“Who?”

Tawni looks to me for guidance. I sigh. “My mom.”

“She’s a moon dweller?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“There aren’t many moon dwellers down here.”

“I think she’s in the Max,” I say.

Trevor’s eyes light up with understanding. “A prisoner, huh? Well, you can’t see her.”

I frown, clench my fists, try to stay calm. Fighting won’t get me anywhere—at least not yet. “Why not?” I ask.

“You have to see the General first.”

“Why?”

“The General asked me to bring you as soon as you woke up. It’s been three days and the General is not very patient.”

“Three days!” I say. I can’t hide the surprise in my voice.

“You were nearly dead,” Trevor says. “Dead like the Star Realm.” It’s a weird expression, but somehow it feels appropriate.

“And after the General?” I ask. I figure we’ll go see this dude and then be on our way, free to visit the Max and find my mom.

“The General will decide that.” I’m barely able to contain my anger, but I do, following Tawni’s lead.

“When do we leave?”

“It’s the dead of night,” Trevor says. I can’t ignore his second reference to death. Despite his cheery face, there is something dark about him. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It could just be my imagination. Or it could just be the way people are down here—in the Star Realm. “Look, just try and get a few more hours of sleep and I’ll come to collect you in the morning.”

A thought occurs to me. “Why were you here in the middle of the night?”

“Rounds,” he says simply. I don’t believe him. He doesn’t look like a doctor, or a nurse, or a guard, or anyone that should be watching over us while we sleep. He was here for a reason. Either an order or his own agenda. As if sensing I am not satisfied, he hurries on: “Get some sleep, Adele. There are clean tunics under your beds to change into in the morning.”

“How did you—” I start to ask, but he is already up and floating away, a ghost in the dark, his lantern casting eerie shadows in his wake. Darkness returns, but my eyes have adjusted and I can still see.

“He seemed nice,” Tawni says, putting her typical positive spin on things.

“More like a creep.”

Tawni looks at me and laughs. “I can tell you’re feeling better.”

I can’t help myself. Seeing my lost friend safe and healthy is enough to coax a smile to my lips. “I guess so,” I say. “Are you okay?”

Tawni nods. “I feel fine. They must have given us medicine.”

I return her nod absently. Something doesn’t feel right about this whole setup. Trevor’s tone; the all-powerful General; our miraculous recovery; Trevor knowing my name: I can’t seem to make sense of it all.

Tawni reaches out a hand. “What are you thinking about?”

I take her hand and she gives mine a light squeeze. “Nothing,” I say, not wanting to worry her with my muddled thoughts. “Let’s get back to sleep.”

Although I hope Tawni will be able to sleep, I know I won’t. I have too many questions, too many puzzle pieces to make sense of. It feels like my entire life is a mystery all of a sudden. Trevor must know my name because we were all over the news after we broke out of the Pen. So he must know Tawni’s name too. But that doesn’t explain why his tone was so dark, why he kept using the word dead. I mean, I guess he only said it a couple of times, but still, it was creepy. My thoughts cause me to shiver under my thin sheet.

What keeps me going is my dad’s confidence in me. Before we parted ways, he told me I was courageous and strong and that he was proud of me. He also told me trust my heart. Now my heart is telling me that I have to find my mom and get out of here as quickly as I can. But not tonight. Tonight Tawni needs to sleep, even if I cannot.

With hours to kill, my thoughts turn to my dad, my sister, and then Tristan, in that order. I am afraid to start giving Tristan priority in my thoughts to the detriment of my own family. Somehow I know if I do it will put them in danger. Ridiculous, I know, but I can’t help it.

I fear for my dad. He will do everything in his power to protect Elsey, but he’s also not very good at picking his battles. If he sees an injustice he’s compelled to do something about it. It’s a rare quality to have these days. In my world, it’s a dangerous way to be. It’s what got him and my mom in trouble in the first place. And Elsey and me too, indirectly. I hope he’ll focus on taking care of Elsey and staying out of trouble.

I’m worried about Tristan, too. He was injured when I left, and although he seemed capable of taking care of himself—very capable actually—as the President’s son he is a target for the star dwellers. Which is why I need to get my mom and get home, so I can look after the ones I care about. Besides Tawni, they’re all I have left, and I can’t trust anyone else to do the job.

For the first time I notice the sounds of the infirmary. It is spooky, lying in the dark with the hushed whirs of breathing all around you, like the sounds of tiny waterfalls plunging into the depths. I try not to think about the multitude of diseases and ailments that likely afflict those around us.

My mind wanders as I try to unlock the mysteries of the universe, the things that have troubled me for days. Like what was Tristan trying to tell me? And who convinced the star dwellers to attack the Moon Realm? Was it this General that Trevor kept referring to? I roll these questions around in my head for hours, until behind my closed eyelids I sense the room lightening.

I open my eyes and jerk back against my mattress, which isn’t thick enough to prevent my head from thumping off the stone beneath. Trevor is standing over my bed, grinning. “What the hell?” I bark angrily. “Were you watching me sleep?”

“Good morning to you, too, Adele.”

I stare at him, eyes narrowed, as I try to decide whether to drive my foot into his ribcage. That’ll wipe the grin off his face. The room is indeed lit by dim panels on the ceiling. Although not bright by any means, relative to the abject darkness of the night the room appears luminous.

“I wasn’t watching you sleep, because you weren’t sleeping. You were flopping around like a fish out of water. Not like your friend, Tawni. She slept like the dead.” There it is again—the word “dead.” What a creep.

I don’t want to admit he’s right. “Maybe I was just dreaming heavily,” I say.

“Maybe not,” he says.

“In any case, you should get another hobby. Something you’re better suited to, like knitting or something.”

Trevor shrugs and ignores me. “It’s time to go meet the General.”

“Fine.” I gingerly swing my legs over the bed and get to my feet, hiding my discomfort beneath an indifferent expression. Although the aches from the Flu are gone, I’m stiff from all the bed rest. Ignoring Trevor, who watches me the whole way, I coax Tawni from her deep sleep with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Her eyes roll open lazily. “Mmm.”

“Time to go.” I stand up and point a finger at Trevor. “You—out.”

Trevor’s eyebrows rise in surprise, but he recovers with a quick grin. “I’ll be back in five. Be ready.”

He turns robotically and weaves his way past the other beds. While I watch him to the door, I take in the room. Dozens of beds litter the room, strewn haphazardly at strange angles, no attempt made to line them up. There are bodies everywhere. Even in the light, they look dead. We are the only ones moving, so they might be, although like before, I can hear the soft sounds of sleep.

“Why were you so mean to him?” Tawni asks from behind me.

I turn to face my friend. “That was nothing—you should have heard me earlier, before you woke up.”

“He’s just trying to help.” She’s on her feet, hands on hips, her face tight and frowning. She’s taking this pretty seriously.

I sigh. “I don’t know, something about him just bothers me. He was watching me sleep.”