Sanctuary by Emily McCosh

Author:Emily McCosh [McCosh, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-05T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Lalia ends up joining me and Bat, saying she wants a stroll since we’ll walk back from the caves. After a bit of hovering over the nearby hills, I spot the empty caverns.

It’s a tight fit maneuvering the ship between the trees and the side of the hill and into the dark space, but there’s plenty of room. Tight-packed earth and stone hang all around, the soil slightly greenish in hue, or perhaps it’s moss.

Lalia drops from the airlock while I give the ship a look for anything to bring back to the house. Bat follows her out, crawling up the pointed rocks rimming the cavern and drinking from a puddle of water before sticking his tongue out and moving on. I snort. He needs to learn not to lick everything he comes across, but I don’t suppose he ever will. Nothing harms him.

I seal up the ship and take a look around the cool rim of the cavern and the thick of the trees beyond. It’s warmed enough I shed my jacket. Lalia’s seen it all anyway, and I don’t suppose it’ll bother Lex when we return to the house.

“So, what’s going on?” Lalia asks as soon as I drop down the rocks to the moss below.

Birdsong rises. I shoot her a look. Is this why she wanted to come? Taking up Zane’s position of giving heart-to-hearts. I already had one with him last night, I’m in no mood for another.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re grumpy as I’ve ever seen you, so I figure something happened.”

“I’m not grumpy,” I say, then realize how blatant a lie that is. “Nothing happened.”

“Uh-huh.” She sounds exactly like her brother. She bumps into my arm as we walk. I bump her back, hard enough she stumbles.

“Ow,” she says, but laughs.

“How’s your head?”

“Fine. Not much of a headache today, I’m still gonna take it easy.”

I nod, watching Bat scurry through the branches of the trees, happy as could be. It’s good for him to run around, and I feel better about staying. Everyone likes it here, and according to Lex, the danger is minimal as long as we stay out of sight. I’m not worried about our ability to head out of the atmosphere if the local authorities get all uptight.

Lalia stares at me while we walk.

“What?”

“You’re really not gonna tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“Aaron.”

“Lalia.”

She shoves my arm again, which doesn’t do much to move me. “Aaron, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Lalia, mind your own business.”

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“I’ve been living with Zane all my life, I can be really annoying.”

“Yeah, I already got that.”

“Come on.”

She’s making it difficult not to laugh. I don’t know why both of them can cheer me up with such ease, and I want to be annoyed about it, but it’s tough.

“What do you think Yvonne is up to?” I ask.

Lalia blinks, watching her feet as we step over a fallen log. “Nothing particular. Why?”

“She’s acting. . .weird.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I thought she was just being nice after Amerov, but it seems like there’s something more going on than just niceness.

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