It was humiliating, but it was more important that I knew. “I know I’m ignorant, and I can’t stay that way, so I have to ask. If my mom knew anything about it, she didn’t tell me, and I couldn’t trust any information that I found.”

“Of course you have to know, and when we have a moment it would be my honor to explain what it means, how it’s used, and why. Right now, I seem to be having a hard time controlling myself when I should be old enough to…”

“I’m sor—”

His eyes opened, and he gave me a sharp look that had me backing away. “Don’t you dare apologize for something that was not your doing. You are a di Aetes. Don’t apologize. Ever.”

Declan cleared his throat. “As much as I hate to interrupt, we need to make a decision,” he said. “I know that you’re mad at me, Lorne, but we’ll deal with that later. Right now, we’re running out of time.”

He was probably right, and I wanted to get the hell away from Jason, but I couldn’t leave. Not yet. “Audrey. She’s a halfer. She helped me through all the nanos sessions. If Jason watched me while I was with her, then he knows about her. And if Ahiga can’t find her, then she’s in trouble. I can’t leave her to die.”

Lorne’s glow dimmed just a little bit, and he let go of the desk to cross his arms. They started talking in English, but I wasn’t listening. Everything went quiet in my head.

I had an idea. A stupid, crazy idea.

It would take SpaceTech down a notch and get Audrey, Tyler, and Ahiga back.

I was vaguely aware that the guys had stopped talking and were watching me, but I was working through the details quickly in my head. It was going to be a massive risk. For me. For Declan and Lorne. For the Aunare. But if I could at least do this…

“Did you mean what you said?” I asked, still staring off at nothing.

“Who are you asking?” Declan asked.

I blinked to free myself from my thoughts and turned to Lorne. “Did you mean it? What you said?”

A small crease formed between his eyes, but he nodded anyway. “I would never lie to you, but I don’t know what you mean.”

“About the war. About it being inevitable.” I had to know before we did anything that could make the situation between Aunare and SpaceTech worse than it already was.

Lorne straightened from the desk. His skin dulled a little more. “Yes. I wanted to go find you on Earth myself. I thought waiting to find you was stupid. The day they slaughtered tens of thousands of Aunare, all diplomatic relations should’ve ended. The war is coming and—”