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Before I even had a chance to hug him back, to do anything that might extend the moment with him, he let me go.

“Get in your ship, Jaya! Lala, look after her!”

Then he wrenched open the door and took off at a run.

I followed him, pausing only for a second to stomp my feet into my boots. The door swung ominously on its hinges as I hurried through it. Lala was hunkering down against my palm, like she was trying to burrow right into it. Hastily, I put her into my pocket where she might feel more secure.

Then, I looked up.

I’d been to a lot of worlds. Seen a lot of things.

But I’d never seen a sky this colour before. Grey-tinged green, with clouds that roiled so thick and fast it was like looking into a toxic cauldron. The temperature suddenly shifted, dropping degrees so fast that goosebumps broke out along my arms. The hairs on my neck rose.

The ship. I was supposed to go to my ship…

But my gaze was seeking out Oaken instead. I found him already great distance away, at the shuldu stalls. Three of the shuldu raced away, released from their enclosure. A fourth, a female the colour of tea leaves named Fiora, he mounted, taking off like thunder towards the bracku pasture gates.

Beyond him, the sky started to pour out of itself. A spout of pure darkness spiralled downwards.

Funnel cloud.

But this was rapidly becoming more than a fucking funnel cloud. The whole world seemed whipped into a frenzy, like the very air around me was trying to shove the forming tornado back up.

But it couldn’t.

I shouted Oaken’s name, but heard no sound.

TheLavariyawas there. Right fucking there. I could still make it.

I could still run.

But Oaken washere.

And I knew what my choice would be.

My home was the most important thing to me.

But my home wasn’t a ship anymore.

My home was a person.

And that person was Oaken.

I started sprinting…

Not for theLavariya.

But for Nali’s enclosure.

When I got there, I found her huddled and terrified against one of the boulders Oaken had brought in for her.

“I’ve got you!” I screamed. But if the words ever left my mouth, they never reached my ears.

The storm swallowed them.

For a horrible second, I thought she might try to bolt. Her blue eyes rolled with panic. But once I wrenched open the gate, she came right to me. I collapsed to my knees, allowing myself one tiny second to sag with relief as I gathered her up into my arms.

The sturdy fencing around her enclosure trembled, the planks looking wobbly as loose baby teeth. It was a testament to how strong the wind had gotten, because that fencing was very well-made.