Page 124 of Bound By Stars

He rakes his hands through his hair, still facing the fire, and slowly turns. “Why are you still here?”

“Come back with me. ILSA can have the other pod running in no time.”

He runs a hand over his glistening face. “Leave, Wes. It’s too late for me.”

“Not if you come with me now!”

He shakes his head. “It was supposed to be about disrupting the system. That’s what they told me. Destroying supplies, not people. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

The desperation in his voice cuts through me. I step closer.

“Stay back!” His eyes go wild, and he backs toward the flames.

“Whatever you did, we can fix it together.” I put my hands out, palms up, and move toward him again. “Remember when we used to stay in the orchard in the summer until the sky was purple and your mom was yelling for us to come in?”

He holds his face in his hands.

“I just want to go home and watch the sky change colors with you again. But we have to get off this ship. Together.”

“You wouldn’t feel that way if you knew what I did.” He shakes his head, backing farther down the hall, and chokes out, “That heir. He was going to turn me in. They would have executed me.”

Curran. What did he say on the bridge?I tried to handle this in a cleaner way, but I guess I have no choice but to get my hands dirty.

The floor shudders. I brace myself against the wall. “We can talk when we’re off the ship.”

“He caught me painting the elevator and said he wouldn’t rat me out as long as I kept him updated on what the E.F.E. was planning. When I told him about the first-class pod bay, he threatened to turn me in if I didn’t ask you to meet me there.”

A hollow cold floods my body, and I drop my outstretched arms.

“I changed my mind, though!” He raises his hand, taking a few steps closer. His eyes wide and pleading. “I couldn’t do it, I came to find you, but I was too late. The bomb went off. I thought you were dead.” A sob tears through his throat.

I mourned him, and he’d sent me to die. If I hadn’t run into Sabine and gone to find Jupiter instead, I would have been there. The air feels thinner. My lungs burn.

ILSA moves to my side, but I can’t tear my scowl away from Reve’s pained face. “Weslie, the oxygen level is deficient. 19 percent and falling. Do I have your permission to administer oxygen?”

The fire licks the ceiling behind Reve, darkening the shadows under his eyes. “I love you, Wes. Since we were kids.”

My heart drops into my stomach. He’s saying goodbye, but I can still get us out of here. He just has to trust me. “Please, Reve—”

The fire expands, rushing toward us.

“Run!” I scream.

Theboomof another explosion engulfs him, knocking me off my feet. I’m thrown back through the air. My head cracks against the wall. Darkness swallows me.

Chapter Forty-Six

Jupiter

Five days to Mars Station

As the pod slows from launch, I shove Curran and Skye off me and stand to press my palms on the window.

Behind us, the ship is in pieces. Entire rooms are torn open, floating off into empty space. Flames lick the mangled edges, feeding off the remaining oxygen. The center mass of the ship where we left Weslie is still intact.

My chest heaves as I suck in short, rapid breaths. I whip back, my hands shaking over the control board, but I don’t know what to do. I look between my friends. “Help me turn it back. We have to go back for her.”

Skye touches my shoulder, and I brush her off.

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