28. TWENTY-SIX

twenty-six

“Kira!”

Jin’s shouting interrupted Kira’s quiet contemplation, her thoughts on Aeron’s escape and what that could mean for her plans.

Aeron now knew of Odin. There was no taking that back.

There was a general running around with knowledge that Kira was working with a Sye who was doing everything in their power to find and locate the Tsavitee home worlds.

As a clusterfuck, this was a doozy.

“Kira!”

Hearing her name being shouted, Kira turned to find Jin’s spawn slithering down the stone path she and Graydon had taken.

Finn followed quickly in his wake.

His gaze shot over Kira’s shoulder, his expression darkening at finding no one standing beside her. “Where is the emperor’s Face?”

Kira shrugged. “He had something to take care of.”

Finn’s jaw flexed. “And your observer? Did he have something to take care of too?”

Kira stayed quiet, knowing anything she said would most likely make the situation worse.

“Chastise her for being without protection later. We don’t have time for this now.” Jin’s lu-ong came to a stop in front of Kira’s boots. “We have a situation.”

Finn aimed an unhappy look at the spawn. “You are causing unnecessary drama. This doesn’t require her interference.”

“You keep saying that,” Jin snarled. “I disagree and as the one with the most history with Kira it’s my decision.”

If anything was guaranteed to spark Kira’s curiosity, it would be Finn’s hesitation.

“Don’t keep me in suspense,” Kira ordered.

“You know that plan you had me come up with?”

Kira’s body tightened.

“I think it’s time we implement it.”

Those fools.

“Joule.”

The lu-ong nodded. “Yeah. Joule.”

Wrath kindled in Kira’s gut, burning slow and hot. It wasn’t the type of anger that bubbled up like a volcano, splashing everyone in the vicinity.

No, this emotion simmered. A low-banked fire that could become an inferno the moment she needed it to.

“House Votair is determined to destroy themselves.” Kira’s words held a calm Raider would have described as terrifying if he’d been standing there.

He and Jace had always said Kira was at her scariest when she stuffed her emotions down deep. That was always their first clue that things were going to get a little crazy.

Kira knelt, holding out her hand to the lu-ong. It slid forward, the stone of its body warm to the touch. Almost like living flesh.

Jin’s spawn wrapped around Kira’s wrist as she rose.

“A few of my darlings are already moving into position,” the lu-ong informed Kira.

“How long?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

It would have to do.

“Where are they?” Kira asked Finn.

“You are making a mistake. He will not welcome your interference.”

“Where?” she barked, not having time for this.

His stubbornness matched her own.

“I won’t ask again, Finn,” she warned him. “You’re the one who said you wanted to follow me. This is what that means.”

There were times she’d go off halfcocked and do things he didn’t agree with. He could either accept that and stand beside her or get out of the way.

His gaze lowered in defeat. “The arena.”

Kira turned on her heel. “Good decision.”

Now, it was time to teach House Votair a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.

Kira was grateful for Finn’s presence as he led them to a path that was much quicker and more direct than the tunnel she’d used to arrive at the sanctum, as Graydon had called it. Cheers assaulted Kira’s ears as she appeared at the top of the arena’s stairs, looking down at the floor where two figures were locked in combat.

“Well, well, there’s quite the audience,” Kira said softly.

Almost every initiate who had elected to continue in their adva ka was present along with any friends and family members who’d come to offer their support and guidance.

It was quite the crowd.

All to watch Joule be taught his place.

His wasn’t the only duel being fought, but it was the one that drew the most attention. Initiates ringing him and his opponent.

Kira started down the steps to where Raider leaned against the railing, Blue beside him.

Raider straightened at Kira’s approach. “Don’t do anything crazy.”

How well he knew her.

Kira looked away from him to Elena and Ziva, setting a hand on each of their heads and ruffling their hair.

“Don’t look like that,” she told them.

Elena was as angry as Kira had ever seen her. Furious to the point Kira thought about warning Raider that Kira wasn’t the one he needed to worry about.

One more challenge and Kira was betting Elena would do something he’d classify as unwise.

Ziva was more subdued. Her eyes and nose red as she fought not to cry.

