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  Commander Mahlo set her vivid gaze on me, aghast. “No… That can’t be. Last we heard, they were missing something important—a final ingredient.”

  “Yeah, and that book could contain the secret to it,” Bashrik muttered.

  “Then again, if what you’re saying is true, we might have a window of opportunity,” I said, my mind whirring. “If nothing has changed down there in the rebel base, then maybe they haven’t figured out the key yet. If that’s the case, then this means we’re all still on a level playing field. No one is immortal yet, and, if we can get our asses in gear, nobody will be.”

  Angie nodded excitedly. “If we take out the rebel base before they can do anything else with the elixir, we can get rid of the rebels and their unnatural experiments in one go. A clean strike!”

  “A joyous occasion, if we can make it work,” Commander Mahlo conceded.

  I smiled at my best friend’s enthusiasm, though I couldn’t share in it. There were still too many things that could go wrong, and no way of eliminating the risks beforehand. We just didn’t have time for an intricate scheme, with every possible avenue covered. The queens’ ships would be arriving in less than three days. In that brief interim, we needed to figure out the best positions for our shield-bearers, find any weak points, and get everyone in position before the enemy surrounded Earth.

  Even if we’d had months to prepare, I doubted we’d ever be truly ready for what we were about to face. But if these queens and these rebels thought they could come to my neighborhood and take what didn’t belong to them, they had another thing coming. This was my home, and even if it took the last scrap of energy I had, I would never back down.

  This was humanity’s fight, and my fists were raised.

  Chapter Forty

  “So, are we clear on who’s going where?” I asked, glancing at the group gathered around the table. Two days had passed, and the Fed had been keeping an eye on the movements of the Vysanthean ships. A beacon had pinged that morning, letting us know that the queens’ respective fleets were a day away from arriving, which meant we had to move… and move fast.

  Queen Gianne was leading the way, by all accounts, with Brisha’s unyielding army—now without their figurehead—following at a discreet distance. I’d half expected the two fleets to end up fighting one another before they even reached Earth, but it appeared that Gianne wasn’t aware of Brisha’s ships trailing after her. They were making sure of it, which I supposed made sense. After all, they could get back to warring with one another when the rebels were dealt with and the key ingredient to the immortality elixir was theirs.

  Commander Mahlo had moved us into one of the larger meeting rooms that morning so we could flesh out the details of what lay ahead of us. There were a lot more of us than there’d been two days ago, and the room was feeling comfortingly full.

  Around one edge of the huge circular table sat Navan, Bashrik, Ronad, Angie, Lauren, Stone, Xiphio, Alfa, Dio, and myself. Around the other side sat Commander Mahlo, flanked by two of her associates. Beside them sat the merevin contingent, who’d arrived the previous evening. Agent Phocida sat with two of her associates, looking decidedly anxious. It was clear none of the Fed wanted to make direct eye contact with Alfa’s Rexombran backup, who filled the last set of seats. There were five of them, three males, two females. The intimidating band of black-furred assassins had arrived just this morning, and their fierce, almost regal presence seemed to be making the Fed even more uncomfortable.

  Seeing everyone all piled into one room reminded me of The Empty Purse casino. I guessed the stakes were just as high here. We’d run through everything again this morning, for the sake of the newcomers, who seemed to have taken it in stride. The Rexombra commanded respect without having to say a word. Nothing appeared to faze them—not war, not coldbloods, not immortality elixirs, nothing at all. Unlike the Fed, who continued to cast distrustful glances at the coldbloods. Aside from Ronad, who didn’t quite look like one, I knew they were having trouble believing that our coldbloods weren’t going to turn on them.

  Commander Mahlo was the first to speak. “For our part, we will initiate a surprise attack on the approaching queens. Half of our forces will lie in wait for them, while the other half will be at your disposal for the rebel attack, Riley. Should our ambush succeed, the rest of us will join the fight on the planet’s surface, with only the rebel forces to contend with. Judging by our numbers, it shouldn’t be too difficult to overcome them and take control of their facilities.”

