His answering look was one of pure terror.

Slowly, as if she was trudging through quicksand, Andi left the cave. The weight of Klaren’s words, her truths, clung to her back, each step heavier than the last.

She had always been good at outrunning her problems.

But this?

This was something Andi couldn’t escape from.

CHAPTER 19

DEX

Dex knew that Andi was furious with him. She’d looked at him like she had daggers for eyes, and he was more than a little terrified by the idea of being alone with her right now.

He’d known this moment was coming; had hoped to find a way to tell her what Cyprian had done in a way that was slightly less...shocking. But after what they’d just heard, her new status—and her anger at him—was the least of their worries.

So he followed her from the cave, leaving Klaren behind.

First, because he couldn’t stand being with Klaren and Soyina a moment longer. And second, because he knew Andi was heading toward exactly what they both needed right now.

A stiff drink.

The whole situation was made worse by the cheers of the people out in the undercity, as news of the attack on Arcardius spread through the space like a wildfire. Dex knew that such a strike, a true show of the power the free-minded still had, was a viable option to scare Nor into submission.

But how many innocents had died on the Academy grounds?

And how many more would fall, before this war was over?

After retrieving her swords from Klaren’s guards and strapping them safely upon her back, Andi began walking through the undercity, toward the heavy door that would lead them back to the surface.

“We’re leaving,” she said over her shoulder.

“Andi, we can’t,” Dex said, a ripple of alarm coursing through him. “This is the only place we’re actually safe.”

She looked back at him with a look of fury written across her face. “Are we?” she asked darkly.

“Well, we can’t leave Havoc,” Dex said, trying a different sort of argument, even though he knew Soyina was more than happy to spend time watching the demon cat. “You said so yourself earlier. Gilly will kill us both.”

She didn’t buy it, resuming her brisk pace until they finally reached the exit. She turned the crank, the old metal squealing as the door yawned wide.

“I know you’re there,” Andi growled to the empty tunnel. “If you try to stop us, I swear to the Godstars, I will gut you.”