Kira patted them both once more. “It’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”

She’d make it that way.

Raider shook his head and sighed. “Whatever you’re going to do, you should hurry up. I’m not sure how much longer he’ll last. He’s on his third opponent already.”

“How many duels have you fought?” Kira asked, noting the tiredness on Raider’s face along with the signs he’d been in a scuffle.

“A few. They’re more focused on the kid.”

Of course, they were. They’d been after Joule from the beginning.

Raider probably got swept up in events when he tried to redirect the focus from Joule to himself.

It had worked but only temporarily.

“What’s he doing?” Kira asked, tipping her chin at Devon where he stood between Joule and his opponent saying something.

“Acting as referee.” Raider leaned one arm against the railing. “You should be grateful. He’s ensuring Joule gets time to rest between each challenge. It’s letting the boy hang on but barely.”

Jin let out a harrumph. “I guess he’s not totally useless after all.”

Kira’s lips twisted as she turned to look up at the stands, locating her quarry easily. “Don’t sound so approving while you say that.”

There Terrel was, looking just as smug and arrogant as the last time she’d seen him.

“Let’s introduce ourselves, shall we?” Kira started up the steps without waiting for an agreement.

She’d been looking forward to this. A chance to work off some of her aggression and exact a little vengeance in the interim.

“Just remember not to go overboard, Nixxy,” Raider called.

Sure. Sure. She’d do her best. No promises though.

Terrel’s House had already used up the last of her good will.

“You cannot kill him,” Finn warned.

“I won’t.”

Not when there were so many other fun things Kira and Jin could do to him instead.

Selene’s blank expression caught Kira’s attention; the other woman’s tension evident in the ramrod straightness of her back.

Kira sent her a smile that made Selene blanch.

Huh. Maybe her reassurance skills needed work.

Alexander’s arms were crossed as he stared at the duel.

“You can’t do anything to him either,” Finn nagged.

“Is that my oshota or House Roake speaking?”

“It’s your friend telling you that any action you take against House Votair will not lead to the outcome you wish,” Finn snapped.

“Friend,” Kira tested the word.

She liked the sound of that.

“Good. Friends then,” Kira agreed before continuing up the steps. “Don’t worry. I won’t raise a hand to him.”

Finn stopped arguing, probably recognizing the futility of the endeavor.

“Are you in position?” Kira asked Jin.

“Is a baby’s bottom smooth?”

Kira’s steps paused. “And how would you know that?”

“I’m a genius, Phoenix. I know things.”

Sure, he did. That’s why he constantly got into trouble.

“At least send the girl back. This isn’t the sort of thing someone her age should witness,” Finn tried one last time.

Kira paused to look at their shadow, finding Ziva with a determined expression on her face that Kira knew meant the girl wouldn’t allow herself to be sent back. She clung to Kira’s side with all the tenacity of a tick. Only instead of sucking Kira’s blood, Ziva would absorb every action, word and deed.

An impressionable disciple who might later employ what she saw here today in her own adventures.

Finn was right. Kira should send her back. She really should.

But she wasn’t going to.

Joule was Ziva’s last remaining family. Watching him battle alone against their enemies would have been an unimaginable hell.

At least this way, Ziva would feel like she was doing something.

Sometimes that was enough.

“Life doesn’t always wait for us to grow up,” Kira finally said to Finn.

It hadn’t for Kira and Jin. Ziva and Joule shared that fate.

All she could do was give them the tools to carve their own path and provide guidance when possible.

Finn made an annoyed sound. “Sometimes I wish I’d told Graydon no when he first asked me to take you as my sword.”

He really should have.

Ziva’s small face wrinkled in confusion as she looked between them as if trying to understand a mystery. “I thought shields were supposed to be unquestioningly loyal.”

Kira and Finn stopped to look at each other.

“Am I wrong?” Ziva asked when neither of them said anything.

“Not entirely,” Finn started at the same time Kira answered, “Yes.”

“You are teaching her bad things,” Finn growled.

Kira chose to ignore him as she looked at Ziva. “A good oshota does both—supports and challenges their swords when they’re being idiots.”

Finn sent her a look. “Does that mean you acknowledge the fact you’re being unreasonable?”

