"The bird, Raider. I need the bird."
She just needed a medium to anchor Jin to. Preferably something that already carried his imprint.
Raider shook his head. "It’s not with me. I dropped it when I was fishing Elena out of the pool."
"No," Kira whispered, collapsing in on herself.
She couldn't lose Jin. Not like this.
Her gaze focused slowly on the cryopods. Specifically, the last one. The one that carried the boy that looked exactly like Jin.
Of course. Why didn't she think of that before?
"What?" Raider asked.
Kira shoved her friend out of the way, scrambling toward the pod. She fumbled for the controls, getting it open a second later. Water gushed out, spilling through the grates to the pool below.
Kira set a hand on the boy, her senses delving into him.
There was only one problem with the idea of placing Jin’s soul inside the boy’s body. And that was if the boy already possessed a soul of his own.
It was the biggest reason Kira had never gone this route before. Clones held their own sense of self. They weren't empty containers you could simply fill with whatever you wished. At least not without driving out what was already there.
That was a sin neither Kira nor Jin had wanted to shoulder. It stunk of their old masters. A level they never wanted to descend to.
"No soul," she breathed a second later.
Finally, something that went her way.
"Kira, wait. Are you sure?" Raider's face reflected uncertainty as he looked from her to the boy. "This clone is Tsavitee made. We don't know what it really is or its purpose for being here."
Raider had a point, but Kira found she didn’t care.
"I'm not letting him die here."
Not in this awful place.
Jin needed a vessel. There it was.
"Do what you've got to do. I'll guard your back," Raider told her.
"Thanks." Kira's voice was soft, picking up the two halves of Jin’s sphere before turning back to the boy. "This is going to work. Do you understand, Jin? Otherwise, I'll never let you hear the end of it."
Beads of sweat dotted Kira's forehead as she concentrated, pulling out the drone's essence. Jin's soul with it.
"There you are, my friend. Time for a new chapter in our story."
Kira slammed Jin's soul into the boy's body.
Thirty
Jin’s confusion and terror buffeted Kira, amplifying her own emotions as his soul threatened to slip away.
The new vessel wasn’t acting like the anchor she’d thought it would be. Without her there to hold the soul in place, it would escape. Eventually dissipating.
Kira refused to let that happen.
Unfortunately, her energy was flagging as she faced the realization that she didn’t have enough left in her to do what needed to be done.
A sob left her.
"No. Please."
She slumped, her forehead touching the boy’s chest. This couldn’t be the end. It couldn’t.
Graydon’s arms came around her, his hands cupping hers as his front cradled her back. "Together, cheva nier."
Power splashed against her defenses. As comforting as a hot bath on a cold and damp winter's day. Painless, unlike that of the lenacht and lu-ong’s.
"Use me," Graydon urged.
Kira did, weaving Jin into his new body with Graydon's power and the little bit of ki she had left. Little by little, Jin’s soul settled into its new home.
"We did it," Kira gasped.
At least, she thought they had. Jin's presence in their bond was scarily silent. To the point, she couldn’t be sure if what she felt was really him or a figment of her imagination.
Graydon caught her as all the strength left her body. "It's time to go."
"How did you find us?" Kira asked as she felt him turn her to face him.
"Coli, you sent up such a big signal."
Kira studied the gaping hole the lu-ong had torn in the ceiling during its escape. "I suppose I did."
"I would have been here sooner, but I had to find my yer’se first."
Kira's eyes fluttered closed.
Graydon’s lips pressed against her ear. "Thank you for staying with me."
Kira gave him an exhausted smile, unable to find the will to open her eyes as he lifted her.
"Tend to the injured. Anyone who can't walk, we'll carry them out," Graydon was ordering as Kira drifted off.
Graydon
Graydon felt the moment Kira went limp from unconsciousness. Her body loosened, her head resting against his chest.
He adjusted his hold, ensuring she was as comfortable as he could make her.