Blood drains from my face, and I drop my gaze as I spot the flaw in my plan. If I push too hard for her to go, I’m showing him my hand—so I need to soften my approach. “I think she needs to get away from here and decide for herself . . . or she’ll always feel like a prisoner.”
“What do you propose?”
“I’d like to send her back to our friends. Who knows, maybe she’ll even bring some of them over to our side.” I didn’t mean to say “our side,” so I stop speaking abruptly when I hear the words fly from my mouth.
Aquarius nods like he’s considering my viewpoint, but then he grows resolute again. “This is war, Rho, and exceptions are weaknesses. If those opposing us regain Nishi—a powerful ally—then we must have something equally powerful in exchange.”
From the calculating way he’s looking me, I can sense another test coming on, and I steel my gut.
“You asked me what I want from the Luminaries earlier. I’m after a prophecy they’re concealing from me—a vision of the universe that awaits us through the portal. I will grant you Nishi’s freedom if you can procure me another Luminary.”
“But—you said Mom didn’t know anything. Why would a different Luminary know more?”
“Your mother is a hard woman to get information from.”
That’s the understatement of my lifetime.
“How do you know this prophecy even exists?” I press.
“I’ve come close to Seeing it enough times over the centuries that I know it’s there, and it’s being blocked by the same power that lets the Luminaries hide from me in the Psy. Any time I’ve been able to locate a member, I Psyphon their Psynergy to try to glimpse the prophecy, but so far it hasn’t worked.”
He Psyphoned Mom.
My stomach hardens with disgust at the violation even as my chest relaxes with relief that she wasn’t physically tortured.
“Until now,” he goes on in his velvety voice, “I’d only ever managed to Psyphon former Luminaries or recruits I’ve been able to capture before they vanish from existence, but I’ve never read a current Luminary, one who hasn’t severed her connection to the society. Tomorrow morning, I want you to convince your mother to reach out to them and ask them to send someone to help. Once the Luminary arrives, you have my word that one of our ships will fly Nishi anywhere she wants.”
I cross my arms. “How can I trust that when you’ve already gone after everyone I love? Why would you suddenly leave her alone now?”
“Haven’t you noticed that my army hasn’t attacked the Zodiac in months?” he asks, his expression open, his gaze direct. “We haven’t even bothered tracking down your resistance because it’s not our concern—those are Zodai affairs, and this solar system won’t exist for much longer. I swear to you that we will not go after any of your friends or the Zodai they’re working with—and I would not want to risk your friendship or your trust by betraying you. The only two beings in the Zodiac I want by my side are already here . . . Ophiuchus and you.”
“Sir.”
I spin around to see that Blaze has just come up behind us, and I spy something wild in his eyes when he looks at me, but he quickly tames it down when Aquarius turns. I wonder if he heard the last thing the Original Guardian said.
“I’m coming, Blaze.” Aquarius gives me a small bow. “Good night, Wandering Star.”
He starts walking away.
The longer I take to make this decision, the longer it will take to get Nishi out of here because they’ll have to fly to Aries first. And I don’t want my best friend here another moment.
If—or when—Aquarius discovers I’m a double agent, he’ll definitely use her to punish me. I need her as far away from here as possible.
Gamba’s face forces its way to the forefront of my mind even though I’ve been trying to push it back this whole conversation. Am I really considering handing over an innocent girl to the same monsters that tortured and traumatized me and Nishi and Mathias and Pandora?
But I already committed to free Nishi, and that’s what I intend to do. Gamba can take care of herself. She chose to be a Luminary, and she took herself out of hiding to get involved—but Nishi never asked for any of this. She was only sticking by my side.
She’s endured enough.
“Wait,” I say, and Blaze and Aquarius stop by the staircase. I swallow, hard. “I know where you can find another Luminary.”
25
I TRY TO GET SOME sleep like Nishi suggested, but when blue dawn light streams in through the window, I’m not sure I ever even closed my eyes. Sitting upright, my head is heavy on my neck and my left eyelid feels twitchy.
I open the room’s closet and pull on a royal purple pantsuit. I’m not surprised to find it fits me perfectly; I might as well be living in the virtual world of a holo-game. Or the nightmare world of the Sumber.
These theories are further reinforced when I step out of my room and glimpse a familiar face with a headful of braids.
I instinctively take off after Ezra as she rounds the corner, but when I get to the end of the hall, she’s gone. I follow in the direction where she disappeared, peeking into a couple of alcoves and common spaces, but they’re all empty.
I turn to head back when I notice a door that’s slightly ajar, like someone thought they closed it but the lock didn’t catch. I swing it open slowly and slip inside a large supply closet with a few rows of shelves that house cleaners and maintenance tools.
“Ezra?” I call out, looking between the aisles. Is she hiding in here?
There’s a small door at the back of the space, and since it’s also ajar, I pull it open. It’s an empty lavatory.
I give up and turn around to leave, but I stumble back at the sight of a grave, golden face glaring at me.
“Hysan—what are you doing here?” I whisper when I’ve recovered my breath.
Since it takes him a moment to react, I know he’s a hologram—but his transmission is remarkably clear, like he’s only a few rooms over. Ezra must be projecting his call through whatever special comm device they designed.
She set me up.
The anger lining his frozen face transforms into raw concern when his hologram activates. “Rho, are you okay?”
I’m guessing I look like total sharkshit.
“I’m fine.”
“Has he hurt you?”
“Hysan, stop,” I snap, staring at the shelves behind him to avoid his gaze. “Why do you even care after what I did to you?”
“Believe me, I had every intention of being angry,” he says, and even without looking, I can feel his eyes scrutinizing me closely. “But you’re not yourself. Ezra’s working on a plan to get you and Nishi out of there—”
My stomach flips itself, and I say, “We don’t need Ezra’s help. I’ve got it handled.”
Every part of me itches to warn him of what I’ve done, but I can’t form the words, and I can’t bear to see his face when he learns how I’ve badly I’ve betrayed him and everyone else on Phaet. There’s no coming back from what I’ve done.
But I wasn’t coming back anyway.
“How?” he demands. “What’s your strategy?”
“Why is it so hard for you to trust my decisions?” I shoot back.