Glacia hesitates for several seconds. Whatever she wants to say, it’s giving her a lot of trouble, and when she finally manages to speak, her voice is hard, like it was on the Ember after Captain Fallsten called her out during Michael’s conference.

“Are you still going to see her?”

Slowly, my fingers crinkle the can I’m holding. Glacia looks at my hands, then my face, then straight ahead. But I don’t know what to say. I came here for Ladia. She’s the reason I joined the Embassy Program. Now a voice inside my head screams at me, urges me to look Glacia in the eye and say what I’ve wanted to tell her for the past two weeks. But I’ve worked way too hard. I have a promise to keep. I need to know what Ladia and I could be. We might still have a future.

“You have training the next couple of days, right?” I ask.

“Yup.”

I clench my jaw and nod stiffly, my heart racing.

“I’ll go see her.”

Glacia swirls her can of Nectar Spice. Her silence stretches…and stretches. My thoughts scramble. She’s angry. No, she wanted me to do this. That was the whole point of seeing the stars and learning the constellations. Pisces the Fish, Arcen the Bow, Thumper the—

“Okay.”

I accidentally crinkle my soda can, and her eyes dart to it. Does she know what’s going through my head? My foot is shaking again. Too much.

“I’ll be back Saturday night,” I say, looking at her even though she isn’t looking back.

Glacia crunches her can flat, then stands and drops it in the disposal unit.

“See you Saturday then.”

She walks across the room and shuts the door behind her. I stare at it—half-hoping she’ll come back inside—but she doesn’t.

“Night,” I say to no one.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A sharp glint of sunlight blinds me the moment I open my eyes. I squint and roll over, my head sinking farther into the pillow and my legs tugging at the bottom of the sheets. The night didn’t treat me as well as I’d hoped it would, but a quick shower sparks my morning.

I eat breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. The pancakes have a rubbery texture to them, but I can deal with that. The coffee, however, is way too strong. I had to get Belvun’s blend of coffee: Carn Roast. It’s chalky, and no amount of cream dilutes the flavor, so I push it aside and grab a glass of seedberry juice, which, fortunately, tastes no different than Undil’s.

I pay my bill—a hefty thirty-two shims—and then return to the lobby.

“Excuse me,” I say to the clerk at the front desk. “Where can I catch a flight to”—I check my holotab for Ladia’s address—“Subari?”