19. Freefall

Niko was stunned. Words left him as he gaped, wounded, at the other man. There was no warmth in his eyes. Elliott only stared at him now with cold contempt.

So, he truly hated Niko now.

“Elliott, wait—” He had to get it out, at the very least. Had to apologize. But Elliott was in a frigid fury and wouldn’t let him get a word in.

“No. This is over. I don’t want you here. We’re not partners, we’re not friends. We’re not anything. You need to get out of this facility and never fucking come back. You’re not a part of this anymore. Do you understand?” His voice grew louder with every word until he practically spat them at Niko. His hands trembled as they gripped the edge of the island.

Niko flinched. The contempt Elliott obviously had for him right then wounded him in a way he couldn’t define. It was everywhere, inside him. He felt lost. But most of all, he felt he couldn’t even blame Elliott for his disdain—Niko had fucked up. Badly. And it very nearly cost them everything. He’d made stupid, sloppy, arrogant mistakes that on his own, Elliott never would have. All because he wouldn’t—couldn’t—turn back when he should have. He wasn’t helping Elliott clean up Honeybliss. He was only hindering.

He had ruined everything.

Elliott’s words on Valaevanas haunted him. All you’re doing is getting in my way. It’s all you’ve ever done.

Shame and agony burned a scorching fire through him. If Niko was going to go, he had to at least apologize. If he left without ever being able to do that, he would never be able to sleep again. “Elliott, I just want to talk about this. If—if you want me to go, I’ll go. But I wanted to say I’m—”

“Don’t you see, Niko?” Elliott said. He sounded a little wild, voice tense and hoarse. “I always fucking ruin everything. And if you try to stay and help me with this, I’m only going to ruin you too. I already have, by making you lose your brother and father and colleagues. And now you almost died, too. You said yourself that this only ends one way. You never should have saved me from your brother. You never should have helped me. You should have left me to fucking die like I deserve.”

Wait. What?

Niko stared at him, a new kind of horror webbing throughout his body. “Elliott? What are you talking about?”

“I almost got you killed. And it’s a matter of when now, not if. Anything else is wishful thinking. You need to leave. Now. Go find a safehouse that won’t fuck you over. Get a new ID like you mentioned. Anything. But I don’t want you here anymore.”

Oh.

Somehow—somehow—Elliott blamed himself for it all. How he’d ever managed to come to that conclusion, Niko couldn’t understand. Everything that had gone wrong had been due to his own mistakes, Elliott forced to keep up and pivot to match Niko’s stubborn advance.

Elliott’s whole body had given to trembling now; the man almost looked like he was suffering from hypothermia.

“Elliott, no. That’s not what—”

“I’m not good for you. I’m not good for anyone.” Niko was growing exasperated at being cut off. “You should get away from me. Everyone else did. Maybe you can tell Galapol—”

“LISTENto me for one fucking second, Elliott!” Niko hated having to shout, but he’d had no choice. The other man wasn’t giving him an inch, rapidly descending into hysteria.

Elliott flinched, but fell quiet.

Niko softened his voice. “Please just let me speak. I actually came here to apologize to you. Everything that happened tonight was on me. It was my fault—”

“No—”

“Let. Me. Talk.” He waited a second, but Elliott acquiesced. “It was. It was my fault. I should have listened to you. If we’d done things your way, we would have retreated like any other operation when things get dicey. You’re a survivor, Elliott. You’re so smart. And I’m just a fucking idiot. I—I’ve always had trouble knowing when to stop. I don’t know how to back down. I’ve gotten myself hurt, and broken, and beaten again and again and again because of it. But until now, it’s only ever just been me at the mercy of that carelessness.

“I’m not used to working with a partner. Neither of us are. But now, when I do something reckless, it’s not just me who gets hurt. It’s you, too. And I caused that today. I was too proud and too confident to back down when it was time to, and you would be dead now because of me if not for… whatever the fuck that was.”

The cold rage slowly dissipated from Elliott. It was like watching a blizzard give way to clear air. He looked exhausted and hurt now, staring down at the gun pieces instead of looking at Niko.

“Iam so sorry, Elliott. I’m sorry any of this happened. I thought you were pissed at me for it. You would have had every right to be. I thought you were telling me to leave because of the pain I’d caused you and the risk I’d put you through. Not the other way around. There is no other way around.”

Elliott swallowed, his Adam”s apple bobbing. After a moment, he reached up and covered his face with his hand.

When he spoke, it wasn’t the mounting panic and anger from before. His voice came quietly now. “I tried to kill him. The officer.”

