I’m trembling so hard, I can barely feel my fingers as I reach around the floor blindly with my hand, trying to grip the black opal. When I find it, I shut the Ephemeris down.
Once the starry projection blinks off, the phantom vanishes, and the room is gray and ordinary again. I rub my head. The pain where he gripped me is gone.
I have no idea how any of that happened—but there’s no time to wonder. I have to warn Virgo and Gemini they’re next.
Speak of me again, and you will die. The ice man’s threat clangs through my skull.
But whatever the risk, I can’t let Ophiuchus ambush them the way he ambushed us. I have to tell the other Houses what’s coming.
Opening my mind to fuse with the Psy, I touch my Ring and launch the urgent alarm. Wake up! Virgo and Gemini are in danger! Ophiuchus was behind the attack on Cancer, and he isn’t finished!
Harsh squeals scramble my thoughts.
What’s wrong with the Psy? I can’t sense the communal mind. It’s like it’s not there anymore—but my Ring is heating up.
A voice hisses through the chaos of psychic noise, like a gravelly breath of wind. I warned you not to speak.
I gasp. Ophiuchus is in the Psy—any attempts I make to access it will make me vulnerable to him. I try to yank off my Ring, but it’s stuck.
Bitter laughter grinds through my mind. No one will believe you, little girl. And now you’re going to die.
With a hard pull, I wrench off the scorching Ring and throw it to the floor. Still barefoot, I grab my Wave and flee from the lecture hall, where half a dozen Zodai are working the nightshift. I must look wild, because they turn and gawk.
“Where’s Mathias’s room?”
As soon as I say the words, I realize Mathias is the wrong person. He’s not going to be easy to convince. I’ll need backup. “Actually, where’s the girl from Sagittarius, Nishiko Sai?”
I follow one of the Zodai as she leads me down a bisecting corridor, to the girls’ bunkroom. As we run, my thoughts tangle. If Ophiuchus strikes me here, he could kill everyone on Oceon 6. He could even attack our planet. I can’t let that happen.
But I can’t let him silence me either, or more innocent people will die. The Houses must be warned—immediately.
The Zodai leads me to one of the spokes of the wheel-shaped satellite. Nishi’s quartered in a storage hold that’s been commandeered as a dorm. About twenty folding cots are wedged into the space, and the light’s almost too dim to see who’s who.
While the bewildered Zodai waits near the door, I tiptoe among the sleeping bodies, searching for Nishi. Finally, I spot her black hair spilling across her pillow, and I shake her awake.
“Huh? Who is it?”
“Nish—it’s me. Hurry.”
My voice is like a shot of wake-up gas because she shoots up, sleep forgotten, and follows me outside.
“That research you’ve been doing, is it with you?”
“Always.” She touches the heavy Tracker on her wrist.
“Beam me anything new you find, okay? I’m going to need it.” I unfold my Wave and mate it with her Tracker for a download of what she’s found so far. “The blast on Thebe was definitely triggered by the Thirteenth House.”
Nishi’s eyes go wide. “You saw that in the stars?”
“Virgo and Gemini are next. I have to warn them.” I shut my Wave and glance at the Zodai, who’s watching us in confusion. Should I tell Nishi about Ophiuchus’s threat on my life? The memory of his hatred blows through me again, and I feel queasy. I peek up at the ceiling, half expecting to see a rain of fire.
Nishi follows my gaze. “What is it, Rho?”
The Zodai is eavesdropping, and since I don’t want to spread a panic, I turn and face her. “Please take us to see Advisor Mathias Thais, quickly.”
Nishi frowns. “You want me to come, too?”
“Please. I need your help.”
We sprint down the corridor at top speed, and I try to sort through the chaos in my mind. Two things I know for certain. One, Ophiuchus will strike Virgo and Gemini very soon, and I have to warn them. Two, he’s determined to stop me from speaking up, which could mean striking me here.
I can’t Wave the other Houses because holograms can be faked. I can’t use the Psy because Ophiuchus will kill me before I get the words out. There’s only one option left.
I see the answer in my mind, but I don’t want to face it. After everything that’s happened, home is where I want to be.
I’ve never left the Crab constellation, and I have no special skills outside the Psy—the one place I now have to avoid. I’ve no business traveling through Space.
But I have to draw Ophiuchus away. The only way to save home is to leave it.
12
MATHIAS ANSWERS ON THE FIRST KNOCK.
When he opens the door, his dark hair is mussed and his collar’s undone, like he passed out in the middle of working. Nishi and I dart in.