“From people sent to capture us so they can summon those things back to Earth? No. Definitely not.” And to my surprise, it was true. I didn’t feel even an inkling of guilt at the idea. If it meant protecting humanity from aliens, I wasn’t about to balk at stealing a ship.

Alexei buried his face in his hands like he was in pain, but when he raised his head, he smiled. “All right,” he said. “What the hell? If we’re going to do this, let’s go big.”

Grand theft starship it was.

TWENTY-FOUR

THE DOOR TO THE SHIP was, of course, locked. Mia took one look at it and shook her head. “I can’t pick this.”

“It’s an airlock,” Alexei snorted. “How the hell would you pick it? We’d need Rune to hack the door panel.”

I pressed my hands to the door as if I could borrow a bit of Mia’s power, make it invisible, and see what was on the other side. “We could trick them?” I suggested dubiously. “Alexei, you know the station. Can you sound official? Convince them to open up?”

“Maybe.” Doubt laced his tone, and Mia promptly made an alternate suggestion. I barely heard it, though. Energy thrummed through my fingers, keeping all my attention on the door. I leaned against it, and the sensation grew stronger. Obsidian’s electronics at work, maybe? Probably. So why couldn’t I step away?

The buzzing grew almost painful. I recoiled, but something held my fingers fast, like I’d inadvertently glued them in place. “Hey, guys?” I said, but my voice sounded far away to my own ears, and if Mia or Alexei replied, I didn’t hear it. I stared at my fingers, expecting to see them sink into the metal. They rested there, looking entirely normal, but I still couldn’t move.

My throat clenched. My entire world narrowed to the door in front of me. The buzzing increased, and my vision tunneled. A flare of light shot across my vision. I squeezed my eyes shut, and . . .

Suddenly I was on the other side of the door.

I gaped in disbelief. There was no mistaking what had happened. This was clearly the airlock leading to the ship.

I spun, every muscle trembling, and slammed my hand on the release for the airlock. The seal hissed, opening to reveal Alexei and Mia, their jaws hanging somewhere around their knees. “How . . . ?” Mia demanded.

I shook my head and the trembling grew stronger. The world gave a sickening lurch. A moment later Alexei had me in his big hands, easing me down against the wall. “Breathe,” he ordered.

I sucked in a gasp of air. “Sorry,” I whispered. “I just . . . I don’t know how I . . .” I squeezed Alexei’s wrists, their solid steadiness reassuring in the void of confusion. “What happened?”

“We don’t know, dorogaya moya. You were leaning against the door when light spread from your fingertips. It happened quickly. The light enveloped the door and you fell through, and it vanished.”