Kira flashed him a sweet smile. “I never said otherwise.”

She knew perfectly well that what she was about to do was reckless. It was just that she didn’t care.

“You must be able to voice your opinion to your sword—especially when that sword is about to be dumb,” Kira instructed Ziva. “Just don’t be surprised if your sword still does the thing anyway.”

“There it is,” Jin crooned. “I knew there was a catch.”

Kira pretended not to see Finn’s scowl as she turned back to the stairs only to find her way blocked by an oshota wearing House Votair’s colors. A sickly yellow that was probably meant to emulate the emperor’s gold and failed miserably.

“The Overlord of our House has not invited your presence,” he informed her. “Please return to the arena below.”

Kira looked beyond him to Baran and a second of the emperor’s oshota. “Am I correct in assuming that none of their House can offer me violence?”

The question threw the two men off balance, their hesitation marked as Finn let out a weary sigh.

“You are,” Baran finally answered.

“Ah. Good.”

That simplified things.

Kira continued forward, trusting Votair’s oshota would move rather than allow her to bump into him. If that didn’t work, Kira was sure either Finn or Baran would move him for her.

Either way, he wouldn’t be able to stop her and judging from the sick look on his face, he knew that.

Bet he hadn’t ever seen an initiate use the rules in this fashion.

Jin’s giggles sounded through their comms as the oshota gave way, allowing Kira to step onto the level where the Overlord and his lackeys had made themselves comfortable.

Kira found herself the target of several hostile stares as she made her way to the Overlord’s side. There were none brave enough to obstruct her. Not with Baran and his fellow oshota shadowing her.

“This is not your place, Roake,” Terrel finally spoke. “Leave.”

There it was. A command.

He was stupider than Kira gave him credit for. Why he thought she’d listen to his orders when she hadn’t anybody else’s was beyond her.

“Nice view.” Kira whistled. “Much better than down below. Also, call me Kira. Roake sounds so impersonal.”

Kira flopped into the seat next to him, Finn moving to take a position at her back.

Ziva followed, squinting up at the oshota before adopting the same vigilant posture. Right down to the stoic mask he wore.

She was adorable. A tiny, fierce mini-Finn.

The Overlord aimed a pointed glance at the battle taking place on the arena floor. “I am surprised you have energy to waste up here.”

Kira pointed at where Joule was crouched behind his shield as his opponent hammered against it. Strain showed in Joule’s expression as his shield wobbled with each blow.

It looked like his opponent had an air affinity, striker class. The worst match up for Joule.

It wouldn’t be much longer until Joule’s shield collapsed.

“You mean because of that?” Kira asked with feigned surprise.

She pursed her lips as she stretched her legs out in front of her, crossing them at the ankle and relaxing into her seat.

It was a surprisingly comfortable fit, cradling her backside perfectly.

“Naw.” Kira poked at the cushion with a preoccupied expression before looking up. “He’s got this handled.”

A cry came from below as Joule’s shield collapsed. He burst forward, delivering a crippling blow before his opponent could recover from his surprise.

Another initiate stepped forward. “I challenge you.”

Terrel made a tsking sound. “Such a pity. It looks like your friend has angered a House he should not have.”

Kira didn’t let any emotion show as Terrel pretended at a sympathy that would have been more convincing if the boy who’d just challenged Joule wasn’t from Votair.

From underneath her sleeve, the lu-ong moved furtively. The blush color of its scales appearing as it stuck its head out from under her clothes.

Kira tensed, trying not to call notice to him as the lu-ong convulsed once and then again.

What the hell was Jin doing? Was he throwing up?

Impossible.

Though it certainly looked that way as the lu-ong continued to heave.

Kira fought to keep the disgust off her face as the lu-ong spat a thumbnail sized disk into her hand.

“I prepared a visual aid.” Jin sounded proud in their comms.

Kira unobtrusively wiped her palm against her pants, swearing in her mind. She couldn’t believe he made the lu-ong throw that thing up—and why was the disk covered in slime?

Terrel was still talking. Just chattering away not realizing Kira had stopped paying attention several minutes ago.

Finn did, though. His glare was hot enough to burn a hole into the side of her face.

