I wanted to know what he was talking about, but I didn’t think he’d answer me now. “I agree with Declan. I’ve been doing this for thirteen years. A few more hours isn’t going to kill me.”

Lorne was quiet for so long that I wondered if the signal had been severed.

“Fine,” Lorne finally said. “Teach her. I want to stay on the line, but it’s hard for me to not be there and…”

“I understand. I’ll take care of it, brother.”

“Thank you. Amihanna?” Lorne said.

The way he said my name sent shivers through my body. I couldn’t control or stop them, and it was driving me crazy.

Why did hearing my true name from him make me feel like I was falling from the top of a skyscraper with no parachute?

“Yes?” My voice was weak, but there.

“Soon.”

The single word—part promise, part threat—had my heart beating way too fast.

My mind was instantly empty of everything except echoes of that one word.

Soon.

Soon.

Soon.

It felt like someone ran their fingertip up my spine, and I shuddered and then let out a startled laugh.

What the hell was that?

Roan was staring at me as if he didn’t know me. What was that? He mouthed to me.

I shook my head. Some guy had just rocked my world via galactic teleconference. I wasn’t sure there was anything I could say about it.

Declan quickly hung up and packed up the device, and I was left feeling like part of me was gone.

What the hell?

Declan slid it into his pocket and then glanced at me. “You ready?”

“For?” I honestly couldn’t remember.

“The Aunare breath. It should help you. It’s something to use before the glow gets this bad.”

I had a second to be disappointed. To wish that Lorne was still on the line. He should’ve been the one to do it, but the more I thought about the way Lorne made me feel, the more relieved I was that he was thousands of light-years away. It was too much. Way too much.

I forced all my questions about Lorne out of my mind. The only thing that mattered right now was learning how to control the glow of my skin. Because if the next day went even a little how the last few days had gone, I needed that knowledge.

“I’m as ready as I can be for someone who hasn’t stopped moving in almost twenty-four hours.” My shift had started at eight a.m. yesterday, and we were now pushing six a.m.

For the next hour, Declan taught me the calming breathing patterns of the Aunare. Little by little, it started to make sense and feel familiar to me.

“I think you’ve got it now. You ready to go home?” Declan asked, finally.