Page 184 of Star Bringer
The ramp to the shuttle is already down, and I can taste my freedom. We’re halfway there when Arik suddenly stops and raises his head. Then he turns to look at me, and I see the sadness in his face. “I’m so sorry,” he murmurs. “I did my best.”
A group of guards, weapons drawn and pointed straight at us, appears from behind the shelter of a building at the edge of the landing pad. They’re wearing the black-and-gray body armor of the Corporation security forces. Behind the soldiers are my mother and Dr. Veragelen.
My heart stops. The escape is over. And while I don’t think my mother will hurt me, I’ve put Arik and Lara in terrible danger.
I rush out to greet them, my hands held in front of me in obvious surrender. “Mother, please. This is all—”
“Kill him,” my mother interrupts in a voice completely devoid of emotion. It’s so empty, in fact, that it takes me a moment to register what she said.
But when it does, I scream “No!” and hurl myself to the side, desperate to protect Arik no matter what.
Lara grabs onto me, her arms looping through mine as she holds me in place. The guards fire, and Arik doesn’t even cry out when he gets shot. He just crashes to the ground at my feet, his eyes forever open and staring into the void.
“Get the servant,” my mother demands. “My daughter appears fond of her, and she may prove useful.”
One of the soldiers steps toward Lara, and she backs away.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’ll find a way to help you. I’ll—”
I break off as she jumps up on the low parapet that surrounds the roof. “I won’t let them use me against you,” she cries out. “Don’t give up, Kali. Don’t ever give up.”
Horror slams through me as I realize what’s happening, and I race for her, throwing myself toward her feet. But I’m one second too late, my hands clutching at the air where she used to be as she throws herself backward and falls, falls, falls.
For a moment, I’m so devastated that I’m tempted to follow her over—there’s nothing but misery left for me here. But without me, there’s no one left to warn my friends, and I didn’t come this far to let them all die.
A dozen hands are clutching at me as I stare down at Lara’s bruised and broken body. I shake them off as I turn around, and though my knees are wobbling, I lock them in place. Princesses of the Empire do not collapse in a heap just because their life is over. We’re made of sterner stuff.
So, I stiffen my legs, straighten my shoulders, and let the rage burning inside me rise to the surface.
“I’ll never forgive you for this,” I tell my mother.
“Me?” she asks, brows raised. “You’re the one who brought all this about. It’s your fault that they’re dead, not mine.”
I want to argue with her—she gave the order that killed Arik—but the truth is that Iamthe one who got them into this. The one who swore to protect them and then instead let them die. Their deaths are on both our hands.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I tell her.
“Oh, don’t be so overdramatic, Kalinda. They were only servants, and you must have known you were putting their lives at risk by involving them in your little escape plan.” She steps toward me. “I mean, where did you think you were going? And why? I never would have believed it if Annora hadn’t come to me with her suspicions.”
I look at Dr. Veragelen. She returns my look with a small smile. “We ran the possible scenarios through the algorithms, and they all came up with the same answer. You would run.”
“Kalinda,” my mother says, “you know what’s at stake here. I can’t believe you would jeopardize the future of the whole system. For what?”
“You told me my friends were safe. You lied—you sent out system-wide orders to execute them.”
The smallest of frowns forms between her eyes, and I can almost see her mind working. She clearly didn’t expect me to know that. “It was better in the long run. You would have come to realize that. They weren’t our sort of people. They were Inners. Scum.”
“What about my father?” I yell. “Was he Inner scum as well?”
Her eyes go icy cold. “We will not discuss your father.” Then she sighs. “Kali, I didn’t want it to come to this. But I suppose I must force your hand.”
She’s unbelievable. I turn my face away from her. But that only brings my gaze to rest on Arik. So, I turn back. “You can’t make me do anything. You have nothing to hold over me anymore.”
“Maybe not, but that won’t be needed. Apparently, Annora has been working on some drugs that will make you a little more…compliant. And that—hopefully—will not have any long-term side effects.”
I don’t like the sound of that. Not one little bit. I think of Beckett. She’s never talked about what went on in the labs on theCaelestis, but I know it was horrible.
“In the meantime, I think we’ll make sure you don’t wander away again. And give you a little time to consider your choices.” She turns to the guards. “Take her…somewhere safe.” Then she walks away from me. Dr. Veragelen follows, and they head off the rooftop and disappear from sight.
