Was the man being annoying on purpose? “How the hell should I know? I’m a little stressed at the moment and—”

“I’m an idiot.” He wiped a hand down his face, and when he looked back at me, his mouth dropped open slightly. He finally understood. “You were never taught how to control it. You don’t even know what it means, do you?”

“No. It’s not like there are any Aunare around that I can ask, and I can’t trust any information that SpaceTech puts out.”

“You can’t hide when you look like that.” He was stating the obvious, but at least he was getting it.

“Exactly. I can’t leave here. I’m stuck. Usually working out helps, but apparently not tonight.”

“What do you do when your skin starts glowing out there?” He motioned toward the door.

He wasn’t wrong to be surprised. It was kind of a miracle I’d survived this long.

No part of surviving had been easy for me. “I learned to cover all my body parts whenever I’m in public, so it’s just my hands and face I have to worry about. If I start glowing, I shove my hoodie over my head, use my hair as a shield, keep my head down, and stick my hands in my pockets. All while moving as fast as possible to a safe place.” I stared off at nothing.

This whole conversation made me feel too exposed. I didn’t like that my skin was giving away my feelings, and I didn’t like talking about my feelings to a stranger. Even one that I trusted. The glow gave too much of it away, and talking about my survival methods just seemed odd to me.

“It used to happen only once in a blue moon, but it’s been getting worse the last year or so. But I’m on edge. I’m going to keep working out, and it’ll stop.” Declan tilted his head as I said that, and my heart sank. He said he’d be keeping an eye on me, which meant that he knew I’d been here, working out, for over five hours. “It has to stop, right? Eventually?”

“No. It actually doesn’t. The glow has to do with energies. I can help some, but I’m not Aunare. I don’t really understand it all.” He pointed to the desk. “I’m going to make a call. You need to talk to someone who can explain it to you better than me. Just need a second, and I’ll get it connected.”

He went to the desk and placed three small devices on it. I wasn’t sure if he wanted privacy for the call or if he just needed the desk for the devices, but I was going with the latter.

I walked toward him. “What are those?”