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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

The five women stared at the empty space where the ship had been. If the weapons had been just that much faster, Clo would have seen the hull of her ship glow with damage before that bright blast of kinetic and nuclear energy flared blue, leaving nothing but a dark husk behind.

Clo’s favorite ship had disappeared into a bogging wormhole.

Clo sputtered. “He shouldn’t have been able to— He just—” She made a frustrated noise and blasted the drifting bullet craft in frustration. It gave a tiny flash, and then it darkened.

“He might not have made it to the other side,” Rhea whispered from beside Clo.

The other woman’s voice was soothing. Clo didn’t want it. She was fluming furious, and now they had to run because that bastard had probably alerted the nearest outpost.

With her ship.

Her godsdamned ship.

Clo rubbed the back of a hand against her eyes, blinking back tears. She shifted her hands on the controls, flipping switches. This was going to be rough. “Everyone buckle in and hold on.” She couldn’t keep the roughness from her voice. “We need to get the flame out of here before he can signal our coordinates.”

“And if he left a tracker in the jump drive?” Ariadne said as she strapped herself into one of the chairs.

“I checked for them, found one and destroyed it, but I’ll jump twice more in quick succession, just in case.” She started mapping out the coordinates. Her hands shook, trying to do everything perfectly but quickly. “Get ready.”

Clo turned on the hyperdrive. Zelus quivered. Time itself seemed to pause, and then the pinpoints of stars shifted from white to blue, then violet, then disappeared to ultraviolet. The hazy blue of cosmic rays came into view, then sharpened to white in the center. Clo let out her breath. She loved this feeling, jumping lightyears, bending time and space. It felt like magic, like she took the power of the seven gods for herself.

The ship slowed, stilled. Before them was the quiet of space. Clo let her heart rate calm before she started the whole process again. Up there, without true gravity and atmosphere, she felt no star sickness. There was only the joy of slipping through the void, of doing something that humans were not meant to do. To conquer the stars.

They jumped again, and Clo closed her eyes. She took her hands off the controls, just for a moment, to open her arms wide.

15.

ERIS

Present day

“Silt.” Clo’s Snarl swear was barely a whisper, but Eris heard it as loud as a Morsfire. “Silt, silt, silt.”

Eris unbuckled herself from her chair, glancing at the other women huddled across the deck, whispering among themselves. They seemed distracted enough not to cause trouble. For now.

“What is it?” she asked, stepping up beside Clo.