Zandian Lights (Zandian Brides 4)

“What’s the issue?” Domm looks over my shoulder.

I growl. “I can’t focus on the screen.”

“Well, you need to figure it out,” he says. “Or abort. We have about two minutes before we need to make the call.”

“I know that.” My tension rises. But my brain refuses to cooperate. “Veck!” I roar. I’m about to say “abort…” when Mirelle grabs at the controls and pushes a button. Without warning, Kianna’s voice rings out into my headset. “Mirelle? Aren’t you on mission?”

“I’m on mission with Domm, Lanz, Hektor and Mykl. We need your help. Mykl needs you.”

“My help?” Her voice is high and surprised. “Mykl?”

The sound of my name in her voice does something strange to my insides. Like they shift and rearrange. I try to ignore the sick feeling of guilt that comes over me. As if I’m being untrue to my female. I’m not. I never promised her anything. She knows this is the only honorable destiny for me.

“Mykl can’t focus. Talk him through it.” Mirelle’s tone is a little desperate. But also confident.

At first I’m horrified that she’s saying this in front of everyone, including—worst of all—Kianna.

“Kianna’s a tech, Mirelle. Not a fighter. She knows nothing about this!” I slam my fist onto the console.

“She has a gift.” Mirelle touches my shoulder. “She does this thing where she get into beings’ heads and helps them do things. It sounds crazy, but believe me, it works.”

I glance around the cabin. Every being is tense, looking at me and Mirelle. I know how much this mission means to all of us. We can’t get this close and then fail—because of me.

It does sound crazy. But for some reason, I trust that Mirelle knows what she’s doing. She’s not one of Zandia’s best fighter pilots because she makes mistakes. If she says Kianna can help me, then I believe it.

“Tell her what’s wrong. Then do exactly what she says.” Mirelle’s leans forward. “We don’t have much time. If you can’t figure this out, we’ll have to turn back.”

“If we need to turn back, that’s all right.” Domm shakes his head. “We must prioritize our own safety.”

“We don’t have a choice,” I snap. “If we don’t do this now, the Zandian female will be gone. We’ll never get her.”

“Then talk to Kianna.” Mirelle’s voice is soft but firm. “What do you have to lose?”

I nod. “All right.”

I touch my ear, my comm earpiece, as if that will bring me closer to Kianna.

Her voice fills my head. “Mykl, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I can’t make my brain focus.” I can’t describe the problem properly. “I memorized the route through the bands, but now I can’t find it. It’s lost in my head.”

“Okay.” She takes a breath and I imagine how she must look. The little furrow she gets between her brows when she concentrates. The movement of her full berry-colored lips. “Close your eyes. I want you to breathe deeply in and out. Follow mine, okay?”

Over the comm, she breathes audibly, and I track her respiration, matching mine to hers. She’s breathing more slowly than I am, and after a few moments, a sense of calm washes over me.

It’s like she senses it. “Now I want you to breathe even more deeply. In for a count of three, then out for a count of three. Focus on the Zandian star. That’s all you see, right in the center of your forehead, right in the center of your mind. You’re looking at it and just breathing.”

I imagine the star, glowing hot silver and white, brilliant, right in my mind.

Kianna’s still speaking, but her words flow into a soothing mélange of sound, and everything gets quiet as the star pulses brighter and brighter in my mind.

> I’ve never felt closer to her—to any being. For a split second, something inside me balks at the mission. Why am I even out here? Why am I not back there, with her, making her mine? At this point in time, it all seems so clear—she’s meant for me, even if she’s human. How could I ever have doubted it?

When she suggests I think about the solar bands and review the pathways in my mind, it’s the easiest thing to do. There they are, laid out in front of me, as clear and bright as anything I’ve ever seen. The path I memorized is there, obvious, easy. Her voice guides me to them, and then it’s all me. And it’s on.

I open my eyes and grab the controls. We’re at the border and we’re out of time. But I can do this now.

There’s no time to explain how much she helped, but I manage to say, “Kianna, love, thank you.”