“I can last that long.” I had to.

“The suit won’t fail again,” Tyler said. “We’ll be careful.”

“And if it does, I’ll be here,” Audrey said. She pressed her right fist to her heart and dipped her head just a tiny bit. An Aunare symbol of respect. “I won’t fail you.”

“Okay,” Ahiga said. “Okay, but the second it becomes too much, I’m sending the message to the Aunare. Their ships are faster. They’d get here in five days—give or take. And it could be that Declan will be here tomorrow. He could’ve headed here the day after we did. I just don’t know—”

“It’s okay. I’ll be okay.” I hoped that was true, but there were no guarantees. The stakes were too damned high for Ahiga to call the Aunare, but I really, seriously, didn’t want to die out there. Every scenario I came up with ended in war. It was just a matter of when it happened. But I couldn’t let it start with SpaceTech having the upper hand. Not when so many lives were at stake.

I’d clicked with Declan. I trusted him, and I knew he had a plan. I also knew that my slow death on the surface of the lava planet was in no way part of his plan, but I’d manage.

Audrey reached below the table into a drawer, pulling out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. “You’ll want these.”

I looked down at my sweat-soaked clothes and nodded. “You guys mind?” I waved my pointer finger in a circle, motioning for them to turn around. I might have screamed and cried for the last three hours, but I still had some modesty left.

They did as instructed and I slid off the table. My legs wobbled, and Audrey grabbed my arm to steady me.

“How’re the feet?”

“A little weird.” They felt tender yet numb.

“That should fade.”

“I hope so.” I managed to pull off my clothes, replacing them with the looser cut ones Audrey had given me, without falling over. Audrey had helped me keep my balance as I moved, and I was thankful. The last thing I needed was to face-plant on the floor.

She smiled sadly at me. “Not as good as a shower, but better than nothing.”

“Okay. I’m decent.” I ran my fingers through my hair, and it felt a little crunchy. Damn it. I was right. That smell had been my hair frying. I didn’t want to cut it, but I wasn’t sure there was enough conditioner in the world to fix it now.

I sat back down on the table before my legs gave out. One thing kept bothering me. “I trust Declan, but what if he wasn’t heading here? What if he was taking my mother to Sel’Ani?”