DANTE'S POV
Kiera's hand is glowing so bright it casts shadows across the cargo ship's bridge. The Heartstone pulses with blue light that matches her rage. Dante can feel it through the bond. Pure, white-hot fury that makes his own anger look like a candle next to a wildfire.
He's seen that look before. Felt it before. But not on someone else's face. He felt it inside himself three years ago when the Empire announced he was a traitor. When they branded him a criminal for trying to expose the truth. When everything he believed in turned to ash and blew away.
Zara Vex just did the same thing to Kiera.
"She sent me to die," Kiera says. Her voice is quiet. That's worse than screaming. That's the voice of someone whose world just broke into pieces. "She trained me. Fed me. And she sent me to die."
Dante walks toward her slowly. The bond hums between them but it's not the warm hum anymore. It's tense. Crackling with electricity. He stops close enough that if he reached out, he could touch her glowing hand.
"The Empire did the same to me," he says quietly.
Kiera looks at him. Her violet eyes are wet but the tears haven't fallen yet. When they do, they're going to hurt. Dante can feel it coming through the bond like a storm on the horizon.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
Dante moves to the navigation console. He pulls up files he's kept encrypted for three years. Files about the massacre. Files about the cover-up. Files that prove the Emperor ordered the deaths of innocent people and covered it up by blaming him.
"I was a royal guard," Dante says. "I served the Empire with everything I had. Then I discovered something I shouldn't have. A massacre on a rebel colony. Women. Children. The Emperor wanted them dead and he got what he wanted."
He can feel Kiera listening. Can feel her rage shifting. Starting to transform into something else. Something more dangerous. Understanding.
"When I tried to expose it," Dante continues, "they accused me of treason. They said I was working with the rebels. They framed me and hunted me. My family believed the lies. My brothers thought I betrayed them. My parents..." He stops. The bond carries his pain to her and she gasps.
"They executed you," Kiera whispers.
"They tried. I escaped. Became the Shadow Wolf. Spent three years trying to find proof that would clear my name and expose what really happened."
Kiera sits down in the pilot's seat. Her hand is still glowing but the light has changed. It's not as bright. Not as angry. Like the rage is starting to burn itself out and leaving something else behind. Something colder. Something focused.
"Someone wanted the Heartstone activated," she says slowly.
"Yes," Dante agrees.
"Someone wanted both of us there at the exact same time."
"Yes."
Kiera looks up at him. "Why? I'm nobody. I'm a thief. A criminal. I don't matter to the Empire or anyone important."
Dante sits across from her. He meets her violet eyes and tells her the truth. "Because you matter to the right people. Or the wrong people depending on how you look at it."
The bond between them hums as understanding grows. Zara set Kiera up knowing what would happen. The Empire hunted the Heartstone knowing someone would try to steal it. But neither Zara nor the Empire knew that two thieves would reach for it at the same time.
Unless they did.
"Someone else knows about the Heartstone," Kiera says. Her mind is working through it the same way Dante's is working through it. "Someone other than Zara and the Empire."
"Someone who wanted us bonded," Dante finishes.
The implications of that hit them both hard. This isn't random. This isn't bad luck. This is orchestrated. Planned. Designed. Everything that's happened since they stepped into that museum has been part of someone else's plan.
Dante's hands clench into fists. He's spent three years running from the Empire. Three years being hunted. Three years trying to survive. And the whole time, he thought he was fighting for his freedom. Fighting to clear his name. Fighting to prove the truth.
What if he was just a piece on someone's board game?
"We need to figure out who," Kiera says. She's standing now. The rage is back but it's different. It's focused. It's purposeful. "We need to figure out who set us up and why."
"And then we destroy them," Dante says.
The bond hums agreement.
But before Kiera can respond, the bridge lights flash red. The proximity alarm screams through the ship like something alive and dying at the same time. Dante's head snaps toward the sensors.
Three ships just dropped out of hyperspace behind them.
