BooksBarbecue
Back Seven Devils
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1.
  4. 2.
  5. 3.
  6. 4.
  7. 5.
  8. 6.
  9. 7.
  10. 8.
  11. 9.
  12. 10.
  13. 11.
  14. 12.
  15. 13.
  16. 14.
  17. 15.
  18. 16.
  19. 17.
  20. 18.
  21. 19.
  22. 20.
  23. 21.
  24. 22.
  25. 23.
  26. 24.
  27. 25.
  28. 26.
  29. 27.
  30. 28.
  31. 29.
  32. 30.
  33. 31.
  34. 32.
  35. 33.
  36. 34.
  37. 35.
  38. 36.
  39. 37.
  40. 38.
  41. 39.
  42. 40.
  43. 41.
  44. 42.
  45. 43.
  46. 44.
  47. 45.
  48. 46.
  49. 47.
  50. 48.
  51. 49.
  52. 50.
  53. 51.
  54. 52.
  55. 53.
  56. 54.
  57. 55.
  58. 56.
  59. 57.
  60. EPILOGUE
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHORS

“You shouldn’t,” Clo said, spinning in the pilot’s chair. “You’ll have people chattering in your head. And you can turn it off at will, but Kyla will yell at you if you do.”

Eris rolled her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“It’s not dramatic to prefer the deep silence of my own fluming thoughts.”

Kyla passed around the Pathos. “Cloelia will deal with it. Her favorite pastime is bitching; her second favorite is complaining.”

“And her third is threatening people with knives,” Clo said.

“I thought you also liked fixing engines. Where does that rank?” Rhea asked with a friendly smile.

Clo opened her mouth, but Kyla interrupted. “I’m going to put in a call to Sher and give him an update,” she said to Eris. “I’ll head back to Nova to see if there’s anything else on this alleged truce, or further rumors about Damocles. I’ll send you all a full mission brief from there.”

“You’re probably sending us all to our deaths,” Nyx muttered.

“You ought to talk to Eris about that,” Kyla said. “She’s used to me sending her to her death, and yet here she stands.” To Eris and Clo: “I’ll be in touch.” With a last look at the women, Kyla headed back to the bridge toward the docking bay and her ship.

When the stomp of Kyla’s boots faded, Clo rose from the pilot’s chair. “Good. Now that she’s gone, we can blast music and drink like pirates before we all die.”

“There’s no alcohol on this ship, remember?” Rhea interrupted. “The Legate saw it as a weakness.”

“What he calls weakness, I call liquid courage.”

Nyx rolled her eyes. “Can we at least begin discussing this suicide quest? Fit Ariadne’s new chip into my brain?”

Ariadne held up the tiny rod and examined it proudly. “It’s more beautiful than I imagined it would be. Did the engineers manage to improve the range? I sent over my newer design.”

“Sher and Kyla have newer ones in testing,” Clo said. “Ours should reach the whole planet, and if we’re in orbit. If you somehow end up on the other side of the galaxy from us, we might have a problem.”

“Oooh, that’s impressive. We’re like a team,” Ariadne said, then smiled. “Can we have a team name?”

“No,” Eris and Clo said at the same time.

Nyx sighed. “This is going to be the longest mission of my life, isn’t it?”

“Enjoy the next ten hours,” Eris said with a smirk. “Longest Mission Ever starts at moonrise.”

Rhea, who had been staring out the window at the stars, turned to look at them all. “Then I want to enjoy what might be my last ten hours of freedom.”

20.

RHEA

Two years ago

Breathe in, breathe out, Rhea told herself.

Stare up, don’t blink too often. Keep still. Keep silent.