He turned to stare at her, a silent question in his eyes. “Think about it,” she told him. “The people inside—they’re just like Lira, and Gilly, and Breck. They don’t know what they’re doing. If anyone comes after us...we can’t just take them out, like you said.”

Dex’s expression grew thoughtful. “I hadn’t thought about it like that,” he admitted. “I’ve just been so concerned with trying to stay alive, and keeping you safe. But...you’re right.” Dex took her hands in his for a moment. “Incapacitate only. No killing.”

“Not unless they’re aiming to kill us,” Andi said.

He nodded, his eyes full of understanding. As he pulled on his hood and mask to conceal his face from view, Dex said, “Remember—we’re worshippers of Nor. Just like everyone else we pass. We blend in, as best we can.”

“And if they see through it?”

“Then I guess we’ll die together.”

Andi glared at him, all earlier gratitude disappearing. “Thanks for the positivity.”

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I learned it from you, love.”

The wind was howling outside now, a mighty and furious roar. Snow tumbled from the banks, whipping by them as it went, but when it touched the exterior of the domes, it melted away, their heating systems designed to keep the domes from being buried in the landscape.

Andi knew they shouldn’t stay exposed for much longer—they needed to find the Underground as soon as possible. She had no idea what awaited them, deep in the belly of the dome. But the longer they dawdled, the more likely it was that they’d get caught—or freeze, once the fuel in their transport ran out.

The dome’s main entrance came into view, a steel-reinforced opening where a few other transports were lined up, waiting to gain entrance inside.

“Here goes nothing,” Dex said with a sigh.

As Andi allowed the mask of the Bloody Baroness to overtake her, slipping into that place of darkness and death, she knew that she would have the strength, the fury, to face whatever lay ahead.

There was no other option.

The doors opened to reveal the splendor of Craatia.

Buildings towered up to the farthest heights of the dome, glorious in their make, as if a mighty architect had come down from the stars to shape this place. Some of them looked to be carved out of ice, shimmering as they stood above the rest. Others were blue or purple in color, spiraling and twisting like the horns of a mighty beast. Magnificent statues overlooked it all, and an engineered snow trickled down from the dome’s ceiling, falling gently upon Andi’s visor as she gazed upward.