Page 61 of Souls of Steel
Wait, what? He was leaving? Just like that? But I still had so many questions about this mysterious mission.
The apsids didn’t care about my opinion or sensibilities. I blinked and before I knew it, I was back inside the Sphinx, safe in the haven of my chimera’s cockpit. My display screens showed no alien heat signatures. The apsids had completely disappeared. If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought the whole thing had been a strange dream. But my lips were still tingling with the heat left behind by the apsid’s kiss and I could still feel him reaching into me, touching my very core.
I wanted to believe the physical response had been forcibly induced, but I wasn’t sure that was true.
Knox’s familiar voice snapped me out of my trance. “Selene! Selene, are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, realizing how the whole thing must have looked to Knox and how tough the situation was for him. Undoubtedly, he wanted to check up on me, but here on Mercury, it was unsafe and next to impossible. I’d never been more relieved about the lack of atmosphere on a planet. “We should take Charybdis and go before they come back.”
Knox didn’t argue with me, but I knew better than to believe he’d let the matter go just like that. As we took hold of Charybdis’s still form and headed back toward Hyperion Base 35, I tried to gather my scattered thoughts into a coherent plan.
One thing was certain. We couldn’t allow anyone to find out about our unexpected encounter with the apsids. Beyond that, everything else remained a confusing mystery.
I just had to hope we’d be able to get Charybdis back and return to Tartarus Base in one piece. Even being bullied at Chimera Academy was better than the insanity I’d had to face since the beginning of the tournament.
* * *
Pollux
For as long as I could remember, I’d had a love-hate relationship with fire. Ever since I’d been a child, I’d dreamed of becoming a chimera pilot. August and I had made grand plans to go to Chimera Academy together, and Stella had been right there with us, encouraging us, holding our hands and smiling warmly. We’d been stupid, because at the time, it hadn’t even occurred to us that we’d have to leave her behind to fulfill our dreams. She’d never mentioned it and never blamed us for our idiocy.
The last time I’d seen her, she’d hugged me and said, “Don’t ever give up on one another. I won’t give up on you, no matter what.”
In hindsight, I now realized she must’ve known she was going to die. My parents must’ve told her what they planned, although to this day, I couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t tried to dissuade them from their insanity. And now, here I was again, on the verge of losing someone important to me, helpless, unable to do a thing except watch.
August lay in the healing pod, monitored by the most advanced medical scanners in existence. His burns weren’t as bad as they’d been when we’d brought him on board and his blood tests had come out promising. But he hadn’t woken up again after his short exchange with Selene. The medics had dropped by, ushered him through a variety of tests, exchanged words and said his family needed to be notified of his condition. “The Grand Chimera Unit is his family,” I’d told them.
They’d shared looks I hadn’t been able to understand and replied, “In that case, we feel it necessary to warn you that you should be prepared for the worst. Ms. Renard’s assistance saved Flight Lieutenant Cavallero’s life, but the improvement might be temporary.”
At that, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d tried so hard to keep my temper in check, because I knew how badly things could go if I lost it. But I had my limits and I’d reached them.
When I took a step forward, the metal floor cracked, splintering underneath my touch like it had been sliced right through by an unseen force. It would’ve been so easy to reach straight for the engines that kept Hyperion Base functional. I held back, but just because August was there. “Leave, before I make sure you end up in a worse condition than August.”
The medics finally displayed a level of self-preservation and fled. Left alone, I leaned against the wall and reached out to Scylla.“I don’t know what I’m doing, Scylla. How can we get out of this one?”
“You don’t need to do anything,”she replied.“August will get better soon. He’s very resilient to flame and your new broodmate helped in every other way.”
“Yes, but that’s not enough. I should’ve been able to protect him.”
“You can’t do everything on your own,”Scylla replied.“Breathe. Don’t panic. You haven’t lost anything and anyone. That’s what matters right now. And once Selene and Knox find Charybdis, our brood can be complete again.”
“You’re very confident,”I answered. “What if they fail?”
“They won’t. Selene Renard understands how important Charybdis is. She won’t let any of us die.”
I closed my eyes and thought about Selene. “Trust me on this,”she had said, and we had. She’d survived in the second trial of the tournament and had rescued August. But it was foolish to think that she could always manage to get us out of a rough spot. A lot of her recent successes had relied on her opponents underestimating her. If the king tried to eliminate her in the future, he’d be prepared for everything she had to throw at him.
“We’re pushing our luck. How much longer do you think Selene’s unexpected powers can help us?”
“For as long as it takes,”Scylla answered. “Don’t be afraid. You can do this.”
Right. I had to stay focused and not lose hope. This whole thing with Selene had thrown me off my game. I couldn’t fall apart every single time something went wrong. Stella wouldn’t have wanted me to turn into a train wreck at the mere thought of her. Selene and August were relying on me, and so were Knox and Brendan. For their sake, I had to stay strong.
As if summoned by my thoughts, Brendan opened the door to the med bay and stepped into the room. He was still dressed in his official, ceremonial uniform, and he looked like he’d gone two rounds in combat with Knox and lost. “I’d ask you how your meetings went, but I can see the answer all over your face. That bad?”
Brendan sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Worse. If you can believe it, General Savage was blaming August for the damage to Charybdis.”
I stared at him in shock. It hadn’t occurred to me that would be a problem, but of course, our superiors would make a fuss because of the lost chimera. “Right. Chimeras don’t go dormant mid-flight so they assumed it was a piloting fault.”
