Of course, the moment I find my mate, someone’s already hunting me. The Araxus Order.

Jovie says the Amphiran was looking at her and wore battle armor, not standard uniforms. And not just any plating, but the shiny metals of Royal Guards.

I have no doubt he concealed himself in a chameleon cloak as he left.

Jovie’s met my crew and is certain it’s none of them, which means he’s trouble.

“Why would they come here?” she asks, struggling to eat the omelet and toast she ordered. “We’re already together.”

“Not if they hurt you. Then they will try to force me into a union with another.”

“But they’ve disowned you, right?”

I sigh deeply. “Yes. Which is why the Araxus order is out on my head. My father sent it out, which means it’s likely one of his crew because they got the memo first and want the credits for my head.”

I finish my malgaron steak and biscuits and down the last of my coffee. “I bet my father saw me here and wants to tie up my loose end. Fleet Amphir’s elders have an image they want to maintain. I’m a loose cannon, an anomaly.”

“A variable they can’t control,” Jovie offers.

“Yes. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to spin a different story, like finding a way to hurt you so it looks like I did it.

That way, they can have an excuse to disappear me and deter others from wanting to bond with us.

But what is purity worth if we die off because we ignore our deepest instincts? ”

Jovie sets her fork down and shakes her head. “I don’t understand how you can eat with all this going on.”

“I need my strength, just like you do.” I get up, grab a to-go box and a fork, help Jovie slide her plate of food into the container, then motion for her to follow me.

Allele, are they ready?

At the meet-up spot.

Jovie nibbles her food as I lead her through the complex. Minutes later, we round a corner and meet up with Blaize and Eluni outside of a janitorial closet in the males’ dorm wing. Blaize initiates the squadshield on his wristband, opening a green dome around us.

“Scanning.” Blaize watches his screen.

“Could be more of them if they’re hiding in one of these,” Eluni mutters.

“Clear. It’s just us.” Blaize lowers his arm. “Allele relayed what Jovie saw. I did a scan but they’re hidden from standard sensors. Even Allele isn’t sure. She seems to think it’s just the one but can’t lock onto them.”

Eluni plants her hands on her hips. “Has to be the Araxus Order.”

I shift between my feet, hating that there’s a bounty on my head and, worst of all, from my own people.

“Did you bring the tracker?” I ask them.

Blaize hands me a slender chip.

“Can you tuck this in a gauntlet somewhere?” I ask Jovie.

She takes the device and studies it. “What’s this for?”

“If something happens to him, I will protect you,” Blaize remarks. “If I die, Fieri will take over. If he goes, we have other contacts who will be notified.”

Eluni throws her hands in the air.

“We don’t know that it’s not you,” Blaize defends. “Lotta shit has shot sparks since you arrived.”

Eluni looks genuinely hurt. “You’re a jerk.”

“Why did you join them?” Jovie asks.

Eluni sways. “The king switched out some of the crews. Royals and Rogues traded places.”

“You mean alliances,” I say.

Eluni looks at me and tilts her head like she’s deep in thought.

Jovie leans against me. “But why stay? Aura told me how you all had to leave. But you didn’t have to get back on Allele. You could’ve abandoned him. Why not?”

Blaize’s wristband lights up to the sound of Fieri’s voice. “We noticed what was happening and felt the one we should be following is Aura, not his father.”

“Besides, Allele let us on the ship,” Jorusk adds over the beeps of Allele’s scanners. “I’m told that means something important. I always trust the ancients over others. They’re still alive for a reason.”

Fieri makes an annoyed huffing sound. “Allele is the only reason I tolerate strangers .”

Eluni whines. “Hey! I am not the enemy.”

Beside me, Jovie closes her to-go box. “You have no idea how hard it is to be one of the few chicks working a field full of dicks .”

Eluni gives her a faint, appreciative smile, and I know it hasn’t been easy for either of them.

The guys grumble out their apologies, so I add mine, “I have been hard on you. I apologize. We do it to all the guards, but Jovie is right. You deserve to be treated equally but more appropriately.”

Eluni waves a hand. “I chose to serve you over your father because I can tell you still have a heart. And because you listen to your Storm instead of denying it like New Order—or whatever they’re calling it since we left.

Trouble is, and this is something we needed to discuss with you, we aren’t the only ones. ”

Jovie hugs me tighter as if feeling the same gripping dread I feel.

“And?” I ask.

Blaize pulls up a holovid and shows it to us on his wristband. “It’s turning into a mass rushed exodus. The fleet is tearing apart into two factions: New Order and Genesis.”

