her feet, pressing a gentle kiss to his uninjured cheek. “Focus on getting yourself better, my friend.”

“Renna. Don’t do anything stupid. Remember you’re not in this alone.” He squeezed her hand. “Help is out there, just wait for it.”

“It’s been a fun ride, Viktis. Take care of yourself.” She pulled away and forced herself to stride from the room without looking back. He’d never let her live it down if he saw the tears streaming down her face.

Ariz Teray typed a command into the Fortune’s Risk navigation system, then turned to Renna. “Entering the Mishi system. We’ll be in Titus Beta space momentarily.”

She stood from her perch on the co-pilot’s chair to get a better view of the planet’s green surface. It grew larger by the second as they headed for the MYTH base near the jagged mountain range in the northern hemisphere. The planet was considered Earth-like, but it was far enough away from central coalition space that it was lightly settled. Perfect for a clandestine MYTH headquarters. Those bastards knew their stuff. Too bad they hadn’t gotten their heads out of their asses long enough to believe her warning.

Renna rested her hip against the arm of the chair. “Thanks for the ride, Ariz. I’m going to have to face the firing squad one way or another, so as soon as we have clearance to land and I’m off the ship, get the hell out of here. Viktis will catch up with you on Forever Station when he’s recovered.”

“My pleasure, Renna. Glad I could help.” The pilot tapped another command into his system and brought up communications.

“MYTH Base Alpha. This is the Fortune’s Risk requesting permission to land.” Static filled the comm channel for several seconds before he tried again. Finally he shook his head. “They’re not answering.”

“Shit. Comms must still be down.” Renna chewed her lip. “We’re going to have to risk landing and hope they don’t shoot us out of the air.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Ariz asked with a frown.

“We don’t have any other choice. Bring us down.” She needed to warn them about Samil, and if that meant putting herself at risk, then so be it. In her head, warning them had become her number one priority. Once that was done, everything else was their problem to solve.

Ariz started their descent. They were still forty-thousand kilometers away when the mountain exploded.

A wall of flame burst into the air, followed by the roar of detonation. The whole side of the mountain was gone in an instant, consumed by fire.

The pressure of the explosion slammed into the ship, making it stutter and pitch like a drunken sailor as Ariz tried to regain control

A wordless scream echoed through Renna’s mind, and she gripped the back of the pilot’s chair to keep from falling. Finn. She clawed at her throat, unable to breathe. Beside her, Ariz’s eyes went wide at the destruction.

“Gods,” he breathed. “No one could have survived that.” He ran a shaking hand across his face before turning to Renna.

But she was frozen. She couldn’t rip her gaze from the burning, smoking crater where MYTH HQ used to be. Her whole body felt numb, like she was watching this outside of herself. Was he really gone? Were they all gone?

Black smoke billowed into the air as they circled the space that had once housed thousands of people. The air shimmered with heat, and Ariz ordered the ship to higher, away from ground zero.

“We can’t risk landing. The whole area is unstable,” he said.

Renna’s hands curled into claws, digging harder into the leather of the seat. Her death grip was the only thing keeping her on her feet.