Upheaval (Rise of the Iliri #8)

by Auryn Hadley

"Shade?" he said, reaching down for her hand. "Ya are a miracle. Do na ever forget that. When we need ya, yer always there, and ya may have just saved ever'thing."

We all know that Salryc Luxx can't help but try to fix everything. It's the downfall of her kind, and why humans have kept them as pets for so long. All we have to do is make it clear that she either turns herself in or we kill the two Black Blades we have, and then you can brag about your title or whatever else you want."

but all that science stuff hurts a hell of a lot more than your riding crop."

But she would remember this woman's face. The first chance she got, Sal intended to peel it from her skull with nothing more than her own iliri teeth.

No one was dying tonight. Not them, not Sal, and not anyone else willing to stand between the iliri and extinction. No matter what color their uniforms were, what species they called their own, or why they were here, Arctic was done being the one to give up. His child was the last straw. Even if that was nothing more than the hope of his child, it was still more than he was willing to take ever again.

I saw it, man. Don't know how, don't know why, but it was like LT crawled all up in my brain for a moment."

But there was something about this girl that felt almost familiar. "Did we meet before?"

Sal? I'd never seen anyone like her. Not kids from career families, not recruits looking for revenge, and certainly not a newly-captured conscript. The only time I'd seen anything at all like her was up in Unav where the wild iliri roamed. Free. Strong. Proud. Sal was all of those things, and I was not going to let my army destroy her.

Iliri, we have the kind of comforts that you've only ever dreamed of, and the Kaisae has said you are all welcome to it." She smiled at the very long line of refugees. "You, my friends, are finally home."

Home is where our differences make us the same, and strangers can become a pack. It is one thing that can never be stolen.

Ryali's daughter might rule them next, for all we know.

"Home is where our differences make us the same," Ryali said, quoting the words on the door. "Inessi, they do na just make us a pack. They make us stronger." "They make us a nation," Nica said softly.

The Kaisae is fighting for us. The least we can do is make sure she has somethan ta come home ta."