“Yes. That.” Her tone manages to be serious, but when she lowers her hand, there’s still a ghost of a smile on her lips. My heart flutters.

Damn. Damn. A million times, damn. If only things were different.

“I’m hoping you took extra precautions not to be trailed this time?” I ask, arching my eyebrows at her.

“Of course. As you can imagine, my mother is too preoccupied to keep many eyes on me,” Shey says. “And it’s important that we aren’t interrupted. There’s something very important I need to talk to you about.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

I step forward. While she looks up at me, face full of curiosity and not a hint of suspicion, I pull the blaster out from the back of my pants and push the barrel into her stomach. I’m close enough to hear her let out a soft gasp, and read every line of the betrayal written on her face when she looks down to see the gun. She stares at me, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. I swallow my guilt and lean forward, putting my mouth right next to her ear. “The moment your mother is out of that meeting, tell her to come here. Alone.”

I pace back and forth as I wait for Leonis to show, keeping my blaster trained on Shey. She’s remained frozen in place ever since I pulled my gun on her, but the threat of the weapon doesn’t keep her from glaring at me.

“I don’t understand why you won’t simply talk to me,” she says. “I believe we can help each other—”

“Don’t make me gag you.” I avoid looking directly at her, knowing it will only make me feel guilty. My conscience won’t stop me now like it did with Ives. If I hadn’t failed then, we wouldn’t be forced to turn to Leonis in our time of need. But now, I have no choice but to make this risky move.

“I thought we were allies. Now you’re using me as bait for my mother?”

“I’m using you?” I whirl around, anger overwhelming my guilt, and advance on her. “What, like you weren’t doing the same to me on Gaia? The only reason you ever talked to me is because of what I could do for you. And the second things went sideways, you were willing to let me pay for your mistakes. So quit the bullshit.” Before she can respond, I yank off my scarf and shove it into her mouth, pressing the blaster to the side of her head. She doesn’t try to fight me, and I try to ignore the hurt on her face.