“The Titans have allied with Gianne?” I asked, the news hitting me like a punch to the gut.

Mort nodded, giving up on his disguise and morphing back into his natural form. “They’ve gathered just outside Vysanthe’s solar system, where they’re waiting for Gianne’s signal.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“Why do you think I was dressed like the bloodsucker?” He grinned. “I was persuading the general to tell me what Gianne was up to. I told him I’d protect innocents like his son, if he gave me some intel. He bought it and told me everything. I mean, I had to get the jump on her, in case she was plotting something exactly like this. His mind is basically soup after she killed his son, but she still comes to him for military advice.”

Navan walked toward the prison exit, cursing loudly. “That unforgivable, Horerczy-sucking daughter of a mangy frostfang!” he shouted, scuffing his boot against the floor. “That ceasefire is supposed to last until sunset tomorrow. She’s really going to break it?”

Mort nodded. “How many more times do I have to say it, grayskin? Is your skull too thick to retain that much information?”

“Don’t test me, Mort—not now!” Navan fired back.

Ronad was surprisingly silent, his face pale. Taking the ID device off Navan, he jogged to the holding pen and swiped the device over the control panel, opening up the door. The guards were still out cold, but they wouldn’t be for long.

“Do you think we can persuade the Titans not to strike?” I suggested halfheartedly. “Maybe we could get in contact with that seller and see if they’ll still drop the item off—we could use it to tempt the Titans. I’m guessing you didn’t have time to rearrange plans with them, Navan?”

He shook his head, looking sheepish. “It slipped my mind. All I could think about was getting here and making my father pay for what he’s done. I completely forgot to send a message to the seller.”

Reluctantly, he took out the black box device and read the screen. By the look on Navan’s face, I doubted it was particularly good news.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a message from the seller. He says he’s on his way to the rendezvous point. The message was sent about half an hour ago—we’ll never get to the groundskeeper’s hut in time to meet him,” he muttered. “There’s a warning at the bottom… ‘Don’t be late.’”

“Do you think he’ll take the credit amount anyway?” I asked anxiously. It was a hell of a lot, and I knew we might need it to buy our way out of Vysanthe.

Navan shook his head. “The money can only be taken once the exchange has been made. No item, no credits.”

“Can you at least tell the seller that the deal is off, or apologize for the delay?”

He cursed under his breath. “He’ll have already come and gone. It’s too late to call it off.”

Mort flashed Navan a nasty look. “If you end up lowering my rating on the darkstar market, I’ll make you pay for my yearly subscription to The Legless Merman!”

“Hey, I didn’t mean for this to happen!”

“No, you never mean for anything to happen, do you, bloodsucker?”

“Stop it, both of you!” I yelled. They turned to look at me. “We need to face facts here. I highly doubt a suit of armor is going to entice the Titans away from whatever Gianne offered them. We couldn’t buy that kind of leverage in a million years! So, I suggest we get going, because our friends are stuck in the North, and they have no idea what’s coming for them!”

As soon as I’d heard the news, my first thought had been of Angie, Lauren, and Bashrik. They would be enjoying the ceasefire while it lasted, unaware of anything sinister lingering in the distance. Everyone would. Right now, we needed to get to Northern Vysanthe, gather up our friends, then get off this planet, preferably before any giant, war-loving enemies arrived.

If that meant we lost some of Brisha’s favor, then so be it. I wasn’t prepared to stay on Vysanthe while their war heated up. I didn’t agree with Gianne breaking the twenty-four-hour treaty, but that didn’t mean I had to lose anyone I loved. As selfish as it sounded, this wasn’t my war—this was two sisters caught in a squabble that had gotten way out of hand. I couldn’t ignore the impending slew of suffering and devastation the two queens were about to rain down on the innocent Vysanthean civilians, but there was little I could do to stop that now.

I had to focus on what I could control, and that was getting my friends out of the North.

“We should head for the border immediately,” Navan said. “Knowing Gianne, she’ll get the Titans to strike at night, when Brisha least suspects it.”

“Well, unless she wants to see her handiwork in glorious daylight,” Mort chimed in.

“Do you know something we don’t?” Navan narrowed his eyes.

“Nope, just throwing in my opinion, given what I know about Gianne.”

I had a feeling the two of them were going to be at each other’s throats the entire way back to Sarrask’s cottage, and beyond. Mort wanted revenge on Orion for what the rebel leader had done to his friend, so there was no telling when we could drop him off somewhere and continue our travels in peace. Eventually, I supposed they’d wear each other out.

“Is nobody thinking about Brisha here?” Ronad asked suddenly. “We need to tell her what’s going on so she can rally her forces. We’re wasting time.”

Ronad opened the heavy blast door of the prison, and we stepped out into the chilly night air. He threw the ID device into the foyer of the prison before striding over to Kaido’s ship and running up the open gangway. The rest of us followed, a solemn mood descending across the group.

