Nalini felt them before the alarms were raised. She woke with a start and rushed to wake Kronos up; no need, the child had jumped down from his bed and was already tying his boots.

“We need to get out of here. Now.”

Something was coming, something big with thousands of souls, all intending destruction. Kai’s armies, she supposed. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—be in the base when they descended upon them, because there was no way in hell she was going to protect the loyalists.

Kronos was ready in minutes; they left all their belongings, just taking the clothes on their backs.

They were halfway through to the tunnels, walking as fast as they could without being obvious in their intention, when a high-pitched siren sounded. In no time, there were soldiers running everywhere, none of whom were paying them any mind, until one rushed to her, calling her name like they were familiar.

Veli Hora. She closed her eyes and counted to ten; by the time he was at her side, her features betrayed nothing more than mild distaste, rather than her desire to crush him with her bare hands.

“Where are you going? There’s no time. We’ve ordered an evacuation,” he said, dragging her where he’d just come from. “Let me put you in my transport. It’s safest.”

She took her hand back and stood her ground. “Yours?” She laughed. “I don’t think so.”

Veli stilled, watching her closely.

“Look, whatever you’ve heard, I don’t intend to harm you. I never touch ladies. Only slaves.”

She hadn’t heard a thing about him, but each word coming out of his pretty mouth confirmed the gut feeling she’d had about him from the very start.

“You,” he said, “I’ve never seen a female as precious as you. My intentions are entirely honorable. But now is not the time to do this. Just get in a transport and head to safety. This is no simple raid. The Imperials are attacking with weapons we can’t even identify.”

Her eyes widened. After a beat, she took a step back and turned on her heels. “I’ll take my chances, thanks.”

She heard him make his move, and Nalini smiled. There ended pretense. It didn’t matter anyway; she was done with the loyalists’ crap, for good.

When he attempted to grab her, she took hold of his arm instead, pulling it to her with all the strength a year fighting with warriors had infused in her small frame. Then she leaped, jumping to his shoulder, breaking his arm. A guttural scream escaped him as she kicked his face, hard, breaking his nose. He fell, unconscious.

He deserved all that and more.

Despite the alarm, everyone in their immediate area had stopped moving, staring wordlessly. She’d not used any magic, not here, and she didn’t need it against scum like him. Still, they stared in awe; she was nothing, just an irrelevant healer in gray whom they’d seen running around for a couple of weeks. And she’d taken on one of their highest commanders like he was a weakling.

Nalini spotted Heio amongst the crowd. She didn’t mind the foot soldier. Actually, she didn’t mind most of the lowly males and females around the base. They didn’t seem to have much of an opinion; they just knew Kai had attacked their home, and they’d joined a group that swore to defend it. She hadn’t heard demeaning, racist, or sexist comments from them. And then, there were also the slaves. She doubted Veli had arranged transports for them.

“I’ll be leaving this hole through the neko den,” she informed them. “The beasts won’t be a problem. If you don’t want to take on the Imperials by air, follow me.”

She made one quick detour along the way. Standing in front of the locked doors of three bunkers, Nalini hesitated. She was no hacker. There was only one way to open those doors without a key. Magic.

The doors burst open before she did a thing about it. Turning to her left, she saw Kronos, hand outstretched, his signature yellow energy in hand.

There were terrified whispers behind them. The boy! The boy is a mage.

She opened her mouth to ask why he’d done this, but closed it again. She knew why. Kronos was tired of hiding; he’d been tired for a long time now. But she hadn’t been ready to expose herself, and he knew it. She’d protected the boy for so long, it was strange to see him return the favor now.

She smiled as the stunned slaves. Some of them had scattered when they’d seen magic. Those who were left would live.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Kronos destroyed the door at the end of the tunnel; the other side was dark and cold.

“You’re sure about this?” Heio asked.

“No,” she lied.

There was nothing she feared inside this cave. The only thing she feared was her own race.

“Let’s go.”

Some stayed back, returning to their stations; a dozen soldiers and all the slaves followed her down the endless maze of tunnels.

They braced themselves, expecting death at each step, but no felines crossed their path; they didn’t even go anywhere close to the nekos’ den. Heio and the others talked of luck, but Kronos smiled knowingly, seeing Nalini’s eyes remaining amber in the darkness.

