“And it’s medicinal, right? Nontoxic?” I don’t know much about Sanita, but I do know its leaves can be crushed into a pain-killing paste of some kind.

“Yup.”

“Just do it already,” Lyre says, already moving toward the cargo crates. She dumps one out on the floor. First comes a pile of freeze-dried produce, this one mostly mangoes and bananas. Then she pulls out the false bottom, and out drops a pile of black foliage.

Soon enough, we have a sizable mass of food and Devan plants lying on the warehouse floor. I bend down next to it and touch the lighter’s flame to one curling black leaf of the Sanita plant. It lights up instantly. Though not all of the fruits and veggies take flame quickly, the Sanita burns almost alarmingly well and exudes a powerfully sweet smoke.

“That should do it,” I say as I step back, waving smoke away with one hand. The cloying smell is already sticking to the inside of my mouth and nose.

“We should probably get out of here before we inhale too much,” Pol says.

“Yeah, it’s really—wait, you said this shit isn’t toxic!”

Pol laughs. Beside him, Drom is wafting smoke into her nose.

“No, but it will get us nice and high,” she says, and both twins display that damn grin of theirs.

“Wha—?” I stumble backward toward the door as the words sink in, covering my nose with one hand and trying to hold my breath. Lyre squeals, covering her face with both hands and running for the exit. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“It’s fine,” Drom says, waving a hand dismissively. “I hear Titan soldiers smoke this shit all the time before battles. It’ll probably help us.”

“Yeah, and it’ll make a good surprise for the Gaian officers,” Pol says with a grin. He’s been making no effort not to inhale the thickening smoke, but now he coughs, putting a hand over his mouth. “This is… kind of a lot of smoke, though.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” I yank the door open and let Lyre out first before waving at the twins. Pol yanks Drom by the arm, and she takes one last deep inhale before reluctantly letting herself be dragged along to the alleyway behind the warehouse.

The shouts of Gaian officers rise in the distance, likely responding to the plume of smoke forming above the warehouse. As the door shuts behind us, I lower my hand from my mouth and cough in a vain attempt to rid myself of the prickle in my throat. Every inhale brings a faint taste of sweetness.