Fourier. Niko blinked. “I wasn’t going to let that happen, Elliott.”

Elliott lowered his hand back to the counter. He looked ill. “But I would have done it. If you hadn’t. I would have killed him. I’d chosen to. I crossed that line. And now he’s dead and everyone thinks I did it anyway. It’s going to be all over the news that I’m killing police officers.”

“Why does that bother you so much?” Niko asked, keeping his voice gentle. Kestrel had been so apathetic towards his mangled history from Zann’s files. He’d been aware that Galapol and the public alike saw him as an unhinged monster that he never was. What was one more lie tossed into it all?

“Because I’ve tried so hard,” Elliott said, “to do this without anyone getting killed who isn’t Honeybliss. It was the only dignity I had left. They took everything from me. Even myself. But when I died at the end of it all, they would never be able to say I killed anyone except exactly the ones I’d meant to. They could never take that from me. Even if no one ever understands why I’m doing this, I would rest easy knowing, except when we’d had no choice, that I never took a life that wasn’t someone who abused and ruined others. I don’t even know what I am now.”

Niko ached. “You were scared. You were angry. You were in a terrifying, awful situation. And Fo— The cop escalated.” Niko refused to say his name. The last thing he wanted was to compound Elliott’s guilt. “He shouldn’t have done that. Galapol officers receive training to keep everyone calm during tense situations.”

Elliott said nothing. Niko made his way around the island to be by his side. “Hey. Come here.”

Elliott went to him. Niko expected him to sit in his lap, anticipated wrapping him in his arms. But instead, Elliott quietly sank to his knees. He rested his head on Niko’s thighs, eyes closed. He held onto Niko’s legs. It was shockingly tender, almost reverent.

Niko stroked his wild, golden hair slowly in silence, then spoke. “Do you want to know what you’re not, Elliott?”

“Please tell me.” His voice was quiet, muffled against the fabric of Niko’s pants.

“You’re not the one who killed that Galapol officer. Or any of them. Since you started, you still haven’t killed anyone who isn’t Honeybliss or who hasn’t given you a choice, like the safehouse ambush. That hasn’t changed. You may have thought about it. You might have wanted to. You might have even tried. But in the end, you didn’t kill him. It wasn’t you. That’s not who you are. That’s not meant for you.”

“I feel like I’m losing my mind. What if it happens again?”

“Then I’ll be there to stop you then, too. I’ve got you, Elliott, if you still want me here.”

Elliott finally raised his head to look at Niko. “I don’t want you to leave. But you’re such a good person. I would hate myself if you lost your life because of me. Because of this. I don’t know what I would do. You’re one of the most beautiful and incredible people I’ve ever met, Niko. I’m in awe of you.”

The words shook Niko to his core. He swallowed back a lump of emotion, his eyes stinging. No one had ever said anything like that to him. About him. And to hear it from Elliott of all people made its impact take deep root in Niko’s soul.

“You’re lovely, Niko.”

Those words were going to stay with him for the rest of his life.

“Let’s…” It was hard to speak. His throat felt raw. “Let’s take care of each other instead of turning on one another when things get bad, alright?”

“You’re right.”

“This is new territory for both of us, I think. You’ve worked alone this whole time and so have I, ever since I had my bearings as a hunter. I’ll look out for you, Elliott. When it gets bad and you want to turn your gun on somebody who isn’t one of them, I’ll be there to remind you who you are. And when I don’t know when to take a step back, I need you there to remind me so I don’t get us both hurt. Can you do that with me?”

“I can do that. I want to.”

“We’re both fucking incredible at what we do. We should be using that. Playing off each other’s strengths and taking this whole galaxy on, side by side. But we need to make up for each other’s weaknesses too. It won’t work out, otherwise.”

The encouragement seemed to ground Elliott. He nodded and stood, then slipped into Niko’s lap. Niko was finally able to give him the hug he’d longed to.

“I’ll try, Niko.”

“Are you sure you still want to do any of this? We could always just go to Eanan instead. Hang out on the beach and get drunk off rum and tequila. Blast some Kuliedi Taan while we watch the sunset. Tell the galaxy to go fuck itself.”

That earned a small, but sad little smile from Elliott. “I’d like that. I want to build stupid sandcastles with you.”

“Why do I have a feeling you’d come stomp all over mine and start a war?”

Elliott’s smile grew, some of the sorrow exorcised from it. “Only because mine would be better. You have to establish dominance by being the first one to strike. That’s basic sand kingdom superiority.”

