“People infected with the virus are left with a visible marker of the compulsion—those silver veins,” Dex said wearily, as Lon pulled up other photos of people with a similar mod. “Which makes things more than a bit difficult for us. We can’t just waltz into Arcardius and get the girls back. It would be obvious that we’re not under Nor’s mind control.”

“We would be captured and infected, too,” Andi said, understanding his point.

“Not we,” Lon said, eyeing them both. Andi and Dex had both been shot with the virus during the Ucatoria Ball. They hadn’t been affected the way the others were, which they all hoped meant Dex and Andi were somehow immune. Lon, on the other hand, had never been exposed to it, and Andi wasn’t willing to risk his freedom on the vague hope that he might be resistant to the virus, as well.

Besides, since Lira wasn’t immune, then it was unlikely Lon was, either. He was Lira’s twin, her counterpart, half of Lira’s heart.

And if Andi saw him fall, some part of her knew it would be like losing Lira all over again. He was part of her crew now—and he was the only one who could feed Havoc without risking dismemberment. The hideous creature had grown to love Lon, in its own demented way, and didn’t claw Lon’s arms to ribbons nearly as much as it did her and Dex.

Andi could hear Havoc purring from beneath the couch, ready to strike again.

It was a cunning move, those silver veins—something Andi had to grudgingly admire, as much as it complicated things for them. Still, there had to be some holes in Nor’s master plan, and Andi relished the thought of blasting them wide open.

Dex rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Stubble had started to shadow his face, and Andi tried not to dwell on how attractive she found it. He’d had a beard during the year they’d spent together, after she fled Arcardius the first time, and Andi couldn’t help being reminded of the happier times in their relationship when she looked at him now.

He pulled up their brainstorming sheet with a tap of two fingers. “Well, I think out of these three ideas...none of them will work in the current climate.”

Then Dex wiped the screen clean, erasing the mission plans they’d so carefully drafted together during countless hours of work over the past three weeks.

“Dex, you’re as bad as Alfie sometimes!” Andi snapped, all feelings of nostalgia disappearing in the wake of her aggravation at him.

“Well, seeing as he’s not here,” Dex said, eyeing the silver holoband encircling his wrist, “someone has to fill in for the time being.”