He cut her off. “But first, we have to find your mother. I understand, princess.”

She winced, and hoped he did not see it in the dark. “I also need to find out about what has happened since I left.”

“We all do. We need to know what kind of trouble we are in here.”

Trouble she had dragged them into. Goddess, she was selfish. If she had any honor, she would tell them right here, right now and let them leave before they got involved any further. But the greedy part of her was not going to make it any easier for Kiran to leave her. If she could just prepare him, and say the right words at the right time, maybe she did not have to lose everything she had gained in the last few months.

Kiran laid his palm over her heart, and she felt the zing of skyfire rise up to meet his touch. She didn’t think he could feel it, but it always made her feel as if her heart were too full, as if it might burst under his attention.

“What are you two up to over there?” Bait asked. Roar hadn’t even heard him descend. He continued, “Am I going to see something inappropriate the next time the sky lights up? Because some of us have virgin eyes. Not from lack of effort, mind you.”

Kiran rolled his eyes, and blew out a steady breath before pulling away. “Nothing to see. Your purity will remain intact.”

“Too bad.” It was dark, but somehow Roar could feel Kiran’s glare fix on the novice hunter, and by the way the redheaded teen threw up his hands, he could feel it too. “What? I’m only saying you could both stand to loosen up. You act like we’re breaking into a hostile city in the middle of a violent storm during the dead of night and could be caught and jailed at any moment.”

No one replied for a long moment. By skyfire’s streaking light, they saw Jinx step down gracefully from the vine and head toward them.

“What? No laughs for that one?” Bait frowned. “I thought it was clever.”

“Now’s not the time to be clever,” Jinx said.

“It’s always a good time to be clever.”

“No, it isn’t,” Duke said from halfway up the vine.

The old man took longer than all the rest, and Roar watched him as best she could in the fractured darkness. She would tell him second, after Kiran. She was fairly certain he already suspected her secret, but she would need him on her side if she were going to convince the crew to stay and help her put things right here. If that could even be done—the unknowns were unraveling constantly in her mind, threatening to pull her into a panic.