  “And yet, you have not stepped up to destroy them thus far, though you’ve had ample opportunity,” Agent Phocida chimed in, evidently unimpressed by the lax attitude of the lycan Fed.

  “How about we refrain from squabbling amongst ourselves?” the female leader of the Rexombran support growled. “There is a bigger cause here. The past does not matter. We are all here now, a Universal Alliance. Let us focus on what can be done about it now.”

  The two agents looked cowed. “Of course, Warrior Anai.”

  “You are not Rexombran—you do not owe me a title. Anai will be fine,” the Rexombran female purred, her golden eyes flickering with inner fire.

  “Will both lycans and merevins be launching this surprise attack?” I asked, grateful that Anai had stopped them from fighting. There had been some tension ever since the merevin contingent arrived, with both factions unable to agree on the best course of action against the queens. They’d only started cooperating once the Rexombran forces had arrived.

  Agents Phocida and Mahlo exchanged a glance. “They will, Riley,” the latter replied.

  “Good. So, we agree to send four Fed ships to Earth—carrying Lauren, Angie, Ronad, and Xiphio separately?” I asked. “Meanwhile, Stone is going to come with Navan, Bashrik, and me to the base in a fifth ship, to set up the last shield position. A guard of merevins, lycans, and Rexombra will accompany each shield-bearer to one of the other four positions across the globe, on different continents. The shield-bearers will wear several nudus, to improve the strength of the shield in their section, yes?”

  The Fed had tried to insist on sending agents instead of the four from my group, but Stone had interjected, explaining that the nudus had already chosen their hosts. Until the strength of those hosts waned, the nourishment was no longer enough, or the host died, the nudus would not attach to anyone else, leaving us with no choice but to send the original four. It pained me, knowing we might have had another option, but the nudus weren’t trinkets to be traded willy-nilly.

  Anai raised a hand. “We will send only one Rexombran with each of these shield-bearers. One of our warriors is worth ten of these.” She gestured to the merevins and lycans at her side, though there was no unkindness in her voice. To her, it was a matter of fact. “We shall keep the rest of our warriors back for when things turn sour.”

  “Probably a good strategy,” I said, with a nod. “Once these four shield-bearers are in position, we’ll need to wait for the Fed signal before raising the shields. This means you four can reserve your energy for when we really need it.” I looked to Angie, Lauren, Ronad, and Xiphio, feeling my stomach lurch at the thought of them disappearing off on their own, to perform this insane task.

  Commander Mahlo made a hum of agreement. “We will send word as soon as we’ve launched our surprise attack. This should give you ample time to raise the shield before the queens even get close to the planet’s atmosphere.”

  “Whether we win or lose in our ambush, the shields should still be raised before the outcome is clear, as an extra means of protection,” Agent Phocida added.

  “I agree completely,” I said, trying to stay calm. “Now, we know the humans are going to freak out when the shield goes up. It doesn’t matter what we say or do—that’s a fact. But, if they know the blue nudus shield is trying to protect them, we might be able to reduce the kneejerk panic.”

  Navan flashed me an encouraging smile. “So, to try and get this under control, Riley is going to make a live global bro
adcast across every available media outlet using some of the technology here at Lunar HQ. The human race might handle things a little easier if the news comes from a human.”

  “Unless they think she’s a shapeshifter,” Xiphio chimed in. I could see his intentions were good, but that kind of talk wasn’t particularly helpful right now.

  “We’ll have to hope they trust what they see,” I insisted, getting a murmur of agreement from my crewmates. The Rexombra nodded too, which seemed to alleviate any further concerns. It was like having the cool kid’s approval at school.

  “Hey, yer missin’ the most important part,” Stone prompted with a friendly wink.

  “Of course, sorry about that,” I said, with a nervous smile. It was hard to keep track of all the pieces. “Once I’ve made the broadcast, Navan, Bashrik, Stone, and I will be going to Siberia to infiltrate the rebel base. Using Stone’s powers, we should be able to freeze the enemy and overcome them without much bloodshed. Even so, we’ll need to take some lycan, merevin, and Rexombran soldiers with us, as backup.”

