Zenith Part 1 by Sasha Alsberg

Author:Sasha Alsberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488031373
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

“Governor Cyprian,” Andi gasped.

She practically fell into a chair, her legs going weak beneath her.

The Governor’s face had haunted Andi for the past five years, sworn to destroy her in every dream, and sometimes, in her waking moments, too.

She was at a loss for words.

The last time she’d lain eyes on Cyprian, she’d been a desperate girl in chains, seated alone at the trial where she was convicted for the death of his daughter.

Kaley.

All the tallies on her swords combined couldn’t cover up the pain of that first death.

Guilt brewed in her gut, and Andi was sucked back into her memories, back to that fateful night on Arcardius.

Wind in her hair, the kiss of freedom coating her skin as she sprinted through the darkness, Kaley beside her.

Laughter bubbling between them as they snuck onto the Governor’s personal starship.

The click of Kaley’s harness, buckled tight in the copilot’s seat, and Andi’s laughter, again, as she dared Kaley to undo the harness.

To fly free.

“Don’t you trust me?” Andi asked, as her fingers curled over the wheel.

“I have to admit, you’ve looked better,” Governor Cyprian said, and Andi was yanked back into the present, breathless and nearly trembling beneath the man’s stare.

Stars above.

All these years, she’d tried to suppress the memories, only to have them brought back with sudden, whip-sharp cruelty. In front of her was a victim of her foolishness, and next to her was the man who created her and then betrayed her.

The two of them, together? It was nearly enough to shatter Andi.

She forced her eyes up at the screen, grateful her crew wasn’t here to share this moment.

Cyprian had aged since she last saw him. His once-brown hair was now peppered with grey and wrinkles coated his sun-worn skin. His body looked tired, though his brilliant green eyes sparkled with the very same scrutiny he’d always had.

“You’re the one behind all of this?” Andi asked.

“I’m a very powerful man, Androma.”

The Governor of Arcardius was seated in a chair behind a silver desk, somewhere unfamiliar. Behind him, a large window held back blasts of snow, a world of white. Howling wind whipped against the glass where frost formed a thin veil.

He’s on Solera, Andi thought. The ice planet.

For a while, Cyprian said nothing. He worked his stubbled jaw back and forth, as if chewing on a thought he wasn’t sure he could share.

I’d like to kill you, the way you killed my daughter, Andi imagined him saying.

I’d like to give you the death sentence you deserve.

A million possibilities, all of them grim.

And all of them well-deserved, filling Andi’s gut with another layer of guilt. Another bit of heaviness to carry with her to her grave.

But when the Governor spoke, his words weren’t of punishment or death.

“You’ve been quite busy since we last met.” He snapped his fingers, and a cloaked woman shuffled forward from the corner of the room. A Cyborg woman, smooth skin on a bald head, bits of metal peeking out from beneath her flesh. She held a screen out to Cyprian, which flickered to life in his hands.

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