Thriexa Aizih POV

  The silence inside the transport was thick, pressing against my chest like a weight that refused to lift. The hum of the engines filled the space, but it did nothing to quiet the storm raging in my mind. Jace stood close to me, his presence solid and unwavering. I could feel the warmth of him, his steady breath just inches away. He had been patient, but I could feel the tension in him, the growing frustration at my silence. I had to tell him.

  I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “Jace, what I am about to tell you… it will change everything.”

  He leaned forward, his piercing blue eyes locked onto mine. “Then tell me. I can handle it.”

  I wasn’t sure he could. But I had no choice.

  “Before I was born, the Eova settled on a planet called Dephoria,” I began. “At first, it was perfect. The Dephorians were eager to learn, fascinated by the stars beyond their world. They welcomed us with open arms. My mother, Xilta, trusted them.”

  Jace remained silent, his hands clasped together as he listened intently. I forced myself to continue.

  “The Eova helped them advance. We gave them technology, knowledge, ways to travel the galaxies. My father, Sevophus, became close to their leader, forming what he thought was an alliance based on trust and mutual growth. But it was a lie. The Dephorians had another plan. They wanted conquest, power. They intended to use the ships we helped them build to wage war on other planets.”

  Jace’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t interrupt.

  “My father discovered their plans. He knew that if the Eova stayed, we would be complicit in their destruction. But he also knew that if we left without stopping them, the Dephorians would spread chaos through the galaxy. He made a choice—one that cost him his life.”

  The memory of stories I had been told since childhood clawed at my mind, but I forced myself to hold Jace’s gaze. “Before we evacuated, my father used his abilities to destroy their fleet, to burn away every advancement we had given them. He faced the Dephorian leader himself, and neither of them survived.”

  Jace exhaled sharply, but I wasn’t finished.

  “We thought it was over. We thought we had escaped.” I swallowed hard. “But they rebuilt. Not as quickly, not as efficiently, but they never stopped chasing us. Instead of turning their rage into rebuilding what they had before, they turned it toward us. Revenge became their purpose. Wherever we went, they followed.”

  Jace was quiet, processing everything. I hated the silence. It left too much space for doubt, for distrust. I rushed to fill it.

  “They shouldn’t have been able to reach us here, Jace. Not for another hundred years at least. I don’t understand how—” My voice cracked, and I clenched my fists. “I don’t know how they’ve caught up. But they have. And it’s my fault. If we had never given them our technology in the first place—”

  Jace cut me off, his voice calm but firm. “Thriexa, stop. This isn’t your fault. You weren’t even born when this happened. You had no say in what your people did back then. This was their decision, not yours.”

  I shook my head, unable to believe that. “You don’t understand. I’ve known this would happen someday. And I still let you believe we were safe.”

  He reached for my hand, his grip steady despite the weight of my confession. “You’re right. I don’t understand everything yet. But I do know this—you’re not alone in this. And I don’t plan on letting you go through it alone.”

  I stared at him, searching his face for any sign of doubt, of distrust. But all I saw was resolve.

  For the first time since Trenal’s message, I let out a slow breath.

  “Then we face this together,” I whispered.

  Jace nodded. “Together.”

  The hum of the transport continued, but the silence between us was no longer unbearable. The truth was out. And whatever came next, I wouldn’t face it alone.

  I hesitated before reaching for him. I had told Jace before that we couldn’t be together, that my duty was to my people. But in this moment, none of that seemed to matter. The weight of my past, my guilt, my fear pressed down on me, and I needed to be held. I needed something to ground me.

  Slowly, cautiously, I reached out, my fingers brushing against his. He didn’t pull away. Instead, he closed the distance, wrapping his arms around me without hesitation. His warmth, his steadiness, it was more reassuring than I expected. I let myself sink into it, just for a moment, allowing myself to believe that maybe, just maybe, I didn’t have to bear this burden alone.

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  Jace Strickland POV

  Thriexa trembled in my arms, her usually unshakable presence now fragile and uncertain. I held her tightly, anchoring her against me as I processed everything she had just told me. My mind raced, trying to piece together the enormity of it all.

  The Dephorians. An entire civilization that had once been given the chance to explore the stars, only to become obsessed with destruction. Thriexa’s father had sacrificed everything to stop them, and yet it hadn’t been enough. They had rebuilt, and they had followed, hunting the Eova across the stars.

  And now, somehow, they had found us.

  I exhaled slowly, feeling the weight of her words settle into my chest. Thriexa blamed herself. I could feel it in the way she clung to me, in the way her body tensed every time she tried to pull back. She thought she had deceived me. That she had let me believe we were safe when she knew, deep down, that this moment would come.

  But how could she have known? She wasn’t even alive when this war had started. She had inherited it, just like she had inherited the burden of leading her people. She had spent her whole life running, waiting for this day, dreading it. And yet, she stood here now, terrified not just of the Dephorians but of what I would think of her.