  “Our blades are yours, Riley,” Anai said, her exotic voice igniting something brave inside me.

  “And so are… our guns and things,” Commander Mahlo added, stealing a look at Anai and her three Rexombran guards. I wondered if she was seeking their approval, too, but Anai said nothing in reply, her golden eyes staring solely at my side of the table.

  “Yup, that’s all o’ it in a grisly little nutshell,” Stone announced, sitting up straighter. “Ye try to outrun the big fightin’ for years, but it always catches up with ye.” He laughed cheerfully enough, having returned to his perpetually easygoing state.

  “You are correct, ambaka,” Anai mused. “Truly, I wish our skills had been called upon far earlier, so we might have avoided all of this ugliness. We have an oath amongst our people not to involve ourselves in regicide, but sometimes exceptions ought to be made.”

  The thought made me wonder how a Rexombran would fare in a fight against a coldblood. I’d heard about the impressive powers of the Rexombra and seen some of their stealth for myself, but could one assassin really have stopped all of this? I doubted it. Even now, they seemed reluctant to get right into the fray, preferring to keep to the edges, where they could dart in and out of the fighting. After all, these weren’t soldiers who marched en masse into battle; they were skilled warriors who dealt with one person at a time. Had we somehow managed to befriend them and enlisted them to kill the queens back on Vysanthe, before a single whisper of war had been uttered, we might’ve nipped this in the bud, but that moment had long since passed. There was no use in wishful thinking.

  “Hopefully, it’s not too late to fix this,” I said firmly. “If we stick to the plans we’ve made and give it our all, then we can make this work. We can stop the rebels, Queen Gianne, and all their terrible plans for the universe, once and for all. It’s what the Fed were put here to do, and we are here to help you fulfill that duty, down to the letter.”

  “For a human, Riley, you are a mighty leader,” Anai replied.

  I grinned, despite the nerves shivering through me. “We’re tougher than the universe gives us credit for.”

  “I believe that to be true,” Agent Phocida said, smiling.

  “Well then, if everyone knows what they’re doing, then we need to get this ball rolling,” I declared, shaking off the all-consuming fear that kept threatening to freeze me in its grasp. I knew what I was doing this for, and I had to keep that firmly in my mind. Otherwise, I would lose all sense of hope. From the outside, this looked like a suicide mission—a one-way ticket to the end of the world—and though I would fight to my last breath, I was afraid I might end up with a front-row seat to Earth’s demise.

  Everyone stood at once, scraping their chairs back, the sound an oddly domestic one that reminded me of high school lessons and meetings. It spurred me on, giving me courage, reminding me of what we stood to lose if we didn’t succeed—there were kids down there who deserved the chance to live. In fact, there was a whole species down there who deserved the same thing.

  As we left the meeting room, Agents Phocida and Mahlo spoke into their comm devices, gathering a crew together. They would meet up with us outside. I had to get the broadcast out as soon as possible, with the queens’ ships arriving in less than twenty-four hours, but I refused to let my friends leave without saying goodbye. This time, for real, we had no idea when, or if, we might see each other again. The risks were way too high for any assurances of survival.

  Stepping out into the dusty landscape, with the stars twinkling overhead, my friends and crewmates turned. Anxiety crackled through the air between all of us, and the atmosphere was thick with uncertainty. I moved toward Angie and Lauren first, holding them close, forcing myself to keep the tears back. This was no time for weakness of any kind, though all I wanted to do was sink to my knees and beg them to stay. A small part of me wanted to jump into the nearest ship and get the hell out of here—but that coward would never win over my heart.

  “Make Earth proud,” I whispered. “Do it for everyone we’ve ever known and loved.”

  “And you, Riley,” Lauren murmured, squeezing me tight.

  “Yeah, give those rebel bastards a taste of human revenge. Hulk-smash the crap out of each and every one of them,” Angie added.

