Could be Petru.
My lips curl in a humorless smirk.
Wouldn’t that be just my luck?
That bastard always did know how to pull strings even from the shadows.
Still.
This isn’t about him.
This is about a job.
One job.
One paycheck.
One step further from the mess gnawing at my soul.
The nav screen beeps.
Closer now.
I watch the planet grow in the viewport—a dirty swirl of rust-red storms and gray oceans.
Industrial hellhole.
Same as I remember.
A place where people disappear if they know the wrong secrets... or the right ones.
I tighten my hands on the controls.
This time, I tell myself, I won’t look for her.
This time, I won’t let the bond yank me around like a puppet on a broken string.
This time, I’m stronger.
But the lie tastes like ash in my mouth.
Because even as I set the descent sequence...
Even as the ship pierces Glimner’s thick, greasy clouds...
Even as the cargo bay doors whine open...
I know.
Some part of me knows.
There’s no such thing as a clean escape anymore.
CHAPTER 13
TRAZ
The second I break Glimner’s atmosphere, I know something’s wrong.
