“All those people,” I say, unable to hide the contempt in my voice. “So many moon dwellers died from the bombings.” My mother, the compassionate one. The selfless one. The murderer?

“No, Adele, it wasn’t like that at all. Please let me explain.”

My breaths are coming rapidly, and I inhale a deep gulp of air to try to get control, to give her a chance to explain. I owe her at least that much.

“Okay,” I manage to say.

“There are seven generals. Seven, Adele. I am only one voice. Two are Resistance members, including me, and I trust my friend implicitly.”

“But what if your friend is the mole?” I ask.

“She’s not,” she says without further explanation. “The other five generals are star dweller leaders, and they maintain control of all major military decisions. I can try to sway them, but I can’t force them to do anything. I tried—tried desperately to get them to reconsider bombing the Moon Realm, but they wouldn’t listen. God, Adele, do you really think I would willingly attack our people, kill innocent men, women, and children, put your and Elsey’s lives in danger?”

A moment ago I had thought that was possible. The woman sitting next to me seems like a stranger, capable of anything. But the tone in her voice sounds like my mom, the woman I grew up with. She’s still herself, just a little different.

“I guess not,” I say.

Her eyes flick to Tawni, but then right back to me. “The best I was able to do was influence where and when we attacked. I tried to ensure the bombs hit areas that would be sparsely populated, at times when people would be closer to the protective shells of their cellars and storerooms. I made sure that when the bombing started, I was close to home.”

My head jerks up. Trevor’s words flash in my mind. 14 and 26. He wasn’t lying. “You mean…?”

“Yes. I was in subchapter 14 on the first night of bombing,” she says. Tawni looks at me, her face awash with surprise, reflecting my own shock back at me. “As commanding officer, I steered the bombing away from the residential areas, knowing full well that very few people remained in the city after dark. One of the pre-determined targets was the Pen, as the rest of the generals wanted to create as much chaos in the subchapter as possible—and they thought a pack of escaped adolescent criminals would do just the trick.”

“But that’s when we were escaping,” I say.

My mom laughs, and once again I get a glimpse of my old mom, the one who tried to make light of even the direst of situations. “Yeah, I didn’t expect that. I’d positioned the bombers such that they would only destroy the electric fence and the outer walls. I was overseeing each and every minute detail, as I didn’t want some rogue bomb technician dropping incendiaries in the center of the Pen where you might get hurt. I was hoping I might see you, might even be able to rescue you.” At that, she squeezes my hand, instantly sending warmth through my palm. My mom is touching my hand. It still hasn’t truly hit me.

“Anyway,” she continues, “we were about to begin phase one of the attacks, when one of my guys spotted movement in the Pen yard.”

“That was us,” I say.

My mom nods. “I didn’t know it was you at the time, but I wasn’t taking any chances, so I ordered one of my soldiers to zoom in using the infrared binoculars.” A vaporous thought swirls through my mind and I try to grab hold of it, but it dissipates before I can snatch it. “I’d recognize my beautiful baby any day, anywhere,” she says.

Mom! I want to object, what with her embarrassing me in front of my friend, but I don’t because her words feel so good after all this time. I smile sheepishly. “Sooo,” I say, prodding her to move it along.

“So we watched as the guards chased you, cornered you, and then I ordered my team to bomb the other side of the fence, helping you escape.”

I raise my eyebrows. “So it wasn’t just luck?”

“More like fate, really.” I’ve never heard Mom talk about fate before, but it sounds right coming off of her pink lips.

I can’t hold back a sudden frown as a thought pops into my head. “Why didn’t you rescue us then?”

“I was too far away. The rockets were shot from hundreds of feet away, on the tops of buildings. When the smoke cleared you were already gone, and we had no choice but to retreat from the subchapter.”

I manage a smile. “My mind has officially been blown,” I say.

“Ditto,” Tawni says, laughing.

My mom smiles, the twinkle back in her eyes. “Well…I’m not quite done yet.” I gawk at her like she’s an alien. “Remember the bomb that took out the Nailin boy and his men in subchapter 26?”

“Tristan?” I ask, sitting up straight.

“The other one.”

“Oh, Killen,” I say, feeling silly.

“Yeah, that one. Well, once I knew you had escaped, I tracked your progress across the Moon Realm. I knew exactly where you were headed and I managed to gain responsibility for the bombing of subchapter 26. The waiting was the worst, wondering if and when you would show up, whether you’d escape that sicko Rivet long enough for me to help you. But you did, Adele, you did, and I chipped in where I could, by using a well-aimed rocket to help you escape again. But again, I couldn’t get close enough to get you out of there. I just had to trust that once you were with your father that he would know what to do.”

I am surprised, but not as much as the last time, especially because Trevor gave us the heads-up. “I knew it wasn’t a coincidence!” I exclaim. “I wasn’t sure, but when we found the freshly singed, gaping hole in the wall of Camp Blood and Stone, I knew something was weird about it all. One time, maybe. Twice, unlikely. Three times, impossible.” My mom had been protecting me all along. My guardian angel.

Mom smiles. “That’s my girl,” she says. “You always had good instincts. You’re so much like your father.”

“He always says I’m so much like you.”

She laughs. “You’ve got both of us in you.” And for that, I’m glad. “It was hard to resist charging in with the cavalry to rescue your father, but it wasn’t part of the plan and would have been too suspicious. I had to trust you’d do what I could not.”

“We need to go meet up with Dad,” I say.

Her laugh quickly turns serious again. “Thank you for coming here,” she says, “for finding me, but I need you and your friend”—she motions to Tawni, pausing as if trying to remember her name—“Tawni, to stay here in the Star Realm with some of my guards. The Moon Realm is too dangerous right now, and you need to stay safe.”

What? No! Heat floods my face. I don’t want to sound like a child, but we’ve come too far, been through too much, to just be left at home, safe in our beds. We are a part of this, for better or worse. I can’t speak for Tawni, but I will for myself. “I’m coming with you,” I say firmly.

“And me,” Tawni echoes, her eyes shining with determination. Glancing at her, I consider trying to talk her out of it, but who am I to tell her what to do after everything she’s done for me?

I wait for the rebuttal, but it never comes. Instead my mom laughs. “How did I guess you would say that? Well, I thought I’d give it a try anyway, can’t fault me for that, can you?”

I cock my head to the side, smirking. Who is this woman?

“You can both be listed on the star dweller army rolls as my personal aides,” she says. I’m still smirking.

“Nice try, Mom. I want to fight.”

“Aide sounds pretty good to me,” Tawni says, her face flushed.

My mom nods at Tawni absently, accepting her as her personal aide. Looking back at me, she says, “One problem. If you want to fight against the Sun Realm, you’ll have to join the star dweller army for now.”

“Never!” I blurt out, anger rising within me. “Not after what they did to the moon dwellers. They took it too far. Much too far.”

“Hear me out. A lot has happened since you showed up on our doorstep. As of yesterday, the generals have agreed to a cease-fire, pending talks with the moon dweller leaders. They may be able to reach an agreement and join forces, and then it will be us against the Sun Realm.”