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“None of that matters if we can wipe out the Jedi,” she explained eagerly, her eyes blazing. “The war has taken a heavy toll on the Republic. Once the Jedi are gone, we can easily rally our troops and turn the tide of war. All we have to do is wipe them out, and the ultimate victory will be ours! All we have to do is win on Ruusan!”

“There are other Jedi besides those on Ruusan,” he replied.

“A few, but they are scattered in ones and twos across the galaxy. If the Army of Light is destroyed, we can hunt them down at our leisure.”

“Do you really believe Kaan will win? He has claimed imminent victory before, then failed to deliver on his promise.”

“For one who claims to want to join the Brotherhood,” she noted with some suspicion, “you don’t seem particularly devoted to the cause.”

Bane’s arm shot out and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her in close for another savage kiss. She gasped in surprise, then closed her eyes and gave in to the physical pleasure of the moment. This time it was she who finally pulled back with a faint sigh.

“You were right when you said I came back for something else,” he said, still holding her close. The treacherous poison on her lips tasted just as sweet the second time.

“The Brotherhood cannot fail,” she promised. “The Jedi are on the run, cowering and hiding in the forests.”

He let her go and stepped away, turning his back to her. He desperately wanted to believe she was capable of becoming his apprentice once he’d destroyed Kaan and the Brotherhood. But he still wasn’t sure. If she truly believed in what the Brotherhood stood for, then there was no hope.

“I just can’t accept what Lord Kaan preaches,” he confessed. “He says we are all equals, but if all are equal, then none can be strong.”

She stepped up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, applying gentle pressure until he turned to face her once again. Her expression was one of amusement.

“Do not believe everything Kaan says,” she warned, and he could hear the naked ambition in her voice. One to embody the power, the other to crave it. “Once the Jedi are destroyed, many of his followers will discover that some of us are more equal than others.”

He swept Githany up in his mighty arms with a joyful roar, spinning her around and around as he gave her another long, hard kiss. This was what he wanted to hear!

When he finally set her down she stumbled back half a step, unsteady after his unexpected outburst. She regained her balance and gave a startled laugh. “I guess you accept,” she said with a sly smile on her poison-slicked lips. “You pack up your camp. I’ll go ahead to let Kaan know you’re coming.”

“I can’t wait to see the look on his face when you tell him about this meeting,” he replied, still pretending he was unaware of the poison raging unchecked through his blood.

“Neither can I,” she replied, her voice giving nothing away. “Neither can I.”

As the surface of Ambria fell away beneath her and the glorious rings came into view, Githany couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. The passion she’d awakened in Bane had given him a sudden, surprising strength; she’d felt it in each of his kisses. But it was clear Bane was interested in her, not in joining the Brotherhood of Darkness.

She punched in the coordinates for the jump back to Ruusan and leaned back in her seat. Her head was spinning from the poison that had coated her lips. Not the rock worrt venom; that was only there to lull Bane into a false sense of security. But the synox she had mixed in with it—the colorless, odorless, tasteless toxin favored by the infamous assassins of the GenoHaradan—was having an effect despite the antidote she had taken. She had no doubt Bane would soon be feeling much, much worse than she did. A single kiss would have been enough to kill him, and he had received a triple dose.

She was going to miss Bane, she realized. But he was a threat to everything Lord Kaan was working for. She had to side with one or the other, so naturally she had