I watched as Jax spoke with the pilot. The craft in front of us looked worse the longer I examined it—patches of metal covering its hull like a wounded animal barely stitched together. It was a far cry from anything my family would ever be seen in. Draven nobility had standards, and this... this was a rust bucket. I caught myself wondering if it could even fly, let alone make it to the capital without breaking apart.

I let out a slow breath, shaking my head. I didn’t need luxury right now; I needed speed. This heap only had to get me to the medical centre in the capital. Despite being one of the less-developed planets in the system, Dravius had the best of everything. Being the homeworld of Draven nobility had its perks, even outside the core planets.

I couldn’t help but smile, remembering how many people flocked to Dravius for its medical facilities, especially the NeuroCore Nexus installation. It was the only place in the system where people could get the procedure done, apart from the Emperor’s military academy on Centron Prime. I still had no idea how the Draven family convinced the Emperor to allow it. Maybe it was a deal brokered long ago—one of those unspoken arrangements that only the highest-ranking nobility knew about.

Whatever the reason, I was grateful. I'd visited the MedTech Nexus Hub too many times over the past few years, making sure I was fully compatible with the interface. This wasn’t going to be just any implant; it was supposed to be my ticket into the military academy. But now? Now, I had to race the clock, hoping the bureaucrats hadn’t yet processed the stupid nexus change paperwork.

I still had a chance to control my own fate. At least, that’s what I told myself.

Jax waved me over as the pilot, who had introduced herself as Zara Quinn. If I had heard her right, I strode up the boarding ramp before us. I took a moment to size her up. Short, tousled hair poked out from under a worn cap, and a tattoo of a star constellation snaked across her forearm.

She carried herself with the kind of reckless energy that screamed ‘trouble,’ yet somehow... competence. Her flight suit looked as battered and rugged as the ship, and her confident strides told me she was someone who thrived in chaos.

“She agreed to take us,” Jax said, walking alongside me. “But it’ll cost more than we planned. Apparently, she’s taking a huge risk. The Emperor’s arrival has grounded most travel and thrown everything into disarray.”

I smirked. “Let’s hope the chaos works to our advantage.”

Zara’s voice rang out from inside the ship, quick and sharp, as she busied herself with the preflight check. “Hope? You don’t need hope. You need credits. And from what I hear, you’re about to owe me a lot more of them.”

I raised an eyebrow as I followed her inside. The interior of the ship was just as rough as the outside. I was half-expecting the whole thing to fall apart mid-flight. Wires hung loosely overhead like veins, barely keeping a dying body alive. This was no Draven craft—it was chaos. Zara didn’t even glance back as she continued talking, her hands flying over the controls.

“You're in luck. Not many pilots are willing to fly right now with the Emperor looming over our heads, but me? I’ve never been one to follow the rules.” She flashed me a wide grin, pausing just long enough for me to catch her blue eyes—sharp, bright, and full of mischief. “Besides, I get bored easily.”

I couldn’t help but return the grin. Zara had the kind of energy that pulled you in, a restless, reckless streak that probably landed her in trouble more often than not. I shook my head. That recklessness might get us killed. But right now, it was exactly what we needed.

Her confidence was almost contagious. It was a sharp contrast to the rigid, predictable world of the Draven household that I had spent years adapting to. Part of me wondered how long it had been since I’d been around someone like her—or if I ever had.

Chuckling to myself, I let out a breath I hadn’t been aware I was holding. “Well, I’ll make sure we compensate you for the risk,” I said, already calculating how much more this little adventure was going to cost.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She shrugged, turning her attention back to the control panel. “As long as you get me out of the mess if this all blows up. I don’t plan on becoming the Emperor’s next plaything.”

“Deal,” I replied, though I wasn’t sure how much I could guarantee anything at this point.

Jax nudged me, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “We’ve got a good one here, I can tell.”

Zara’s loud, infectious laugh echoed through the ship. “Damn right, you do. Now strap in. This is going to be one hell of a ride.”

I buckled myself into the co-pilot seat before casting one last glance at the landing bay. Time was running out. Everything hinged on getting to the medical centre before anyone could change my future. This wasn’t just about avoiding having the wrong Nexus implanted. It was about holding onto the last shred of control I had over my life.