Navan took the controls, flying us back to Sarrask’s cottage. During the journey, Ronad took out the black box device and tried to contact Bashrik, Lauren, and Angie. Just once, he managed to establish a connection with Brisha’s control room, but it was terminated shortly afterward. Nothing seemed to be getting through.

“Maybe if you send nudes, you’ll get her attention. Something coy and tasteful,” Mort suggested unhelpfully. “I can morph into you, if you’d like, make a few things bigger?”

Ronad scowled at him. “Is all of this a joke to you?”

“Listen, Venice Beach, everything is a joke to me. When you look the way I do, it’s the only way to get through life,” he replied brightly.

I sighed. “If you’re going to be with us for a while, Mort, I suggest you rein in the comedy act.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal, princess. If you wanted that, you should’ve put it in the fine print!”

Ignoring Mort, Ronad continued trying to get a transmission through to Brisha’s control room. He sent a few messages, but they bounced straight back, the channel no longer open. I could see the frustration moving across his face, but he wouldn’t be defeated. His hands moved across the controls, his eyes fixed on the screen.

“Has there been any word from the darkstar seller?” I asked Ronad, wanting to distract him.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Transmissions are a bit skewed, so maybe it’s taking longer to come through.”

“I don’t suppose it matters now, anyway,” I murmured.

Mort leaned in. “What naughty little number did you buy, in the end?”

“None of your business.”

“Oh, come on, sweet cheeks, put me out of my misery! What did you buy for the Titans? Was it a Vinubian sea nymph? A pan flute made of Sonoran windpipes? The preserved middle eye of an ambaka?”

I shot him a warning look. “It was none of those things, Mort. I don’t want to talk about it—it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I’m guessing this means you don’t need me to sneak around the palace mailroom?”

“Your powers of deduction are blowing my mind,” I said mockingly, leaning against the wall of the ship.

He waggled the skin where eyebrows should have been. “That’s not all I can do to blow your mind.”

“Touch me, and I will push you out of the hatch.”

He was saved from that fate by the ship descending toward Sarrask’s cottage. It landed with a soft bump, and the four of us got out, Mort transforming into a generic coldblood in case any neighbors were watching. I moved to take Navan’s hand as we walked toward the house, where lights glowed in the windows. Somebody was home.

When I pushed open the door, the sight of Kaido and Sarrask welcomed me. They were sitting at the kitchen table, playing a board game I didn’t recognize. It looked like Kaido was winning, judging by the number of chips on his side of the table, but Sarrask was still smiling; he just seemed to be enjoying the game. They turned in surprise as we entered.

“Where have you been?” Kaido asked. “I only gave you the keys to my ship because I thought you were coming straight here. I wouldn’t have, had I known you were going to take a lengthy detour. I need to water my plants. Let us hope you haven’t disturbed their absorption flow!”

I smiled sadly. “There was something we needed to do, Kaido. We’re sorry we kept you from your plants. Did you manage to get Lorela back to the hospital okay?”

“I did, thank you for asking. My brothers were of no assistance, of course. I was forced to take the Shunter—and, you must know, I detest being stuck in a metal tube with people who do not understand the finer details of personal hygiene,” he muttered, pulling a face. “I am glad you are back safe, but you should always ask permission in the future if you plan to go gallivanting off with someone else’s ship. I hope you weren’t doing anything dangerous.”

“Not particularly,” I lied. “Although, it might be a good idea for you to move your plants somewhere remote, until the war blows over.” I wanted to take him with us, but I knew he wouldn’t want to leave his mother, especially not when she’d taken a turn for the worse.

Sarrask frowned, scraping back his chair. “Why?”

“Queen Gianne is about to take the war to the next level,” Navan replied. “She’s planning to attack the North. We’re leaving now, if either of you wants to come with us.”

I hadn’t expected him to offer a place to either of his two brothers, but maybe he already knew that neither of them would accept. Kaido was dutybound to his parents, while Sarrask was dutybound to his nation. Even so, I flashed a hopeful glance in Kaido’s direction, but his face was unreadable.

“I think not, Navan,” Kaido said bluntly. “I will do as Riley has recommended and seek alternative accommodations for myself and my plants, but I will not be leaving the South. I cannot, as you well know.”

“Forget them, Kaido,” Navan urged. “Lorela and Jareth don’t care about you. Come with us. Forget what you think you owe them, because you don’t owe them anything.”

Kaido dipped his head. “I do, Navan. You will never understand. I would not expect you to,” he replied quietly. “If I take away my core reason for being, what remains? I must stay and see to it that our mother is safe and well. No matter what she has done, or what she thinks of me, that does not change the fact that she gave us all life. That should grant her a sliver of respect, even from you.”

“You do whatever you feel you have to, Kaido, but you’re making a mistake. You should come with us and forget all of this,” Navan insisted, shaking his head.

Kaido smiled. “You must do what you have to do, as I must. That is all there is to it.”

