But the rest of the sentence was a blur of static. Whatever his friend had been saying was lost—not that it mattered. Even if Saber had been declaring his intention to go back and rule the Touch Kindred Clans with Lissa at his side, Reddix would still have continued with his mission. There was no way in all the Seven Hells the Clans would take him back with Lissa as his bride, and if Saber thought any differently, he was deluding himself.
“What happened?” Nina demanded. “Did you shut him off?”
“Did you see me touch the comlink?” Reddix growled. “The wormhole interferes with reception. And we were getting out of range anyway.”
“Wormhole?” Nina’s eyes grew wide. “Isn’t that like a black hole? Where the gravity is so strong it tears everything to pieces? Please tell me you’re not taking us in one of those.”
“It’s not exactly like a black hole,” Reddix said, frowning. “It’s a portal—a gateway to another part of the universe. Don’t worry, as long as I keep the ship steady, we’ll be fine.”
“Is…is that it?” Nina’s voice was soft with fear. On the viewscreen, the wormhole had appeared—a tunnel of blue light wavering in space that twisted away an unimaginable distance. As they approached, it grew huge, taking up the entire screen.
“That’s it,” Reddix said shortly.
As he spoke, he began to feel the pull of the wormhole on the ship. To his dismay, the steering yoke became instantly harder to move. Reddix struggled with it, the muscles in his arms bulging. Damn it, why hadn’t he thought of this? He’d been too caught up in worrying about how frightened Nina was of him to think clearly. If he wasn’t careful, he’d kill them both.
The ship began to rock as it was sucked closer and closer to the wormhole.
“What’s happening?” Nina sounded panicked. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. We’re fine,” Reddix grated. “Just be quiet and let me concentrate.”
She sat white faced and silent as he guided them in. The big muscles of his arms ached with the effort of holding the ship steady as they passed into the twisting blue vortex of light.
Then the wormhole grabbed them and yanked them through.
Chapter Ten
Nina was too frightened to even scream as the little ship dived into the swirling blue maw of the wormhole. Despite the man who had abducted her saying they would be fine, she didn’t believe him. She could see his arms bunching, the muscles under his skin twisting like pythons as he fought to keep the ship on track. There was a fierce concentration in his hooded silver eyes, and his face was twisted into a sneer of effort.
I’m going to die now, she thought numbly as the brilliant blue light swallowed them whole and the ship began to rock and shake. This is how it ends. Being kidnapped by an alien lunatic I’ve only seen in my dreams and torn apart in space by a freaking cosmic phenomenon. It was so bizarre it would have been funny if she hadn’t been too afraid to laugh.
The ship began shaking even harder, and it felt like something had hit its side. Nina didn’t hear any metallic clangs like she had when the bullets hit, but it jerked hard and then started to wobble all over the place. Her stomach lurched up in her throat, and for a moment, she was sure she would throw up. I’ve never liked rollercoasters, she thought inanely. Not even the Scooby Doo coaster at Lawrey Park.
The man who had taken her was swearing steadily under his breath—sometimes in English and sometimes in some other, guttural language that sounded alien and strange. Nina wanted to ask him what was going on, but she didn’t dare distract him from his task. He looked like he needed all his concentration to keep them from flying right into the wormhole’s walls.
You should distract him, a sour little voice in her head whispered. It would be better to die out here—quicker, cleaner—than to go through whatever it is he probably has planned for you.
The voice was almost certainly right, but Nina remained silent. Honestly at this minute, she was afraid if she opened her mouth she was going to puke. So she kept her teeth clamped together and her lips shut, struggling with herself, hoping she didn’t have to spend her last few minutes of life throwing up.
Then, as suddenly as they had entered it, they shot out of the wormhole…and straight at the side of a large purple planet.
“Shit!” her abductor growled and then repeated the sentiment in his harsh alien language.
“What’s happening?” Nina’s voice sounded curiously calm and detached in her own ears. “Why are we headed straight for that purple world?”