The felines had been very, very close, but, at her bidding, they remained in the shadows, despite the temptation of their flesh. Oh, how the beasts liked the smell of their flesh. Nalini could almost feel their hunger.

Underneath it all, she felt something else, too.

She turned back toward the caves when they’d reached the other side of the mountain.

It was calling to her, would have said her name if it had known how to speak.

“You look like you’re considering something extremely stupid,” Kronos said. “Please, tell me I’m wrong.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stay with the group, unless they look like they want to burn you at the pyre. I won’t be long.”

“Unless the Imperials bomb the mountain and you die.”

She had to chuckle. “Yes. Unless that.”

And, on that note, running, she returned inside the cave, this time turning right when they’d come from the left.

She immediately came face-to-face with one of them. And oh, damn, but Heio had been right. They were huge, bigger than her in fact. The feline’s sharp teeth were longer than her entire face. “Good kitty,” she said nervously, focusing her mind on it, on keeping it docile.

It took a lot of energy. Animal or not, his mind was strong. “There, there,” she said. “Stay put, and don’t eat the Nalini.”

The neko’s head followed her progression, hissing.

As she walked through the tunnels, more of them came to her, each of them challenging her, pushing through her mind. She was sweating by the time the tunnel spilled inside a cavernous, dimly lit cave. Looking up, she found thousands of starbugs on the natural ceiling, each of them adding a little brightness. They really did look like stars in the sky.

There was a shallow fountain at one end of the vast cave, and, next to it, lay the most ginormous of these beasts—so large Nalini doubted she’d fit through any of the tunnels.

She didn’t need to pass through, though. No, this beast was fed where she lay. She just looked at any of the others, and they obeyed wordlessly.

This was their queen.

She could have fought Nalini and eaten her then and there, had she wanted to. Instead, she watched her.

Nalini moved toward the ground slowly. One of her knees touched the floor, and then she sat, legs crossed, far from the beast, but it could have, would have, closed the distance in one leap had it wanted to.

“Have you called to trap me here?” she asked, her head tilted.

She should be afraid. She wasn’t.

The beast moved, shifting to get to her feet. As she did, Nalini saw the four creatures at her sides. Each of them was huge already over half the size of Nox, although they’d only been born a few days ago.

Her heirs. Two little princes and two princesses.

Three of the felines were already fighting, their little claws outstretched, toothless jaws closing on their siblings’ ears and paws. They ignored the last one. Pale and unmoving. Red blood down his leg. Practically dead.

If he stayed on their cold, harsh world, he would die.

Nalini understood then. It hadn’t been her power at all that had gotten them through the tunnels. How arrogant she was, believing herself strong enough to subdue all the beasts, just because they had fur and claws.

She, Kronos, and the others had been allowed safe passage by the queen of these tunnels for one simple reason.

Nalini crawled forward slowly, taking care not to touch the three children that weren’t hers to care for.

“He’ll be safe with me,” she promised, gathering the weak body in her arms, noticing his shallow breaths.

The queen didn’t talk, but she might as well have.

He better be.

Nalini got out of there before the neko queen changed her mind She was still in the tunnels when an explosion took down half the mountain. She felt it. It should have destroyed everything; there was no logical reason why these tunnels were holding above her head.

Only magic could have done that.

She stole one last glance backward. Amber eyes, not unlike hers, watched her in the darkness.

Nalini hastened, clutching the neko closer against her heart. She emerged out of the mountain a little more knowledgeable about the world.

The skies above the mountain were clouded, stars hidden by two humongous ships that turned their day to night. One of the ships, and all its fleet, were retreating; it fled, jumping to warp. Hopefully, that was good news.

Tracking Kronos’s familiar mind signature, she found her group with ease. They’d arrived at a clearing, and all of them stood, hands held up in surrender. Two dozen soldiers in exosuits held them at gunpoint.

She froze. She stopped moving, thinking, breathing.

The soldiers didn’t retain her attention.

There, in the darkened clearing, an immaculate cloak over his combat gear, a white and red mask over his head, stood Kai Lor Hora.