“That looked like more than talking.”

Aria spun, facing him. “Why do you care?”

Loran stopped short. He frowned, opening his mouth to speak, then seemed to reconsider.

“Why did you take me to see him?” she insisted. “Why did you help me?”

He looked down his slender nose at her, his lips pressed tight, like he was trying to keep himself from speaking. She was desperate to understand why he’d taken a risk for her. Why he seemed so intent whenever he was looking at her. Why his dark gray eyes seemed so achingly familiar.

He had a deep musical baritone—a beautiful voice.

And he was old enough—

He was old enough—

She couldn’t even let herself think it.

His head whipped to the side. Aria heard Kirra’s voice, her sultry purr grating and unmistakable. Was she always roaming these halls?

Loran grabbed Aria by the arm and pulled her down the corridor. He stopped before a door and pressed at a keypad, yanking her inside as it opened.

Across a small room was another door with a rounded window made of two thick panes. Blue light came through it. Electric light that moved like a living, starving thing.

Aether.

“This way.” He stepped around her, opening the door, and suddenly she was stepping outside, onto a platform framed by a metal rail, her hair lifting in the wind.

It was night. She’d had no idea. That meant she’d been in the Komodo almost two days. A sea of metal surrounded her—the roofs of the Komodo’s individual units—and funnels of Aether twisted above. She saw the red flares. They had spread so much in just the time she’d been imprisoned. Everywhere she looked—east and west, north and south—the funnels lashed down to the earth, in some areas no more than a mile off. She felt the familiar prickling in the air and heard the shrieking sounds of the funnels—the sound of the Aether charging closer.

They were running out of time.

“We need to talk,” Loran said behind her.

Aria turned and faced him. By the shifting light of the sky, she studied his face. His expression was too soft for a soldier. Too pleading for a stranger.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t know where to start.”

Emotion prickled behind her eyes. Her heart was slamming. Pounding to get out of her ribs.

He didn’t know where to start, but she did.

“You’re an Aud,” she said.

“Yes.”

“You knew my mother.”

“Yes.”

She pulled in a breath and dove. “You’re my father.”

“Yes.” He looked at her, full on, the moment expanding between them. “I am.”

A cold wave swept over her.

She had guessed right.