“But she didn’t create it.” He shakes his head. “Everything she made was altered from something that existed before. The art, the architecture, the food… It comes from somewhere else. A distortion of cultures across time. But for the humans…” He waves a hand toward the gallery walls. “What must it be like to dream?”

I stay silent. This is so far outside of my comfort zone, I don’t even know where to begin. One wrong word and I could ruin everything.

“It frightens me,” he says almost inaudibly.

Against my better judgment, I ask, “What does?”

He turns to me, silver gaze more earnest than I’ve ever seen. “Wanting more.”

I don’t get a chance to process his words. Something loud goes off near the far side of the building. It rumbles against the earth, and I’m sure the gallery gives a shudder.

An explosion.

I flinch, startled, and to my surprise, Prince Caelan places his hand on my arm and steps in front of me like a shield. Like he’s protecting me. Though from what, I’m not sure.

There’s shouting from the ballroom. The courtyard, too.

Caelan turns to look at me, and something spins behind his eyes. He straightens stiffly, and then he’s hurrying through the corridor toward the commotion. I follow his path, leaving a solid distance between us, my hand closed over my ring as my heart braces for something terrible.

When I reach the front door where Residents have formed a crowd, I manage to push my way through a small gap, finding just enough space to see what they’re gawking at.

And then, a voice. “One of the humans is aware!”

My heart plummets.

Because across the courtyard is a car flipped on its side and engulfed in flames. Beyond it is a shadow racing for freedom. A shadow I recognize at once.

Theo.

21

THE RING SHURA GAVE ME practically seers into my finger, but I fight the impulse to send a warning. It’s too soon. If I alert the Colony and Theo manages to escape, I’ll have compromised their safety for nothing.

I stare into the darkness where he disappeared. I don’t understand; Theo wouldn’t blow up a car without good reason. Not when there’s so much at stake.

So what did he see?

I scan the courtyard for an exit—for a place to slip away before anyone starts connecting pieces of a puzzle I’d prefer were left untouched—but the sight of Residents descending from the clouds makes me pause.

Legion Guards.