Ziva looked confused.

“This has grown boring,” Kira declared, interrupting Terrel’s monologue.

Affront pulled his eyebrows down into a frown. “I beg your pardon.”

“He should,” Jin grumbled. “He’s annoying.”

“Do you know what I admire most about humans?” Kira asked. “They’re amazingly adaptive.”

Kira lifted the disk, hitting a button at the center and expanding the screen until it was a several inches wide.

“They have to be. They don’t have ki to make their lives easier. As a result, their creativity far outstrips that of the Tuann.”

Kira finished fussing with the disk as an image formed.

“For instance, this tiny device can pick up any feed that is streaming within a certain radius.”

A man standing behind Terrel started. “That’s the Dauntless.”

Kira pretended to be surprised. “That’s strange. I wonder why an image of your ship is being broadcasted for anyone to intercept.”

The man’s face closed down, but his gaze didn’t move as the image started to play.

Kira let out a low whistle as the camera moved over the ship, showing the fancy exterior of one of the newest ships in House Votair’s fleet.

The angle widened until the insignia of the House appeared.

“What is the meaning of this?” Terrel demanded.

“I wonder,” Kira chirpped in a sugary sweet voice.

“Stop this,” the man behind Terrel urged. “If you do anything to that ship, House Votair will seek recompense from Roake. You will start a war. Are you prepared for that?”

“I’m not afraid of war.” Kira relaxed into her chair. “Besides, for your Overlord to declare war on mine, he will need evidence. And as you can see, I am seated right next to you. I suspect you won’t find a scrap of evidence linking me to this. Though you’re welcomed to try.”

With a whoosh the interior of their flagship caught fire. Within seconds, it had turned the ship into a funeral pyre, flames licking up the side.

A pained sound escaped Terrel.

Lovely.

As always, Jin had given her a masterpiece. She knew without having to ask the accelerant would only affect the flagship. Any other ships in the vicinity would escape unscathed.

“Oof,” Kira pretended to wince. “That’s got to hurt. How much did your House spend on that ship? I hope it wasn’t much.”

Jin snickered. “Oh, it was. Most interestingly, it was bought with a recent influx of cash I’m having trouble tracing. What do you want to bet it comes from House Danai?”

Kira couldn’t have picked a better target if she’d tried.

Terrel’s body was shaking as fury poured off him. “You will pay for this.”

The levity dropped from Kira’s face, all the rage she’d been suppressing replacing it. “Like I said earlier, prove it.”

“You’re gloating,” he snarled.

“That doesn’t mean I’m guilty. Isn’t that right?” Kira tossed a look at Baran. “I’m simply a concerned citizen going out of her way to share intel with you.”

Quiet descended as those nearby stared at Kira with something approaching shock. She was sure none of those present had considered that angle.

She had, though. As did Jin. It was why they’d chosen this avenue of attack.

Jin hadn’t been idle while Kira was training. He’d spent the time looking into everything surrounding blood feuds and vendettas. One of the things he’d noticed was that clear evidence of fault was needed to spark a blood feud that involved the entire House. Let alone draw punishment from the emperor’s Justice.

That was a lot of wiggle room for someone as creative as Jin.

“My hands are clean,” Kira spat.

And they’d never prove otherwise.

Terrel and his companions were speechless as Baran stirred. “Her assessment is correct.”

On screen, the image reformed. A second ship took shape.

Terrel made a pained sound in the back of his throat that was music to Kira’s ears.

That’s it. That’s the reaction she was hoping for.

She didn’t know what it said about her that she was enjoying his pain, but she reveled in it. It was satisfying on a whole other level.

“You shouldn’t have touched the kid,” she told him.

Now, he had to pay. That’s just how it was.

“What do you want?”

Kira tapped a finger on the arm of her chair as she considered the fight taking place below.

Joule was still holding his own. His expression focused and intent as he fended off his opponent’s blows.

“So many things,” Kira said.

If it were up to her, the man beside her would lose a ship for every bruise or scrape Joule received.

Sadly, it would be unwise to take this too far.

Himoto taught her that a cornered beast was unpredictable. She needed to leave Terrel with an avenue of retreat or risk retaliation outside her expectations.

