Cracked Penthouse Suite, Top Level of the Spire:

  Shards of crystal-glass littered the floor like fallen stars. The decorative artisan wood and violetsteel door hung off its hinges, splintered by a body-sized impact crater.

  That impact had a name.

  Nyx pushed herself up, bracing one arm on the stunned Xyrelian girl beneath her. Blood streaked her temple, leaking from a gash where she'd slammed through the door. Her muscles ached from the impact, and her ears still rang from the concussive blast that had shattered the room around her. The aftershock of whatever force had hit the spire still rang in her bones.

  The girl beneath her was slim, her body half-draped in silken cloth that shimmered under the broken light. Siyasha. One of the Spire's personal attendants.

  Nyx walked to the window, each step slow and deliberate, her boots crunching over broken crystal. Siyasha hesitated, then followed, drawn by the same instinctive dread.

  Outside, a Republic cruiser hung just a hundred meters above the tower, vast and silent, blotting out the rising sun. Its shadow stretched far beyond the Spire, casting a cold, artificial dusk over the entire city below.

  And drifting beside it, space folded in on itself with a ripple of pale blue light. A black Specter-Class Stealth Corvette vessel tore into view, warping in with a low, subsonic crack that rattled the empty frames.

  Smaller than the cruiser but just as menacing, its appearance sent a miniature shockwave rolling across the rooftop, rippling the curtains and stirring dust from the broken stone. Sleek. Obsidian. Unmistakable. It mirrored the shape of the Valkyrion, only black.

  Nyx stared up at them, expression tightening.

  "What ze fuck is that?"

  She stood still for a moment, then let out a pained grunt and gave a sharp kick at the shards around her feet, sending bits of crystal skittering across the floor and out the floor to ceiling windows.

  Slowly, she turned to face Siyasha as the girl rose unsteadily to her feet. Her glow dimmed to a faint lavender as her lips began to tremble.

  Then she saw Nyx's eyes.

  Lit from within.

  Amber burned in them, like live embers flickering beneath ash. Intense, unnatural, and far too alive.

  "Y-You're not supposed to be here," Siyasha stammered. "Who are you?"

  Nyx stepped closer, blood trickling from one nostril and a thin line trailing down her temple, but otherwise untouched.

  "Ah, I remembair you."

  Her voice was cold, touched by a soft, unmistakable French lilt.

  "You bathed 'im."

  Siyasha blinked in confusion. Then her breath caught.

  "Bathed who? I don't…"

  "Burns down to ze bone. Scarred hands. Quiet eyes. He looked at you like you were a person, non?"

  Nyx's voice dipped to a near whisper.

  "You called 'im sir. But he is mine. All mine. From ze moment I saw 'im, he belonged to me."

  Siyasha paled. Her glow dimmed even further.

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  "I didn't touch him like that. We didn't do anything."

  Nyx arched a brow.

  "Non. But you wanted to, n’est-ce pas?"

  She stepped forward, slow and certain.

  "I saw your glow, petit bijou. Saw how you looked at 'im. Like he was some sacred treasure you 'ad no right to touch."

  Siyasha looked down, shame creeping into her expression.

  Nyx didn’t stop.

  "I do not blame you, non. 'E is worth wanting. Worth bleeding for. Worth... everyzing."

  Now they were inches apart. The tension between them crackled like a live wire.

  "But do not mistake a kind act for a claim, chérie. 'E is not yours to think about. 'E is mine."

  Siyasha swallowed hard.

  "You love him," she whispered.

  "I am Enferian, mon c?ur. We do not love 'alfway. We do not flirt for fun, non. When we love, it is once. Forever. With ze teeth."

  Nyx leaned in.

  "And you should remembair zat before touchin’ what is mine, ma petite."

  The girl trembled.

  "I—I am paid to touch men," Siyasha stammered, voice barely above a whisper. "It is my job... my assignment. We are trained to please, to heal, to... make them feel safe. I didn’t mean—"

  Nyx turned, brushing aside a glittering decanter from the minibar. She uncorked it. The glowing liquid inside shimmered violet-blue.

  Miralynth Spark.