There you are.

Niko kissed him on the temple. They sat in silence for a while as Niko held him.

“Today took a lot out of me,” Elliott admitted finally. “I think I’m going to make some dinner.”

“Okay,” said Niko. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“I’ll cook,” Elliott said. “You can get cleaned up or just rest.” He stood and turned to face Niko, hesitating for a moment before reaching out to cup his cheek with his warm hand.

Niko couldn’t help but tilt his head, leaning into the touch.

“It’s been a long time, Niko, since I’ve had anyone on my side. I think I’m still remembering what it is to have someone near who cares.”

“It’s alright, Elliott. I just want us to be okay.”

“We’re okay, lover.”

Left on his own now, Niko glanced around the room. This wasn’t where he’d wanted to be—surrounded by the reminders of the day’s events through weaponry, blueprints, and Honeybliss portraiture. Duuru Orkan stared at him from his photograph. Niko wheeled back out of the room and turned down a different hallway than usual, continuing until he found a small lounge area, with a U-shape of cushy benches and big windows that looked out into the perpetual night.

Maybe someone, somewhere, had once thought adding big windows here would be soothing or picturesque when they’d designed and constructed the facility. But it only served as a reminder to Niko that he was mere feet away from an empty solar system of vast, cold nothingness.

Wonder if the workers here threw a party when they were told to pack up.

He felt all out of sorts. Greela Gardens of Haneen, and his subsequent altercation with Elliott. Duuru Orkan. Bubblegum, Fourier, Zann. It had all left Niko drained to the marrow. And now, he had learned that Zann was punished for Niko’s own actions. Discomfort and trepidation seized him as he thought to confront what he’d put off since leaving Zann behind on Neema.

Niko opened his phone hologram, fingers trembling. Initially, it had been too much to bear. By the time he’d finished his call with Baouban, fleeing with an unconscious Elliott by his side, his phone had started ringing nonstop. When it wasn’t ringing, texts so numerous he couldn’t keep track of their number anymore relentlessly pinged at him. The galaxy had quickly found out that he’d flipped sides to save the life of the man who had murdered their leaders.

This time, there was no Zann to intercept the onslaught of calls. He’d switched it to Do Not Disturb mode, shut it off, and hadn’t been willing to look at it since.

The hologram hovered before him now, casting the already weird lounge in uncanny artificial blue. Niko’s incoming calls notification was capped out at 999+, his texts the same. He swallowed back a growing lump of anxiety and opened the text interface, then scrolled through thousands of messages from unknown numbers, refusing to open any.

He tried to avoid giving them much thought or attention, but occasionally the compressed preview of some caught his eye. The messages were endless.

You’re a piece of shit.

You are a fucking murderer and I hope that y

WHY??? I HOPE SOMEONE ASSASSINATES YOU TOO

I represent VYYW News and would like to talk

Heard your mom got unalived. GOOD. YOU DESER

i hope u die u sick fuck

Kaana Nunnde from TWJ Media here. Can I ask

Niko, my name is Hala Vani with GNN. Are you

you assholes deserve each other

Your disgusting why would you help someone l

Hi Niko, I’m a representative of StarSeam an

you had a chance to help people but instead

I hope your family dies I hope they all get

Cerulean News would like to talk with you r

ur a fucking monster.

I’m glad your family died. You deserve it.

He didn’t know how so many people had gotten his number. A leak, maybe. It didn’t matter. The messages about his family made him sick, white-hot rage building like a heavy stone. He forced himself to keep scrolling through the endless onslaught, until, finally, a familiar name appeared.

Loolae. He hesitated, then opened her messages.

Niko. I heard about what happened. I don’t know why you’ve done this. And it’s probably unwise to even write to you. But I’ve known you for a long time as a genuinely good person and a friend, and will maintain the hope that I am ignorant to something more in your situation that led you to where you are now.

Whatever is really going on, be safe.

After Loolae, he eventually found his father. It was almost too much to open his messages; several times, Niko contemplated leaving them unread.

Niko??

Please Niko, tell me this is a joke.

Please tell me they”ve gotten something wrong and it”s not really you.

Why would you do something like this?

Niko, why are you hurting people? What”s going on?

Why are you doing this?

Please answer your phone.

If we just talk I can help you. Maybe we can speak about it all. I think you need help, Niko. Maybe there”s something I didn”t see before and you”ve been unwell. Something I missed and I”m sorry if so. Please just talk to me.

