“Kali and Merrick are cousins?” Max asks.
At the same time, Ian says, “That’s some fucked-up shit.”
“This whole thing is fucked up,” Beckett growls. I realize that she’s standing behind me, that she’s got her hands on my waist and is bearing a lot of my weight. I’ve been so in shock I didn’t realize she was even there, let alone how heavily I’ve been leaning on her.
“When Kali’s father married her mother, he renounced his connection with my family and cut off all contact. It nearly broke my father—they were so similar in age, looked alike, had done everything together their entire lives. So when I had the vision of the assassination, he realized it wasn’t his. It was his brother’s, so he traveled in secret to Askkandia to warn him.”
“You knew about Kali’s father’s assassination before it happened?” I ask. This just keeps getting worse and worse.
Merrick nods grimly. “Yes. The visions don’t always come to pass exactly as we see them. But this one did, even though he was warned. My father begged him to return to Serati, but he refused to leave Kali. And the Empress would never have allowed him to take her with him, so he remained where he was.”
“And you didn’t tell Kali?” Beckett asks. “She blamed the rebels for her father’s death, and you saw the whole thing—”
“I don’t know who’s responsible for his death. I didn’t see that—only that he died. But on that trip, he told my father something that changed everything.”
I want to scream at him to tell me what it is, but high priestesses don’t scream. Except I’m not a high priestess anymore, according to Merrick. All those rules I’ve lived my life by don’t apply anymore.
“What did he say?” Ian growls, and there’s something in his eyes that tells me he’s already figured it out.
“The Empress didn’t want to lose her daughter to the Sisterhood,” Max says. “So when Kali was born, she refused the portents, right?”
“Worse than that,” Merrick tells him. “My uncle said he knew right away what Kali was. But the Empress wouldn’t let him contact the Sisterhood. She removed the birthmark Kali was born with—”
“Birthmark?” Ian asks. “Where was it?”
“On her left shoulder,” I murmur. Because that’s where mine is.
Ian’s eyes narrow. “She has a scar there. I saw it when—” He breaks off, but we can all fill in the blanks.
“What about mine?” I ask, my knees shaking so badly that I know Beckett is the only thing keeping me upright right now. “How did I get mine?”
Merrick looks devastated for me when he answers. “From what my father told me at the end, you were just a baby, born at the right—or wrong—time. The Empress paid off your mother, and when the Sisterhood came looking, they found you. They tattooed a birthmark on you identical to Kali’s, bribed people so it appeared you were the real high priestess. All of the tests to confirm your reincarnated soul were faked. No one from the Sisterhood questioned it.”
I’m drowning in a sense of betrayal. And I need to lash out. I whirl on Beckett. “Did you know?”
“Of course not!” But her eyes look unsure. “I mean, when I first saw your birthmark, it looked slightly artificial to me, but how could I be sure?”
I let out a low moan. Everyone suspected but me. I have been so, so naive.
“I can’t believe parents would do that to their child.” And I can’t believe Merrick wouldn’t tell me as soon as he knew. “Who knows about this?” I ask, my mind reeling.
“No one,” Merrick answers. “Kali’s father swore mine to secrecy. Dad only told me when he was on his deathbed.”
“And you never told me,” I say, my voice breaking. “You’ve known for months, and you never said a word.”
“Suspected, Rain. Not known. I didn’t want to believe it.” He looks at me pleadingly. “My father was old and broken at the end. I wanted it to be just the incoherent nightmare of a man whose mind was fleeing more with each day that passed. And like I said, I had no proof, only what he told me. It wasn’t until that day on the Caelestis that I had to admit to myself that what he said was true.”
That makes sense. I probably wouldn’t have told him, either, until I had proof. But it still hurts so much that I can barely breathe. Everything about my life has been a lie, from the moment my parents sold me—sold me—to the Sisterhood. And the only person I ever really trusted, besides the crew of the Starlight, helped perpetuate the lie.
My whole life is a lie. I’m a lie.
Fuck. The Light itself is probably a fucking lie.
The room starts to spin around me. “I don’t feel good,” I gasp out. “I think—”
The next thing, I know I’m on the floor, a pillow under my head and Beckett sitting cross-legged beside me, yellow eyes anxious as she studies my face.
I sit up, only to find Merrick seated a meter away from me, looking as devastated as I feel. “So what happens now?” I ask.
I’m thinking about the Sisterhood, about the fact that I can’t go back there and pretend to be the high priestess. It’s sacrilegious. Wrong. And also, I want a life as far away from the people who did this to me and Kali as I can get.
It’s Beckett who answers, and it’s not what I expect. “Captain’s ordered a course correction. Milla will have to wait a little bit longer. We’re going after Kali.”
Chapter 74
Kali
“I was just telling your mother that the heptosphere is being brought down from the remains of the Caelestis as we speak,” Dr. Veragelen says. “It should be here in the morning if all goes well.”
Already? That’s certainly faster than I was anticipating. But the sooner I can help halt the Dying Sun and protect everyone, the better.
“Annora,” Mom says, turning to Dr. Veragelen, “perhaps you’ll explain for Kalinda’s benefit just what is expected of her when it comes to the heptosphere.” My mother’s cultured tones slide down my spine like a shiver.
Dr. Veragelen smiles again, a twist of her thin lips that does nothing but creep me out. “Of course, Your Majesty. It’s actually quite simple, Your Highness. When the heptosphere arrives, you will be taken to it. You will lay your hands upon it, and when you do, it will activate.”
I can’t help but ask, “There were a lot of people in the lab that day. All the delegates touched it. Have you ever considered it could be one of them who activated it?”
“I know what I saw, Your Highness.” She gives me a steely look. “You should consider yourself a very special lady.”
“She’s the crown princess of the Senestris System,” my mother says, as if that explains everything. “She’s already very special.”
There’s an edge to her voice that wasn’t there a minute ago, and it’s my first clue that maybe she isn’t as happy with this situation as she’s making herself out to be. On the surface it appears that the Ruling Families are in charge of everything, but in truth, it’s a very delicate, very tense balance of power between us and the Corporation. Without their access to the technology, we’d all be totally isolated. Cut off from each other on our own little planets, with no communication between them at all.