Nor came back to herself as the transport rumbled, its landing gear lowering as they neared Averia. Out of habit, she reached for Zahn beside her, seeking the comfort of his embrace.

But he was gone.

Gone, lost to the eternal darkness of death.

And he was never coming back.

CHAPTER 21

VALEN

The ride to Averia was one born from the pits of hell itself.

Nor sat across from Valen, slumped in her seat as shock overcame her. Her mind was a veritable storm—Valen could feel it, swirling with dark clouds through their mental doorway.

He wanted to comfort her. Godstars, if only he could.

But the guilt he felt inside...it was too much for him to bear, to dare even try.

For he had failed. It was his fault Zahn was dead.

“Zahn,” Nor whispered, her forehead in her hands.

She kept whispering his name, over and over. As if saying it could hold him to this earth, even when his spirit was already gone. Beside her, Darai was silent for once, the old man at a loss for words.

Compel the crowd to calm, he’d said during the attack. Compel them, boy!

He’d tried. Valen had tried, harder than he ever had before. But his body...his mind...

He couldn’t explain the terrible weakness that had overcome him, the exhaustion that had been slowly eating away at his body this past month, the effort of the compulsion too much for one man to handle.

During the attack, Darai had pulled him away, shoving Valen toward the transport ship, toward safety. But above the weakness, above the pounding in Valen’s head, the pain as he’d tried to get his power to swell and control the crowd, he’d felt...fear.

The fear of having to continue in this life without Nor.

His mind had been a place of horror and despair, a place he couldn’t calm, no matter how badly he’d wished he could. And in those fleeting moments, with panic racing through him as shots rang out across the city, Valen had failed his sister.

As they soared away from the chaos, the streets ran rainbow with the blood of Nor’s supporters, who hailed from all across Mirabel. Their silver veins, gone dim. Their adoration, forever lost.

The cyborg pilot flew the ship at top speed, her voice the only sound in the transport as she spoke to the landing crew, ensuring a med team would be there upon arrival to take care of the remaining passengers.

Nor’s body was fine. Valen was sure of it, because he’d seen the entire attack, having ripped himself away from Darai. He’d used all of his waning strength to stumble back to her. He’d seen the moment the enemy soldier slipped through the ranks of the guards and leveled a gun right at Nor.