“It doesn’t look like any tail I’ve seen,” he scoffs, which is pretty cute. I guess animals in this star system have a different kind of tail. Or maybe no tails at all. “It looks like aleash. It makes me want to keep you as apet.”
“Would that be so bad?” I tease, whipping it around some more.
“Yes.” He glares at me. “Pets are pathetic.Powerless.”
I want to laugh, thinking of the lengths most people go to for their pets. Most pet owners are more like servants. But the look he’s giving me is so focused and heated, like he wants to grab my hair and yank me around, I get hot and flustered instead. I loop my finger into the rubber band and slide it off so my hair falls around my shoulders, just to dilute the intensity of the moment.
It works. His eyes slip away, and he grunts, “Better.”
“You’re my new stylist,” I joke, striking a pose in my goat PJs. Rose has offered me her clothes, but she doesn’t have many, and we’re very different shapes and sizes, so I’m wearing my abduction outfit until it falls off of me. I have one of her wrap jackets for when it gets chilly.
Lyro ignores me in favor of swishing his cloak around his shoulders and pulling up the hood, his skin settling back into midnight-black camouflage against the dark material. He grudgingly accepts the portion of tooth-cleaning gum I offer him and chews it like it personally offended him.
He looks like he needs coffee, or the Irran equivalent. I know Oljin hoards a stash of the herb called nomo that he makes into tea. Maybe he’ll share with his nephew.
“I need to stop by the lab to feed Elvis before we have firstmeal,” I tell him apologetically.
He narrows his eyes. “Who is Elvis?”
Rather than answer, I decide to show him, tipping Elvis’s shell so he slides out onto my palm. Before I can react and pull back, Lyro smacks my hand, knocking Elvis to the floor. Then he slams his foot down on top of him.
It feels like he stomped on me. I drop to my knees, breath knocked out of me, and tug on his ankle so he’ll lift his foot, my eyes stinging tears I’m trying to hold back.Please, let him be okay.
“Get off,” I beg, my voice cracking.
Finally, Lyro gets the message and steps back, revealing Elvis’s flattened form. A second later, I see one silvery leg twitch, then another, and it jumpstarts my heart again. Elvis pops up and runs to me, climbing up my knee before I have the presence of mind to cup him in my hands and return him to his shell is the tears have been holding back tumble down.
My fear and sadness turns to anger now that I know he’s okay. “Why did you do that?!” I say, turning on Lyro. I wipe away the escaped tears with the back of my hand. I cup my hand against my chest, covering the shell. “That was an asshole move. Elvis is my pet.”
“Now you know why being a pet is bad idea.” His voice is emotionless, and his skin stays camouflaged against his cloak, but he can’t hide the way his mouth twists briefly in a smirk. “I was doing you a favor, anyway. Saving you a chore.”
He’s lying. He was trying to upset me, and it worked. I’ve met people like Lyro before. They’re good at homing in on whatyou love the most, and then they use it to manipulate you. I’m usually better at spotting them.
“Let’s go eat.” I think maybe I won’t ask Oljin for his special tea today.
Harl is working in his lab when we stop by. He smiles when he sees me, but as soon as he notices Lyro with me, his friendly expression falls. “Irran,” he says, holding up his hand in a formal greeting. Lyro doesn’t press his palm, so Harl drops it again.
“This is Lyro,” I say about the asshole who’s pretending to be interested in the lab’s comm panel.
“I know who he is. Who his father is.”
My chest squeezes. This must be so hard for the Frathiks, hosting Lyro. It makes me want to apologize, even though it’s not my fault that my sister sent him to rescue me or that the goddess decided we’re fated mates.
I lift my necklace over my head and hold it out. “I was hoping you could hang out with Elvis today while I work. Your nectar formula is brilliant, by the way. He’s so much better already.”
That coaxes a smile out of him. He takes the shell, cradling it carefully as he nods his agreement. “I will care for him like my own hatchling,” he promises, and I know he’s telling the truth. He’ll keep him safe, and that is huge a load off my mind, especially after seeing Elvis get stomped on. I don’t really want Lyro around him right now.
I know he’s just a bug, but he means a lot more to me. I’m not stupid. I know he’s not the same as a child. But part of me feels that he is, and I appreciate that Harl understands that. He understands me.
“Thank you, you’re the best.” I stand on tiptoes to peck Harl’s cheek. When I turn to go, Lyro is glowering at me. Not that it’s anything new. Maybe his face is just like that. “What?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing. Hungry for firstmeal.”
Harl makes a noise of disgust, like Lyro is being a whiner, but I know he’s not. He’s probably starving since he didn’t eat yesterday. Hopefully he’ll be in a better mood once he gets some calories in him.
“Come on, then,” I tell him.
I show him where the provisions closet is. Maybe Harl was right, because he makes a face at the protein bars and dry kwasa cake and doesn’t take any for himself. “I have better on my ship,” he grumbles. “I will eat when we get to the hangar.”
