Page 69 of Ashes & Aether

An image flashes in my mind.

A white lab coat. Pale hair pinned tightly back. Eyes that did not look at Maggie’s face but stared with ravenous, clinical hunger at the left cuff of her jacket.

She possesses extensive expertise in Ghorvek viruses.

The two fields intersect, Chief Orien.

“Vessa.”

The name tastes like bile and ash on my tongue.

Lirael gasps, pressing a hand to her mouth. “Dr. Korvann? But Kairen cleared her. The standard screening found no evidence that she knew about Tara’s kidnapping. She was innocent of the coup.”

“She didn’t care about the coup.” I turn away from the table, my dual hearts hammering against my ribs. “She cares about the cure. She believes Maggie is the key to reversing the fertility curse.”

Cyrel stares at the diagnostic terminal. “I left the primary analyzer running when we departed for the logistics deck. The tray is empty. She took a fresh sample before the wipe.”

A new, terrifying realization crashes into me.

Vessa took a fresh sample. She ran it through the analyzer.

I filled her with fertile seed.

The Avaren medical scanners are flawless. They detect gametic fusion instantly. The moment Vessa analyzed that blood, she could have seen more than an immune human. She could have seen my seed taking hold in my match.

If Maggie is already pregnant, she isn’t just a cure anymore. She is an incubator for a miracle.

A roar tears out of my throat. I ignite my plasma blade and drive it straight down through the center of the metal diagnostic table. The steel groans, melting instantly, the two halves collapsing inward in a shower of brilliant blue sparks.

“I will rip her spine through her throat,” I snarl, my voice devoid of any civilization, stripped down to the primal instincts of a predator robbed of his mate.

Cyrel shrinks back against the far wall. Lirael stands frozen, tears welling in her eyes, the guilt of her stolen authorization seal written clearly across her face.

I rip the plasma blade from the ruined console and extinguish it, the hilt returning to my thigh.

With half a thought, I activate the direct mind-link. The connection snaps into place, a bridge between my consciousness and my fleet commander.

Kairen.

My mental voice shakes with unchecked violence.

Orien? Kairen’s response is immediate, his tone shifting from distracted royalty to a soldier bracing for impact. What is it?

Vessa Korvann took her. She took Maggie. She forged a medical summons and wiped the laboratory logs. Maggie is gone.

A heavy, suffocating silence follows.

Then I sense Kairen’s emotional response to my words. He understands the agonizing, clawing desperation ripping my chest apart. He knows exactly what it feels like to have the other half of your soul dragged away.

Do not do anything reckless yet, Kairen commands. The empathetic dread vanishes, replaced entirely by the absolute authority of the Crown Prince of Avaris. I will not watch you endure what I went through alone, Orien.

I am going to tear this planet down to the bedrock.

We will tear it down together, Kairen corrects. Come to the primary command room immediately. Caden is already pulling the orbital traffic logs and locking down the airspace. We will rip the data apart until we find her.

I sever the link.

I don’t look at Lirael or Cyrel. The time for medical ethics and scientific inquiry is gone.