Page 22 of Crush

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His big shoulders—all of them—lifted and fell on a soundless sigh.

Ollie cocked his head. “It doesn’t really speak English or orc. It’s more like…feelings.”

“That’s why I’m not getting anything,” Teq muttered.

Adeline nibbled at her lip thoughtfully. “The IDA handbook on orcs said your antennae are very sensitive. Maybe you just need to fine-tune a little.”

He stilled—and that stillness made her pulse skip. “Perhaps. For now, hopefully Ollie can translate.” He glanced down. “Oliver, can you ask it what it wants?”

Ollie shook his head, nodded, and shrugged all the same time. “It just doesn’t want to be alone anymore. It wants to be with us.”

“There will be many more beings at the Luster,” Teq said. “It would be very much not alone there.”

Since he only muttered it, Adeline decided she didn’t need to respond. And she wasn’t even going to mention Mag’s comment about chopping it up “Ollie, the rock said it was sad about the cold and dark. Does it need more light and heat?” She tried to project the feeling of warmth and illumination, gesturing at the lights—as if a rock had eyes and could see her—then wrapping one arm around Ollie and the other around Teq, giving them a little squeeze as if that would demonstrate.

Ollie put his arm around her, and after another moment, Teq did the same, making them an awkward octopus of not-aloneness.

“Light and heat, yes,” Ollie said. “And maybe a little water?”

“Rocks need to drink,” Teq said in a disbelieving voice.

“It wants to shine for us,” Ollie explained.

While they’d been talking to the rock, Sil and a few more orcs had arrived, and Oliver went through the whole explanation again. When he was done, Adeline said firmly, “That’s enough for now.”

To her surprise, Oliver didn’t object. “Roxy is tired too.”

“Roxy?”

“That’s going to be its name,” Ollie said.

“Rocks have names,” Teq said with another sigh. “And feelings.”

Oliver tilted his head, in what she was coming to think of as a very orcish gesture. “Everyone has feelings. And when Mom said our names, it wanted a name too.”

“What else is it going to want from us?” Mag asked in a low, ominous voice.

She hadn’t wanted much, Adeline reflected as she led Oliver away, leaving the orcs to their found and lost fortune. When she left Earth, she’d wanted only to be far away. But who—besides Oliver apparently—could say what a wandering space rock would want?

It wasn’t until they left the processing bay that she realized Teq was a half step behind her. He could be very unobtrusive when he wanted to, for all his size and width.

“This is even stranger than taking aliens as wife-mates,” he murmured.

Considering she’d jumped with both feet at the idea of alien dating once she’d discovered the IDA, despite having not even known aliens existed, Adeline found herself unreasonably miffed at his assessment. Just becausehedidn’t want an alien wife-mate… “It seems to me that the universe is a very strange place,” she said tartly, “with plenty of room for the unexpected.”

He paced beside her in silence back to their quarters. When Ollie wandered into the living room, pulling out the datpad, Adeline blocked the doorway, keeping Teq on the outside.

She partly closed the door, letting her keep half an eye on Ollie while she glared at Teq. “You knew something was out there, calling to him. And you let him follow it.” Her stomach and jaw were cranked so tight she thought she might break. “You used my son. And I told myself no one would ever have the chance to do that again. I should take him and leave, right now.”

After a tense moment, Teq took a step back, dipping his head. “I didn’t know the rock was calling. I thought that, were I in his presence, I would hear what he heard and could stop it. I promised that you and he would be safe, but I’ve failed you.”

Her body felt as hard as his hide, his words bouncing off her cold skin. She was just supposed to be okay, as if nothing had happened?

But… Nothing badhadactually happened. Yes, Oliver had slipped away from them, but she’d been there too. And Kinsley had been the one who unlocked the bay, apparently; although it should have been better secured. And really, it was just a pet space rock… But her son could’ve been hurt, or worse.

The universe was strange and beautiful—and dangerous. How could she do the right thing—how could she evenknowwhat the right thing was?—when everything was so new and confusing? How far did she think she could run from her fears?

You don’t have to be scared. It’s gonna be an adventure. Those had been Ollie’s last words before he ran onto theDeepWander.