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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

Nyx wore the tattoos on her skin. She had sacrificed to the Gods of Death and War too many times already. Her honor was in shreds.

Now she prayed only to Salutem. To Survival.

14.

CLO

Present day

Clo was glad to have the engines to herself. They didn’t ask her to play a role; she never had to pretend around machines.

Every mechanism and part of Zelus was in harmony and song. She’d never been able to work on something so sleek before. The main engines were on their lowest power setting, the ship hovering in space until Clo directed them. After verifying the jump drive was in order, Clo searched for any hidden surprises. Sometimes, Empire ships installed extra trackers to make sure there were no unscheduled jumps erased from the logs. Ariadne might be confident that she hacked the Oracle, but Clo wasn’t. She found a tracker and ripped it out, grinding it beneath her steel-toed boot.

For as long as she could spare, she sat, listening to the song of the machinery. She let her anger at having to work with Eris fade as much as it could. There, in the engine room, no one was around to hear her as she struggled to control her heaving breaths, her pounding heart, her shaking body.

So many dead men. Three women they were now responsible for. On a stolen ship. Mission sunk.

Eris’s fault. Again.

She shook her head sharply. Stop it. Just get through this.

She stayed until she was calm once more. She carefully constructed her previous facade: working with Eris was fine. She could handle this. All she had to do was deliver the women to Nova, and she’d ask Kyla to give her another mission that involved flying ships out into the stars like she was meant to.

Yes, she’d stick with machines. Machines weren’t capable of betrayal.

Back to the command center, she told herself. Only a little longer.

When Clo left the engine room, a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye shattered her calm. The fear raced back, as if it had never left.

Clo unhooked the Mors from her shoulder and eased her way down the hallway, weapon at the ready.

When she reached the end of the corridor, there was only an Empire flag hung from the ceiling, the same as every hallway throughout the ship, with those familiar black scythes cradling the dark moon. Like the murals, they were another constant reminder of Tholosian patriotism. They’d even been everywhere in the Snarl, but no one had been brave enough to deface them.

The flag flapped in the breeze coming from an air duct. Her mech cuff showed no heat signatures in this quarter of the ship. She was alone.

Clo was losing it.