He watched Andi down hers in three sips, then did the same himself and ordered two more, desperate for something to lighten the tension of the day. They’d learned so much. Too much.

The bartender droid refilled their mugs. Dex nodded in thanks, took another sip, then turned to look at Andi.

“I was going to tell you,” he told her. “But I knew it would upset you, and I just couldn’t seem to find the right moment.”

“You’ve always loved your secrets,” Andi said, slowly spinning her mug around on the bar top. Godstars, she knew how to make a man feel fear. There were a million different ways she could kill him with that mug—perhaps even more ways than his rampant imagination could dream up. The metal on her cheekbones glimmered with a flash of gold as the bartender droid whizzed past, filling mugs for thirsty patrons.

But Dex saw a shift happen then. He still saw the fury in her, but beneath that, there was a sadness in her stormy eyes. And something else Dex couldn’t quite place.

“When did it happen?” she asked. “Tell me the details—now that Klaren Solis isn’t listening in.”

It was so strange it was almost laughable, that statement.

“It happened on the Marauder,” Dex began. “The night Cyprian died.”

She turned suddenly, giving him a suspicious glance. “Valen stabbed him, just like he did me. How is it that he had the ability to somehow make me General of Arcardius while he was bleeding out on my ship?”

Dex cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Well, uh...” He gave her a sheepish look and prayed she didn’t run him through with her swords. “I might have helped him with that, a bit.”

“You what?” Andi snarled. She reached behind her for the hilts of her swords, just as he’d feared. Dex scrambled to seize her wrists and scanned the pub around them frantically, making sure no one was looking in their direction.

“I know you’re monumentally pissed at me right now, Andi,” he murmured, his heart hammering, “but we can’t make a scene in here. If Klaren was able to find out what Cyprian did, then Nor probably has, too. She may already have people hunting for us.”

Andi glared at him a moment longer, then yanked herself out of his grasp and grabbed her mug of Marnv. She took a sip, swirling the strong liquid around her tongue. “You don’t get to make choices like that for me, Dex. For anyone.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Dex said earnestly. “But I honestly didn’t know what he had planned when he asked for my help. He was dying, right before my eyes, and he didn’t tell me what he was doing until it was too late for me to stop him.”

Andi took another healthy swig of her drink, still looking unconvinced.