His hands had left her arms, and now he was suddenly standing before Andi. Suddenly those blades were pointed not at Klaren, but at him. Directly above his throat.

“Move,” Andi snarled.

Dex shook his head, his eyes wide and pleading. “Andi, please. I want her dead, too. I want Nor’s head on a spike for what she just did...”

“It wasn’t real,” Andi said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t want it to be real, either,” Dex said, those blades still hovering over his throat. “I want to make her pay. I want the girls to be free. I want... I want all of this to have never happened, Andi. But it did. It is happening. And you have the power to stop it. But not like this. You go there, you rush to Arcardius, and Nor will be waiting. She’ll trap you, use you to control the weapons system and all will be lost.”

Every muscle in Andi’s body was screaming.

She wanted to swing those blades.

She wanted Nor before her, kneeling as she made the queen’s head roll.

“We’ll get our revenge,” Dex assured her. He looked to Klaren, who had stepped aside now and was watching them with widened eyes. True fear was written on her face. “But we can’t go like this. You’ve never gone into a mission without a plan. Without a crew.”

“I have a crew,” Andi growled. “They’re next to face Nor’s blade if I don’t go.”

“And you will go,” Dex said. “But—”

“But not without a ship,” Klaren cut in. “I am sorry for your loss, General. Deeply sorry. But such are the ways of this war. And if we wish to win it, then I cannot allow you to embark on a mission that will surely end in the loss of our only true weapon against Nor and Valen. You will not take a ship. You will not take a crew. I will do whatever it takes to stop you, and I can promise you, General...you will fail if you try.”

Soyina cleared her throat. “Perhaps we should give the general some time to consider, Arachnid. Perhaps we should reconvene in an hour or two, in light of recent events?”

“Reconvene?” Andi snapped back. “Why reconvene when you’ve already made up your minds not to let me go?”

“We will not hand you over in order to save two, when you could save the many,” Klaren said. “So for now, you will remain here, beneath my care and protection.”

“I am not yours to protect,” Andi said.

“You are within my Underground, and therefore, you will abide by my rules.”

“Rules?” Andi barked out another laugh. “You can’t keep me here.”

“You are one woman. I have hundreds who will stand in your way. I don’t care how deadly or desperate you are, General. No one is leaving this place today.”