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Valerian locks eyes with me. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

I almost ask him to take me with him, virus be damned.

But no. I can’t delay visiting Mom’s dreams any longer.

“Be careful,” I tell him, and he smiles.

“We have hazmat suits waiting, don’t worry.”

“Fine. I give you two hours,” I say gruffly. “Three at the most.”

“Your wish is my command,” he says, and stepping up to me, he slants his mouth over mine.

My body instantly ignites. Mighty hormones, what is he doing to me? The world around us disappears as fireworks explode in my belly—and maybe in the sky.

“There’s no time for that,” Dylan’s voice says from somewhere.

Ugh. Can’t she just go and eat another brain so we can have a moment?

To my immense disappointment, Valerian pulls away.

“To be continued,” he says with a cocky smirk.

Virgil strides over, Itzel in bridal carry in his arms.

All amusement vanishes from Valerian’s face, and he narrows his eyes at the vampire. “If something happens to Bailey, I will hold you personally responsible. Understand?”

“We’ve taken all the precautions,” Virgil says. “Everyone around her with the exception of the gnome doctor will be a vampire. Even though we don’t need to sleep, some of us choose to do so on occasion, but I’ve forbidden everyone from dreaming until this whole mess is resolved. The new safe house is a veritable bunker that no—”

“Just know that your existences are intertwined,” Valerian says grimly. “This isn’t just me speaking. She’s the highest priority for the Senate.”

I am?

Virgil nods. “Let’s go.”

I don’t move. I guess I still haven’t fully recovered my wits.

Valerian grabs my hand and shepherds me to the flying car.

Virgil slides Itzel onto the seat next to me, while Valerian kisses me once more, then closes the door before I can clutch his shirt and refuse to let go.

As the car ascends, I spot Felix sitting up.

He’s definitely okay.

We torpedo forward, accompanied by a squadron of flying cars.

“My team,” Virgil explains when he sees my concerned glance at the other vehicles.

After we traverse a couple of city blocks, Itzel comes to her senses and peppers me with questions about what happened after she passed out. As I explain, Virgil listens on, but keeps his expression blank. My voice cracks as I tell Itzel about Fabian’s demise, and we fly the rest of the way in a mournful silence.

When we reach the southernmost district of Gomorrah City, we land on a roof of a mega skyscraper I’ve never visited before. Virgil leads us to an elevator, where he swipes his comms over a special reader, and we begin to descend. And keep descending for an obscenely long time.

If we step out into the iron core of the planet, I won’t be surprised.

I turn to Virgil. “When you mentioned a bunker, you meant it literally, didn’t you?”

He nods. “The Senate built it a while back for themselves. Valerian convinced them to let us use it for a while.”

The elevator finally stops, and when the doors open, it’s to a room filled to the brim with vampires, all dressed in riot gear and armed to the teeth.

One of them hands Itzel some strange headgear contraption and steps back, aiming a gun at the poor gnome. “Put it on.”

“What is that?” I ask.

The vampire who provided the contraption looks at Virgil.

“That’s a security measure,” Virgil says patiently. “Though we haven’t seen a single Overtaken gnome, it doesn’t hurt to be careful. This device will detect it if you fall sleep—and it’ll alert the team.”

Itzel takes the gizmo, examines it approvingly, and puts it on her head like a crown. “It’s gnome designed, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” says a familiar voice from behind a wall of vampires. “I made it.”

The vampires let the gnome through.

He’s wearing the same headgear as Itzel, and I recognize him instantly.

It’s Mom’s doctor.

“Hi, Dr. Xipil,” I say. “Let me introduce you to Itzel.”

Itzel extends her small hand in an almost coquettish manner. “A pleasure.”

A smile touches the corners of Dr. Xipil’s eyes as he shakes the proffered hand. “The pleasure is all mine. I’ve done much in the past few weeks that I wanted a fellow gnome to appreciate.”

Itzel points at her head. “That’s some interesting work. And I’ve never met a gnome doctor before. What made—”

“How about you flirt on the way?” Virgil says with an eye roll, then herds me and the chatty pair down a corridor. A labyrinthine walk later, we enter a large room where another strange contraption stands, with Mom inside it.

If Felix’s old robot suit had a baby with a hospital bed, and if that baby mated with a tank, this is what the offspring would look like.

“That’s my pride and joy,” Dr. Xipil says. “Valerian wanted to make sure your mother is safe, and can be moved around freely. My design was inspired by—”

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