  Would I turn away? Would I see her people as reckless, responsible for the devastation that followed them? Would I blame her?

  I swallowed hard, pushing down the anger curling in my gut. Not anger at her—never at her—but at the injustice of it all. At the fact that this burden had been forced onto her shoulders, at the fact that she had carried it alone for so long.

  I tightened my arms around her, pressing my forehead lightly against hers. “Thriexa,” I murmured, my voice steady even as my thoughts threatened to spiral. “This isn’t your fault. You weren’t even born when this happened. You didn’t make this war.”

  She shook her head, her hands gripping the fabric of my jacket like she was afraid I’d disappear. “I still let you believe we were safe.”

  “Because you wanted to believe it, too,” I countered. “Because you hoped—like any of us would—that maybe, just maybe, this was over. But it’s not, and that’s not on you.”

  She exhaled shakily, her breath warm against my skin. “They shouldn’t have been able to reach us. Not for another hundred years at least… I don’t understand how.”

  Neither did I.

  The thought of the Dephorians getting here ahead of schedule sent a chill through me. If what she said was true, if the Eova had carefully chosen planets just out of the Dephorians’ reach, then something had changed. Something had given them the ability to close the gap, to hunt faster, to reach Earth far earlier than they should have.

  And if they had reached us now…

  “Then we don’t have time to waste,” I said, pulling back just enough to look into her eyes. “You’re not running anymore. We stop them. Together.”

  She searched my face for doubt, but there was none. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not now. Not ever.

  She nodded slowly, exhaling in relief as she let herself sink into my arms again. For now, she just needed to be held. And I would be here for as long as she needed me.

  Thriexa Aizih POV

  The moment our transport landed on Saliscanna Island, the chaos of evacuation surrounded us. Eova rushed between the structures, their voices sharp with urgency, their arms burdened with supplies. The air was thick with tension, every movement fueled by fear and desperation.

  My mother was waiting for us at the landing site. Xilta stood tall, her violet eyes scanning the arriving group, but the moment they landed on Jace, her expression hardened.

  “Why is the human here?” Xilta’s voice cut through the noise, demanding an answer. “Thriexa, this is no place for him.”

  Jace stiffened beside me, but I stepped forward before he could say anything. “He stays. He knows everything. He’s seen what’s happening, and he wants to help.”

  Xilta’s gaze flickered with disapproval. “Help? The Eova do not need help from humans. We need to leave. The Dephorians have arrived, and we cannot risk staying any longer.”

  Her words sent a fresh wave of guilt surging through me. Running. Always running. My entire life had been spent fleeing from the ghosts of the past, from a war that had never truly been mine. But it had become mine the moment I was born into it. And now, after all these years, there was nowhere left to run.

  “No,” I said, my voice firmer than I expected. “We can’t keep running. We’ve been running my entire life, and look where it’s gotten us. They’ve caught up, and they’ll keep catching up. They’ve figured out how to track us faster. We can’t outpace them anymore.”

  Xilta’s lips parted slightly, but she did not interrupt me.

  “If we run now, they will follow us to the next planet. And the next. And they will never stop,” I continued. “We need to stop them. We need to fight.”

  Murmurs rippled through the Eova around us. Some eyes turned toward Xilta, others to me. The idea of confronting the Dephorians outright was unthinkable. We had always chosen flight over fight.

  “Mother,” I continued, softening my voice. “The last we heard, a new leader has taken control. She is the great-granddaughter of the Dephorian leader you once knew. Maybe she is different. Maybe we can make peace.”

  Xilta’s face paled, her fingers tightening at her sides. “Peace? You think these bloodthirsty creatures want peace? They have hunted us for generations, Thriexa. You were born into this because they refuse to let us go!”

  I swallowed hard, but I didn’t back down. “Maybe she isn’t like her ancestors. Maybe they are as tired of this as we are. Running is no longer an option, Mother. If we flee again, they will just follow. But if we try to negotiate first, maybe—just maybe—we have a chance to stop this before more lives are lost.”

  Xilta inhaled slowly, studying me as if searching for weakness. “You would risk everything on this? On a confrontation we may not win?”

  “We’ve already lost if we run,” I countered. “At least if we stand, we stand on our own terms.”

  She hesitated, her sharp eyes flickering to Jace. “And you think this human can help?”

  Jace met her gaze without flinching. “Yes. And I will.”

  Xilta exhaled, her expression unreadable. Then, at last, she nodded. “Gather the others. We will take a transport to the Eova space station. Four Eova from each nation will accompany us.”

  She turned to the gathered Eova, her expression hardening. “The representatives of each nation will remain here on Earth. If something happens to Thriexa and me, you will be the ones to lead our people.”

  I stepped closer to Trenal. “Contact the Dephorians,” I instructed. “Request a meeting. Tell them we need to discuss how to end this.”