“This will get easier. I swear. I’ll do whatever I can to help you. I promise. You’re not lost. Not anymore. You’re home.” His glow was still there. Not as bright as it had been, but it was just enough to show the faint outline of his tattoos.

“I’m not your responsibility.” I touched one symbol on his arm that looked like a bird flying, and he tightened his grip on me.

“Yes. You are.”

I pulled back, and this time he let me go. Once I was free of his arms, I regretted it, but I was too stubborn to go back to him, so I hugged my arms around myself. “I don’t understand. Why would I be your responsibility?”

“You and I are—”

The ship started making a soft dinging sound, and I stared at the vidscreen. We were closing in on the surface of the moon, but there were a bunch of red dots on it. “What are those?”

“Those are people on the surface of the moon. No doubt they’re investigating what happened to you.”

“I thought that they’d left?”

“They did, but while we left to get Declan they must’ve come back.”

My mouth went dry, and I realized that I couldn’t blow up the moon while there were people on it. “What now?”

“I don’t know.” He slid his fingertips across the desk. “Declan?”

“I’m having some issues.” There were sounds of fighting. “Audrey’s in bad shape. Got info on the weapon. Bad news all around. Need that distraction or we’re not getting out of here alive.”

I met Lorne’s gaze and swallowed. This was tricky. So very tricky. “Your ship is fast, right?”

“Very.”

“And weapons.”

He shook his head. “Just some light defensive ones. The ship was built for speed. Weapons add weight.”

Okay. The speed would have to be enough. “Uncloak the ship. That will draw their attention while I get down there to set off the crystals.”

Lorne placed his hands on the desk and closed his eyes. “If I do, you won’t have much time before SpaceTech will rally their squadrons. We’ll be floating dead if—”

“I’ll be fast. I know what crystals to hit. We have to help Declan—”

“I’m not saying we’re leaving him.” He turned his head to give me a slashing look. “I just want to give you a clear picture of what you’re asking. I sped here from the Naustlic System. I made it in three days.”

I gasped. I knew the Aunare ships were fast, but I never imagined they were that fast.

“Exactly. You can imagine how much fuel I burned doing that. I exhausted what I could spare healing you, and then I towed Declan’s ship. And it’s not small.”