Page 66 of Star Bringer
“Where are the others?” I ask.
“They’re coming. Max is picking up the final supplies, and Ian went to meet up with him to help.”
I let out a sigh of relief that no one’s been shot. But then I take in Kali’s expression. “What’s wrong, then?” Because clearly something is—she looks like she’s in shock.
“There was a solar flare behind us,” Kali says, breathing hard. “Just as I got on the ship. And I’d swear it came straight from theStarlight.”
Beckett glances over her shoulder and frowns. “Unlikely.”
“I thought so as well, at first,” Kali says. “But I know what I saw. Can we see what’s happening behind us? Ian and Max are in trouble.”
“I’m yours to command, Princess,” Beckett replies in that snarky tone she always uses with Kali. It’s obvious she doesn’t like her, but then again, Beckett is an admitted member of the Rebellion, so I guess it makes sense. Kali’s family would be her number-one enemy.
A screen above Beckett’s head lights up—I didn’t even know there were screens on the ceiling, and from their expressions, no one else did, either—and then it flickers to reveal the view from the back of the ship. I lean forward against my harness to get a better look.
“Holy crap,” Beckett mutters. But she’s grinning again. “Looks like you might have been right about the flare. Though I really don’t think it came from here. A ship can’t do that.”
I don’t want to doubt Kali, but I’m kind of with Beckett on this one. We might be on the far edge of the spaceship docking area, but the screen zooms in enough to show that the whole town of Rangar is suddenly on fire. The buildings are a mass of flames reaching up to the sky with people running everywhere. I watch in pure horror as townspeople run out of burning buildings, carrying children, pets, their life’s possessions.
And then, from the middle of the conflagration, emerge Ian and Max. They’re running as if their lives depend on them getting to this ship.
Then again, they probably do. I watch as one of the buildings collapses behind them, sending waves of sparks and flames shooting across the lake.
“We have to help those people!” I start, but Merrick stops me with a light hand on my shoulder.
“This is Askkandia,” he says, then clarifies: “They have plenty of water. They’ll be able to put out their own fires.”
We watch, our hearts in our throats, as the two guys leap for the ship’s ramp. Beckett doesn’t even wait for them to make it to the top of the ramp before she presses a button. And then we’re rising, the ship shuddering violently as she lifts away from the planet.
My heart rate slows a bit as I see people working large hoses full of water, shooting toward the buildings and starting to put out the flames, before the ship shoots forward without Beckett touching anything else—almost like the ship was waiting for the men to get on board.
It moves so fast and hard that I’m flung back in my seat. Kali goes slamming against the wall, and Merrick just topples over, crashing to the floor with a resounding, “Fuck!”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard him swear before. I don’t think I even knew hecouldswear.
Beckett just laughs, so wildly and freely that it gives my heart wings to hear it.
A minute later, Ian appears in the doorway, a grin on his face. “That was…something.”
“You’re horrible,” Kali tells him. “You burned the place down.”
“We had nothing to do with that.” Max appears behind him. “It was an act of fate. Or, more likely, an act of the Dying Sun. Did you pray for us, Rain?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” I answer. Though every once in a while, I wish it did.
“Were you worried about us, Princess?” Ian teases.
She looks straight at him as she answers, “Yes.”
His eyes widen, and his mouth goes slack. And then the shock is gone, just as quickly as it came. “Get used to it, sweetheart. There’s never a dull moment when I’m around.”
She shakes her head, sinks into the nearest chair, and closes her eyes. “Just tell me the food got here,” she says to the room in general. “I’m famished.”
“It did,” Max answers with a grin. “I’ll go sort it out. I think we could all do with a little something.”
“A big something,” Kali mutters. “Huge.”
He smiles at her, then puts a hand on her shoulder and murmurs something quietly to her that I can’t quite hear. Whatever it is, it has a wide, surprised grin flashing across her face.
