This part of Solera was densely populated, and the domes varied in size. The spring domes, Mravio and Devtraci, were meant to look similar to Adhira, and had been terraformed into dense jungles, the greenery lush and overflowing with waterfalls and rivers. The weather inside was warm and beautiful at all times, and flowers the size of Andi’s head bloomed year-round. Then there was the summer dome, X’Ani, its landscape like that of a sprawling desert, with sand dunes instead of snow mounds and buildings like sand castles sprouting from the earth.

Craatia, as Solera’s capital, was the largest and most central of the domes in this sector. It was a city that still honored many of the planet’s most ancient customs, filled with sparkling glass bridges and buildings designed to resemble ice castles—though the temperature inside was warm enough for its inhabitants to shed their coats and grow food that otherwise wouldn’t survive on Solera.

As they sped closer to the domed cities, Andi felt a slippery sense of fear wash over her. Not fear of the job at hand, because she’d learned to shove that away, ages ago. Jobs like this always pumped her full of adrenaline.

No—this was a different sort of terror, the kind that whispered into her ear that she would not succeed.

And that if she failed, she’d unwittingly destroy the future her crew deserved.

“Hey,” Dex said, his voice quiet beneath the hum of the transport. “We’re going to make it. Even if we have to take out everyone we come across to get into the Underground.”

For the first time, Andi considered something about the people inside those domes, the ones whose blood truly did glow silver with the Solis curse... Were they really enemies, when they weren’t in control of their actions?

Andi had a code that she obeyed fiercely, the way a soldier obeyed a commanding officer’s orders. No death blow, unless the enemy was endangering the life of Andi and her crew. She would never lift her sword to harm an innocent.

But when they entered Craatia, it was possible that nearly everyone would be trying to kill or capture her and Dex. Yet under normal circumstances, none of them would blink an eye as the two of them walked through the streets. The thought made her wonder whether other Unaffecteds shared that opinion—whether or not they felt any hesitation or remorse over killing Nor’s mindless followers, even in self-defense.

So as Dex eased up on the throttle, slowing the transport for their approach, Andi said, “We can’t handle this like our other missions, Dex.”