Andrew stared at Sagan as she tore the bottom of her tank top and wrapped her wounds with her midriff exposed. If she caught him looking, she might think he was perving on her. But he meant well. Just checking her for injuries after her fight with Nox’s General. She carried herself as if affected by more than the cuts and bruises.

John examined his knee while Kyle checked his potentially broken nose in the reflection of a knife.

“Where’s Nikki?” Tameka rubbed her bruised throat.

John groaned. “She never came back.”

Kyle walked over. “What about Rayne?!”

Sagan and Andrew exchanged a look, and both said, “She’ll be fine.”

Tameka shook her head. “But what if—”

Sagan spun an axe, saying, “No, leave her to it.”

“Well, at least they’re gone.” John nudged a fallen soldier’s corpse with his foot. “What do we do with their bodies? We can’t leave alien bodies lying around.”

Andrew waved the smoke around, saying, “The fire will take care of it.” The way it was spreading, it might take care of them first. He opened his mouth to move this evacuation along—

“It was one hell of a fight, huh?” Kyle smiled when they gave him confused faces.

Why the hell did Kyle have to be so weird? Andrew said, “Dude.”

After an awkward silence, the group broke into a fit of laughter. Andrew needed that, no matter how much it hurt. What a day. Both he and John sagged to the floor, holding their ribs.

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Tameka knelt to check on Andrew.

He said, “Thank you,” appreciating her small smile in return.

Kyle gave his nose a more thorough inspection. When the laughter faded into sighing and a deep, mutual relief, Andrew glanced up to see Sagan standing over him.

“How did you know to come here, today?” Straight to the point.

Andrew blinked. “What do you mean?” He did not want to do this right now.

That lit Sagan’s fuse. “You couldn’t have known to come today unless someone informed you about the attack!”

It was true. Andrew stood and faced her. “All right. He told me not to say anything but…”

“Who?” Kyle joined the interrogation.

Andrew hesitated. How could he phrase this without breaking his oath? “Xelan.”

One word—one name—said all too much. Shit.

Tameka gasped. “Xelan?!”

The news surprised everyone, save for Sagan. She grew further impatient. He couldn’t blame her.

Sagan asked, “When? When did you speak to him? No one else has heard from him in four months. How long have you known?” She backed him against a wall, advancing toward him, gripping the axes with renewed vigor.

Andrew raised his hands in surrender. Time to lie. “This morning, I swear. I had a nightmare of Fair in flames and there he was, all dark and full of warnings.” He lowered his arms and relaxed as Sagan loosened a little.

“What did he say?” Tameka flanked Sagan like she might have to hold the shorter girl back.

Andrew couldn’t tell them the truth. No matter what. It’s not like they’d appreciate him for meeting with Xelan secretly these last four months. Besides, he was deep in the weeds, and he had more questions than answers, himself. This morning was a prime example.

Xelan’s initial estimates had turned out fairly accurate so far, and now the Icarus wasn’t around for the team interrogation. The truth, but not all of it.

Andrew explained, “Xelan said Rayne would die today if I didn’t come here. And if that happened, we would all die. Something about the aftermath.” He swallowed before saying, “I actually didn’t believe him at first, but I was late to school anyway and could afford to drop by. The Icari are dead now, so it’s over.” Okay. He managed it.

As he finished his explanation, the foundation shuddered beneath their feet. His eyes searched the quaking room.

Sagan bolted for the cafeteria’s entrance. Everyone formed a line beside her, and a sense of dread filled the air.

“No… It’s not over.”