Page 51 of Choosing Jenny
Omen shushed her, while the Vulavi began to stir.
I looked back to see what the trouble was. Over his head, I saw Sam standing back at the mouth of the cave with a hand cannon aimed at the metal pulley system. My heart slammed in my chest and I nearly shouted at her but was scared to wake the Vulavi.
Her voice cracked through the darkness, brittle with guilt. “I hate that it has to be this way, but Justice is holding my family hostage. I’m so fucking sorry,” she whispered.
Then, she shot the pulley and the boulder door slammed shut. The next thing I heard was the snarl of a thousand Vulavi waking up.
CHAPTER 16
Jenny
“They should be back by now,” I grumbled at my supper. I had no appetite, so I wasn’t sure why I was pretending like I could eat.
Sarah nodded, then glanced across the table. “Abyss, have you heard anything from Omen?”
Abyss, who had accompanied us to try to help Credo, was second-in-command of the silverguard, under Omen. She was the most striking of the conduits that I had met, though that might have been because I wasn’t used to bald women.
I’d seen some in Ladrille—apparently baldness was as normal as having hair, no matter the gender—but it was still something I wasn’t used to. Otherwise, she had a soft appearance and a sweet face. Older than the other conduits, her age made her seem wise, even when she didn’t know anything useful.
“Not a word,” she replied, her tone laced with concern. “Omen is better at communication than this.”
“So is Tiger,” Jac added. “I’ve tried his gauntlet driver a dozen times in the past hour. Nothing. But there could be a dozen reasons why he hasn’t responded. Sometimes, these kinds of missions take longer than you expect them to.”
Sarah’s eyes sharpened on him. “The last time things took longer than I had expected, Jenny ended up running an obstacle course to the death and had to slaughter men to stay alive. So forgive me if I don’t find that comforting.”
“Fair point,” he conceded.
My foot would not stop tapping beneath the table. “And I don’t like that Longshot and Mal aren’t back either.”
“Longshot replied to my message not ten minutes ago,” Discord said, soothing my worry for them. “They are fine—still in Sorellamore. They were having a drink, but I told them of our missing friends, so they are on their way back now.”
“I don’t like this.” Deacon exhaled hard. “They could’ve been captured. Justice might be interrogating them right now.”
Of course, that’s what he’s worried about.
Jac stood from the dining table. “I know where Gram lives. I’m going to find them.”
I was already rising to my feet. “I’m coming with you.” I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.
He gave me a nod. “I am happy for the company.”
Sarah’s brow furrowed. “Be careful. And I want coordinate reports every hour.”
Jac smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Yes, my queen.”
“I’ll take care of him,” I said, trying to reassure her.
Her eyes met mine. “When I saidbe careful, I was talking toyou,” she teased.
I rolled my eyes and followed Jac to his ship,Sovereign. The interior had been tweaked and much improved since lastI’d seen it—blue and untattered, clean, and all the light panels seemed to work now. I sat in the passenger seat in the cockpit as he took off.
Once we were on course, he glanced at me. “I know you’re worried, but Tiger is tougher than you think.”
“His toughness is not in question.” I crossed my arms. “I’ve heard about some of the things that can happen on Halla. He told me about Kapok and the drecks and the jem’hora…it’s a bit of a nightmare here.”
He didn’t deny my claim. “Parts of it are, but there are beautiful places, too. With any luck, he’s somewhere safe and just out of range. Atmo interference could easily mess with his signal. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Thank you for trying to calm me down,” I said, smiling at him. “You’re a good liar.”
