I threw the clothes by the sink, leaned against the wall, and closed my eyes. I needed a second. The man threw me off balance. My glow had dimmed, but it was still there. I couldn’t get control of myself around him at all.

I hoped all the Aunare weren’t like this. I wasn’t sure I could live on Sel’Ani if this wasn’t just a Lorne side effect.

Get it together, Mai— I didn’t even know what to call myself in my head. I slammed my hand down on the counter. I had to get it together before I made a complete fool of myself or worse—got us killed.

I snatched up the clothes and quickly changed. This plan was going to be hard enough to pull off. I had to force all my worries and lingering questions out of my mind. I couldn’t be distracted. Not when I was about to do something so incredibly insane.

Chapter Forty-Two

I found Lorne a few minutes later on the bridge. The panel in front of him still looked blank to me, but I knew he could see something on it. He slid his fingers over it as if there were buttons and keys he was touching.

I went to stand behind him, trying to watch whatever he was doing by leaning to the side, but I couldn’t see anything on the desk.

“I’ve entered in the coordinates,” Lorne said. “Declan?”

“Pulling in now. I have Ahiga on a coded line. He’s trying to round up everyone.”

“Good.”

The moon came into view, and I let out a loud sigh. Lorne turned to look at me. I kept staring at the little piece of rock that powered all of SpaceTech. It seemed so tiny and harmless, but the moon had the ability to destroy everything.

It would’ve been better if SpaceTech had never found it. The moon gave them too much power too quickly, and they’d done evil things with that power.

“You okay?” Lorne stepped closer me.

“Sure.”

Even if bitterness was brewing inside me. I had a hatred for SpaceTech—well earned—but hating something this much wasn’t healthy. I knew it, but I couldn’t help myself from hating it either.

I could see him putting in a few more commands out of the corner of my eye before he turned me to look at him.

He muttered something in Aunare as he stepped closer to me. “You’re not going down there alone.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at him and step back, but I held my ground. “No. I’m not afraid of going down there. I’m just angry.”

“Why?” He thankfully stepped back to lean against the desk and crossed his arms. I think he knew I didn’t want him to come closer. He was intimidating enough a few feet away.