“Of course he did.” Mia spoke in short, sharp syllables as she tugged Alexei free of the wreckage. “Everyone else has shiny new powers. Why shouldn’t Lex? And also, would somebody goddamn help me?”

I jumped to my feet and grabbed Alexei’s other arm. The pirate caught his shoulders and together we dragged him free. Reed ran over and dropped to his knees beside him, his face pale and sweating. The fire’s heat became more noticeable, moving past discomfort into tinges of pain. As Reed worked on Alexei, I risked a glance at the ship. It was a sea of flames, nothing but fire and shimmers and the occasional shadow. If that didn’t block the signal, nothing would.

“Rune!” Cage caught his sister in his arms, knocking both of them to the ground. Sheer panic laced his voice. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, gege.” She pulled back and caught his face between her hands, smiling at him. “Everything’s fine.”

Something released in me at the sight. Surrounded as we were by flames and chaos, the genuine care between the twins made things a little less horrifying. Their tension hurt me, too. I hadn’t realized how much until this moment.

Alexei moaned as Imani and Jasper staggered into view, both relatively intact. “We did it,” said Jasper, staring at the ship. As he spoke, something else caught and a small explosion made us wince. The heat from the flames forced us back, smoke choking us as we struggled downwind.

At last we found a reasonably safe place to stare at the growing wall of flames. “We did it,” I agreed softly. “So what do we do now?”

The pirate yawned, stretching and popping the joints in his arms. “Well, that’s up to you, of course,” he said. “But if I were you, I’d come with me.”

FOURTEEN

I CLOSED MY EYES. I was out of patience with this guy, and so I was surprised when my voice only sounded weary. “Come with you where?”

“Does it matter? I have a ship.” He arched an eyebrow. “At any rate, I’m leaving, not waiting around for Mars Mining and their buffoons to take me captive. You lot can follow or stay put.” He turned and strode away from the flaming debris.

We exchanged frantic looks. Where was he going? Should we follow? What choice did we have? “Wait up!” Cage called, making the decision for us, and we broke into a run.

I skidded to a halt as we rounded a corner to find the pirate opening the hatch on a Titan 365 Racing Ship. “Whoa,” I said. “That thing must cost—”

“A million credits,” Reed finished. His eyes shining, he took a step forward. “At least. With an acceleration that leaves the competition in the dust.”