Chapter 21

Never So Easy

Devin wasn’t sure how many hours had passed since he’d been locked in Roxas’s brig, but it had to have been at least a day. His cell bore an unnerving resemblance to that of the Kydera City Penitentiary, which had held him before his scheduled execution about a year ago, with its transparent walls and sparse furnishings. At least the brig had been designed for humane treatment of prisoners, unlike the four rot-covered walls he’d been trapped in back on Venovi.

But the constant guards meant he’d had no chance to escape, especially since his cell was a transparent cube sitting in the middle of the wide, square room around which they walked. Not to mention the security cameras. He had a plan, but in order to execute it, he’d need at least thirty seconds of privacy. If they knew what he was planning, they’d take his last hope, and he’d be a goner. So he’d waited, searching for an opportunity.

He paced, wishing he knew what they’d done with Ines. Considering how little they’d done to him—no interrogations or anything other than locking him up—he hoped she was similarly all right. Evidently, Roxas had wanted them separated. Probably so we can’t collude.

A movement caught his attention. Glancing up, he saw both guards striding away. A plain corridor leading out of the room stretched before them, and they vanished through a door to the right. Devin glanced around. Only empty space greeted him. Someone was likely still watching him through the security cameras and could activate the internal defenses to bring him down, but that was a risk he’d have to take.

In one swift movement, he pulled off his jacket and crouched on the floor. He spread the jacket before him and felt along its inner seems until he felt a slight ridge. He picked at the ridge until it came up, then grabbed the protruding wire and ripped, opening the jacket’s lining.

An array of small machine bits greeted him. Without thought, his fingers knew what to do. Click two pieces together, twist another into place, insert a third into its spot.

Half a minute later, a small laser gun sat in his hand. With the weapon complete, he stood and held it out, whirling in every direction in case guards or internal defenses were preparing to strike him down. When he saw nothing, he relaxed slightly. Looks like all that training came in handy after all.

He aimed the gun at one of the walls trapping him, then fired in rapid succession, moving his arms in a rectangular motion with the goal of creating an opening.

He’d only completed about half when the door shot open. He glanced toward the movement but kept firing. Instead of a human guard, a security bot wheeled in, aiming both barrels at him. Devin dropped to the ground. A barrage of laser fire pounded above him, piercing the cell.

Thanks for the help. He fired through the shattered wall, aiming at the joint between the bot’s body and its rounded head. A few good blasts tore the thing off. The bot went limp.

Devin straightened. He looked around but saw nothing approaching. Spotting the internal defense guns above him, he blasted them.

He was just about to step through the hole created in the cell when something hissed behind him. Glancing back, he saw that one of the other doors had opened, revealing two more security bots.

He dodged the first blast. Before he could fire back, a yellow line of light flashed before him. The blasting turned away from him, aiming at another target. He took the opportunity to rush out of the cell.

He faced the doorway through which the blasting had come and stepped over the ruins of the first bot. The light continued whipping through the air, and though he couldn’t see clearly what was going on, he knew who was out there.

Ines. Only she would wield a laser ribbon.

The brilliant beam arced through the air in graceful, mesmerizing strokes, drawing swirls and waves as it ripped through the adversaries. Seconds later, the shooting stopped. Both bots lay in pieces before Ines along with the remnants of the internal defenses.

Deactivating her weapon, she stepped over one of the broken machines. “Well, maybe you didn’t need rescuing after all.”

Devin regarded her with admiration. He should have known that she’d escape before he did. If the past day of captivity had affected her, he couldn’t tell. Her two-toned eyes radiated triumph.

He must have stared too long, because she raised her eyebrows. “Is there something on my face?”

“No.” Devin smiled. “How’d you get out?”

She glanced at the gun he held. “I might ask you the same thing.” She patted her hip. “I had a few supplies stashed in my clothing. If they’d made us change into prisoner uniforms, things would have gotten complicated, but from what I’ve seen, we aren’t on Roxas’s priority list.”

He nodded at the gun. “I had its pieces in my jacket.”

A concerned look crossed her face. “It’s too quiet here. Did your guards leave their posts?”

Devin nodded, also noticing the eerie silence. After that scuffle, someone should have responded. Yet he detected no movement at all. “This whole situation has been too easy. After we were separated, they just threw me in here and slammed the door. No threats or questions or anything.”

“Same.” Ines glanced back down the empty corridor behind her. “It makes no sense, especially after everything Roxas spewed about justice. I say we find her and ask.”

