“Good. She woke me up, convinced that you were out with me, but except for your classes here, I haven’t seen you in days. You’re shutting me out, and now you’re here all night, looking super-Aunare, and all that’s telling me that something’s going down. What happened?”

“Nothing happened.” Lie. “I’m fine.” Another lie.

He stared me down.

Roan had a point. The glowing skin was a dead giveaway. It usually only happened in times of extreme stress, and even then I could get it to go away pretty quickly. But not tonight. Tonight was a whole new level of Aunare that I wasn’t prepared to deal with.

I walked to my bag and grabbed a water. I wasn’t sure I should tell him what had been going on, but he was right. I’d been avoiding him for days, and that didn’t sit right with me. I wasn’t sure how to tell Roan I was about to leave. I’d probably never see him again. Saying goodbye might kill me.

I wanted him to come with me. Leaving him here didn’t seem like a good option. If anyone found out that he was my best friend and that he knew exactly who I was, then he’d be in danger. But asking him to leave his family and friends and home? That was a huge price to pay for my friendship.

If I asked him to come, then where should I draw the line? Should I ask Declan if we can take Roan’s family, too? Jorge? The whole Crew?

I should’ve kept to myself all these years, but I wouldn’t have survived without Jorge. Without the Crew. And for sure, not without Roan.

“Is it the SpaceTech douches?” Roan broke the silence. “I know it must’ve been hard the last few days, but the news says most are gone this morning. In, like, a few hours.”

“It hasn’t been easy, but no. I… Something’s happened.” How could I tell him I was leaving? It seemed impossibly hard.

I lay down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Now that I wasn’t moving my body ached. I’d pushed myself too hard.

Roan stood over me. “Just say it. We haven’t had any secrets between us ever, and I don’t think we should start now.”

He was right. Again. “A man came to my house a few nights ago.” I spit out the words as quickly as I could. “I’mleavingintwodays.”

“Leaving? What the hell are you talking about?” Roan sat down hard next to me. “What man? Where are you going?”

“He’s SpaceTech, but an ally of my father’s. He found me because of the implant—”

Roan’s dark skin paled, making his green eyes look brighter. “But we were—”