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Kiro hesitated, his eyes darting to Leia. Then he gave Halle a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Always," he promised her.

There was a storage area off to Leia's right. Halle waited for Kiro to disappear through the door before she spoke again.

"Don't you dare try to use him against me," Halle warned Leia. "He'll never betray me."

Ignoring the pain, Leia drew her bloodied lips back in the approximation of a smile.

"Some people will do whatever's necessary for the greater good."

"Halle, they're here!" J'er Nahj cried, before she could respond. Four Imperial stormtroopers clomped toward them, their heavy boots slapping the floor in lockstep.

Behind them appeared a slim, gray-haired man.

Halle flipped open her comlink. "Driscoll, you were supposed to alert me if the Imperials arrived. Driscoll? Trey? Hello?" No response.

"I'm afraid your friends have other things to worry about," the man said. "You'd best worry about yourself. Halle Dray, I assume?"

She nodded. "How did you find us?"

"That's my job," the officer said. "No one can hide from the Empire."

Halle didn't flinch. "Have you brought the plans for the New Alderaan resettlement?"

The Imperial officer shook his head.

"The terms of our agreement were that you would get the prisoner only once the Empire begins relocating the refugees."

"The terms have been changed." He signaled the stormtroopers. As one, they raised their blasters and fired.

The laserbolts struck Halle Dray and J'er Nahj at the same moment. Both were direct hits.

It seemed like their bodies collapsed to the floor in slow motion. Leia forced herself not to look away. Remember this, she ordered herself, staring hard at their limp, pale limbs, at the scorch marks across their chests. At their sightless eyes, wide open, gazing blankly into the void. Remember every life the Empire has taken.

Halle and Nahj had been her captors. But they had also been her people.

Remember—then avenge.

"There's supposed to be a third," the Imperial said, kicking each of the bodies to make sure they were dead. " Find him."

Leia glanced toward the storage area, and saw Kiro's eyes peering out of the darkness.

He was at her mercy.

"The third one ran off shortly before you arrived," she told the Imperial. "The sniveling coward couldn't take the pressure."

He raised his eyebrows. "Your help in the matter is rather unexpected, Princess."

"You and I may be on opposite sides," Leia said, trying to sound as cold and unfeeling as him. "But we certainly agree that this scum deserves to die."

The Imperial nodded to the stormtroopers. "TB-278, TB-137, see if you can track him down. TB-31 and TB-2954, take her back to the temporary base and see she's prepared for interrogation. I'll alert Lord Vader of our progress." He swept his eyes across her body, staring so intently it was almost like he could see inside of her. She forced herself not to cringe. "I doubt I'll be seeing you again, Your Highness. Not alive, at least."

He spun on his heel and walked away.

As the stormtroopers carried her from the room, she arched her head back, and saw Kiro poke his head out of the shadows. He took a step toward her, a question on his face.

Leia gave her head a slight shake. Run, she mouthed.

He hesitated, his eyes wide and anguished. Run! she urged him again.

He couldn't save her. But he could save himself. And no matter what he'd done, he was still one of her subjects. Which meant he was her responsibility.

Kiro nodded, once, then slipped back into the shadows. As the stormtroopers carried her away, she felt a faint whisper of relief.

At least one of us will escape.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"There's no one here," Luke said, once they'd conducted a cursory search of the hollowed-out school building. Its rust red paint was peeling off the walls, and crushed transparisteel glittered on the floor. A few tattered drawings still fluttered on the wall, leftovers from an unimaginable past. It had taken them far too long to track down the building. And now, after all that wasted time, there was nothing. "Let's go—maybe Han found something