Page 2 of The Brightest Night

I sweetened my smile. “You really want to bother the big guys over a bunch of nobodies who crashed on⁠—"

“You didn’t crash,” the guy with metal in his face said. “You landed with deliberation. Your ship is Veridia made, but all ships are held at the shipyard, which means you stole it and took it into the sky.”

Wait a second…did he think we were joyriding Veridians? Shit, I could work with this. I sighed. “I’m sorry, I just…wanted to know what it would feel like. It’s been my dream to see the stars, you know? To fly. I shouldn’t have done it, I know that now, and my father is going to be furious with me, but⁠—”

“Where are your augmentations?”

“What?”

His eyes narrowed as he moved closer. “Show us.”

My skin prickled.

“She has none,” Drax said, crossing the room to join me. “And neither do I.” He lifted his chin. “I am Draxonus Veridius, son of Divinos, and this is my bride-to-be and her brothers.”

Drax had a royal birthmark on his hip. One look, and our jailers’ demeanor changed. Their eyes lit up as they whispered to each other before heading for the door. Without letting us out.

“Hey! Hey, where are you going?”

“Let them go,” Drax said, his tone weary. “They’ll free us as soon as the magimech get here and pay them the bounty that’s on my head.”

Oh shit. “Then what?”

“Then they’ll take us to my father.” He lowered himself back to the ground, sitting braced against the wall, one knee up so he could prop an arm on it. “To the Sapphire City. To a prison filled with glittering opulence.” His mouth twisted, bitterness lacing his words.

“But we can leave from there, right?”

“You can. I’ll find a way to get you out.” His eyes were dull, his tone flat. “You, Gabe, and Velos. Once you’re free, you’ll need to come back to this region, avoid the settlements, and head north into the wastelands. My father doesn’t send his minions there.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. But whatever the reason, you’ll be safe once you get far enough.”

Gabe sat up, his eyes snapping open as he came back online. “What happened?”

“You got zapped by the bars,” Drax said.

He stood slowly. “What did I miss?”

I filled him in quickly.

“You gave yourself up?” Gabe said to Drax.

Drax smiled wryly. “Trust me, not my first choice.”

My stomach tightened. “Drax… what is the deal with you and your father?”

“He’s no father to me. A sire, yes, but that’s all. I’m one of a brood. He treats us like property. We eat what he tells us to, sleep when he says, and the tests…so many tests…”

“What kind of tests?” Gabe asked, his voice low.

“Arcana manipulation. The man is paranoid and wants an army of kin always surrounding him. I ran before my initiation.”

“Initiation?” Gabe frowned. “What does that entail?”

His jaw ticked. “You don’t want to know.” Gabe’s face said he very much did, and Drax sighed. “Let me rephrase that to I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Your heart rate is up,” Gabe said. “You’re afraid.”