Page 183 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos
“Sienna.” I take hold of her elbow, turning her to face me. There it is… the sorrow in her eyes… They’re red. She’s not even bothered about keeping her glamour spell up.
“Hmm?” she asks softly.
“What you saw, is it about this trip?” I ask quietly.
She shakes her head. “No.”
I cup her face. “Alright, then when you’re ready, we’ll talk about it, ok?”
“Ok.” She wraps her arms around me, holding onto me tightly. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tightly back. She’s never held me like this. Every alarm bell in my head is telling me something is wrong. “Do you want to talk about it? We can hold off for a bit, this mission can-”
Jayce, hurry up,Theo says through the mind-link.
Coming.
She looks at me before shaking her head. “We should go.”
Without another word, she turns and leads the way out. I follow, unable to shake off the concern I’m feeling for her, remembering what Shahira had said earlier…
“Can I have a word?” I turn to see Shahira walk towards me. I had seen her last night without her hijab. I wouldn’t have thought she’d be one with coloured hair. Interesting to know. I shake the random thought away.
“Sure, what is it?”
She looks down, and I can sense her worry and conflict. “It’s about Sienna. When she woke up, there was a thin cut across her neck. It faded quickly, but I thought you should know.” She touches the side of her neck.
“Thanks,” I say, frowning. She’s about to turn away when I stop her. “One moment.”
She turns. “Yes?”
“How could she get hurt in a dream?”
She shakes her head. “That’s the thing. Dream walking, or dreams, you don’t get hurt. Maybe she hurt it on something when she woke up. I don’t know, but it was strange, so I told you.”
“No, that’s good you did. Thank you. If you do have any theories on what may have happened, let me know.”
“I will.”
What happened that she can’t talk about it?
Three hours later,we’re on the jet. We met up with Ahren, Dad, and Dante and boarded together.
“This is going to be a long flight,” Artemis murmurs.
“Best to get rest while you can,” Dad says, giving her a smile.
“Yeah, I can sleep anywhere.”
“Good,” Dad replies. He looks over at me, observing me for a moment. The seats are single, and Sienna is sitting in front of Ahren. She’s been distracted and quiet this entire time. Ahren has thrown a few suspicious glances my way, as if it’s my fault.
Dante is up front flying the jet, although it’s mainly on autopilot. Dad is sitting in the co-pilot seat.
Carter is already asleep, or at least his eyes are shut. Brock is reading a book, and Theo – he’s the only one who is enjoying himself – throwing around paper airplanes from the seat furthest at the back.
He breaks into laughter as an airplane lands in Artemis’s hair. “Theo.” Brock gives him a sceptical look as Artemis glowers, yanking the airplane from her hair.
“Theo, behave.”
“Having fun is a crime, it seems,” Theo says, tossing another airplane, this one heads straight towards Sienna. I narrow my eyes, channelling just a tiny bit of power, forcing the airplane out of the air.
