I really hoped he was right. My stomach was in knots, and I had to get a handle on my nerves. Upchucking that nasty sausage in the suit wasn’t going to help anything. I took a step toward him, and it was like my feet were encased in cement, but I took Tyler’s word for it. As long as the suit protected me, I wasn’t going to complain. Much.

He grabbed something from a hook by the door and turned back to me. “This is what you’re spraying out there.” It was a belt with a two-liter canister attached and a little handheld nozzle with a trigger. “It’s compressed in there, so it’s a little heavier than it looks, but should last ’til your break.”

Attaching the canister to my waist with the gloves on took me a few tries, but I got it on and gave him a nod. “What’s next?” I wanted to get this over with. The longer it took, the sweatier I was getting. Lying to myself that it was just the heat and not nerves wasn’t quite cutting it anymore. Soon I’d be out there, risking my life for nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I was trying hard not to let it get to me, but I couldn’t stop the anger from rising again and again until I was clenching my teeth hard enough to crack them.

“There are a few buttons on your right wrist. One for AC—on the right. One for the helmet—in the middle. The other button is for your water. Hold it down, and a tube will come out. When you let go, it retracts. But you’ll want to use that sparingly. The suit doesn’t hold much. They weren’t exactly designed to be out there as long as you’ll be.”

“What?” The scream ripped from me. “What do you mean they’re not designed to be out there for long?” My chest constricted and my breath came out in short gasps. I was keeping a handle on the glow even with the anger, but barely. I thought Ahiga approved the suit.

Tyler held up his hands. “Hold on. That didn’t come out like I meant. Keep in mind they’re made to last longer than their suggested usage. I’ve just never been out there longer than a few minutes, but you should be fine. They wouldn’t assign this job if it wasn’t safe.”

I wanted to laugh and cry and shout and scream and blow this place up because that was exactly why I’d been assigned the stupid job.

I wanted to tell Tyler that but couldn’t. I kept my jaw clenched tight, and tried to tell myself that I wasn’t walking out there to burn to death but I couldn’t do that either.

I’m a di Aetes. I won’t quit. Not ever.