From my shoulder, Luna chirruped in greeting, then leapt to Havil’s shoulder. All of the Valoffs had started wearing shoulder guards for her. And while Valovian expressions were often hard to read, Havil’s face softened when Luna chose him.

It hadn’t escaped my notice that all of the Valoffs had been slipping her extra treats. By the time this job was done, Luna would be three times her weight and spoiled rotten.

I’d worked on my mental shield in the hours while sleep had eluded me. From the way Havil frowned at me, I didn’t think it was working. My whole body felt bruised. Heading into enemy territory at anything less than 100 percent wasn’t smart, but I hadn’t been thinking clearly.

Torran glanced up from his place at the communications terminal. He nodded at me, his expression perfectly flat. I’d made a mistake in asking for his help, but I didn’t regret the decision. I would do whatever I could to keep my crew safe.

I dipped my head at him. I could pretend that everything was fine as well as anyone else.

“Lotkez will go through the wormhole first,” Torran said. “They are already in the pattern and will ensure you won’t be stopped on the other side.”

It was the whole reason his ship had trailed us rather than returning at the faster speed they were capable of, but it still set my teeth on edge. I didn’t know what awaited us on the other side of the wormhole, but another Valovian ship probably wouldn’t make much difference.

I nodded my acknowledgment as I settled into the captain’s terminal and checked on Starlight’s system. I confirmed the course and the wormhole anchor added us to the holding pattern. There were a dozen ships in front of us, including Lotkez.

One by one they disappeared, and the tension in the room ramped up.

Luna had abandoned Havil’s shoulder for his arms, and he buried a hand in her soft fur, stroking her gently.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked, glancing around. She looked at me. “Are we about to fly into a trap?” While Lexi could be as subtle as a sylph when she needed to—and could lie better than anyone I’d ever met—her default state was one of pure blunt intensity. And so far, she hadn’t adopted a persona for the Valoffs. Either she didn’t have a solid read on them or her last job had been even worse than she’d said. My money was on the latter.

I lifted one shoulder in answer to her question. I didn’t know why the Valoffs hated the wormholes, and I wasn’t confident that we weren’t flying into a trap. Truly, I was a stellar captain.

“You can’t feel it?” Chira asked, her voice pitched low.

“Feel what?” Lexi asked.