I didn’t want to think too hard about what he was seeing when he looked at me. “But I can see this?” I pointed to the wall. I didn’t understand the difference.

“It’s not ship operations. Or not critical operations. I assume you can’t read it?”

I didn’t want to piss him off again. He’d been so upset by how little I knew about the Aunare, but I wasn’t going to lie. I shook my head. “Is it your fingerprint that unlocks it?” I motioned to the desk.

“No.” He gave me a small smile. “Everyone has a unique signature—frequency might be a better description, but there’s no human word for it. The ship’s keyed to detect who’s in it at all times and adjust accordingly.”

A soft beeping started, and Lorne turned back to his desk, silencing the sound. “You ready?” he asked Declan.

“Yes. Go ahead. Turning off the video. I’ll have audio on mute.”

“Disengaging now,” Lorne said.

The ship shuddered, and I glanced at the screen.

Abaddon was straight ahead. From up here, the planet looked like a swirling ball of gray and black and red. It was beautiful. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought it might be fun to visit, but that planet would haunt me. Looking back at it, I knew with every part of my being that I would rather die than walk the surface of Abaddon one more time.

I was glad I wasn’t the one to be going back there. “Be careful, Declan.”

After a second, his audio came back on. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be in and out.”

He could say that, but I was still going to worry. “Just don’t forget to tell us if you need anything,” I said.

“Will do. Muting again.”

“I’m muting as well, but we’ll leave the line on if you need us.” Lorne pressed his hand against the control panel. “We’ll give him a few minutes, and then head to the moon.”

I nodded. “Do you have some shoes for me? And maybe something better for being on the surface of the moon?” Although I didn’t want to give up the sweater. The scent of his soap was comforting, and the woven material was softer than anything I’d ever felt before. I wondered if he’d notice if I kept it.

“This way.” Lorne motioned for me to follow him.

He led me back through the hallway to the bedroom. The door slid open, and he grabbed a jumpsuit for me. It was a deep forest green, with some Aunare writing sewn over a pocket on the left chest of it and…

A bright red firedrake spewing golden fire from its mouth.