Niko, why are you doing this?

Happy birthday, Niko, wherever you are.

Oliver’s texts stopped there, the last dated weeks ago on the birthday Niko had all but forgotten about. He closed his eyes, the hurt of his father’s pleading messages seeping in beneath his skin. He wanted to respond, to apologize, to explain it wasn’t what any of it seemed. As he reached up to type, his hands froze. What if he somehow made things worse for Oliver by reaching out to him? Got him in some sort of trouble with the law or roped him in? After all, Zann had already suffered the consequences of Niko’s choices. He couldn’t bear to let something similar happen to his father too.

Niko closed his text interface.

Finally, he found Zann. His messages weren’t from his usual contact—rather, they appeared to come from a burner phone. Smart.

this is zann

fuck you niko

He’d been drinking when he wrote that one. Niko knew his tells—the man had a disdain for poor grammar, but his own seemed to slip when he got drunk regardless.

we both know i shouldnt be contacting you but just want to let you know your little neema stunt got me put on indefinite hiatus so thanks for that

asshole

now they have me under investigation because of the shit i sent you

i hope the dick was worth it. that better have been the best lay of your entire fucking life

well when youre ready to stop hiding away like a little bitch lets talk. ps dads getting death threats now but im taking care of it

Niko winced. Death threats. Everyone close to him was getting trampled by his actions. Elliott, Zann, their father.

In joining with Elliott, he had a chance to give countless forgotten victims justice. And he could prevent anyone else from ever falling prey to bored and sick elites with too much power and too little conscience.

But at what cost?

He sent a message to Zann’s burner phone. Let’s talk.

Almost instantly, a reply pinged through.

NIKO.

Niko’s fingertips hovered over the keyboard interface. He was suddenly at a loss. There was so much to say and he didn’t know where to start. Zann beat him to the punch though, seeming eager not to lose the rare contact Niko had reestablished.

You have pulled some utterly batfuck crazy shit lately, Niko. But I know you and I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are not a cop killer.

I’m not, Niko typed back quickly. We didn’t do that. He doesn’t kill anyone who isn’t Honeybliss. It was another hunter who wanted to spike the bounty. She killed Duuru Orkan too. This is turning into a big clusterfuck.

It’s been a big clusterfuck from the start, Zann sent. What’s her name?

I don’t know. She never said. She was on Vhesa Station too and made civilian casualties. She can’t possibly be registered.

Description, then?

Human. Short, skinny. Dark eyes, pale skin, and bright pink hair.

I’ll look into it, Zann wrote.

Thanks. Niko paused, heart seizing, before he made himself write it. How’s Dad?

Not great. I’ve been staying with him though so he’s not alone. Galapol might hate me right now but I got them to post guards and snipers around the place in case anybody tries something cute. I haven’t told him any names or details but I mentioned there’s more to the situation going on than I can legally talk about and that you aren’t out just senselessly killing random politicians. That seemed to help. A little.

Niko sighed. Thanks for looking out for him.

Sure. You keeping tabs on the news lately?

Unease crawled through his gut. Not really, honestly. Why?

Check it out. You’re suddenly everywhere at once. Shit’s getting weirder by the day.

The unease turned to oily nausea. Niko glanced up and out of the thick window; the empty, frozen night stared back at him, unchanging. He opened the newsfeed on his phone and moved its hologram next to Zann’s messages. Story after story filled his view. There had been new kills attributed to Elliott today and the day before: a Gheroun senator on the verge of retirement, an up-and-coming young Xermotl actress who was in critical condition and not looking great, and a Dvaab assistant film director, Nualan’ttee’for’nana’selvannt—the only one on the list to actually fall among Honeybliss’s roster. Niko recognized his ugly, green little face immediately.

He was shocked. He scrolled down to a video of what bizarrely looked like Elliott—a man who could be his twin, with blond hair that hung around his face, lithe figure, and black tactical clothes. His visage was obscured from view by a pair of dark goggles and bandanna. He aimed a sniper rifle at someone out of view. It was footage, apparently, from the senator’s murder.

This wasn’t just a copycat. People were intentionally passing as him now, the goal to sow confusion. They had gotten the same idea Bubblegum had: driving the bounty higher. And whoever this man was, he likely wasn’t the only one. Two of the murders had happened around the same time in vastly different parts of the galaxy. It was possible they were working in tandem—or maybe they’d just had the same idea.

Innocent people were dying now, caught up in this ever-evolving game.