Sarrask nodded. “I won’t be coming with you, either. I made my choice today, on the way back from the chapel,” he explained solemnly. “The ceasefire made me realize that I wasn’t doing enough to bring peace to Vysanthe. So I sent in my papers to join the fighting. Kaido and I are both heading back to the front line.”

“What? Why?” I gasped, dreading the idea of either of them entering the fray.

“Navan might be able to forget his ties to this planet, but I can’t. My loyalty will always remain with the South, even if a crazy ruler sits on the throne. We can’t choose our queen, but we can choose to restore peace, and hope that, one day, someone better sits in her place. The only way to do that is to win the war… and that is what I’m going to help do.”

Navan sighed wearily. “You’re both idiots for doing this. You should get out while you still have the chance.”

Sarrask squared up to his brother. “I don’t want to fight with you, Navan, since I’m guessing this is going to be a goodbye. But the truth is, I won’t run from my responsibilities here. You can disappear into the depths of the universe, but always know that you deserted your home in her time of need.”

“I’m not deserting anyone!”

“I hope you can tell yourself that when the guilt kicks in,” Sarrask murmured.

I stepped up beside Navan. “Your loyalty should be to a united Vysanthe, not one that’s split apart by two warring queens.”

“That’s not realistic, Riley. You haven’t been here long, so I don’t expect you to understand the history of our planet,” Sarrask replied, not unkindly. “Even before the queens came along, a truly united Vysanthe didn’t exist. There were royalists and anti-royalists, loyalists and defectors, anti-monarchists and anti-parliament. There has never been a united Vysanthe, and there never will be. The reality is, it’s kill or be killed. I know which side I want to be on.”

“A few disagreements have to be better than a nation that’s completely split down the middle, with one side forbidden from setting foot in the other?” I countered, knowing how well that worked out for countries on Earth. “This war won’t stop until one side has completely obliterated the other. You have to know that!”

Sarrask smiled sadly. “I believe it will end when Brisha is taken down,” he reasoned. “It doesn’t matter what I think is best in the long run, because it’s out of my hands. The only thing I can do now is join the side I believe in, and hope to Rask we end this war quickly so that the violence will stop with fewer lives lost.”

Mort snorted rudely. “I hate to break up your pity party, but if we want to beat the tide, we’re going to have to get running, if you catch my drift,” he said. “Airstrikes, as you well know, wait for no man. So, say a quick farewell and spare me the sappy goodbyes—I didn’t bring any anti-nausea meds with me, and I’d hate to spew all over this quaint kitchen.”

Mort was right, but I hated the thought of leaving these two to rejoin the Southern fight, especially if Sarrask thought that killing Brisha was the only way to cease the fighting.

“Stay safe, okay?” I demanded, pulling Kaido into an awkward hug. He squirmed against me, desperate to be free of my grip. Still, I wasn’t breaking away until I was good and ready.

“I will, if you let me go!” he mumbled, gasping with relief as I released him. “I apologize if my behavior seems rude, Riley, but you must know I detest physical contact.”

“If you were a plant, he’d be all over you,” Sarrask teased, breaking the tension.

“I would not!” Kaido protested, but Sarrask ignored him.

He moved toward me and wrapped me in a tight embrace, practically squeezing the air out of my lungs. “You take care of yourself out there, Riley. Don’t take any crap from anyone. You’re one of a kind—never forget that,” he murmured close to my ear, before letting me go.

“Yeah, well, don’t you go getting yourselves killed on the front line!” I retorted, my cheeks flushing.

He grinned. “I’ll try not to. Besides, I’ve got Jumpy McGee over here to watch my back.”

“I can definitely vouch for that,” I said, flashing an affectionate look at Kaido, who seemed utterly confused as to who ‘Jumpy McGee’ was supposed to be. After witnessing his skills on the battlefield firsthand, I knew Sarrask would be okay as long as he stuck with his talented brother.

Navan hugged his brothers, and then Ronad made his rounds, until everyone had said their brief goodbyes. It was bittersweet, not knowing when or if we might see the two Idraxes again. I just hoped they survived the war and lived long enough to see a more peaceful Vysanthe, one way or another.

I knew whom I’d be rooting for, if I had to pick sides, but I wasn’t about to admit it out loud. More than anything, I was rooting for the people. If I’d had my way, I would have put the two queens in a ring and made them fight it out between themselves, but that really wasn’t realistic.

“Are you done?” Mort grumbled impatiently.

“Watch your mouth, skinbag, or we’ll drop you off back on Mallarot!” Navan warned.

He scoffed. “I’d like to see you try. They wouldn’t take me!”

With the two of them arguing out the door, we made our way around the back of the cottage, where the ship Navan had borrowed from Brisha squatted on a makeshift driveway. Ronad had managed to rid it of unwanted cameras and trackers, while we’d been busy worrying about wedding preparations, making it shipshape and ready to fly. Navan took the helm, turning on the invisibility shield as the ship lifted into the sky.

It was time to push through to the North, save our friends, and get the hell out of Vysanthe while we still had the chance.