“I like when things come together as though I planned them,” Tassos continued with no regard for her response. “And I like when seemingly useless things turn out to have value. Or, in this case, more value. Donnally? I thought he was only important to Lir, but it turns out”—here he paused to drive a finger toward the shape of her family sigil high on her temple, half-hidden by her hair—“he’s the honest-to-salt brother of the Bale Blossom. And he’s mine.”

The spike of panic Caledonia expected to feel was dulled by a sudden rush of anger. In a rush, she closed the distance between them until it was no more than a sliver of stale air.

“Donnally made his choice,” she snapped, letting anger and disappointment and panic weave into uncompromising confidence. “If you think you’re going to control me through a brother I barely remember, then you’re as dumb as you look. And if you only have forty-three ships to offer me, Tassos, then you are less valuable than I’d hoped.” The look of shock on his face was pleasing on some distant level, but Caledonia didn’t take time to enjoy it. “But we can fix that.”

“What do you mean?” Tassos asked through grinding teeth.

“Take me to your comm center,” she said, all authority. “We have an announcement to make.”

“Listen to me, Caledonia Styx.” Tassos pushed off the wall and drove her back with two menacing steps. “Working together doesn’t mean I’m working for you. And it certainly doesn’t mean I’m taking orders from you.”

Caledonia took a calming breath and reminded herself that she had nothing to gain by angering him. “It won’t be long before Lir knows that we’ve allied against him. It does us no good to keep that fact quiet, and we need as many ships as we can muster. We’re going to broadcast on an open frequency and let everyone know that if they want to join the fight, now’s the time.”

“You want to tell Lir that we’re planning an attack?” Cepheus didn’t bother to hide her skepticism.

“I do,” Caledonia answered with a ready nod. “I want his eyes on the sea.”

“And . . . isn’t that where we’ll be?” Tassos asked.

Now Caledonia smiled. “Not all of us.”

Tassos considered her thoughtfully, eyes narrowing before he nodded to Cepheus.

“Follow me,” she said.

>><<