Talan was going to die and there wasn’t anything Zoe could do to stop it.
She watched as he lashed out, taking down one Cytur after another. But no matter how fast he was, or how many he took down, there were always more clawing and biting at him. He was too wounded to survive. She knew futile odds when she saw them. Her father’s battle with illness had taught her that much.
Talan was in agony, but he didn’t once stop fighting.
That was him in a nutshell: the ultimate warrior, designed to protect and defend no matter what.
She loved him for his bravery and willingness to sacrifice. She loved him for his kind heart and loving soul. She loved him because he remained an optimist, despite the odds and the people he’d lost to the bloodshed of war.
She loved him and she’d never once told him. Now it was too late. Even if she screamed her confession, the noise of combat was too loud for him to hear her.
Zoe didn’t have the guts to watch another man she loved die—not after going through the agony she endured with her father’s death. That numbing emptiness. Blinding pain. Relentless decay of hopes and dreams.
Her cowardice made her a weaker person, but if she had been strong enough to watch him die—if she stood here long enough to bear witness to his brave end—his sacrifice would be in vain. She’d die right along with him.
Already the enemy was coming for her—she could barely see Talan past the chaotic mix of spidery black legs and thick, hairy bodies.
If she stood here any longer, it was going to be too late.
The choice was impossible, but Talan had made it clear that he loved his people and wanted her to save them. How could she not honor his wishes now, when he was going to pay the ultimate price?
Blood soaked his clothes. Pain pinched his features and bleached his skin beneath the tattoos, but there was a look of determination on his face.
He might be dying, but he was going to take as many enemies as he could with him.
She didn’t want to leave him. She wanted to think of some miraculous way to save him—some way to stop time so she’d have long enough to create the weapon her mother had envisioned.
But the enemies were closing in on her, too, and if she stayed, she was going to die. And with her, all of her mother’s knowledge would be lost forever.
Some powerful force nudged her forward, sending her headfirst into the light and taking away any chance of her staying behind to fight.
As she was propelled to her home world, she realized that Talan’s only hope was for her to find someone stronger than her—someone who could save him—and force them to go back and do just that, no matter what it cost her.
She couldn’t lose Talan. She loved him too much to let him die.