{Enki | Pantheon}

Tameka had never felt so alive. The power of a star flowed through her and into another. No one could understand the raw energy and unbridled fire burning in her nacre. Well, except maybe Rayne.

“It’s working, Fury. Keep it coming.”

The War King sounded as exhilarated as Tameka felt.

Razor told them the property of the hull surrounding Ishkur should negate Rayne’s fuse. She might never leave the second Dyson’s Sphere, but it was more than enough to keep her occupied for a few million years. That’s what Tameka wanted. Her entire family—all the Shadow and all their allies—living in Ishkur.

Safe.

Thriving.

Peoples united and working together to make the Vast Collective a rich and diverse community of peace. Tameka wanted to tell Xelan about it so badly, but there wasn’t exactly a window to share her vision. Or to share the intelligence on Gait’s children.

Ugh, Tameka actually felt bad for keeping something from Korac.

How things changed.

Pehton’s children had asked to remain a secret. They wanted a big reveal for their mother, and who was Fury to stand in their way?

With no one near enough to overhear, Tameka muttered into the exclusive frequency on her earpiece, “Aya, we’re still on the bridge. Standby until the battle recommences. Over.”

Aya’s voice shivered with excitement. “We eagerly await your signal, Fury.”

All good.

Now, for Razor.

The Pain Curator hovered and buzzed about the bridge, engaging in one-on-one conversations with their team. There was no telling what he could affect in Enki. Anxiety buzzed in Tameka’s veins. She couldn’t trust him, and she resented that anyone in their group felt compelled to do so now. They were vulnerable, and he was pretty much a god.

“Razor.”

He answered Tameka’s summons by flitting his projection to her side. Why not exercise her multi-tasking skills by interrogating him while powering Ishkur’s star?

After considering her words, Fury kicked diplomacy out the window and asked him directly, “What are your motivations?”

“I’m curious, myself,” Xelan confessed without looking away from the radar screen. He gestured at it. “Rem and Bol should’ve arrived at the Pantheon by now, but look…”

Tameka glanced at the screen and watched one blip run into a conduit meant to take it straight south, but somehow it rerouted to the west.

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Korac stared at the image with hard eyes. They softened when Sagan stepped up to his side and snuggled in, careful for their axes. That vein strained in Xelan’s forehead again. Tameka understood it. Some people might assume it was a jealousy thing, but it was actually hard on Xelan to adjust to the idea of his student being in love with his ex-partner and best friend.

Tameka got it.

They all turned and looked at Razor beside Tameka when the blips rerouted once more.

The Pain Curator played with the gem adorning the top of his cane. After a heartbeat, Razor shrugged as if they’d caught him in some mischief and he wasn’t ashamed of it. “I’ve redirected a few conduits.”

Iuo paused from his stenography equipment and gaped. Pehton crossed her arms, hard carbuncle eyes narrowed at him.

Tumu peered at him with a contemplative frown on his featureless face. “Why?”

Razor sighed, and it was heavy, especially for someone without lungs. “I wanted to prolong them from reaching the Pantheon while I consider my options, and because it’s funny to listen to them cuss up and down the corridors.”

Was a smile trying to tug at Tameka’s lips?

Xelan lost any resistance and grinned.

Sagan’s voice was soft as she asked, “What options?”

Korac chafed her arms like she’d experienced a sudden chill.

Razor took his top hat off and dusted it against his knee, dodging eye contact as he continued with the unexpected confession. “I want you to raise your son, Xelan, and I want Echo safe more than anything.” Again, he sighed, meeting their eyes for the next. “But I don’t necessarily want the Tritans to fall. The hubris of my people fueled the war more than Tritan arrogance. Those are my motivations, Fury. That and how to repay Primary Rem.”

That popped her brows high.

Tumu turned away from the radar and scanned Razor with considering voids. He pointed at a squad of nacres at the Pantheon battleground. “Those are the Tritan race. All the remaining young males Lance released earlier, thanks to Matt and Lucy.”

At the mention of Matt’s name, a smirk tugged at Razor’s lips.

Pehton pressed, “But if Remorse finds them fighting alongside the Shadow, he’ll rationalize killing them. Then he’ll find himself at the same square one when the Aegis killed the Tritan females—Blaming someone else for a problem he created.”

Korac nudged her with a smirk. “Well said.”

Tameka let them carry on a bit as she stared at Xelan. They were engaging in a conversation without words. Her quirked brow asked, “Should we trust him?”

The small dip of Xelan’s chin said, “I’m considering it.”

Then came the buzzing of anxiety again.

Iuo spoke up next. “With Ishkur, the Tritans will thrive, and the Aegis will live on in Echo, raised as a Shadow.”

Razor met Sagan’s eyes. Every time he did that, a strange current of something passed between them, confusing Tameka. It wasn’t love or sexual attraction. It was more like fate. The Last Aegis held an affinity for Seamswalkers.

Tameka didn’t like it.

Korac didn’t either by the flicker in his icy eyes—A threat for his older brother.

To Sagan, Razor said, “I know you’ll keep her safe.”

The Seamswalker, all serious with her leveled stare, said, “I’ll stake my life on it.”

That was it.

Razor turned to Xelan and asked, “Are you certain you want Remorse dead? After all, he is your father, and I want no regrets between us.”

Tameka’s eyes widened at the offer which was implicated by the question, and she looked to Xelan for his answer.

Xelan met Pehton’s gaze. She nodded, firm and without question. Then he met Tumu’s eyes. The two, Tumu and Rem, were Primaries and relatives. The last of the Gargantuan Tritans. If anyone had a right to object, it would be him.

Tumu confessed, “I should have eliminated him long ago.”

Tameka couldn’t agree more, but it wasn’t helpful to voice those kinds of thoughts. See? She was maturing.

Xelan looked back at Razor. “Considering how much Remorse has fixated on my family, I don’t think Pax will ever be safe while the man still breathes.”

“For Nox.”

Tameka surprised herself by muttering the words, but they were true. So much of what befell the brothers happened because of Primary Rem.

Although Korac wasn’t smirking, a hint of it was in his voice. He said to Tameka, “Now you can give a speech at our wedding.”