Andi held out the watch. “My crew is stranded on Arcardius, under Nor’s control. I’d like your help getting there, so I can set them free.”

Arachnid turned his head slightly to look at the watch, seemingly deep in thought. Andi sent up a prayer to the Godstars as she waited, heart in her throat. If he wouldn’t help them, they might never find another way to rescue the girls.

Finally, Arachnid said, “I don’t need your information. I already have it.”

Andi’s heart dropped.

“How could you have this information when you’ve been hiding out here? I doubt Valen gives away his blood willingly,” Dex countered, as if trying to call a bluff.

But Arachnid ignored Dex’s comment, instead moving his hands up to his helmet, pausing when they reached the back. A whoosh of air escaped the suit, and the droid on his armored shoulder scuttled away, over his back and out of sight. There was a hiss of steam, and then the metal collapsed in on itself.

As the steam cleared, Andi stared at Arachnid in disbelief. For standing before her was not a man, like she’d expected, but a woman.

Small in frame, practically dwarfed by the size of the armor protecting her. Her face was marred with a wicked scar, harsh against her brown skin, but her eyes gleamed in the firelight.

“Who are you?” Andi demanded.

“You don’t know me.” The woman’s lips didn’t move as the droid spoke for her. “But I believe you do know my son, though perhaps not my daughter. Yet.”

Realization began to dawn on Andi as Arachnid stared at her with eerily familiar golden eyes. “My name is Klaren Solis. And I need your help to stop my children from destroying Mirabel.”

CHAPTER 15

NOR

Nor had spent most of her life dreaming of growing old on Arcardius. The planet was breathtaking with its crystal clear waters, lush greenery and floating gravarocks—a veritable paradise compared to Xen Ptera’s crumbling earth and poisonous atmosphere.

Arcardius’s capital city of Veronus was its crowning jewel, filled with glittering towers. But today, Nor found it difficult to appreciate Veronus’s glory as she peered out the windowed wall of her office, past the clouds to the cityscape far below. For how could she stand to look upon it when, after all this time, the planet she’d thought was finally hers actually belonged to someone else?

With a huff, she drew the curtains closed, suddenly disgusted by the view.

“There must be another way,” Zahn said from the opposite side of the office. He sat on a comfortably worn couch beside the window, a near-empty glass of aged Griss in his hand. Weeks ago, it had brought Nor great joy to open the doors of Cyprian’s personal cellar and partake of the finest liquors in the galaxy. This particular vintage had quickly become one of her favorite indulgences.