“But in this case, I’m sure you can guess,” Kira said with a sidelong glance.

His chin lifted. “If I refuse?”

On screen, the second ship caught fire.

Kira smiled. “I guess you’ll lose the rest of your fleet.”

It might take Jin a while, but eventually, one by one, every single ship belonging to his House would go to a fiery grave.

Below, Joule knocked his opponent unconscious.

An initiate stepped forth, his mouth opening.

Terrel exploded to his feet with a roar. “Enough!”

Kira uncrossed her legs and rose. “I thought you might see things my way.”

She sauntered toward the stairs.

“This isn’t over,” Terrel snarled.

“I think it is.” Kira paused at the top of the stairs to shoot a teasing smile his way. “If I’m wrong, that could be fun too.”

Finn and Ziva brought up the rear as Kira took her leave, departing from the box and descending toward the arena floor.

“This is disappointing. I was hoping he’d hold out for at least one more ship,” Jin whined. “I had a whole thing planned. It was going to be beautiful.”

“I would have liked to have seen that,” Kira said, reaching the floor of the arena.

She stepped onto the sands, advancing toward where Devon was congratulating an exhausted Joule. Raider and Elena had a head start on Kira and were already halfway across the sands.

Ziva stopped a few feet onto the arena floor. “I recognize that man.”

Kira looked back to find a serious look on the girl’s face. Ziva’s forehead was wrinkled in a frown as she stared down at the sands.

“My father, the Overlord of our House, and his First met with him several times right before.” Ziva stopped speaking, her expression threatening to crumple in a way that made any need for clarification unnecessary.

Before her House’s fall. Before her parents’ deaths and the loss of her world.

Ziva lifted her gaze to meet Kira’s. “My parents were always very angry after meeting him.”

Kira looked at Finn to find the oshota with a dark expression on his face. “Could Terrel and Votair have had anything to do with House Maxiim’s fall?”

As far as she knew, they’d been nearly wiped out by pirates. An admittedly unusual happenstance given the strength of the House but still within the realm of possibility.

Finn hesitated, his desire to deny her suggestion warring with the things he’d learned since being in Kira’s orbit. Things like how the Tuann weren’t immune to betrayal from within.

The faintly ill look on his face told Kira all she needed to know.

“I picked up a few interesting tidbits of information on Terrel and Votair while I was snooping,” Jin said. “From what I’ve gathered, Terrel is ambitious. Very ambitious. Word is he’s been trying to raise his House’s standing from that of a middle tier House to reach the power and status of one of the five Majors.”

“That’s not easy to achieve,” Kira guessed.

Finn shook his head. “No, it’s not. While Votair is considered a large House, I wouldn’t go so far to say it is close to becoming a major power.”

“How so?” Kira asked, not quite understanding how a House became a major one.

Finn paused to consider how best to explain. “If we were to judge based on the merit of numbers or size of territory, Votair would be considered more powerful than Roake.”

Kira blinked as she took that in. Was Roake that small? Or was Votair that big?

“Papa said to be considered a major House you had to be more than just strong,” Ziva chimed in. “You had to offer something that no other House had.”

Finn nodded. “It comes down to influence. Luatha is known far and wide as having the best artisans. Roake, the strongest warriors. Each of the Houses has something that sets it apart. Whether that is in the affinities of their bloodlines or the niche they’ve carved out for themselves. In that respect, House Maxiim was far closer to stepping into the ranks of a major House than Votair.”

Ziva’s nod was sad. “We were known for our ships.”

“Both the design and their ability to fuse the House’s shielding ability into its defenses were highly coveted among the rest of the Tuann,” Finn agreed.

That made their fall to space pirates more suspicious than it already was.

Kira had the fortune of meeting what remained of the House’s oshota when she’d saved Joule and Ziva. Though their warriors weren’t as highly trained as Roake’s, they were still skilled. A House filled with them shouldn’t have fallen so easily.

Unless things weren’t as simple as they appeared.

Movement behind Ziva attracted Kira’s attention as Selene and Alexander crossed the sands toward them.

