Page 151 of Sky’s Edge

The panic took total hold, fear edging it like the cut of a razor.

And I got my ass moving.

Fast.

I was pacing the jet in high-heeled boots.

“Do you want me to comm him?” Nayden, sitting and watching me pace, as he had done since we attained sound speed half an hour ago, offered.

“No,” I replied curtly. “If he had time to talk to us, he would. Let him do what he has to do. We’ll learn more when we arrive.”

“Do you want a drink?” he asked.

“No,” I repeated, again curtly. “I want a straight head when I get to him.”

Straight head.

That was a joke.

All I could think of was Zyra. Manny. Those lovely, cozy rooms. The lynx.

Zyra.

Manny.

And how Tanyn would feel if anything happened to them.

I shivered and pulled the coat I was still wearing closer around me, even if the cabin was warm.

“They have defense systems set up on Sigil,” Nayden said calmly. “It was one of the first things Tanyn did when he took the throne.”

“I saw them. The bots. I know about the Grenadiers.”

“There’s more. A forcefield over the citadel. Anti-aircraft guns hidden under the snow.”

This was good.

I didn’t care.

Red covered my vision when I whirled on him and snapped, “That fucking bitch! What? Controlling his father and beating his mother to death wasn’t enough? She has to go after everything he loves? What is wrong with her?”

“I don’t know, Catla,” Nayden replied, still in that calm voice. “I’ll never know. You won’t either. Because you aren’t a vicious cunt.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly a compliment, but coming from Nayden, I’d take it.

I threw myself in a seat, crossed my legs, but my foot was still bouncing.

“I have to get a lock on this,” I declared. “I have to be together when we get to him.”

“You’re welcome to shout at me some more,” he offered.

“No, I’ll just sit here and visualize wringing her neck for the next half an hour.”

“That works too.”

“If anything happens to them…” I let that trail.

Nayden had no response.