Had the test results come back yet? I couldn’t ask, but she said she should have them by dinner.

As I sat there, I tried to grasp at any hope I could come up with. That something happened to my blood to make it not come up as Aunare. That Declan could help me even given the fact that I was now in SpaceTech custody. That Roan had gotten away and was with my mom somewhere safe. That Murtagh had no clue who I was. That somehow I’d get out of here a free woman. But the more I thought about it, the worse it seemed.

If I was right and putting me in prison was Jason moving a pawn in this dangerous game between the Aunare and Earthers, then what was his next move? Tell my father? Use me as bait?

Declan said that my father wanted to come, but it was too dangerous for a high-ranking official to come to Earth. It would be seen as an act of war. So, if luring my father here was Jason’s goal, then what?

He wanted war.

Even if it was too late to save me, part of me knew my father would come for me, and he wouldn’t come alone. He would bring all of the Aunare army. He had more than enough reason to destroy Earth after everything that SpaceTech had done to the Aunare people.

SpaceTech would be stupid to bait my father. The Aunare army was the most feared in the known universe because of their advanced tech.

There had to be something I was missing. SpaceTech wouldn’t draw my father here unless they had some way to defeat the Aunare.

Had I walked into Murtagh’s hand? Did he attack me just so I’d fight back and he’d have reason to arrest me? I hated that, but I wanted to live. So I’d fight. Whatever Murtagh threw at me, I’d keep fighting for as long as I could. I was stubborn enough to never give up.

Eventually, I lay down on the cot, trying to get some rest. I had to be ready for whatever came next, but sleep seemed impossible. Every time it came close, my body would jerk me awake, ready for a fight.

The only thing that I knew was morning would come, and life was most certainly going to get a whole lot worse.

Chapter Eleven

By the time someone keyed the lock outside my cell, my eyes burned, and I was exhausted. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. In every way, I was done. A part of me was dying in the jail cell, and maybe that was for the best. I was doomed anyway. They’d come with breakfast a couple hours ago, but I’d ignored it. I wasn’t hungry.

The door swung open, slamming against the wall with a bang. “On your feet.”