Elliott was going to lose his shit. Niko had no doubt. If Galapol agents losing their lives in the chaos had been enough to stir up his self-hatred, learning that civilians were now being targeted and killed just to manipulate the price on his head was going to send him into a meltdown. Especially when, for all the public knew, he was the one killing them.

Zann, you have to convince them to cancel the bounty, he sent.

The reply came back almost instantly. Zann had always been a formidably fast typer to keep up with. The bounty is out of their jurisdiction by this point. It’s a big interstellar contribution between all the corporations, foundations, and worlds your boyfriend pissed off. And frankly, it’s not clear which ones are you guys and which are copycats. Whoever’s doing it is doing a good fucking job. Even got the look down. I know you can clarify it for me, but what the fuck am I going to tell Galapol when they start asking how I know any of this?

Niko rubbed his face. They had to do something. Letting innocent people get killed due to his and Elliott’s work wasn’t acceptable. And Elliott’s dignity was corroded every time someone dressed up as him and made that inexorable kill.

They needed people to know.

To know what Honeybliss was, and why Elliott—and himself, now—were targeting them. To know that the justice they carried out on their own was intentional, focused, protecting the galaxy from it ever happening again. And that these other kills weren’t a part of their mission. They had to work in honesty and stand true.

There was someone who might just be capable of getting their message out from one end of the galaxy to the other. Someone he’d been running from for too long.

He—

The lounge door slid open behind him and Elliott stepped in.

“There you are. Dinner’s...” He paused and stared at the holograms in front of Niko. At the news and texts beside them. At Zann’s name above them all.

Niko flushed with horror. Instinct urged him to quickly close it all out, to try and make it vanish before he could get a proper look. But doing so would only serve to make him look suspicious, like he had something to hide from Elliott. Instead, he turned the chair around to face him.

“You’re talking to Zann.” It was half statement, half question. “Why?”

“Elliott, hey,” Niko began, working his voice as soft and gentle as possible. “Can you sit down with me for a second?”

Elliott hesitated.

“Please?”

The other man finally relented, walking over and lowering himself onto one of the padded benches. He sat straight-backed and elegant, hands folded neatly in his lap as he stared at Niko.

Niko struggled to find how to tell him. “I messaged him, yeah. I needed to know what was going on and speak to him. The last time we spoke was before— Well—”

“Right.”

“He’s not with Galapol anymore. Once they learned he’d sent me all the internal research on your case under the table, he got put under investigation and let go. He led me to some updates on what’s going on right now, though. And you’re not going to like this, but hear the whole thing out, because I have an idea on how to fix it.”

Elliott looked exhausted. To his credit, he merely nodded. Niko imagined him bracing himself as he sat there. He wanted to hold him, to pick him up and carry him off to their bed and envelop him for this conversation. But this was going to have to do instead.

“Other people are getting the same idea out there as Bubblegum. They want to drive up the bounty in any way they can.” He could already see Elliott’s eyes dimming with pain as the other man drew inward.

“They’ve gotten pretty smart about it too, unfortunately,” Niko continued. “So they’re making new kills, pretending to be you. Most of their victims are just innocent people. But they got Nual—uh, Nualan—the Dvaab director too.”

“Well. At least they’re making our job on that front easier,” Elliott forced out, his tone lifeless. He looked ill.

“We can stop this, Elliott. We just need people to know what we’re doing and why. We need them to know about Honeybliss. It’s time they had their shit brought into the light anyway. We need people to know that we’re not linked to the imitation killings and that we don’t condone them. And we need to do it in a way that neither Galapol nor Honeybliss can intercept and silence.”

“Oh, if I’d known it was that simple all along…” Elliott said flatly.

“I know someone capable of doing it.”

“Oh?” His tone remained lifeless, clipped. Niko could tell he wasn’t letting himself get his hopes up. He was almost afraid of getting his own hopes up, too. There had been a reason he hadn’t tried this route before. It was a dangerous path, one full of confronting and navigating old connections he wasn’t so sure were friends any longer.

Even disregarding the bounty that was on his head now.

“Yeah. There’s a woman I used to know that people call Lady Death. She was a revolutionary of the Sala nation on Heenva, back in their civil war.”

“I read about that,” Elliott said. “The war.” He lit up suddenly, eyes going wide. “The revolution won because they were able to hack transmission towers their government had locked down and sent a plea for aid across the galaxy. I actually wrote about it a little in my thesis.”

“Yep,” Niko said, his chest warm with blossoming pride, despite any unresolved business that still lay unaddressed between himself and Death. “That was her.”

