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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

“No, it’s not,” Rhea said quietly. “It means—” She bit her lip.

Ariadne finished for her: “It means To Be Destroyed After Mission.”

They all fell quiet.

Clo hissed in a breath and pulled Rhea close. “Salt,” she swore. “I hate them. I hate them.”

“We should go,” Eris said, businesslike once more. “Sher’s supply ship will be here within the hour. Commander Talley”—she paused, cleared her throat—“he said the Tholosians would return for the rest of the ichor. We need to leave this quadrant before that happens.”

“Oh!” Ariadne brought a hand to her mouth. “Oh, oh, oh, oh, damn.”

“Nyx,” Eris said, “you speak fluent Ariadne, right?”

“Yep. Means she’s just thought of something shitty. What is it, kid?”

Ariadne’s hands started moving as fast as her mouth. “It’s just that the ichor made the miners sick, and was used to kill a bunch of people in experiments on other planets, and Rhea being around it also made her drop her illusion. So . . .”

Rhea went cold. “The truce,” she said. “Thousands of people will be attending to celebrate the supposed end of the war. Evoli spies would be exposed if the ichor works on them like it did on me. The Oversouls will be there. The Ascendant will be there.”

“The truce is a godsdamned lie,” Clo confirmed. “The rock isn’t just a projectile; it’s going to spread the disease and kill everyone in the palace.”

“Not just the palace, Clo.” Eris’s fingers curled into fists. “Think bigger. If Damocles starts a pandemic, it’ll be everyone on Laguna. And we just gave him the weapon to do it.”

42.

NYX

Present day

Nyx hated the silence.

She was beginning to realize how much she appreciated the camaraderie of the women around her. They hadn’t been a team for very long, but she had grown used to a ship full of chatter and bantering, of Ariadne’s music and Rhea’s dancing, and Clo and Eris’s verbal sparring. This, she realized, was what it was like to be around people free of the Oracle: their bond wasn’t something programmed or forced. It was chosen.

But choice made it tenuous and fragile.

Clo and Eris were avoiding each other. Whatever history was between them went deeper than Nyx had suspected—something that made them both grieve. Rhea had kept to her rooms and hid from the others and their emotions.

Partly your fault, Nyx thought to herself as she and Eris unpacked the supply cache Sher had sent in silence.

Ariadne and Rhea had picked apart Nyx’s programming, but like Cato, Nyx still heard a litany of the Oracle’s voice in her mind, reflections of old commands hardwired into her brain since birth. Undoing a lifetime of Evoli prejudice wasn’t easy. She couldn’t hide those emotions. And Rhea had heard and felt all of them.