She turned and stepped over the ruins of machinery littering the floor. Devin followed, keeping his gun ready in case of trouble.

 

It’s empty. After what must have been at least an hour of wandering through empty corridors, Devin was certain that the crew had abandoned ship. But why?

“The whole place is deserted.” With the deactivated laser in one hand, Ines strode beside him. They’d spent the past half hour moving through the ship and searching the rooms. Each turn brought nothing but silence.

The bridge was the only place where there were sure to be people if anyone was left on board. They’d covered most of the ship already, and the placement of the room they headed toward—toward the front and on the upper level—was consistent with the location of most bridges.

Devin stopped before the wide door, aiming his gun.

Ines put her hand on his arm with a slight smile. “Allow me.”

She pressed the end of the slender rod she held, and a yellow laser shot out of its end. He took a step back as she sliced the laser through the door, curving her arm in a fluid movement. Having drawn a circle, she pressed the end of the weapon again, and the ribbon disappeared. She kicked the center of the circle, sending the section of metal flying forward, then stepped through the opening.

Devin followed. Judging by the viewscreen stretching across the front wall, the officer stations lining the room’s edges, and the commander’s chair in the center, he and Ines had indeed found the bridge. Yet there wasn’t a person in sight. Where the hell did everyone go?

“This is fucking weird.” Ines approached one of the stations. “You’d think the ship was in critical danger, considering the entire crew left, but this status report says all systems normal.”

“Maybe it’s lying.” Devin walked toward the viewscreen. A line of interstellar tunnels stretched across it. The ship veered toward one shimmering cosmic sphere. That’s odd. The vessel was apparently on autopilot, but approaching tunnels required manual control because of the number of other vehicles bottlenecking around the area. Autopilot presented a risk of collision, but whoever had set the one for Roxas’s ship evidently didn’t care. Other vessels swerved to get out of the false Arapaima’s path.

He approached one of the stations in search of a navigation chart. Communications lights blinked—probably those other vessels demanding to know why the transport wasn’t watching where it was going.

“All the screens are frozen.” Ines’s voice reverberated through the room. “And I don’t just mean locked. Nothing requests a passcode. It’s as if someone gave the central computer the cyber equivalent of bolting everything into place.”

One of the screens caught Devin’s attention. It displayed a wire-frame rendering of the ship with a section of the bottom level detached. Reading the few lines of text along the side, he realized that the segment had been an independent vessel embedded within the larger ship. “Looks like Roxas and her subordinates entered a secondary ship and left.”

“Any idea why?”

Spotting a screen displaying an interstellar map, Devin walked toward it. Across the top, beige circles representing the various tunnels dotted a black background. One was green—the one the ship was heading for. Below them was a map of the Kyderan system. After taking in its details, Devin realized why the ship was empty. Alarm seized him. “We’re on a collision course with Kydera Minor.”

“So that’s what all Roxas’s talk of justice was about.” Ines approached, a dark look clouding her eyes. “I found a status report on this ship’s core over there. That lightspeed bomb ISARK’s so worried about? We’re riding it.”

“What?” He suddenly realized what Roxas’s plan was. She meant to wreak devastation upon Kydera Major’s sister planet and wanted him and Ines to die in the crash they’d tried to stop. “The Megas guarding Kydera Minor will destroy this ship before it can hit the planet.”

“Those warships can shoot all they want, but even if it’s blown up midair, what’s left will still have to land somewhere. You can bet the bomb is in the most guarded part. It’s set to explode on impact—and it’s powerful. Kydera Minor is small. This could destroy the whole planet.”

Devin swore, wondering how Roxas had managed to dupe the blockaders into seeing a harmless transport. According to the navigation chart, only twenty-seven minutes remained until the ship reached its destination. Not only would he and Ines go down in flames; millions would die. “We have to stop it.”

“You think?” Ines strode along the edge of the bridge, eyeing the screens. “I wouldn’t bet on overriding the autopilot, though. Like I said, everything’s frozen.” She stopped before one of the screens. “But the Silverside’s still imbedded in the spot where we left it.”

I’m surprised Roxas left it there for us, Devin thought then realized the Queen couldn’t have rid her ship of the invader. Ines had piloted the Silverside into that particular part of the hull because it was out of the cannons’ range. Even if Roxas could have blasted it, doing so would have left a breach in the Silverside’s place and compromised the vessel. Knowing what Ines was about to suggest, he nodded. “If we use it to take out the engines, this ship will be dead in the water.”

“Just like we originally planned.”

