“We had time to wait for Scorpia,” he says, before I can cut him off.

Scorpia’s eyes meet mine before skittering off again.

“You knew I was close,” she says. “Can’t we have this conversation back at the ship?” But even she sounds hesitant, as though part of her doubts what she’s saying.

“Right. We have no idea where Momma is.” My voice comes out harsher than I expected. Once, I was good at dealing with moods like these from my younger siblings. Now, I’m used to having my orders followed. My team would never question me like this in a moment of crisis.

“You’re the last one who saw her,” Lyre speaks up, twisting a curl around one finger. “What did she say?”

“She said she’d be back in the morning, but clearly that isn’t the case. We can wait for her on Fortuna.”

“I’m fine waiting right here,” Drom says, planting her feet and leaning back in a casual stance. Pol stays tense, his eyes tracking my every moment, like he expects me to throw a punch.

“We’re not going anywhere without Momma,” he says.

“You idiots,” Lyre says, but puts a hand over her mouth—likely afraid anything she says will only set the twins off, as it so often has in the past.

My jaw tightens. This is ridiculous. Wasting any further time could get us all killed. So it looks like I’m going to have to handle this the way I handled insubordination in my team early on, such as when Sverre thought he could challenge me. I stride straight up to Pol, ignoring that I have to look up to meet his eyes, and lean close.

“Listen to me,” I say, my voice firm. “We do not have time for this shit. We’re going to the ship. Now.”

The little brother I knew before would have crumpled at my tone alone—but that was when he was sixteen years old and quite a bit smaller. Now, he smiles at my words, tilting his head in an exaggerated motion that emphasizes the height difference between us.

“Oh yeah? Are you going to make me?”

“If I have to.” I hope it doesn’t come to that. But if it does, I’m not afraid of Pol. He’s always been more bark than bite. Then again, maybe Pol isn’t the one I need to be afraid of. Drom’s circled behind me while I wasn’t paying attention to her.

“Just try it,” she says, and shoves me forward, sending me stumbling into Pol. His lip curls as he shoves me back again. I dig in my heels and manage to regain my footing.

“Back off,” I snarl at them, hands clenching at my sides. “I don’t want to hurt you.”