Kira frowned. There was something her senses were trying to tell her that she wasn’t picking up on. At least not enough to understand this unsettling feeling that was growing by the second.

A looming disaster she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Did it have something to do with what Ziva and Finn shared?

Terrel and House Votair were at the center of things. That much she could be sure of.

While Kira was thinking, she caught sight of Terrel making his way down the same stairs Kira had a short time before. Instead of descending all the way to the arena floor, he stopped at the landing where the wall that separated the floor from the stands lay.

Rather than the defeat and anger she expected to see, Terrel seemed almost gloating. Victorious as he lifted his hand and set something on the wall.

At first Kira didn’t understand. Not until a low hum went through the arena as a force field rose from the wall all the way to the ceiling, cutting off those below from those standing above.

Baran and a few other oshota frowned and stepped forward, banging at the wall.

All the while Terrel smiled, his gaze moving over Kira’s shoulder to something behind her. She spun, scanning the arena floor.

The initiates hadn’t realized anything was wrong yet. Some cheered. Others were dissatisfied at Joule’s win.

Kira dismissed them, focusing on the single point of utter calm. Out of place in a sea of movement as the initiates milled around, chatting.

Renata’s features were perfectly blank. Eerily so. At least until a smile formed. Unnatural as the muscles in the rest of her face refused to move.

Her eyes were empty. A void where Renata’s personality should have been.

And it was hungry.

The thought triggered something in Kira, calling half remembered knowledge to the forefront.

Of a creature her fellow soldiers had once treated as myth. Stories of a bogeyman whose existence was proven only by the utter lack of survivors every time it was thought to have stepped onto the battlefield.

A class of Tsavitee Kira had thought was a hoax right up until the moment it almost killed her.

Face changer.

Renata’s smile continued to spread. Wider and wider until it looked like her face would rip in two.

And then it did.

Blood poured down her body as something climbed out of her skin. Those nearby froze in horror.

They should have run.

Kira launched forward, pounding across the sands as the creature stood upright.

Tall and spindly, it looked like it had been skinned as it flicked away a ribbon of flesh and threw its head back on a scream.

In a sense, it had.

Face changers were unnatural, requiring a seed to be inserted into a living victim. Eventually, that seed took root, growing the face changer within a host.

The most terrifying thing about them was the way they evolved through each life they claimed.

It was also why they were so tricky to fight. No two face changers evolved along the same path. Each one reacted to the stimuli in their environment to become something totally unique.

This one was at stage one of its evolutionary path.

To avoid a blood bath, Kira needed to ensure it didn’t evolve any further.

Closer to Joule and the rest, Raider cursed, coming to the same conclusion a second after Kira.

“Get away from it!” he screamed at Joule, Devon, and the rest who were only a few feet from it.

Joule and Devon backed away quickly.

The rest of the initiates were slow to react as the creature’s arm lengthened, becoming a thin spear. It stabbed them in the back as they tried to flee.

“Damn it,” Kira ground out.

Every death fed it, enabling it to get one step closer to the next evolution.

“Stay here,” Raider shouted at Elena before dashing toward Joule and Devon.

Kira fought to make up the distance, Finn at her back.

“Don’t you dare,” Kira shouted when it looked like Elena wasn’t going to heed her father’s advice. She reached her niece in the next second. “Protect Ziva.”

With them cut off from the oshota, they were going to have to rely on themselves. As the youngest, Ziva would be the most vulnerable. The face changer would target her.

Elena gave Kira a sharp nod, reversing course and racing toward the girl who was already trying to follow Kira into danger.

By now, the arena floor had descended into chaos. The initiates scattering in several directions.

Raider was almost to Devon and Joule as the pair raced in his direction. Behind them, the face changer finished with its victim.

Slowly. So slowly that it was terrifying, its face turned in Devon and Joule’s direction. The same smile it had worn when it was covered in its Renata-skin formed. This time with needle-sharp teeth.

For all that it had two slits where its eye sockets should have been, the face changer looked blind. There was no nose. Its face flat except for the protruding curve of its forehead and bald head.

“Shield!” Kira screamed as it slammed its hands and feet against the ground, loping after Devon and Joule almost too fast for the eye to track.

