I hesitate for a long time. Finally, I turn on my side to face Danek, propping myself up on an elbow. “You talked to the others. Did you learn anything more about the resonance sickness?”
“Yes,” he admits.
I swear to God, getting information out of Danek is like pulling teeth. “And?” I prompt. “What did Sixth say? Kenia said you had the strongest reaction she’d ever seen. Does that have something to do with the fact that you’re one of the first Draekons?”
He chuckles softly. “One question at a time, Naomi.”
I can’t see his face in the dark, but it doesn’t sound like my questions are unwelcome. I wait for him to gather his thoughts. Thirty seconds go by—I know precisely how many because I’m keeping count in my head—and then he answers. “Sixth told me that the resonance is causing damage to my central nervous system. As long as I remain here, I’m dangerously vulnerable. I will be able to function, and I can keep the worst of it at bay, but eventually, I need to leave Noturn.”
Fear stabs through my heart. I make an effort to keep my voice steady and even. “How long do you have?”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t home in on that,” he says ruefully. “According to Sixth, my natural immunity will work for two weeks.” He reaches out and squeezes my hand, his touch warm and reassuring. “You’re looking worried, Naomi. Don’t be. Mirak is on his way. He’ll be here in four days.”
“And we’ll leave then?” I ask hopefully. “You’ll let someone else do this mission?”
“Not exactly.” He exhales in a long sigh. “I can’t. The minute Mirak lands on Noturn, our cover is blown. Dariux won’t be able to get someone else in here.”
“So what?” I don’t understand. Does Danek not understand that he could die here on this horrible planet? I stare at the outline of his face, wishing for the Draekon ability to see in the dark. “You’re going to risk your life?”
There’s another long pause. “If you weren’t here, I might,” he admits at last.
“Well, that’s stupidly reckless and dumb.” I’m too annoyed to carefully choose my words. “The mission isn’t more important than your life. You’re surrounded by people that care about you. So many people would be devastated if something were to happen to you. Kadir, Alice, Mirak, Ruhan…” My voice trails away. I gather my courage and continue. “Me.”
He doesn’t respond to that, not with words. But he lifts my hand to his lips and brushes a kiss over my knuckles. When he finally speaks, his voice has a note in it I don’t recognize. “I’m not going to do anything risky, Naomi.”
I blink back my tears before they spill down my cheeks and incriminate me. When the hell did Danek become so important? But I know the answer. He was my lifeline in the darkness. He anchored me to sanity, and he gave me room to heal.
He’s seen the worst of me. Now, I want him to see a different Naomi. Not the victim, but the woman.
I push away that fanciful, hopeful strand of thought. “What are you planning?”
“The mission parameters have changed. I don’t have three months anymore. But I do have fourteen days, and I’m determined. With any luck, there will be enough time to find out if Cindifin is building a prison on Noturn.”
“Here’s what I’ve been wondering. The prison, it’ll be in its own dome, right?”
“Yes, I think so. The way the buildings are set up inside the domes, it’s going to be impossible to hide a prison in any of them.”
“How is it possible to build a dome in secret?” I ask him. “You’ll need building materials, won’t you? And construction workers to put it together. If some of the workers aren’t in the mines, and are instead building a dome, won’t that be easy to detect?”
“Unfortunately, no. Domes are prefabricated in giant factories. You only need ten people to assemble it.”
“Great. It couldn’t be easy, could it?”
He laughs. “If Ruhan were here, he’d ask you where the fun in that was.” He shrugs. “It is what it is. I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Investigation, crisscrossing the terrain. The only thing I have going is that they won’t put the domes too far apart.”
“And if you can’t figure it out in fourteen days? Will you leave anyway?”
“Yes.”
I can’t see it. I can’t see him walk away. It’s not who he is. “Really? You won’t risk your life out of some misplaced sense of heroism?”
“Me?” He rolls his eyes. “I’m a self-centered asshole. Ask anyone.”
What complete nonsense. “Self-centered asshole?” I scoff. “Is that why you came to rescue two women you didn’t know? Cassie and I were perfect strangers to you, and you spent how long trying to find us?”
He waves aside my praise. “Sixth told me to keep taking cranisum. It should ward off the worst of Noturn’s effects. So that’s the plan. I pretend to be a safety inspector. If there’s a prison here, I have fourteen days to find it.”
We lie next to each other, closer now, our hands touching. I’m still worried for Danek—how could I not be?—but I’m also… happy? He didn’t have to answer my questions, but he did. He called me a liability at the start of this mission, but from the moment we landed on the Wekat Exchange, and we left the safety of his ship, he has treated me as if I’m his partner. He’s treated me as if I matter.
He might just be a good actor, Naomi.
My