Mentally piecing together a map of the ship, he tried to work out how to reach the Silverside’s location. Ines must have had the same thought—and been confident in her sense of direction—because she sprinted out of the bridge and down the hallways without hesitation. He followed.

They wound their way through the ship. His mind reeled at the recent discovery. How had ISARK failed to figure out Roxas’s plan? And how had she slipped such a deadly weapon past the blockade?

Misdirection. That was the plainest answer. With the entire Niran system practically a dead zone, she’d been able to move components of her bomb without being seen. What little ISARK had found must have been decoys, distractions. But perhaps the biggest mistake they’d all made was in underestimating her. No one had thought a Fringe planet was capable of building such advanced technology.

After racing through corridors and flights of stairs, Devin and Ines arrived at the spot where the Silverside’s nose still protruded from one of the walls. Ines climbed in through the tunnel first, and by the time Devin reached the cockpit, she’d strapped herself into the pilot’s seat.

As she revved up the engines, he tried to activate the communications system, aiming to tell Adesina about the Arapaima’s true nature. The computer didn’t react to his commands. “They must have infected the computer,” he said, more frustrated than surprised. “I can’t get a communication out.”

“Figures.” The ship lurched as Ines engaged the reverse thrusters, pulling the Silverside away from Roxas’s vessel. She brought it parallel with the larger ship. According to the navigation screen, they would reach the tunnel leading to the Kyderan system in a few minutes.

Devin activated the weapons system. Except for one small-caliber laser cannon, nothing responded. And that cannon had been disconnected from the central power supply; there was barely enough left in the reserve for more than a few shots. The damage done to the computer evidently affected the weapons as well as the communications. He wondered if Roxas’s plan had been for them to escape, tantalizing them with the possibility of saving Kydera Minor, only to find themselves helpless to prevent the catastrophe. Seems like the kind of sadistic shit she’d plan.

“They got the weapons too?” Ines kept her eyes on the viewscreen.

“We have a few lasers, and that’s it.” He twisted the cannon back. Presently, the Silverside was flying along the left side of Roxas’s ship with one engine directly behind it. “I can slow it down, at least. Get it out of lightspeed.”

“Then what? Hijack another ship and use their communications to contact ISARK?”

“Not a bad idea.” Looking down at the screen, Devin brought up a rear view. Both vessels passed through the interstellar tunnel, but he hardly noticed the warping of the image as the Silverside entered the Kyderan region. He fired, and small explosions burst from the crimson engine. They looked like fireflies blinking against the giant machine, and he could tell that even direct hits were only pecking the sturdy exterior. Hoping to wear down that one section of armor, he fired again, aiming at the same spot. He barely got a few more shots in before the words “CANNON RESERVE POWER DEPLETED” blinked across the screen in large yellow letters.

“It’s slowing.” Ines pulled back on the steering bars. “Looks like you did some damage. The system must be adjusting the other engine to compensate. Ship’s moving at about seventy percent lightspeed.”

That’ll buy us some time. Devin glanced at the viewscreen. The Kyderan sun glowed in the center, surrounded by its luminous blue-green planets. His mind raced for ideas. Ines’s suggestion about hijacking another ship was probably the only one that would work. But what would happen after he reached Adesina? The only hope for stopping Roxas’s weapon would be to shoot it down before it reached Kydera Minor, but judging by how strong the armor on the engine had been, that wouldn’t be easy.

But we invaded with the Silverside easily enough. An idea struck him. The armor used on the hulls of most combat vessels was designed to absorb energy weapons. It could deflect most basic physical projectiles as well, but a ship barreling forward at lightspeed could tear through almost anything.

“There’s a Blue Chromis approaching the tunnels.” Ines nodded at the navigation screen. “Only about two light-minutes from us.” She veered the Silverside. “I’m going in.”

“Good.” A Blue Chromis—that was perfect for what he had in mind. Freighters had small crews and plenty of escape pods. And it was big—almost twice the size of Roxas’s Arapaima lookalike. A direct collision would set off the bomb in the dead of space, where no one would get hurt. Devin gave Ines a quick explanation of his plan. “Once we evacuate the crew, we can set the autopilot on a collision course with Roxas’s ship.”

“You know you’re crazy, right?” Her eyes glinted. “I like it.” She twisted the steering bars, aiming the Silverside at the Blue Chromis’s cobalt-hued hull. “Brace yourself.”

The Silverside slammed into the freighter. The shock of the impact shook Devin to the bone. He unbuckled himself from his seat while the Silverside’s mechanical humming filled the air. He raced to the supply closet at the back with Ines close behind. Unsurprisingly, Roxas’s crew had emptied it.

