As the dust settled across the ruins of the tomb, she climbed the stairs—until she saw that the door was blockaded. She was trapped. There was no way out.

And no one knew she was trapped.

Another rumble shook the tomb, and she tensed, waiting for the ceiling to cave in. Di hung limply at her side, and she held on to him all the more tightly. “I wish you were with me,” she whispered to him, who was not Di, who would never be Di again. “I was always so much braver with you.”

What she really meant—what she wanted to say—was that she did not want to die, and she was afraid to.

The blockade at the top of the stairs shifted, and she pressed her face into his hair, waiting for the tomb to cave—when a spear of light broke through the dark stones barricading the exit. The door crumbled open.

In the light stood a shadow, her hair blazing the color of the sun, burning so bright it drove the shadows in the tomb away.

“Darling,” the light said, “let’s get you out of there.”

Hope welled in her chest like birds singing at dawn, and with renewed strength she pulled Di higher on her shoulder and climbed toward her captain.

The moment she stumbled through the door, Siege took Di’s other arm and helped her drag him out of the ruins and down the shallow embankment to a meadow where the Dossier sat, thrusters humming, ready to fly. The cargo door lowered and Lenda rushed out. “Captain, Jax’s got two Messier ships incoming—” She paused at the sight of Di. “Is he . . .”

“Offline,” Ana said.

“But is he . . .”

HIVE’d.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

Lenda hestiated, but then she shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. What’s that sound?” She cocked her head and spun toward it.

In the distant dusky sky, two silver streaks broke through the atmosphere, trailing white smoke behind them. They swirled down through the clouds, leaving pinholes for a moment before the clouds rippled.

The captain turned toward the ships, too. She pursed her lips. “They’re here. Lenda, take Di,” she ordered, and Lenda did, letting the captain rush into the ship and hurry up the stairs.

“Shit, he’s heavy,” Lenda muttered. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. When you landed, was there anyone else here?” Ana asked as they hauled Di up the ramp and into the ship.

Lenda shook her head. “No one.”

Then where was Mellifare? Ana hadn’t seen her in the tomb, and even though Di had thrown the grenade back toward her—it couldn’t have been that easy.

Once inside, the hull doors closed and the Dossier’s thrusters hummed as it picked up off the ground, the solar core in the engine room burning so brightly, the light leaked out from underneath the door. Lenda helped her lay Di down in the medical ward. The ship gave a shudder as it banked around—a little too sharply—and took off into the stormy sky.