Hope for Mercy — Bowen Greenwood

One-time lovers clash in an apocalyptic battle for the soul of Human Space. The cost of winning may be more than Langston Wheeler ever imagined.Once, telepaths called Archons almost wiped out humankind. Long after that war, a brotherhood called the Gentle Hand worked to keep it from happening again. They failed. The Archons are back. Mind control is back. All of Human Space is at war, and an Archon ship laden with their deadliest soldiers bears down on the Gentle Hands’ home.Langston Wheeler, a Gentle Hand with a tortured past, leads what’s left of his order. The Exile War has left them battered and desperate, without the numbers to fight this new threat. Worse, almost none of them believe in Langston, because he can’t keep his most dangerous secret: He’s in love with the woman who leads their enemy.Cleo Sable, once a Gentle Hand, now Ruler of the Archons, commands the force bearing down on Wheeler and his allies. Thousands of powerful telepaths ride with her. She wants more than victory in the Exile War. She wants justice for everything Langston cost her.When they meet in a final, apocalyptic battle for the soul of Human Space, Cleo has a mind-bending surprise for Langston. The cost of saving everything he loves may be higher than he ever imagined.