Strong.
Stronger than anything I had ever felt before.
That alone should have been enough to send me running. Back on Earth, I had been… measured. Careful. Detached. Emotions were manageable when they were contained. Categorized. Observed from a safe distance.
Anger.
Frustration.
Attraction.
Those were easy. Those had rules. This, this was everything at once. Heat and fear and curiosity and something deeper, something that settled low in my chest and refused to be ignored. I exhaled shakily.
"I don't even like people," I muttered.
Which was the most ridiculous part. I had never felt this way about anyone. Not even close. There had been attraction, sure. Interest. Theoretical compatibility. A few attempts at relationships that fizzled out the moment they required anything more than polite engagement.
But this?
This wasn't polite. This wasn't careful. This wasn't contained. This was… overwhelming.
I pushed away from the wall, pacing again, slower this time.
"Okay," I whispered under my breath. "Let's approach this logically." That helped. A little. "He says he loves me," I went on, ticking points off on my fingers. "He's also an ancient alien with a completely different understanding of time, connection, and… whatever this is." I hesitated. "…Aelyth."
The word sat there, unfamiliar and entirely too loaded. I still didn't fully believe it. Didn't want to. But—my throat tightened—but I had felt something. When he touched my mind. When I touched his. That pull. That resonance. That…recognition. Like something in me had gone:There you are.
I pressed my lips together. "That doesn't mean anything," I said quickly. "It's… chemistry. Biology. Some kind of neuro-response—" I broke off, huffing a laugh while still trying to ignore the guards who now watched me with open curiosity. "Right. Because that explains the whole ‘seeing into each other's minds across space' thing."
God. I scrubbed a hand over my face. "I'm losing it."
But the thought wouldn't go away. That feeling. That certainty. I let myself sit with it for a moment. Just a moment. The answer came, quiet and undeniable. I felt something for him. Not just attraction. Not just curiosity. More. A lot more. It terrified me.
A little.
"Do I love him?" I whispered.
The question hung in the air. Too big. Too fast. Too soon. A week. Whatever it was. It wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough. I closed my eyes.
"Maybe…" I murmured.
Then, pushing myself, I straightened my shoulders. "Enough."
I took a deep breath and returned to the Superior Commander's office. Two pairs of eyes watched me with interest when I entered.
Resolutely, I turned to Ashley first. "Okay. What the hell happened on Cronack?"
Her expression sobered immediately. "Cronack used to be a Cryon playground. Genetic manipulation. Hybridization. Environmental stress testing."
My stomach tightened. "On who?"
"On anything they could get their hands on," she replied. "Native fauna. Imported species. Prisoners. To the Cryons, they were all disposable lab rats." Her jaw set. "Some of the experiments were… unfinished when we arrived."
I swallowed. "So when Dravok says something's still there?—"
"I believe him," Ashley nodded without hesitation. "The Cryons were meticulous. And cruel. They never abandoned a project unless it turned on them."
I thought of what Dravokhadn'tsaid. Of anomalies. Of things that didn't belong, like Oracles. Whatever the reason for his silence, I honored his wishes of not disclosing the true nature of his visit to Cronack.
