CHAPTER ONE
Rain streamed down the curve of the dome like rivers racing to meet the sea. Madi traced a finger along the path of a single drop as it met with another. Gravity pulled them toward the ground, where eager blades of grass drank them up. Beyond the thirsty lawn, raindrops splashed into puddles on the sidewalk, which led to a dripping rail that overlooked the churning ocean. A flash of lightning streaked across the moody sky, and the thunder boomed so loud a few people sitting near the edge of the room jumped at the sound. But not Madi.
She longed to rush out into that storm. To leave the remnants of Marefernus City as shehad left her home on Pax Lunar Colony. Even though the main city in the trench had been destroyed in the war, the domes on the surface remained intact, like bubbles floating atop the water. It was safe there.
Safe meant boring, and boring meant facing her thoughts. Madi had spent the past few months recovering at a peaceful beach retreat with too much empty time on her hands. She had faced her thoughts, and they haunted her.
The destruction of Pax. The war. The battles. The deaths of her father, her friends, and even her foes often flashed before her eyes. Talking about it didn’t help. The medicine Hazel had given her didn’t help. Staying busy helped a little, but danger was the only thing that would keep her distracted enough to clear her head. These days, danger seemed hard to come by. The war had ended, no one chased her, and her enemies were either dead or imprisoned. After today, they’d stay that way.
Vesper, Vestia, Fibi, and Flare would face justice today. Madi and Levia had flown from the Isle of Medea to join Torian, who presided on the jury, to witness the final day of the trials. The closing arguments had earlier that morning, and Madi currently sat at the edge of the courtroom waiting for the verdict.
But then what? How would she escape her thoughts? Skydiving? Monster- hunting? Vigilantism? Exploring? None of it would match what she had already done. She craved real danger. Action. Adventure. Adrenaline. But that wasn’t why she wanted to leave the dome and brave the storm.
This time, Madi wanted to try a different kind of escape. To feel the cold rain on her skin and smell the sweetness in the air. Even after more than a year on Earth, the novelty of real rain hadn’t worn off. It never mattered what took place in her turbulent life, a good storm had always captured her thoughts, first in fear, then in awe, and more recently, joy. The rain seemed to heal her, inside and out.Today of all days, she needed that more than anything. Healing.
Madi looked away from the glass and down at her hands, still raw and pink from the burns, then touched the tender scars on her face and neck. Her focus shifted from the storm outside to her reflection in the glass. She wore her hair slicked back into a low bun, to make herself look somewhat more presentable for the cameras that would find her after the trial. She still hated to look at her pale skin and pink scars for too long, so she turned her attention to the courtroom.
