Dread swirled through Valen as Nor looked from Darai to him and back again.

She believed Darai. Oh, Godstars, she believed him, and Valen would never get free.

“Tell her, Valen,” Darai said, his voice so sickeningly false that Valen wanted to scream, to cringe and scurry far away. “Tell your sister what you told me.”

Valen closed his eyes, trying to fight the Exonian. But his mind was like a reed, bending in the wind. Darai was too strong, his mental grip icy as he held fast, unrelenting.

“I’m dying, Nor,” Valen said. His lips moved against his will. The words were not his, but Darai’s, compelling him with such ease that Valen felt like he was in a dream. “Every day I draw closer to death. I don’t want to die in vain. I want to die an honorable man. As a sacrifice for my true home.”

“Don’t say that,” Nor begged him. She turned to him, taking his hand.

Valen could feel it, the sincerity in that grip. He tried to squeeze her hand back, to squeeze so tightly that perhaps it would tell her something was wrong. But his hand felt as if it belonged to another. He looked down at it, unable to control his fingers.

“I have to say it,” Valen heard himself say. “It would be the greatest gift I could ever give, Nor, to the woman who gave me a purpose in life. You saved me from the darkness when you found me, when you helped me learn of my power. You gave me a true life, and though it has been short, it has been full of beauty.”

Lies, Valen screamed. Please, Nor, you have to hear me! You have to see the truth! It’s not me speaking! I don’t want this!

The message, again, did not reach her.

Sweat began to bead on Valen’s temples as he fought back against Darai’s compulsion, but Nor likely saw it as a side effect of his condition.

“Darai has promised me there will be no pain,” his lips said, the words still not his own. “He says that when you plug me in, it will feel like I’ve gone into a peaceful sleep. But instead of death, instead of eternal darkness, I’ll be there in the satellite, sending out the truth to the galaxy. Ensuring that Exonia will have a home, and the two galaxies will always live in peace, because of your rule. And after you’re gone, I will remain, keeping that peace. Keeping everyone in the truth and the light. Your children’s children will reign, and I will ensure it is so.”

Nor was crying now, as Valen spoke.

As if he was saying something beautiful, instead of spouting the words of a monster.

“You can’t possibly want this,” Nor said, still holding his hand. “Can you?”