“Oh, that’s fine for you,” Mia snarled with such ferocity I retreated a step. “With your month-old powers and your sheltered Omnistellar past. But it’s different for us. Our abilities are part of who we are. How would you feel if you woke up and your eyes were suddenly a different color?”

I gaped at her in disbelief. “Mia, your power didn’t change. It got stronger. How is that not a good thing, especially in this situation?” And do you have any idea, any, what I would give to have your problem? Not to mention the fact that, once again, Mia was setting me apart, tossing me to the side, making sure I knew she didn’t fully trust me. Maybe no one did. I was still different from them, not Omnistellar, but not fully an anomaly, either, at least not in their eyes. Where did that leave me?

If she realized she’d hurt me, Mia didn’t show it. “Stronger, weaker, it’s still something happening to my body that I can’t control. Sure, it might be useful now. But what if this is just the beginning? What if my powers keep changing? How am I supposed to predict anything if I can’t even predict my own abilities?” Her hands clenched into fists, her arms steel bolts of tension.

Cage raked his hands through his hair, standing it on edge. “I hear you, Mia. But for now, can we focus on using the resources available to us? Please?”

She hesitated a moment, and something clattered in the distance. We all froze. It was probably nothing. “I’ll be right back,” said Mia, and vanished.

“Great,” I snapped. Her comments strained me more than I wanted to admit. They drove home the fact that even though I’d thrown myself fully in with the others, they hadn’t accepted me. I wasn’t one of them, and I sure as hell wasn’t Omnistellar. Tension edged along my neck, creeping up my skull and setting off a pounding headache behind my eyes.

“Give her a second,” Alexei said calmly.

Of course. Mia could throw a table at a waiter in a crowded restaurant and Alexei would find a way to excuse it. My teeth clenched, and words bubbled in my throat, stumbling over one another in their rush to escape.

“It’s okay,” said Cage softly, and Rune took my hand, not in warning or restraint but in support. It was enough to make me swallow the words. I still didn’t know where things sat between me and Cage, but we’d made some progress. He’d given me answers openly and honestly and that had to mean something. Rune, I loved without reservation. She was the sister I’d never had. I squeezed her hand gratefully and tried not to think about the fact that our entire relationship was founded on a lie. Sometime, and sometime soon, she’d learn the truth. Would she still be my friend once she did?

“Don’t take it personally,” Reed told me, breaking into my thoughts. “It’s just Mia being Mia.”