“What’s worse,” Fieri adds over the coms, “is that the Royals on each ship have commanded those caught trying to leave to be jailed. Fights have broken out all over, even among Rogue Guards and Royal Guards.”

A string of taps comes over the speaker. Jorusk speaks. “But from the data that I’m pulling off the Abr fan page, there are a lot of Amphirans rooting for you two. I bet that pisses off the kings even more.”

“What do we do?” Jovie asks.

I scan between Blaize and Eluni.

“Keep playing,” Fieri offers. “Knowledge game should be starting soon. Make Amphirans proud by kicking some ass. And the grenade maze should be exciting. Might make them happy to see their kind can find their Storm match and enjoy their lives again.”

Blaize is the first to crack. He busts up. “Bro, are you watching Abr?”

“It’s called research, you little punk. You’d be better at your job if you did some,” Fieri snarls.

I waggle my brows. “Don’t tell me Fiesty Fieri has a secret dream of running the race.”

“No. I’m too old.”

“You’d only know that if you checked,” Jovie teases.

“Research!” Fieri sounds pissed. “Allele, you have the wheel.”

“There are no wheels in my pilot controls, Fieri. I do not understand this request,” Allele replies.

Aura, what does he mean?

For you to take the helm. He’s taking a break.

Understood.

“Back to the games?” I ask Jovie.

She grimaces. “I guess. It seems like we should leave, but I understand wanting to set a good example for your people. If a lot of them are leaving, they’re going to need some sort of direction. But this still feels risky.”

“Living is risky,” Blaize mutters.

Jovie lifts her hands as if asking for just one more second.

“When we know there’s a sign of a fault in an engine component, we check the easiest things first. But if we don’t find anything, we take the whole assembly out and bench-test it.

I just feel like being aware isn’t enough.

Is there anything we can do to be proactive about these cloaks or let others know something’s up? Don’t you have backup?”

“We’ve contacted everyone we trust,” Blaize says. “No one has the time to help Aura because they’re all trying to survive the divide .”

“And the cloaks?” Jovie asks.

“Don’t worry about them,” I tell her.

Jovie’s lips part like I’m being unreasonable.

“We don’t need anything to see them.”

Eluni looks at me like I’m nuts. “Sir. It’s a good idea. I could work on a design. We’ve always had ship scanners to tell us, but this facility has blocked some signals.”

“You’re right,” I tell her. “You work on a design then. But I don’t need them.”

Eluni starts to protest.

I sigh. “I can see them, okay?”

Blaize lifts his eyes from his wristband. “Did you really just say that you…”

“Yes.” I run a hand through my hair. “I don’t know why. I just can. So we’re fine.”

“It’s because you’re a—”

I cut Eluni off. “Don’t.”

I don’t want to be different. I just want to be left alone. And right now, I want to leave and travel to literally anywhere Jovie and I can be alone. The memory of her skin against mine comes back to me as I search for a feeling to calm my Storm.

“Sir?” Eluni stops me by the arm. “Are you…”

Jovie and Eluni exchange a glance and seem to have some sort of understanding.

Eluni smiles, then lets me go. “Officially for Secret Security Clearance only. Alright. We’ll stay in touch. Watch your backs. We’ll do what we can from Allele.”

As Jovie guides me toward the knowledge game room, I glance back and see Eluni swat Blaize in the shoulder. He seems surprised by whatever she says. I put it together when we rejoin the others, gathering in the two sides auditorium of seats with buzzers.

Eluni knows Jovie and I are mates. Blaize doesn’t because he isn’t familiar with the soft glow of the Storm. And it has me thinking about Ephinium.

She glows, but Eluni doesn’t. They both had children and mates. So what’s the difference?

Jovie tugs on my arm as we enter the crowded room for the trivia game. “Aura?”

I lean over so I can hear what she says through the hundreds of chatting males and females. But all I get is a quick kiss before she pulls away.

Jovie hikes up the steps of the females’ side of the auditorium and takes a seat behind a pedestal with a button and a screen that switches to her name and a points counter.

“Alright, everyone, find a buzzer, males to one side, females to the other. This is not a battle of the sexes, but a battle of individual wits to learn more about each other and the universe while trying to earn enough points for the prizes.”

I don’t like being away from Jovie and raise my hand as I sit. “I already have the prize I want. May I skip this round?”

Jovie blushes. I wink at her.

“The viewers would like to know what knowledge the first species to enter space might have to offer.” The announcer says as if mocking my intelligence.

Readying a hand over the button, I wait.

“Alright, let’s begin. What percentage of matter in the universe is Dark Matter?” the host asks.