An irritated look crossed Ines’s face. “Think you can play the pirate with that one little gun?”

“It’ll do.” It wasn’t ideal, since it was too simple to have a stun setting, and Devin hoped he wouldn’t have to use it for anything other than warning shots. His conscience pricked him. The crew of the Blue Chromis was probably terrified, and there wouldn’t be time for explanations.

He re-entered the cockpit. Grabbing his gun from his belt, he approached the hatch on the floor. “I’ll go first this time.”

“All right.” Ines twirled her deactivated laser ribbon between her fingers. “Freighters don’t exactly house armies anyway. Even you can handle their security.” She flashed him a teasing smile.

The circle on the viewscreen turned green, and Ines pulled the lever on the controls. The moment the hatch in the floor slid open, Devin jumped down, keeping his gun in front of him.

The light from the Blue Chromis’s interior shone at the end of the tunnel. A man’s gruff voice called out, “Listen! We’ve got armed security guards and an internal defense system online. We’ve also contacted the authorities. If you turn around and get out of our hull, maybe you can escape before the Mega arrives.” Despite the obvious attempt at toughness, Devin heard a slight quiver in the man’s tone.

He crawled forward. “We’re commandeering this ship on behalf of ISARK, and I suggest you evacuate right now.”

“ISARK? Sure. You got credentials?”

“I do, but the Silverside’s communications system is compromised, so I can’t transfer them.” Devin emerged from the tunnel. He stood in the middle of a dim room illuminated by flickering sheets of light—a crew lounge, judging by the sofas against the walls. A bearded man holding a gun stood before him, flanked by two younger men holding similar weapons. One visibly trembled. Poor kid. Though Devin had no intention of shooting anyone, he kept his gun aimed forward to discourage the three from trying anything. In his peripheral vision, he took note of the internal defense guns in the ceiling. “You the captain?”

The bearded man nodded with a scowl. “I am. And I don’t believe a word coming outta that pretty mouth of yours, so unless you want me and my crew to riddle you with lasers, you turn around right now.”

“Glad I’m not the only one who thinks he has a pretty mouth.” Ines’s voice accompanied a quick hissing noise as she emerged from the tunnel and ignited her ribbon. “And he’s much nicer than me, so I’ll give you one last chance to deal with him before I do things my way.”

Devin firmed his mouth to keep a smile from creeping onto his lips. “Drop your guns, and order your crew to abandon ship.”

“What the hell is that?” The captain glanced at Ines’s weapon. “Listen, you two, I’ve got guns in the ceiling and—”

He broke off as Ines’s ribbon snapped through the air in a blazing arc. The tip sliced through his weapon, and he dropped it in shock. Knowing the internal defenses would fire next, Devin aimed at the ceiling and blasted them. Ines took a step forward and whipped her laser toward one of the captain’s companions, taking out his gun too. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the ribbon tearing through the third gun.

Damaged weapons littered the ground, and a woman’s panicked voice called over the comm. “Captain! Internal defenses are down in your location!”

Ines twirled her ribbon through the empty air beside her, drawing a bright circle in the air. “You know, this thing cuts through people as easily as it does metal.”

“What—What do you want?” the captain stammered.

“Order your crew to abandon ship.” Devin aimed his gun at the captain’s head. “Understand?”

“If you try any heroics, that’ll put me in a very bad mood.” The corners of Ines’s mouth curled as she switched off her laser.

“Trust me, you don’t want to see her mad.” Devin nodded at the screen on the wall. “Go.”

Anger flashed through the captain’s eyes, but he complied. Moments later, a shrill alarm ripped through the air.

“Attention, all crewmembers.” The captain’s voice boomed over the ship’s comm. “This is Captain Black. I’m ordering an emergency evacuation. Drop everything you’re doing, and abandon ship at once.” He glared at Devin as he repeated the command.

“Tell your crew to leave all systems unlocked.” Devin kept his gun aimed. “If I run into any barriers when taking control of this ship, you’ll have blood on your hands. And make sure everyone checks in once their escape pod launches—including you. We’re going to destroy this ship, and we’d prefer it if no one was on board.”

The captain obeyed, his face red with rage. After giving the orders, he repeated, “Abandon ship at once.”

“Didn’t you hear your captain?” Ines raised her eyebrows at the two crewmembers. “Why are you still here?” The two sprinted out the door. She pointed her deactivated laser at the captain. “You too. Out.”