Devon broke away, lifting his blade to meet the face changer head on.

“No!” Kira shouted as Devon struck.

His blade sliced through the air, sinking into the creature’s shoulder. There it lodged.

The creature’s face split in a rictus grin.

Devon let go of the sword, one hand sketching a symbol before he whistled. The sound piercing.

Two invisible blades of wind cleaved the air in front of him. Blood spattered as the creature’s arms fell from its body.

That wouldn’t be enough. Not by a long shot

“Kira, hold out as long as possible,” Jin said through the lu-ong. “I’m coming.”

Kira didn’t get the chance to answer as a spear made of bone shot from the face changer’s chest. It pierced Devon’s upper torso.

He staggered, held upright by the spear.

Kira cursed the distance that still lay between her and Devon as he reached up to grab the spear with one hand.

She was too far.

Raider reached them in the next second, a glowing blade in his hand. He sliced the spear, breaking it and grabbing Devon’s shoulder in the other hand to shove him backward.

Joule was quick with a shield. It bubbled around them as Devon collapsed. His blood spread in a pool across the sand as Raider stood over him, blade in hand. Joule was beside them, his face arranged in lines of concentration.

It bought Kira the time she needed to reach between them. She shoved a hand forward, mustering every bit of ki she could.

It deflected off the energy field that suddenly surrounded the face changer, most of the force rebounding.

Kira dodged, but Joule had to take the brunt of the impact since he couldn’t abandon Devon.

That’s what she hated most about these bastards. They were always so damn unpredictable. It made them almost impossible to fight.

Thankfully, the force of her ki knocked the face changer backward. It landed in a heap twenty feet away, giving the lu-ong time to drop from Kira’s wrist and slither toward Devon where Raider was doing his best to perform first aid.

Kira followed Jin, leaving the face changer to Finn.

She’d made it only a few steps before a second face changer ripped its way free of Notus.

Kira let out a heartfelt curse. She should have expected that. She hadn’t and now she’d have to scramble to keep up.

Kira reached for her blade, cursing when she found the replica.

Fuck.

Her only weapon was useless. How was she supposed to fight these things without a sword in her hand?

The face changers and the people pulling their strings couldn’t have chosen a better venue or moment for their attack.

While she was distracted, the initiates in the second face changer’s vicinity fled. They’d learned from the previous victims.

“Finn, if you kill that thing, will it respawn in the waiting room,” Kira shouted, sprinting at the second face changer.

Finn snarled. “No. My en-blade is still mine.”

Kira had no more time as the face changer leapt to meet her with a bellow. It swiped at her head with a set of claws the length of her hand.

Kira ducked below his reach to sink a fist into its side.

His torso was spongy, swallowing her hand up to her wrist.

She tugged, finding her fist caught fast.

Pain prickled along her knuckles in warning. She tore her hand free as tiny, thin spears shot after them.

Dots of blood oozed from the surface of her skin where she hadn’t been quite quick enough to avoid getting stabbed.

Screams came as another face changer bloomed like a caterpillar from the cocoon of its host.

Selene’s face was a mask of determination as she stepped forward, one of the largest shields Kira had seen in a long time forming a dome around her. “To me!”

The initiates fled toward Selene, the shield parting to allow them through. Elena and Ziva were among them.

Selene said something to Elena. Her niece nodded, shoving Ziva between the two of them before whirling to face the rest of the initiates. She drew her dagger, standing guard as Selene gave her attention to maintaining the shield.

“That’s my girl,” Kira said with pride.

Trust Elena to understand what the rest of the initiates still didn’t. That the only thing standing between them and a grisly death was Selene.

Allowing the initiates into her shield was a risk. Several had already lost themselves to the seeds within. There was no guarantee there weren’t other face changers hiding among them.

Elena had thought far enough ahead to ensure Ziva couldn’t be used as a hostage, sandwiching her between herself and Selene.

It freed Kira up to concentrate fully on destroying the face changers before they evolved further.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kira caught the confrontation taking place in the stands as Baran and several other oshota confronted Terrel. A few warriors were trying to bring down the barrier, but Kira could already tell they wouldn’t be in time to be of any help.

They were on their own.