Suddenly, Oran was beside her, standing tall on the rail in full view of Aric Athair.

“Oran,” Aric snarled, the muzzle of his gun driving into Donnally’s head. “Ready to come home, son?”

Beside her, Oran was rigid. “Aric,” he said, voice deadly.

Caledonia looked from Donnally to Aric and back again to her little brother. Panic pricked at her skin. Sweat greased her palms, and she remained frozen there on the rail, her indecision wrapped around her like a fog for all to see. They were out of time, out of distractions.

“Very well,” Aric said, preparing to shoot.

“No!” Caledonia screamed.

The gun went off. Blood splashed across Donnally’s cheeks, but he stayed upright. He was still looking at Caledonia. Behind him, Aric’s head snapped to one side, and he fell to the deck.

Aric Athair was dead.

And out of the long shadow of Titan’s looming tower stepped Lir, gun in hand.

“Rest in glory, Father.” Lir’s voice sliced across the ship.

No one moved. The Bullets still standing gaped at their fallen leader while Caledonia’s people pulled in a long breath. Even Caledonia froze on the rail. This had been her goal, to cut off the head of the snake. But it came with no swell of triumph, no signal to the rest of the Bullets that they were defeated, only a resounding sense of uncertainty.

Because she hadn’t done it. Lir had. And the Bullets turned to him now, waiting for the command of their new leader.

He moved to Donnally’s side, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Donnally stood at the touch, sharing an affectionate glance with Lir that left Caledonia cold.

“You always seem to know exactly what I need, Caledonia,” Lir said, turning to her. His face was full of angles, and his hair sharpened around his cheeks like knives. “But I’m afraid your usefulness has come to an end.”

Her attention clung to the sight of Donnally standing at Lir’s side, so much that she nearly missed the moment Lir raised his hand again. This time, he pointed his gun at her.

It was already too late. She knew that in her gut. Still, her muscles tensed, preparing to jump, when an explosion ripped into Lir’s port hull.

Lir ducked, his shot going wild. Caledonia clung to the railing.

“The gun! They’ve hit the gun!” someone yelled, and the scene devolved into chaos once more.

She searched again for Lir, but he was on the ground, knocked out by the blast.

Turning to her own crew, Caledonia called, “Get these grapples off my ship!” Then she ran across the gangway, landing on Aric’s ship with her gun in hand.

“Caledonia!” she heard Oran cry behind her, but there was no time to lose. If this was her only chance to save her brother, nothing was going to stop her from taking it.