  I laughed softly. “Will do. Just keep yourselves safe, okay?”

  “I’d be more than happy to use one of those Rexombran hunks as a living shield,” Angie whispered, waggling her eyebrows. Although, as her gaze turned to Bashrik, her face morphed into a mask of sadness, her humor disappearing in an instant. “You take care of yourselves. I want to see both of your faces back here, in one gorgeous piece. Understand?”

  “Understood,” Lauren and I chorused.

  With that, she hugged us both one last time before wandering over to Bashrik. He slipped his hands around her waist, gripping her tight, and as she threw her arms around his neck, the two of them were lost in their own world of goodbye.

  “One piece, remember?” Lauren said, diving in for another squeeze before making her way toward her waiting ship. I noticed Stone and Xiphio watching her go, but she didn’t pause to say anything more than a brief farewell to either of them, including them in the general goodbye she said to everyone. From the defiant, conflicted look on her face, I guessed it was too hard.

  Xiphio and Ronad did the rounds, saying farewell to those of us who weren’t heading to Earth just yet. I was already struggling to hold it together when Xiphio put his arms around me and said farewell, but as soon as Ronad came toward me, my emotions threatened to get the better of me. We’d shared so much together in the time we’d spent in the Idrax house, just him and me, talking through the night, exchanging stories and dreams for the future. If anything happened to him—if anything happened to anyone… I couldn’t even allow myself to think about it.

  “You got this, Riley,” he said, wrapping me in a hug. “We’ve singled you out as our leader for a reason. You’re fierce—so fierce. There’s no stopping you now.” He smiled, pulling away slowly.

  “Be careful, okay?”

  “Hey, if it’s my time to go, it’s my time to go,” he said, a sad glint in his eyes. “Just make sure you survive this. Your story isn’t over yet.” He glanced from me to Navan with a knowing arch of his eyebrow, before heading toward the ship that had been designated for him.

  Meanwhile, keeping away from the heart-wrenching goodbyes, Stone, Dio, and Alfa were hurrying between the four ships with the crates of nudus that had been feeding off the mossy vines since leaving Glossa. They already knew which nudus belonged to who and were dropping them off inside the corresponding vessels. As soon as all the nudus were offloaded from the cruiser and delivered to the four Fed ships, and all the additional lycan, merevin, and Rexombran guards were on board, the hatches closed and the engines fired to life.

  A moment later, they took off, disappearing through the lunar barrier with a crackle of energy. I watche
d until the very last moment, waving up at the retreating ships. My throat was tight, and tears were threatening to fall from my eyes at any moment. I’d said goodbye to my two best friends, with no way of knowing how all of this was going to play out. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but there was no time to dwell on it.

  After all, Earth was about to get a very important broadcast.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Navan slipped his hand into mine as we headed back into the metal domes of the Fed’s Lunar HQ, moving toward the comms center. Through glass panels, I could see Fed agents hard at work, getting everything in order for the upcoming battle: checking all the trackers, scanning the local airspace, sending messages to and from the ships, leading the other agents to their ambush spots.

  Off to the side of the main hub, Commander Mahlo had set up a room for me to make my broadcast, using the technology they had at their disposal. I felt sick to my stomach, my hands already shaking at the prospect of delivering such a vital message—the most important message, perhaps, in human history. In my mind, I could hear all the old recordings from past wars, the ones I’d always heard in films and documentaries, of great world leaders announcing we were at war. Now, that responsibility had fallen on me.

  As Navan let go of my hand, I stepped behind the desk, looking down at the papers arranged in front of me. Commander Mahlo had had them written out in English, but everything was blurry. My eyes could barely focus on a single word.

  “Are you ready for this?” Commander Mahlo asked, moving behind a camera and lifting her hand to the controls. Aside from her, the only ones left in the room were Navan, Bashrik, and me. Stone had gone to look over the ship that was taking us to Siberia, while Alfa and Dio had joined the Rexombran contingent.