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‘You know there’s no way I’d access your ship without your authorization.’ Élisa paused and gazed at the skies above.

Glimmer was indeed above them, having returned from its reconnaissance mission overnight.

Riv had asked Glimmer to stay with him until they reached their destination, so for now, the ship was tracking both him and Élisa.

‘Your ship’s long-range travel capability is paramount to my needs,’ Élisa continued.

Riv shook his head, unconvinced. ‘No one would know looking at it, so someone must have been specific in giving you a heads-up on it.’

She sliced her eyes away. ‘I learned, I can’t say how, that someone was tracking me many moons ago, asking after me. So I asked back. You were the person they described. I also got word that your ship was a newish cruiser with Rubens-097 sublight engines of Galician origin. I need it to escape my pursuers and take me where I must go.’

Riv sighed inside with some relief. She still had no idea what Glimmer’s cloaking shield was covering up. ‘Where’s that?’

She gave him a secret smile.

‘Where?’ he insisted.

‘I’ll share when the time is right,’ was all she proffered.

‘I see. So I’m collateral?’

She shook her head with vehemence. ‘Oh no, you’re my insurance. I need you to stay with me, collect what I need, and make haste for the destination I have in mind.’

‘What if I refuse?’

Her eyes turned to his, flashing with defiance. ‘What if the need is altruistic, to ease a great suffering? Will you refuse?’

Surprised, he reared back. ‘Is it? For a good cause?’

‘To some extent.’ She said the words with fierceness, and for a moment, he caught yet another glimpse of his silver angel—the one who fought for those weaker than herself.

He’d loved that about her then, and it warmed him to see it in her once again.

Maybe her entire soul hadn’t been lost to these badlands yet.

Hours later, he noted the track in front of them widen and more light fall from the heavens above.

The fissure they were in opened into a more expansive ravine, a deep incision characterized by U-shaped, theater-headed valleys.

‘Not far now.’

Élisa’s murmur was the first words she’d spoken in a long while, and again, he sensed her exhaustion.

He had the power to carry her the rest of the way if she so wished and not even be out of breath, but wishes were for fishes, and he couldn’t reveal his hand.

Not yet.

Dead ahead of them was a prominent knoll that sat higher than the land around it.

‘What’s that?’ Riv ventured, pointing at the structure.

Élisa took a breath. ‘This is Räk Hill. Where I live.’

At the foot of the hill was a rock building, an open hut of stones excavated from it.

Inside, he spied rock tables and shelves in a free-flowing design and tweaked their purpose.

‘A store?’