When Trevor focuses on his dinner, I hazard a glance at him. What are you hiding, you little creep? How have you managed to gain my mom’s undying trust? I will find out. And when I do…

“Training begins at seven tomorrow,” Trevor says into his food.

“When do we leave for the Moon Realm?”

Trevor looks at me with one eye closed, as if he’s sizing me up, and then says, “I dunno. No one does. Everything’s on hold while the moon and star dwellers send messages back and forth, trying to come to an agreement.”

A bad feeling begins to squirm within the pit of my stomach and it’s not from the food. How can I trust the star dweller generals to do the right thing, to listen to the moon dwellers, when they were the ones who decided to bomb us to hell and back again? I make a mental note to ask my mom about that, among other things.

Because of the delightful taste, and despite my dark thoughts, I manage to finish the whole plate of food in front of me. Which is good, because I need my strength.

“What next?” I say as we’re leaving.

“Whatever you want,” Trevor says. “Evenings are your time.”

Tawni yawns. “I’m pretty tired. I might just hit the hay.”

My body feels tired but my mind is sharp and there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep. “Can you walk her back, Trevor?” I ask. He raises his eyebrows—an unspoken question. “I won’t leave the army grounds,” I say, determined not to get angry at having to answer to him.

He bites his lip. The last time he left me I got into all kinds of trouble. Another decision point. To my surprise, he says, “Fine. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yes, sir,” I say, mocking him. It’s a dumb thing to do, but I can’t help myself.

Thankfully, he ignores my impudence and says stiffly, “Goodnight.”

“’Night.”

Tawni winks at me knowingly before she goes. Her fatigue has granted me a minor reprieve from Trevor’s watchful eye.

When they’re gone, I take a deep breath. Today has felt like it’s lasted a week or more. The shock of finding my mother and discovering she’s a general in the star dweller army, the physical training activities, my half-crazed assault on Mep’s hideout, my suspicions about Trevor and Mom’s involvement in the army’s seemingly unlimited resources: all add up to one thing—one hell of a long freaking day. But it’s not over yet.

I go to find my mom to confront her.

Chapter Eighteen

Tristan

Roc’s asleep, which I’m glad about, because it gives him a break from the emotional turmoil of the last few hours. I’m lying on my bed, staring at the picture Roc drew of my mom/his mom. Somehow it gives me hope because I know that their genes are in us, and not just my father’s.

The door opens and a crack of light cuts through the dim glow of the lanterns. My heart sinks when I see who it is.

Ben.

Come to tell me I’m a screw-up. Come to tell me to leave.

“How’s Roc?” he whispers.

It’s not the first thing I expected him to say, but I guess it makes sense because Ben’s such a good person. He cares about people. He’s everything my father is not.

“We’re okay,” I say.

At that he raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t pursue it further. Instead, he sits down on the foot of my bed. “I’ll pack up my things and we’ll leave as soon as Roc wakes up,” I say, preempting him and trying to make the conversation easier.

Now both his eyebrows are raised. “You’re leaving? But why?”

“You don’t need to do this, Ben. I know I screwed up. I know I ruined all your plans. Maybe if I just go silently into the night you can show the VPs that you’re listening to them.”

“You think I’m here to kick you out?” Ben asks, the hint of a smile in his tone.

“Uh, aren’t you?”

“Quite the opposite. The VPs have agreed to support us, support you.” When my mouth drops open, he adds, “All of them.”

For perhaps the first time in my life, I’m completely speechless. It’s not that I don’t have words fluttering around in my brain, but there are too many of them trying to get out my mouth at the same time, so it’s like they get stuck on my lips as I continue to gawk at Adele’s father.

Finally, I manage, “That’s not possible. But I—”

“You spoke from the heart, Tristan. Just like I told you to. And they got it—every word of it. Nice touch stomping out of the room, I might add.”

Bizarre. This whole thing is bizarre. “But I just went crazy angry like a bitter child,” I protest.

“Look, I don’t know how else to say this, but it worked. Whether you planned it that way or not—it worked. We’ve got thirteen of the moon dweller VPs on our side. But the hard part is still to come. They’ve arranged a video conference with the rest of the VPs, who won’t be such an easy sell, that I can promise you. And there’s a catch,” Ben says, raising a finger in the air.

I’m still in shock, but my mind is slowly catching up to the situation. “What catch?”

“The cease-fire with the Star Realm will be expiring soon, so there’s really no time to delay our discussions with their leaders further. So they’ll be invited to the conference, too. They’ll be listening in, and available to comment, if necessary.” He pauses, looks me in the eyes. “We’ll need you to be a part of it—to show everyone you’re serious about this. Are you ready for that?”

“Uh. I guess so.”

“Good. And Tristan?”

“Yeah?”

“A word of advice. Don’t stomp from the room this time.” Ben’s smiling, and although I know he means it, I also know he’s joking.

I grin back. “Thanks, Ben. Thank you very much.”

* * *

I’ve been here before. I feel the air exit my lungs as I’m slammed against the hard stone wall. “Do you always have to do that?” I gasp.

Ram’s face is as hard as the stone he’s just flung me against. “I don’t know how you do it, sun boy, but you haven’t fooled me.”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to be trying to,” I reply smartly, still trying to get a full breath in.

“You might have convinced a few VPs, but the rest won’t fall for your lies. Just remember—”

“I know, you’ll be watching me. I get it. Now freaking put me down.”

Grudgingly, Ram lowers me to my feet and stomps away. I slump against the wall, my chest heaving and my heart racing. God, I hate that guy. No matter which side he’s on.

Although Roc’s invited to the conference—because I insisted—I’ve left him in the room because he’s still not feeling up to it. Everything’s fine between us, but it will take time before he’s ready to get involved in things again. And that’s okay. I can do this on my own—for him.

Ram was supposed to escort me to the videoconference, but I guess that’s not going to happen now.

After a few minutes of haggard panting, I’m able to start moving again, thankfully without my escort. I don’t take the shortcut past the Diamond Lake this time, because I want to see other humans before going into the room full of VPs.

As I cross through the common area, I relish the sound of people talking and eating dinner. The Resistance. Men and women and some kids, too, all acting like they’re just having a normal meal together in a normal place. There’s laughing and joking and smiles. If it wasn’t for responsibility, I’d want to be there next to them. As it is, the last thing on my mind is food and companionship.

I’m not sure exactly how to get to the top floor from here, but I figure it won’t be too difficult. At one end of the commons is the tunnel that leads to the steps that go up one level, to the room where I originally met with the Resistance leaders. Further along the curving atrium wall are three other tunnel entrances. Two look narrow and twist sharply out of view as I peer into them. The third is wider, taller, and looks like a main tunnel, so I enter it quickly, watching my shadows dance along the brownish-gray ground as I pass each wall-mounted lantern.