I hoped Zara was as good as she claimed because I couldn’t afford any mistakes. Too much of my future was riding on this. I couldn’t afford to rest. My hand started shaking as I tried to push the thoughts of failure away.

Zara tapped a few more buttons, her hands moving with the quick confidence of someone who'd done this a thousand times. She leaned forward, pressing a comms button. “Control, this is the Razorwing, requesting clearance for takeoff. Cargo transport to Dravius Capital.”

The reply came almost immediately, crackling over the comms. “Razorwing, all flights are grounded until further notice. No exceptions.”

Zara didn't skip a beat. “Say again, Control. Can you please repeat your last? We’re having some—” she slammed her hand against the panel beside her, cutting off the transmission mid-sentence. “Oops,” she muttered with a smirk, flipping the receiver off entirely. She glanced over her shoulder at me and Jax. “Hang on.”

Before I could respond, Zara jammed the throttle forward. The ship roared to life, launching off the landing platform with a force that slammed me back into my seat. My stomach dropped, and for a brief moment, it felt like the whole ship was rattling apart. Jax grunted beside me, his hands gripping his harness tight as the Razorwing climbed at an angle that had no regard for comfort.

“Hell of a launch,” Jax muttered through gritted teeth.

Unaffected by the g-forces pinning us back, Zara glanced at a blinking light on her control panel. “Ah, just what I wanted to see.”

I strained to look over at her screen, my curiosity piqued. “What is it?”

She snorted. “We've got company. Two patrol ships. Probably the Emperor’s fleet. If they catch us, there’s no telling what kind of mess we’ll be in.” She glanced sideways, a mischievous grin still plastered on her face. “Time to see if this rust bucket’s got any fight left in her.”

Before I could protest, the ship lurched to the side, sending me crashing into the side of my seat. Outside the viewport, I saw the industrial landscape of Dravius rushing past us—factories and storage facilities blending into a blur.

The ship groaned as it twisted between towering structures. My hands gripped the seat tighter. Everything was falling apart. Zara’s ship, this mad escape, even my carefully laid plans. I needed control. Over my future, over my life. But with every lurch of the Razorwing, that control slipped further away.

Jax muttered as he forced his eyes closed. “I knew this was going to be a mistake.”

“Are you crazy?” I shouted, gripping the armrests as she clipped the corner of a nearby building. The ship rattled violently as sparks flew from the impact, throwing us further off balance. “You're going to tear this thing apart!”

Zara's laughter filled the cabin. “Relax! She’s got more patches than the original hull, but I’ve flown through worse. Just don’t think too hard about the engineering behind it.”

The Razorwing bucked as she cut a sharp turn, the warning lights on the console flashing in quick succession. I suddenly understood why this ship looked like it had survived a war zone—it probably had. Each lurch and rattle of the hull felt like it was holding together by sheer willpower, as Zara pushed it far beyond its intended limits.

The proximity alert blared, cutting through my thoughts. Before I could process the full weight of what that meant, Zara’s voice broke through—excited, almost gleeful. ‘Hold on, boys. This is where the fun really starts.’

“They’re getting closer!” Jax shouted, his eyes darting between the radar and the rear view.

Zara glanced at me, her grin still in place but her voice softer for just a second. “Don’t worry—I’ve got this.”

Her grin might have been infectious to start with, but I couldn’t help the nagging thought in the back of my mind—how much of this was luck, and how much was skill?

I watched in horror as Zara threw the ship sideways.

My stomach lurched as the Razorwing twisted through a barrel roll, and the sudden shift slammed me against my seat. The internal dampeners failed as my vision swam, dark spots creeping into the edges. I clung to the armrests, silently willing the ship to hold together. This wasn’t flying. This was survival.

Zara let out a shout as her hands moved across the control board faster than I could follow, I felt the dampeners kick back in. I had never felt so grateful for them to be working again.

Zara’s flying was completely different to anything I had experienced. Well, almost completely different. The kiss I had with Seraphina certainly was up there with the craziest thing I had done today.