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“Thepropulsion system was damaged and we had a fuel leak last time.”Fiercespoke without looking at her, his eyes fixed on the wormhole growing in the viewscreen. “Luckyfor us, the goat-men did a fucking good job fixing everything.”
“It’salmost two o’clock!”Celiamoaned, her eyes flicking to the chronometer and its blinking red numbers again. “MadredeDios—the wormhole—look at the wormhole!”
Thewormhole was flickering.Itwas blinking back and forth, from its usual brilliant, vibrant colors to the grayed-out look it had when it was destabilized.
“Wecan’t go in there!”Celiamoaned. “We’llget torn to pieces!”
“Look,Itrusted you about the fucking spider web,lelka—now you have to trust me about this,”Fiercegrowled, still looking straight ahead. “It’snot fully destabilized yet—we just have to hit it when it’s bright!”
“But…but…”Celiabegan.ThenHoldtook her hand in his and squeezed it tightly.
“Trust, my lady,” he said earnestly. “Fierceis the best pilotI’veever known.AndIbelieve theGoddesshas her hand on us.Trust!”
Celiaopened her mouth to say shecouldn’ttrust but just then the ship dove nose-first into the blinking, flickering wormhole and was swallowed up completely.
46
CEILA
Theride through the wormhole wasn’t as rough as it had been during their last trip—but it wasn’t smooth sailing either.Thethree of them were thrown around andCeliacould see the muscles onFierce’slong arms bunching up as he fought to keep control of the ship.
Butsooner than she would have believed possible, they were shooting out the other side.Andthen they were whizzing past familiar landmarks—Marsappeared in the side of the viewscreen and was gone almost before she could register it.
“We’rehome!Wemade it!”Holdexclaimed.
“Yeah, we fucking made it.”Fiercegave an audible sigh of relief and loosened his death grip on the steering yoke. “Well,lelka?”Hesaid, looking over atCeliawho was sitting between him andHold. “Whatdo you say to that?”
“IsayIthinkI’mgoing to be sick!”
Fumblingwith her harness,Celiafinally freed herself and rushed to the back of the ship.Shebarely made it into the bathroom—or fresher, as theKindredcalled it—before she was violently ill.
Luckily, she made it to the toilet in time and didn’t make a big mess.Buther stomach felt tender and bloated afterwards as she hung over the bowl, breathing hard.
“MyLady?Areyou all right?”
Celialooked up to seeHoldstanding in the doorway.TheLightTwinwas holding a cup of water and a towel out to her and he had an anxious look on his face.
“I…I’mfine,Ithink.Thankyou.”Celiaclosed the lid and flushed, then accepted the glass of water and the towel gratefully. “Excuseme—I’mjust going to wash out my mouth,” she said toHold.
“I’llwait.”TheLightTwinnodded.WhenCeliafinished and came out of the fresher, he put an arm around her waist. “Areyou well, my lady?”Heasked frowning.Leaningforward he sniffed the side of her neck. “Yourscent smells…offsomehow.”
“IthinkI’mokay—all those ‘evasive maneuvers’ back there just made me sick to my stomach,”Celiasaid.Shepatted her belly, which still felt extremely tender.Whatwas wrong with her?Shewas beginning to feel a little like the way she felt on her period, but it wasn’t time for her period yet—not for another few weeks at least.
“Let’sgo have a seat,”Holdtold her. “I’msure you’ll feel better once we get back to theMotherShip.”
“Ihope you’re right.”Celiamade a face. “I’mreally not feeling like myself at all.”
Theybuckled back in besideFierce, who cast her a sidelong glance.
“Okay,lelka?”
“I’mfine,”Celiatold him. “Ithink your fancy flying back before the wormhole made me sick.”
“Sorryabout that,” he growled. “Butbetter an upset stomach than the three of us digesting in theMotherTree’sstomach—or whatever that big fucking room is where they take her victims.”
“Please, don’t talk about it!”Celiaput a hand to her head.Shewas still sad forSess’elyand her brothers.Ifonly they had gotten to them a few minutes sooner!
Butthen, she wasn’t sure they could have saved the unicorn girl and her kin even if theyhadgotten there sooner.Theyhad been extremely outnumbered—the odds were they would have just wound up right beside them being swallowed alive by the murderous, hungry tree.