“You’ll pay for this.” The captain glowered. “Piracy is punishable by death. Getting executed ain’t pleasant.”

“So I’ve heard.” Devin gave a dry smile.

“Wait a sec.” The captain narrowed his eyes at Devin. “I’ve seen you somewhere.”

“Out!” Ines switched on her laser and flicked it at the captain.

The captain jumped back as the glowing yellow ribbon narrowly missed his face. He sprinted away.

Deactivating the weapon, Ines threw Devin a sardonic smile. “You’re famous.”

“Not my fault.” Devin strode over to the screen and brought up an interior map of the Blue Chromis.

“Oh, I’d say it is. I suppose being born a Colt wasn’t up to you, but you did date a pop star.”

Why’s she bringing up Sarah? Taking note of the bridge’s location—on the same level and a few turns away—he ran out the door. “Sarah’s the past.” Reaching an intersection, he recalled the map’s layout and turned right.

“The past can haunt you.” Ines passed him at a sprint then turned left. Apparently, she’d taken note of the bridge’s location, too.

“Only when there’s something meaningful left.” He followed her around another corner. At the end of the short hallway, the bridge doors sat open. “The rest—just shadows and scars.”

Ines rushed up to the pilot’s station. “Maybe someday, I’ll be your scar, too.” She manipulated the controls to set the autopilot.

“And maybe someday, I’ll be yours.” Taking the captain’s station in the center of the bridge, Devin brought up a status report on the evacuation. All but four of the crewmembers had left.

Ines didn’t reply. Her fingers moved swiftly across the touchscreen.

Meanwhile, Devin opened a communication window and typed in Adesina’s information.

A few seconds later, Adesina’s concerned face appeared on the viewscreen. “This must be an emergency.”

“You can say that again.” He gave Adesina a brief summary of what he and Ines had discovered and what they were doing. “It was the only way I could think of to stop Roxas.”

“Fucking hell.” Adesina’s face contorted.

“She’s going to fail. Her bomb’s still several light-minutes from Kydera Minor, and it’s going at seventy-percent lightspeed. This freighter’s moving at full speed. It’ll intercept in time.”

“Good job.” Her gaze shifted, and she pinched her lips. “There are plenty of Megas guarding Kydera Minor, but Roxas obviously didn’t consider them a problem, so I doubt there’s anything they can do. I’ll alert them to what’s happening so they won’t be too blindsided when a huge-ass explosion goes off on their turf. Now, get the fuck off that suicide ship.” She ended the transmission.

Devin glanced at the evacuation status. Why the hell are those crewmembers still on board?

Ines stood. “Autopilot’s set. Ship’s going at lightspeed. We’ve got about nine minutes before impact. Time to get out.”

“Wait.” Devin watched the status, wishing he could will the number of remaining crewmembers on board to go down to zero. He couldn’t leave the Blue Chromis on a collision course with innocents on board. That was irrational, he knew. The collision would save an entire planet. But if even one died in the crash, he’d be a murderer, no matter his intentions. “There are still people on this freighter.”

“So?” Ines marched up to him. “Would you really let Kydera Minor burn to save, what, two people?”

“Four. And of course not.” Despite his words, Devin wasn’t sure what he’d do. If he could see the crewmembers’ actual locations, he’d drag them onto the escape pods himself. But in a vessel the size of a Blue Chromis, it would take far more than nine minutes to comb every corridor.

“Why are you standing there, then?” Ines grabbed his arm. “Let’s go!”

Devin jerked himself free. “You go ahead, and—”

“And what?” Ines seized his arm again, stepping so close, he felt her breath. “Our path is set. If those four die, it’s unfortunate, but there’s no point in you dying with them. So if you don’t come with me, I swear to God, I’ll knock you out and drag you to the Silverside.”

Her eyes blazed. Devin knew that when she swore something, she meant it. She yanked him so hard he stumbled. His followed as she dragged him forward.

She was right. Stopping the collision would mean letting Roxas destroy Kydera Minor. Allowing that would be the same as killing all those civilians himself. As for the crewmembers—if they died, he’d have to find a way to live with that. Going down with them would help no one.

Upon reaching the Silverside’s location, Ines shoved him toward the tunnel. “Get in.”

Devin crawled through it and emerged in the Silverside’s cockpit. He took the pilot’s seat and revved up the engines as she entered behind him. After retracting the tunnel, he took off.

