Page 87 of Keeping Sarah

His eyes remained on Jenny, but he held out his arm to Ode as he said, “Cut my hand moving boxes in cargo.”

Ode sighed and started to work on cleaning and bandaging his wound, but still, he didn’t look away from Jenny. His tail told on him, wagging happily and thumping against the exam table. Jenny giggled when she noticed it and kept watching Tiger.

Elizabeth didn’t miss the flirtation between them and nudged her sister. “Stop that.”

Jenny’s cheeks flushed. “Just being friendly, Liz.”

Elizabeth glared at her sister. “Don’t call me Liz.”

Once Tiger’s hand was patched, he walked out of the infirmary with his eyes on Jenny, still. Then, he walked smack into a wall in the hallway. Jenny giggled again and leaned out the door, still watching him as he headed back to work.

Not sure what to make of all that, I frowned at Ode, but the doctor didn’t seem as concerned as I was and gave me a pointed look. “I think we’re almost home, so maybe you should focus on what you’re going to tell Sarah when you get there, instead of concerning yourself with other people’s business.”

Feeling duly chastised, I nodded once and left the infirmary for the café, so I could see where we were. In the early morning light, Father’s and Sarah’s cottages were in sight, butSovereignwas missing. Anxiety took hold.

They should be back by now.I tried to assuage my sudden fears with logic and failed.

As we landed, I was anxious to get off the ship and speak with Father, but knew I needed to be gentle with the sisters to ease them into this new world of ours. I also could not let them see me panic. Hysterical humans would not be useful.

I returned to the infirmary and said, “We are here, butSovereignis not. Ode, can you—"

“Take care of everyone while you find out what’s up?” she asked, already knowing what was going through my mind. “I’ve got this. You go and do what you need to do.”

“Thank you.” I launched out the door and found my father in his cottage. “Have you any word?”

“No, and I do not understand why not,” father said, pacing in his small living room area. “Jac’s match was a flawless victory against a skentha. He was supposed to meet with Sarah afterwards, right?”

I nodded, feeling completely unsettled. “Meet with her, drug her, bring her back here with Omen. That was the plan.”

“Do you think Rex has something to do with the delay?” father asked.

I let out a growl of frustration. “It is either him orSovereignis having tech issues, but since Treg is a genius engineer and looked everything over before they left, I do believe it is the former.” Anger rose in my throat along with bile. “I must go to Faithless.”

Father frowned at me. “I thought you were banned from that awful city.”

“That is immaterial.” I didn’t care about Rex’s sanction against me, not when it came to Jac and Sarah and bringing them safely back home. “I must go.”

The Hollinger sisters walked in behind Ode at the front door.

I turned to them and smiled, trying to seem calm so they would not become panic-stricken with what I needed to tell them. “Jenny, Elizabeth, this is my father, Valor Ladrang, and yes, he is a living ghost. This is his home. Sarah’s cottage is next door. I must away to retrieve her and the others in Faithless. It appears that something has gone awry. You will wait here, and I will be back—"

“What do you mean?” Elizabeth interrupted me, a surprisingly fierce look in her eyes.

“They…Sarah and the others. They should have been back by now,” my father said.

“I knowthat,” Elizabeth said impatiently.

Father and I frowned, thoroughly confused. “I do not understand your question, then.”

“Let me clear it up for you.” She braced her hands on her hips. “What do you mean, that we will wait here? Because there is no way I have come this far, learned your weird language, and tried to accept that all of this is Sarah’s life, only to sit on the sidelines while you hop to the next city to go save her.”

Jenny stood next to her sister in solidarity and nodded. “What she means is, we’re coming with you.”

“Absolutelynot,” I responded immediately. “Rex is a dangerous man who runs a perilous city. You could get hurt—"

“Which means Sarah could already be hurt,” Elizabeth said, closing the distance between us and reaching up to poke me in the chest with her finger. “And if you think we are staying here to wait and worry and pray that she’s okay, then you are out of your damned mind.”

“Yes, what she said.” Jenny’s chin lifted a stubborn notch, reminding me so much of Sarah. “So you will take us with you, or we will tell Sarah you were mean to us.”

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