Breck lifted her cup of water in agreement.

“I served beside you both for two years on Andi’s ship,” Gilly said, draining her water and tossing her metal cup into the bin beside the bleachers. “That traitor.”

The sound echoed like a tiny gunshot that Lira felt in her chest. Sometimes, she still thought about Androma and wondered where she was. But then guilt riddled her insides for spending even a moment thinking of the traitorous young captain of the Marauder. If Andi was on Nor’s side, she would have been here now, with the three of them. She would have put her skills to use serving the rightful queen.

Instead, she’d taken the Marauder and soared away, with Dex and Lira’s twin brother, Lon, in tow. A coward’s move, if ever there was one.

Lira could still see Lon’s face, so much like her own—the same smile, the same ocean-blue skin. But he’d chosen the wrong side. Andi, too. Lira had once considered Andi to be her family, every bit as much as Lon.

Now she felt ashamed to have ever been so closely connected to two Unaffecteds.

A bang came from Lira’s right, drawing her gaze as the double doors of the warehouse suddenly hissed open.

“Looks like it’s showtime,” Gilly said, eyeing the new arrival. She began to bob on her toes expectantly. “Aclisia’s here!”

As Queen Nor’s head scientist entered the range, every soldier snapped to attention.

And how could they not? Lira thought, watching Aclisia march across the oil-stained concrete floor. It was like being in the presence of a legend, albeit a strange one. Aclisia possessed two heads—one of the few left of her race in Mirabel. They both worked in tandem, yet had personalities of their own.

Lira gazed upon her in awe. This was the woman who’d taken a single drop of blood and transformed it into the cure for ignorance. A single shot from one of the silver bullets Aclisia had created, and the victim’s eyes would be opened. They’d see Queen Nor for who she truly was: a goddess, worthy of their worship.

Aclisia ordered the soldiers to gather in the bleachers. The sea of black uniforms obeyed, moving as one to find seats. Two soldiers in the bloodred uniforms of Queen Nor’s personal guard hauled in a pair of struggling, hooded prisoners, glowing magnacuffs binding their wrists, the molten metal swirling around them like a trapped snake.

“This is going to be wicked,” Gilly whispered. Breck shushed her with a wave of her hand. The other soldiers were a thick wall behind Lira, every one of them watching with bated breath.