“What?” Rachel screeched as Kiel protested.
“No. She will stay.”
I was already shaking my head slowly, over and over. No. No. No. I couldn’t stay. I held Maxim’s dark gaze, as he seemed to be the only sane person in the room at the moment. “I can’t stay.”
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “You can’t let her go home, Maxim. God only knows what kind of lies she’ll feed the press. We’ll never get any mates to come here if she has her way.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
My protest was lost on deaf ears as Kiel’s angry voice filled the room. “She must remain on The Colony.”
Maxim’s eyes narrowed as he considered Kiel’s words, but I was still moving my head from side to side, unrelenting. “I have to go back to Earth. I’m not staying.” I glanced back and saw raw fury and open pain in Kiel’s e
