Free Return of the Ascendant (The Ascendant Series) by Raine Thomas

she asked.
    “A couple of hours,” Ty replied as he wet the same dishcloth Sem had used to wash himself.
    “By air,” Sem added.
    Kyra paused with the can halfway to her mouth. “I don’t have my driver’s license or any money. How are we going to fly anywhere? Is there a spaceship around I don’t know about?”
    “We will fly in an airplane, and you don’t have to worry about the details,” Ty said.
    She caught Sem’s glance as Ty washed his face and neck. “Is he always like this?”
    He swallowed a bite of sandwich and grinned. “If you think this is bad, just wait until we get to Alametria.”
    His smile was contagious. He had a dimple in one cheek that always made her think he was up to mischief. She found herself returning it, even though his reminder of where they were ultimately headed made her stomach lurch. He offered her a bite of his sandwich, but she shook her head. The Diet Coke was plenty, and it would be iffy as to whether she kept even that down thanks to her nerves.
    A couple of minutes later, Ty finished his clean-up. “Let’s go,” he said.
    The guy sure wasn’t one for tact or small talk, she thought. He gave orders and expected them to be followed. He was clearly used to having people obey him. Considering his size, demeanor, and the way he’d handled himself against the Shelvaks, she thought she understood why. She wasn’t entirely sure about the relationship between Sem and Ty, but she got the sense that her friend didn’t take kindly to being ordered around by his cousin. She sure empathized.
    Nevertheless, she followed Ty out the front door. As much as it chafed to be told what to do, getting killed would suck a whole lot more. She knew she was safest near Ty.
    They got into the sedan, this time with her in the front passenger seat. Sem grumbled about it, but Ty gave him one of his looks and Sem quieted down. Within a minute, they were loaded and ready to go.
    Another sense of finality struck Kyra as Ty put the car in reverse and backed them out of the driveway. She kept her eyes on the house she’d lived in with the only parents she knew until it disappeared from sight. Only when she turned to face forward did she realize that her vision was blurred with tears.
    Two fell. Then two more. She struggled to battle them back.
    Ty reached over, startling her. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out a couple of napkins that looked like they’d come from a fast food restaurant. She didn’t ask how they’d gotten there. She just accepted them with a quiet thank-you.
    He didn’t comment on her condition, for which she was grateful. They drove the forty-five minutes to the airport with only the sound of the local Top 40 station to fill the silence. She had a million questions, such as what was going to happen to her parents’ house and the apartment she had rented with Avana, but she knew Ty was intent on driving and making sure they were safe. The last thing she wanted to do was distract him and end up in a car wreck because the Shelvaks had found them.
    She spent the travel time reviewing what she’d learned so far. On her home planet, Alametria, she was called Ma’jah Kyr…the Ascendant. Although she didn’t know exactly what that meant, Sem had jokingly called her “the ruler of worlds.” She was afraid to ask whether that was true. She hadn’t even wanted the responsibilities of dorm monitor, for crying out loud.
    Her birth parents—and just thinking that term tore at her heart—were two people that Ty had called the Guardians. Their titles made her think that they were acting in key leadership positions on Alametria. Her parents—her Kyndred , she reminded herself—had said something about living with her in a palace. Maybe her birth parents were like a king and queen and she was like a princess, she thought. That wouldn’t be so bad. If they were the leaders right now, she could learn more about what it meant to rule over…what, exactly? A kingdom? The