When would this end? When would we find the true culprit? It was as if we were running and running and never reaching our destination. More death. Never-ending danger. It had to stop.
The silence stretched when Commander Karter did not respond immediately, but Leo held up his hand in a motion for us to wait. He’d been out there in space with the Prillon warriors, fought in the Hive war, and I trusted his judgment.
Nix, however, seemed less patient and I wondered at his scowl and his quiet pacing in front of the control panel. He seemed nearly as emotionally invested as the two sisters, and that made no logical sense. Sure, I was angry about what just happened, but Nix was still obviously agitated, as if his fight weren’t over.
He and I had never met Destiny. I’d heard her voice once on the comm call we placed from the palace. Him, too. But I’d never met her. Neither had Nix, that I knew of. But he seemed disoriented, riled. Hanging on by a thread.
“Leo, I have located Destiny’s NPU signature. It appears she is in the mountains a few miles outside the city,” Karter said through the comms. “I will attempt to patch you through.”
“Thank you.” Leo nodded to Trinity and stepped back, indicating she should speak.
No formal goodbyes between the males. But that was what I’d heard of the Prillons—they didn’t waste time on trivialities or formal nuances. Oh, they had rituals and honor just like the Aleran males, but they sure were abrupt. Since they ran the war with the Hive, they wasted no energy or time for such nonsense.
With Faith in my arms and our enemies dead at our feet, I did not envy the commander the destruction and loneliness of a never-ending war.
“Destiny? Can you hear me? It’s Trin.” Trinity leaned forward, as if that would help her voice travel through space and into her sister’s head a bit faster. “Destiny? It’s Trinity.” Louder this time.
“Quiet!” Destiny’s whispered voice came through loud and clear. And frantic. “I can’t talk now.”
Faith tensed in my hold.
“Destiny, the clerics have Mom,” Trinity continued. “They just tried to kill us.”
“I know.” Destiny’s whisper was quieter now. We could barely hear her.
“What? What do you mean, you know? Why didn’t you tell us they were going to ambush us?”
“Not that,” she hissed. “That they have Mom.”
Trinity glanced my way. It seemed we were a little behind.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Shhh.”
“Where?” Trinity repeated.
“Cell block. Guards. Shut. Up.” Destiny’s voice was very faint, and very frustrated.
Faith pulled from my arms and I let her go but followed her to the control panel and placed my hand on her back so she’d know I was there. Supporting her. Loving her. As if I were going to let her get more than arm’s reach from me.
I’d killed a man with my bare hands tonight. For her.
While she’d been hand-to-hand fighting the transport technician—or cleric disguised as one—I’d wrapped my hands around a mercenary’s throat and squeezed until he’d stopped resisting. I’d do it again. He’d been about to shoot my mate and instinct had taken over. Rage. The need to protect. Faith was mine. She’d lied to all the people of Alera to protect me, and now I would spend the rest of my life protecting her. Loving her. Giving her whatever she needed to be happy. I knew she wouldn’t be fully content until her mother was found and safe and her sister was away from danger.
“Des, it’s Faith. You remember our twin code?”
Two taps sounded through the speaker and Faith sighed with relief and grinned.
“Twin code?” Trinity looked at her sister, frowned. We all looked at Faith. “What twin code?”
“We invented it in kindergarten and used it when we wanted to talk about stuff without people knowing what we were answering,” Faith explained.
“Like Morse code?” Trinity asked. I had no fucking clue what that was, but I was intrigued. So was Trinity. Obviously, the sisters didn’t tell each other everything.
“Not really,” Faith continued. “One for no, two for yes. Right, Des?”
Two taps came through the comm.