When he arrived, he was a selfish Arcardian-raised boy, scared and frail, not the warrior Nor had hoped to find. At first he didn’t seem to share the family’s gift of compulsion, but Darai told her to be patient. He promised a way to bring it forward. Not in the same way Nor had accessed her abilities, but through a harsher, bloodier method.
She gave the orders Darai recommended, and threw her only brother into Cell 306 on Lunamere.
She had him tortured, day after day, until—driven by pain—his mind latched on to the compulsion ability he never knew he had.
Nor could still remember the words she’d said to him after he stopped his torturers.
She’d knelt before him. Their eyes had met, and she’d felt the power as their telepathic link sidled into place.
She’d spoken to him with her mind.
“You will join me, Brother, and together, you and I will take back the galaxy.”
Chapter Ninety-Seven
* * *
VALEN
NOR WAS AN angel of darkness sprung from the most illustrious black hole in the universe. And soon everyone would know her name. She would be worshipped, a goddess who walked among the stars, the ability in her grasp to destroy whole systems with one glance.
Valen looked upon his sister, her elegant midnight gown flowing down her subtle curves like a river of darkness. Power like no other radiated from her.
He would do anything for her. She was his family, his queen, his everything. If she asked him to kill, he would oblige. He would destroy every other being in the universe if it pleased her.
She’d sworn that if he killed the general, they would never be apart again. He would be by her side as they ruled the galaxy together. Brother and sister, together always.
No one could defeat them.
He shivered with pleasure as he remembered the way his weapon sank into Androma’s chest. The look of pure shock on her face before a curtain of pain replaced it.
Pretending to be the Valen that Androma had once known was easy, just as Nor had told him it would be. But he’d shed his past self when Nor found him. The pain Lunamere had inflicted on him opened his mind and led to so many discoveries.
He would happily go through it all again if she asked. He had been given a new chance to protect a sister he never knew he had, a chance at redemption after he’d failed to keep Kalee safe.
He would not waste the opportunity this time.
The only difficulty had been pretending to forgive the monster who had killed Kalee. It wasn’t an accident; Androma had killed his sister in cold blood, and it delighted Valen that he’d played Andi like a puppet on strings.
Valen looked down at his hands, covered in the dried remains of Andi’s and Cyprian’s blood. It was beautiful, the color a deep matte red. He brought his hand up to his face, and his tongue tasted the blood of his enemy. The blood of the man who’d kept Valen from his true mother, the monster who’d lied to him his entire life about where he’d really come from and what he could do.
The sharp, metallic flavor seeped into him.
Revenge did taste sweet. It tasted like justice.
He returned his gaze to his sister, who stood surrounded by her advisers. His gaze met hers, and she lifted her golden hand, motioning him forward.
His feet couldn’t move fast enough as he entered her inner circle, standing on the ballroom stage.
“Valen, my brother,” Nor’s heavenly voice said when he approached. “Darai and Zahn just gave me some wonderful news. We have successfully established control over Arcardius and will soon have dominion over the remaining capital planets.”
Valen nodded; this had always been the plan. The Adhiran attack had been a bit of a deviation, but crash-landing on the planet had allowed for Valen to contact Nor through their bond and given her an excuse to have some fun. To wage war in the bloody ways of old, in a place where he knew she would win. They’d given the people of Adhira something to distract them from passing along the knowledge of Valen’s altered DNA.
The only other flaw in their plan had been the general’s obnoxious AI, who had noticed the change, along with the Marauders. The crew, Valen knew, were to be destroyed during the ball. The AI, however, he’d silenced himself, before it could deliver the message to the general’s doctors and destroy the mission before it began.
It was fortunate that Dex and the Marauders hadn’t thought to mention it to the general, either—there would have been no way to eliminate them before the ball without arousing suspicion. They had likely assumed that Alfie would pass along the news to the medical team looking after Valen, since the AI had been charged with his care.
Valen looked to Nor again as she spoke.
“Will the Bloody Baroness pose a problem?”
Valen thought of how his knife had met its mark when he sunk it into her chest.
“No. She’s dead.”
Nor’s rouged lips lifted at the corners.
Chapter Ninety-Eight
* * *
DEX
“SO NOW YOU know the truth,” General Cortas said.
Dex sat back on his heels, staggered at the revelation. “So Valen is...half–Xen Pterran?” he asked.
“Or something else,” the general said, coughing. “There was something strange in Klaren’s blood...something I’d never seen before.”
“That’s why you never named him your heir,” Dex said, realization dawning on him. “You didn’t think he could be trusted.”
“And I was right,” General Cortas agreed. “But Arcardius...the Phelexos System still needs a leader.” He paused, gasped for air. “Get me a holo, boy,” the general said faintly.
Dex fetched a holo from the storage room and brought it back to the dying general.
“What would you like me to do, sir?”
“I need to get into my files on the Arcardian database. Do as I say quickly because I can feel our time coming to an end.”
The general guided Dex through the various steps that bypassed the Arcardian servers. A few moments later, General Cortas let out a breath.
“Place my right hand on the screen.”
Dex did as he said, watching the general scan his clammy, ashen palm.
“Now have it scan my left eye.”
Once again, Dex followed his command, and when it was done, he waited for further instructions.
“Now do the same to Androma—hurry.”
Dex wasn’t sure he trusted the man, but the general seemed so determined. He followed his orders, scanning Andi’s palm and eye as quickly as he could.
When he returned to General Cortas’s bedside, the man took a moment to speak. Using up his remaining strength, he finally told Dex what he’d done.
“The fate of the galaxy is at stake. The leaders are dead, and I’m sure their successors soon will be, as well.”
He took in a ragged breath. “What I just did goes against every bone in my body. But Androma is the only Arcardian on this ship once I die.” He coughed, and blood wetted his dry lips. “I cannot let my personal feelings about the girl overcome my duty to my planet.”
He paused as he tried to regain his breath. “If she survives, she will lead Arcardius upon my death.”
Dex was sure he must have misheard. “Sir?”
“When I die—” General Cortas looked up at Dex with his fading bloodshot eyes “—Androma Racella will be my successor. She will be the rightful General of Arcardius.”