Not Imperial vessels. Those would have imperial markings. These are bounty hunter ships. Modified. Weaponized. Built for one purpose. Hunting people who can't fight back.
"Proximity alert," the ship's automated system announces. "Three hostile vessels detected. All weapons systems are charging."
Dante's fingers fly across the controls. He's pushing the stolen cargo ship to its limits but these hunter vessels are faster. Sleeker. Built specifically for this kind of chase. His ship is built to carry cargo. Their ship is built to kill.
"They found us," Kiera says. It's not a question.
"The broadcast put our location signature everywhere," Dante says. He's already working on evasive maneuvers but the hunters are good. They're anticipating his moves. "They tracked us through hyperspace."
The first volley of blaster fire lights up the darkness outside. Red bolts of energy rip past their hull. Dante banks hard left and the second volley catches their starboard engine. Alarms scream. Sparks erupt from the console.
"We're losing engine power," Kiera shouts.
"I know," Dante says. His hands are already moving. "We need to jump to hyperspace before they close the distance."
"We just jumped to hyperspace. The engines need time to recharge."
"We don't have time."
Another volley. This one hits harder. The ship shudders. Kiera grabs the console to keep from falling. Through the viewport, Dante can see the hunter ships getting closer. He can see the weapon systems charging. He can see the exact moment they're about to open fire again.
He doesn't have time to jump to hyperspace.
He doesn't have time to outrun them.
He doesn't have time to do anything except die or surrender.
"Hold on," Dante says.
He cuts the main engines completely and banks hard starboard. The cargo ship spins like a top. Everything not secured comes flying across the bridge. Crates. Equipment. A storage locker that nearly hits Kiera. But the move works because the hunter ships weren't expecting it. They overshoot the space where the cargo ship was supposed to be.
For exactly three seconds, Dante has a window.
He reroutes all available power to the hyperdrive. It's not enough. It's nowhere near enough. The engines scream in protest. The ship's warning systems are all screaming at once. But the jump coordinates lock in and Dante doesn't hesitate.
He hits the jump.
Hyperspace opens in front of them like the mouth of something hungry and ancient. The ship lurches forward. Space distorts. The hunter vessels are right there, so close that Dante can see their weapon ports opening.
Then the jump completes and they're in hyperspace.
For a moment, everything is silent.
Then the alarms start again. Worse than before. The hyperdrive is damaged. The main engines are offline. They're in hyperspace but they're bleeding energy from every system. If the hyperdrive fails before they reach their next destination, they'll be stranded in the void.
Dante checks the damage report. His blood runs cold.
They're not just damaged. They're crippled. The cargo ship can limp forward but it can't outrun anyone. Can't fight back. Can't do anything except drift through space waiting to be found.
Kiera is standing beside him. Her hand is still glowing with the Heartstone. Her face is pale. The bond between them is humming with fear.
"We made it," she says. It's not quite a question.
"For now," Dante says. "But we can't make another jump like that. The hyperdrive is failing. If anything else hits us, we're finished."
Kiera looks out at the stars stretching before them. Three bounty hunter ships are still chasing them but they can't jump to hyperspace while Dante's ship is in it. They'll have to wait for the cargo ship to emerge. Have to wait for the jump to complete. Have to wait for their prey to drop back into normal space where they can be hunted.
"How long do we have?" Kiera asks.
Dante checks the readouts. The hyperdrive is holding but barely. The damage is spreading. The ship is falling apart around them in slow motion.
"Eight hours," he says quietly. "Maybe ten if we're lucky."
"And then?"
"And then we drop out of hyperspace and they tear us apart."
The bond between them pulses with the weight of that truth. They've jumped from the frying pan directly into the fire. They've escaped one threat only to rush headlong into another. And this time, they're flying a ship that's barely holding together.
Somewhere in the darkness, three bounty hunter ships are waiting for them to drop out of hyperspace.
And Dante has no idea how to survive what comes next.