Page 52 of Destinies of Diamond
The question seemed addressed to Prince Archibald, since Commander Trevor very rarely called Brendan by his title. Unfortunately, Archibald couldn’t shed any light into the issue. “I’m sorry, no. If I’d known, he never would have gotten this far. I would have acted sooner.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Brendan offered sharply. “Worrying about the ‘what if’s won’t help us. We have to take steps to mitigate the damage.”
He was right, but he also didn’t look surprised at all. This time, I suspected his lack of expression had nothing to do with his regular, stony demeanor.
He had known. He must have. Even if they didn’t get along, his father shared a lot of information with him. Normally, Brendan didn’t keep it from me, but there were exceptions to every rule.
I didn’t mention my epiphany, though, and suppressed the growl of frustration bubbling in my throat. The others did the same and the whole group fell silent, choosing to focus on the potential battle ahead of us.
Our precautions were for nothing, because by the time we got to our destination, the hangars were empty and abandoned. There was no sign the king had been anywhere near here. Our chimeras were nowhere to be seen and Selene was gone.
This was all my fault. I’d been the one to send her through the vents, alone and unprotected. If anything happened to her, if she was hurt all over again, I’d never be able to forgive myself.
But this wasn’t about me and my remorse. After the disaster in Gaia’s Haven, it wasn’t news to me that I was bad for Selene. What mattered now was finding her.
The Centaurs were still right behind us. I had no idea why they’d shown up now of all times and what their connection to King Philip was, but I couldn’t afford to underestimate them. They wouldn’t give up just because we’d managed to blast them back in the infirmary.
August stirred just in time to confirm this. He cracked his eyes open and murmured, “Guys, we need to go. The herd is right on our tail. And Selene is gone. Hades… Hades Base.”
His voice was barely distinguishable. He was obviously in a lot of pain. I wanted to ask what had happened to him, but I held back.
“You heard him,” Brendan said. “Time to go.”
Fortunately, the systems of the Venom were independent of the academy itself, so we had no trouble getting inside Brendan’s ship. Brendan sat down in the piloting seat and started the preparations for take-off. Just as we were about to launch, the herd burst into the hangar, chimera fire blurring the air around them.
Brendan didn’t lose his cool. The shields of the Venom bloomed around the ship, absorbing the tachyon blasts. They wouldn’t hold under a concentrated assault for too long, but they didn’t have to.
The hangar gate opened and the Venom left the academy that had been our home for so long. The departure felt strangely final in a way none of our trips ever had in the past. I didn’t look behind. I could only look ahead, because that was where Selene was.
But I also couldn’t ignore my earlier realization. Pollux and I shared a look. “I’ll go see to everyone’s injuries,” he mouthed. “You talk to him.”
I nodded jerkily, although a part of me wanted to leave this duty up to anyone else but me. I hadn’t been badly hurt in the fight with the chimeras. My sudden shift had prevented that. It also left me on the edge, exhausted, furious, and not knowing what to do with the savage emotions still bubbling inside me.
But I owed it to Selene, to Brendan, and to everyone else to face this, so I didn’t hesitate. I joined Brendan and took the copilot’s seat, not bothering to secure the belt around myself. “So, Your Highness,” I drawled, “anything you want to share with us puny mortals?”
The sarcastic words came out without me even thinking about it. The title I’d only ever used to show my respect now sounded like an insult. I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
Brendan didn’t flinch, but his jaw tightened and for someone who was usually so unreadable, that was a huge tell. Setting the ship on autopilot, he turned toward me. His eyes burned with a venomous green light, one so intense that for a few seconds, I was almost afraid of him. Almost, but not quite. “Well?” I prodded.
“What do you want me to tell you, Knox? That I lied to you? You already know that. That I asked too much of you? It isn’t anything new. I’ve always lied and asked too much, and I’ve always known that one day, it will come back to bite me in the ass. I just didn’t expect it to be like this.”
“Brendan, I don’t care about your self-recriminations and doubts,” I snapped at him. “I’m sure you had your reasons to keep this from us. And normally, I would understand. I wouldn’t be mad at you for hiding it. You might be my lover and my friend, but you’re also my prince and my commanding officer, and I don’t blame you for keeping some things to yourself.
“But this is different. If Jared is to be believed, we’re talking about technology that can control chimeras. This isn’t just about me, about our sensibilities and lies. Cerberus and all the others are gone, and they’ve taken Selene. If we had known…”
“I wasn’t aware the technology was that powerful,” Brendan explained. “I knew it existed. I have… an inferior version of whatever my father used to control the chimeras. The tablet.”
He pulled out the device in question and showed it to me. I stared at him in disbelief. “This? You can’t be serious.”
I’d seen him use the damn thing so many times. I’d actually wondered in the past why a prince would resort to something so old-fashioned when it was far more practical to store data in the backups built into our suits. But some physical drives did provide an extra layer of security, so I’d assumed Brendan had gone for that approach as well. It had never occurred to me that the tablet would have a far darker role.
“My father gave me this the day I became Typhon’s tamer,” Brendan explained. “Typhon is a bit different. He’s the strongest chimera, so in some ways, the connection between me and him is unbalanced. It’s like with you and Cerberus, only worse.”
I understood what he meant, since I’d already been aware Brendan was struggling. And after what had just happened, I could empathize with the concept of an unbalanced connection. But that still didn’t explain the tablet’s role. “What does it do, exactly?”
“It’s meant to serve as a secondary anchor for the mind link between me and Typhon. Typhon was always aware of its existence, of course. I never kept any of it from him. But at the same time… The technology is very questionable. It taps into the core of the very first chimera and that always concerned me.”
Ouch. Okay, that was bad. The first chimera was a bit of a legend among tamers. Most people believed Typhon occupied that role, but that wasn’t true. The whole reason why the Chimera unit used this name was because of the very first creature that had been turned into a machine—Chimera.