  The Xyrelian wine Siyasha poured for him.

  Timus had drunk this.

  She poured a glass, stared at it.

  Then poured it out onto the floor.

  "'Zese mastairs of yours... zey are disgusting. All zees luxury suites, all ze fancy drinks, and all ze soft-limbed whores. Pah."

  Nyx looked back.

  "I only want one, chérie. Just one... 'e is all I need."

  “What, what do you want?” Siyasha asked, her voice came out brittle. "I didn't mean to insult you. I cared for him. That's all."

  Nyx turned back to her.

  "Zen 'elp me find 'im. Or I will find out what color a Xyrelian turns... right before zey die, oui?"

  Siyasha flinched.

  "H-How did you even get here?"

  Nyx stepped forward. The shadows moved with her, licking at her feet.

  "I came through ze place your kind does not speak of... ze edge where light goes to die. Your people tried to bury 'im in silence, but shadows whispered, and I listened. And now? I am 'ere. Now tell me..."

  Her voice dropped, like a blade sliding free.

  "Where. Is. 'E?"

  Siyasha stepped back, voice shaking.

  "I swear, I don't know where he is. After the dinner... he vanished. No one’s seen him."

  Nyx stared.

  "You are lyin’, ma petite. I 'ear it in your breath.”

  "I'm not! I—I swear, I don't even know 'is real name. We only knew him as Agent Valor, that was it. Just credentials... orders..."

  She backed up a step, words tumbling out in a panic.

  "He came in wounded, bleeding. He didn’t want to be touched, but we were told to treat him anyway. We cleaned his wounds, bathed him. He barely spoke. I—I could see it on his face, even after the pain went away. He wasn’t... he wasn’t relieved. There was another kind of pain, deeper. Like something was broken inside."

  She swallowed.

  "They gave us orders. We were supposed to help him relax. There were drinks, massages... other things. We’re trained for that. But he—he didn’t want any of it. He just stared. I tried to speak to him. Just to be kind. I wasn’t trying to seduce him, I swear. I was just doing what I was told."

  She hesitated, breath catching in her throat.

  "And... there was a moment. He looked at me… no, through me. Like he saw something he shouldn't have. Then he lifted his hand, and... I don't know what he did. It was like he squeezed my heart without touching me. I felt it grip around me tight, sharp. It hurt, but it also felt... good. In a way I can’t explain."

  Siyasha shook her head quickly, flustered. "I don’t know what that was about. Maybe a trick, some power. I’ve never seen anything like it."

  Her voice shrank again.

  "Please, I wasn’t trying to cross any line. I didn’t mean to…"

  Nyx finally spoke, her voice softer this time, laced with strain.

  "I know. It’s fine. I’m just... on edge. I’ve never 'ad this kind of feeling in my chest before. Somezing happened. Somezing bad."

  Her gaze locked onto Siyasha.

  "Where are ze others? Ze silver-haired woman, two human girls, and another Xyrelian. I saw zhem in 'is room. Are zey still 'ere? Did zey leave? Somezing happened to 'im, I feel it in my bones, chérie. I've never had zis kind of fear in my chest before... it will not go away.

  Siyasha looked down at her collar, fingers brushing the thin violetsteel ring at her throat.

  "They don’t live in the tower like I do. I have to stay. I’m... assigned here. Pleasure tier. Inner Ring."

  She swallowed.

  "The dignitaries all left once the alarms started. Everyone who mattered vanished fast. I don’t know where they went. I’m just a servant.

  “Siyasha… Where is 'e? And if you do not know... zen who does?"

  The xyrelian flinched, but answered fast.

  "I don’t know where he is. Truly. But... I know where Orion keeps his private records. On this floor, east wing, behind the portrait hall."

  She glanced toward the door, then back.

  "Getting in is another story. That section’s heavily guarded. Orion doesn't let just anyone near his records.”

  Nyx gave a low laugh, short and cold.

  "Took care of zat already. Just show me where it is.” Nyx leaned in close, her voice a breath against Siyasha’s ear. “Or I find out what color your kind bleeds.”

  Siyasha trembled.

  Then nodded.