On the viewscreen, Kydera Minor was close enough for him to make out the continents beneath the lacy veil of clouds spread across its blue-green surface. Roxas’s ship, carrying the bomb that would destroy so many, barreled toward it. Approaching it at an angle was the Blue Chromis. A handful of escape pods dotted the screen, though they were all too far from their mothership to have launched before he and Ines left. That meant the four were still on board.

“Shit happens, Devin.” Ines, in the copilot’s seat, leaned toward him. “You can’t blame yourself for everything. Only God can command the universe. Since you don’t believe, let me amend that by saying that nothing can. By taking the fault for something you couldn’t have stopped, you’re telling yourself that you could have controlled the situation. Are you really so arrogant as to think you could take command from forces beyond humanity?”

Devin met her gaze. Her words didn’t alleviate the pang in his chest, but he wanted to believe them. “Maybe you’re right.” Looking to change the subject, he said, “What does it mean to you that I don’t believe in God? Am I going to Hell?”

“Perhaps, if you’re wicked.” Ines shrugged. “I don’t believe you are, but only God can decide that. If it’s any comfort, I’ll be there to keep you company if you fall.”

“Why would you say that?”

She glared into nothingness, angry at something, but not him. “I’m a monster.”

He recognized the pain behind her words. He’d once called himself a monster, too. Sometimes, he still believed it. But he was slowly beginning to escape that shadow, and he yearned to pull Ines from the one stalking her as well. No matter what her past held, he believed in her. “You’re not. I know you’ve taken lives, but have you ever harmed someone innocent?”

Ines shook her head. “I always vet my targets, make sure they’re worth killing. The only exception was Adam Palmer when I was desperate for a job. But you stopped me.”

“Even if I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have pulled the trigger.” He brought the ship to a halt then took her hand. “Hundreds are alive today because you destroyed the people who would have destroyed them.”

Her fingers intertwined with his, but she avoided his gaze. “What if I told you some begged for mercy before I cut them down? What if I told you they had families that wailed when they saw the bodies?”

“The universe is a complicated place.” He leaned toward her. “No one can judge what’s truly good or evil, but I believe you when you say that each life you took meant someone innocent had a chance to live. I’ve taken lives, too—some to save others and some to save only myself. If there is a Hell, I don’t think you’re bound for it, but if you are, then so am I.”

She glanced at him. The slight tilt to her lips hinted at a smirk, but her eyes held a depth that belied her usual arrogance. “Then maybe Hell isn’t such a bad place to go.”

Even under the cockpit’s dim lights, she was painfully beautiful. To him, every slope of her face, every curve of her body, was flawless. And every word she spoke, every move she made, drew him into her.

Though he’d once felt that way about another, his heart presently knew only Ines. He’d never forget his previous love for Sarah, nor would he want to, and yet all that remained of that was a faraway memory. No longer did he mourn a dream that could never have been his.

He hadn’t expected to fall for someone else so soon. He certainly hadn’t intended to, and if he could have controlled his heart, he would have closed it off. Yet he’d encountered Ines, and she’d cut through his barriers as swiftly as her laser ribbon could cut through walls. He’d loved her before he’d known her, which had been the stupidest thing he could have done. He still didn’t know everything—not even where she’d come from nor how she’d become a mercenary nor who Anouk’s father was.

Perhaps someday, he’d consider her another mistake. Perhaps she’d leave him shattered the way Sarah had. But for a chance for true happiness, that was a risk he was willing to take. And, from what he could see, Ines felt the same. She’d meant to walk away so many times, yet she’d stayed when he asked. Her walls had been even higher than his, and she’d torn them down for him.

Ines Valentin—that was her name, and that was exactly who she was in his presence. No longer Silver or Flame Dancer or whatever other character she’d adopted. To him, she’d let herself be just Ines. And that meant everything.

Devin didn’t realize how long he’d sat in silence, holding Ines’s hand and drinking in her beauty, until an explosion flared across the viewscreen. A brilliant burst of yellows and blues filled his entire vision. Lines of white curled through the center as glowing debris shot out in every direction. Bright flames reached into the blackness of space.

An ache intertwined with the relief that filled him. A planet had been spared, but not everyone had made it out. As with so much of his past, he could already feel that memory wrapping its chains around him, binding him to the specter of regret. He tried to do as Ines had advised and accept that that he couldn’t have saved those people. It wasn’t easy, and the deaths already haunted him. But he had to keep moving forward. He couldn’t let them anchor him or keep him from seeing the good around him.

“It’s over, then,” he murmured.

“Not yet.” Ines’s expression darkened. “Roxas is still free. It’s not a victory until she’s defeated.”