“Who else is in the room, Declan?” Lorne asked. His voice had a sing-song quality to it, and I found myself inching closer to the desk. I wanted to hear more of it.

“Me, Maité—the name Amihanna’s used for the last ten years—and her friend, Roan,” Declan said.

“Is he just a friend?”

“I think so?” Declan looked at me for confirmation.

I wasn’t going to answer—it was a bullshit question that didn’t require a response—but Roan thought otherwise.

“Am I her boyfriend?” Roan laughed. He was enjoying this a little too much. “If you’re interested in her at all, you just made a massive critical error. Trust me. The last guy that pulled possessive needy shit on her—”

“Last guy?” Lorne started talking very quickly in Aunare.

“Just ask her,” Roan said. “You got a question, ask. Maité’s straightforward. No games.”

I wanted to slow clap my best friend. This was why we’d stayed so close over the years. He got me, just like I got him. “And stop talking in a different language about me. If you have a problem, just say it.”

“It’s not that he has a problem exactly,” Declan said.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Lorne’s voice had a predatory rumble to it that made my insides hum in response.

Whoever this guy was, I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to meet him. The way he made me feel from just the sound of his voice was too much.

“Forget him,” Declan said to me.

Lorne muttered something softly in Aunare, and I wanted to reach through the stupid device and wring his neck. What was he saying? “Switching to a language I don’t know to talk about me when I’m right here is insanely rude.”

Declan rubbed a hand over his mouth. He cleared his throat as if to stop a laugh, and when he moved his hand, the smile was still there. “We have a problem if you have a boyfriend, because once we leave, who you were here on Earth will most likely come out. Anyone who knew about you might be in trouble. So is there someone we should be worried about?”

Okay. So there was a valid reason for the question, but the verdict was still out on Lorne, and I wanted to know what Declan thought was so funny. “I was just talking to Roan about that before you got here. I have to say, I’m really worried about a lot of people. Especially Roan and his family.”

“We’ll protect him and his family, and your mother already told me about Jorge. We’ll see if we can get them to a safe place with new identities before the news hits. Probably to one of the colonies, but if not, we’ll move them to an Aunare planet.”