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“I’ll see you two tomorrow,” Leo said, his eyes lingering on me before becoming invisible with the rest of the jet, the invisible door closing behind him.

I’d really been hoping for the chance to talk to him in private, not to be babysat by his commander, but he was a king with responsibilities greater than me. So, I guess that left me pouring myself a drink.

Adrian pulled out a barstool for me, then one for himself a couple seats away, while I stood and waited for the jet to take off.

He adjusted the two daggers strapped at his sides. “The jet is already gone. Echo-reducers built into the engine. Makes it so the engine doesn’t emit any noise. Then the jet lifts into the air, sonic-boom plugs engage, and away it goes.” He lifted his hand in demonstration.

I walked over to the stool and grabbed a bottle with clear liquid. “I didn’t understand a single thing you just said.”

Adrian laughed, grabbing his own bottle of amber.

I went straight for the jugular. “So, how old are you?”

Adrian coughed, amber liquid spraying from his mouth. “Such a rude question to ask a gentleman.”

I looked around the rooftop, then back to Adrian. “I don’t see any gentlemen here.”

“You’re right,” he said, pupils dilating wide like a predator’s. “I’m no gentleman.”

I took a drink, staring him down, trying to fight the stirring sensation in my stomach. I wouldn’t allow Adrian to have any sort of effect on me.

“I’m assuming Leo told you his age. I’m a year older than him.”

He must have some magic, then, if he didn’t look much older than me. “What element do you specialize in?”

“Full of questions this evening.” He took a large drink of the amber. “Fire.”

For emphasis, he lit the bottle in front of me on fire as I reached for it.

“Hey!”

He laughed and killed the flame. The bottle remained perfectly intact without a blemish.

“Neat trick,” I said sarcastically. “Did you enter Delirium, too, then?”

He smirked. “I’ve got a question. Where are you going to tell your people you’ve been, once you get back to Six?”

Seeing as he didn’t know about Leo’s mind-cloaking ability, or that he was victim to it once, I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I didn’t know if Leo would erase my memories, or if he could erase memories on a large scale. Could he make it seem like I had never left Six at all?

“Haven’t figured that part out yet. But my people are just my brother, Hunter, and a few friends, and I’d trust them to keep this secret. As for The Guard—the army I belong to—maybe I’ll tell them I was on my Earth the entire time, being held captive by Decodons.”

“That wouldn’t work.”

“And why not?”

“Because once the sun rises, and the portals close, the Deks disappear.”

“Disappear?”

“Yep. Poof, gone. They turn to ash.”

“Why?”

Adrian poured two shots of amber and slid one to me. “We don’t know. But between our research and Four’s notes on their remnants, we think when the portals close it cuts off their connection to their planet’s life source. So, they just⁠—”

“Disintegrate.”

He raised his glass to me. “If your brother and friends survived the initial attack, they’re safe. There’s no way for Deks to survive past dawn.”