For a moment, he stood before me, and then he slowly went back to his book, brushing his hair from his eyes before he made a hasty notation. “I thought I could do this,” Trent whispered to the uncaring pages. “I thought I could sacrifice anything to save my species.” He looked up, shocking me cold. “I can’t. She’s my child, Rachel. I can’t. If I can’t find a way to make Lucy safe, I will do everything he tells me to. I will fail everyone and everything. I will sacrifice even my species for her well-being. It’s upside down, and I . . . I can’t change it.”

My heart went out to him. He had changed, and everything was painfully new. Now . . . he might understand me. “You aren’t doing this alone,” I said. I knew the anguish of knowing what to do but not wanting to pay the cost for it.

Heartache showed in his eyes. Behind that was a desperate need to believe. “No?”

There was the barest hint of air movement, and Trent’s eyes shifted over my shoulder. His expression went ugly, and heart pounding, I spun.

Nick. At least I thought it was Nick. My relief was short-lived, adrenaline shoving it out for my hatred. “You!” I exclaimed, sure it was him when I saw his smug expression. He was in jeans and a casual tee, slippers on his feet, looking thin but satisfied, with a clean-shaven face and a haircut that showed every one of his scars. “Did you know Ku’Sox killed Ceri and Pierce?”

Nick leaned back against the window, his ankles crossed confidently. “Who do you think helped cover Pierce’s absence from Newt long enough for them to attack Ku’Sox?”

My jaw dropped. For three seconds, I took that in, the awful truth sifting through my brain. He had . . . Nick had lied to Pierce? Pretended he was helping them kill Ku’Sox and then left them in the lurch? “You son of a bastard!” I screamed, launching myself at him.

Nick put up a hand to ward me off, shifting at the last moment to shove me into the wall.

I floundered at the change of direction, snagging Nick’s shirt. I yanked him down with me. I had time for one good breath before his elbow landed on my middle.

We were a tangle on the floor, and my abdomen felt like it was on fire. Struggling to breathe, I grappled with him, slamming his back into the floor and straddling him. He pushed at me, and I pinned his arms with my knees. Grabbing a handful of hair, I thunked his head into the floor.

“You betrayed Pierce?” I wheezed, hearing babies start to cry, muffled from the glass. “He killed them! You helped him kill them! Ceri is dead because of you! Ceri and Pierce are dead, and I could have loved him!”