Elliott blinked at him. “Do you think—”

“That this might actually work? Yeah. I do.”

“But how? I told you, I’ve already tried to get this out to networks. I even tried to hack—”

“Listen,” Niko said firmly, eyes focused on the other man’s. “You know what she did before. And she has connections no one else in this galaxy does. She’s incredibly influential and people respect her. She has a lot of friends in high places. I think she could pull strings and actually get past Honeybliss’s connections in the media. It’s a matter of both what she can do, and who she knows. We can’t get that anywhere else.”

“And you think she won”t end up like another Baouban?”

The truth was, Niko couldn”t say. But he opted for hope. “I”ve never known anyone as honorable as her. Money never mattered to her in the way it did most people in the black market. If there”s anyone who would still be willing to overlook our bounties, it”s her.”

“That’s—that’s great, Niko.”

Elliott was like a different person now, full of light and enthusiasm, eyes bright. In his excitement, he seemed younger. Knowing he was the one to bring that change out after such an excruciating day brought a contagious smile to Niko as well. They had a chance. They had a real chance to combat this from spiraling out of control and taking more innocent lives.

And they had a chance to show everyone just who Honeybliss really was—and why Elliott Kestrel was so driven to change the galaxy forever.

Sure, Niko hadn’t spoken to Lady Death in over three years. Sure, he’d ghosted her without repaying the precious favor he’d owed to her. And sure, there was a chance she’d turn out like Baouban. Or want his head on a decorative spike for the honorable debt he’d left unpaid. She was only one of the most formidable players in the entire galactic underworld. Niko could handle it.

Probably.

“Wait, but— How do you know the Revolutionary of Sala?”

“After the war was won, she went into bounty hunting.” Niko grinned. “She taught me almost everything I know.”

Elliott blinked at him, eyes full of fascination and awe. Niko found him so beautiful in all his forms, but the rare open and expressive version of him Niko liked best. It felt a little like he was being let into something deeply private, and shown the Elliott who dwelt beneath the years of pain and solitude.

“I expect this story in full,” he said.

Niko smiled. “Over dinner, maybe? I just realized how hungry I am.”

Niko lay in the bed they shared. Beside him, Elliott slept. He looked peaceful—beautiful—in his sleep, all the burdens and all the pain of the day lifted from him in the mercy of slumber. Niko couldn’t stop looking at him. They were so fortunate to be here, to be alive. A stray golden wisp had fallen into his face and Niko gently brushed it back. When it fell again seconds later, he couldn’t help but smile, a deep warmth radiating through him. He was so lucky. Despite everything. Despite the cost of it all. He was so fortunate to be sleeping beside this man.

There was nowhere else Niko would rather be.

He had never been so enraptured by another man before. Even when he’d tried to resist it, Niko had only found himself falling harder.

He lamented the pain that had led Elliott to cross paths with him. But he was grateful, too, that he’d had the chance at all. He had traded the entire galaxy for one man and found he’d make the same choice again and again and again.

Niko summoned his phone hologram, careful not to wake Elliott with its pervading light.

There were several missed texts from Zann, spread across the evening and night.

Niko? You still with me?

Did I lose you?

Thought you’d want to know in case you don’t see the news—looks like the Xermotl actress is going to make it after all.

Listen. I want to talk to you. In person. There’s a lot that needs to be said between us and I’m not doing that over a phone. You’re my brother and my best friend. I owe you some truths, and frankly, you owe me a metric shit ton of them too.

The Duna Memorial on Celelast. Tomorrow. Just you and me.

Be there, Niko.

It could be a trap. It could. Niko knew it. The whole thing could be an elaborate setup orchestrated by Galapol as a way to bait Niko out.

But Niko didn’t think it was. It didn’t feel like it was. Since the day their family had been irreversibly shattered, Niko had had one constant in his life—a brother in blood and soul alike. Zann.

He had to believe in him. He had to know Zann was being sincere. Faith was a choice, and in a galaxy of serpents, it was often the naive one—the wrong one—to make. But he chose it anyway. Niko would believe in his brother, just like he’d chosen to believe in Elliott Kestrel.

I’ll be there,Niko wrote. He closed the hologram and the room was drowned in shadow once more.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, until Elliott’s features grew clearer to him again. Niko reached out and stroked his thumb along Elliott’s cheek, then brushed back the unruly strand again with tenderness. A moment later it fell back into place, stubborn and resilient as its owner.

Niko was in freefall now.

And he was falling, maybe, into something deeper.