He was right. “No. I don’t know what any of that means.”

“It’s okay. You’ll learn. But you should know that this is just a bandage. Tomorrow, when you wake up, you could feel more on edge than ever. And that’s okay, too. Just remember, you’ll be safe soon.” He was quiet for a second.

Lorne seemed to think things through before he spoke, while I tended to just vomit out words. I wondered if all Aunare were this careful with what they said or if that was just Lorne. “Declan?”

“Yeah.” Declan’s voice popped the little, peaceful bubble I’d been in, surrounded by Lorne’s voice.

I blinked my eyes open, and for the first time in hours, my skin didn’t have any glow to it at all.

Roan and Declan were standing together against the wall. They looked like they’d been talking, but I’d been so focused on Lorne’s voice that I hadn’t heard them at all.

“Teach her the Aunare breath. It could help,” Lorne said.

His crystal blue gaze found mine, and he gave me a nod. “I will.”

“Is there any other reason why your energies would be so out of tune? Hearing my voice shouldn’t have done that.”

Something about energies out of whack made me think of something. “I have an implant.”

“Remove it, Declan.” His response was quick and vicious. “She can’t survive with that in her. Especially someone with her lineage.”

“Sure. I can remove—”

“No. He can’t remove it. I need it,” I said. “I hate the stupid chip. It puts me on edge and hurts all the time and is generally driving me insane, but if someone notices that I don’t have one, I’m dead. They’re used for everything, and I can’t blend without it. It’s only one more day.”

“No. No. I hate this. I want you to leave now. Get off the planet. Who cares if Jason finds out? Use the Aunare boost on your ship. If I hurry, I can meet you just outside the Naustlic System and take you the rest of the way. They won’t be able to keep up with my ship.”

“You come inside SpaceTech territory, it’ll be an act of war. Too many innocent people would die.” Declan took a breath. “And I can’t get through the checkpoints as they are now even if I wanted to leave. The boost won’t help with that. Once Jason is gone, they’ll lighten. They won’t think twice about me, but I won’t risk her getting caught. Not now. After talking to Liz… I just can’t risk it.”