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Lex steered Phen toward the window. Dani stayed behind, wringing her hands as she observed the room. Garret and his team moved away as more people turned toward the windows. On the monitors was a countdown. Only ten minutes remained.

She looked down at her garometer.

Nothing.

Kryxis wasn’t here.

A group of blue suits from the science sector had found a place by the window, talking and laughing. She watched them, feeling oddly numb.

Nadine and the other heads might reject her promotion if she didn’t give the datachip up. But once the city was gone…the datachip would be all that was left as evidence.

If she gave it up, she couldn’t know for sure they would do the right thing.

And she realized she wanted that for Kryxis. He deserved justice. Even if it meant sacrificing her hard work.

She just wished he would come out and speak to her.

Moving away from the wall, she turned back for the elevators. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to see, didn’t want to think about Kryxis’s home turning to dust or think about the conservatory and all those beautiful plants withering to nothing in the fire. Even those poor creatures that had been tested against their will. They would be forgotten.

A tear slipped down her cheek as the elevator door slid closed. She brushed it away and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

As the elevator stopped on her level, she hesitated to step out. Her floor was dark, save for yellow lights along the floor. Emergency lights. The power had gone out here too.

Great.

Expecting it would come back soon, she went for her door several units down then paused, sniffing the air.

Was that...?

She lifted her head up to the vent just above her door and caught the scent again. The scent of coffee.

She peered down at her garometer, and her heart flipped.

“Kryxis!” she called up at the vent.

No response.

Confused, she looked back at her door. Quickly, she plugged in her code on the keypad then remembered the power was out so she would have to open it manually. She opened a box next to the keypad and pulled a latch down. The door popped to one side, allowing her to wrench it open with one hand.

The unit was dark just like she expected. She stepped inside then slid the door back behind her and stood on the threshold for moment, her heart pounding.

She called to him again. “Are you here?”

Something moved in the dark. Something big. Her breath caught in her lungs at the sight, making her stumble back into the door. Before she could utter another word or even let out a cry, the lights came back on.

Kryxis stood before her with a head engineer’s control pad in his hand. He grinned at her. “Hi, Dani.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dani

She fumed just at the sight of him. “You...how dare you.” Her voice shook. “How dare you show up here and act like you haven’t been doing anything wrong!”

Storming past him, she went into her bedroom and peered under a cabinet space, seeing poor Chowder there hiding in one of his usual spots. He hissed at her when she reached for him. “And you’ve scared my cat.” She straightened and whirled around, ignoring the jolt in her heart seeing him standing right beside her. He tilted his head at her like he was confused.

“Dani,” he said, sounding concerned.

“You left,” she snapped. “I told you it was dangerous. I took you in, and you left the vault to stalk around the ship, messing with the lights and scaring people—”