Page 25 of The Otherworld

I frown. “Wait, what? Mine?”

“You are the mortal here.”

I laugh, feeling a blush race up my neck. “Uh, I don’t know. The usual. Laziness. Arrogance. Losing my temper. Flirting too much.”

“What’s flirting?”

That one throws me. I hesitate, not sure how to describe it. “Flirting is… just talking, really. Making jokes and… saying things. When you’re attracted to someone and you want to get to know them better. Just have fun with them, you know?”

She doesn’t know. The only “someone” she’s ever known is her father. Clearly, he’s done a good job of sheltering her.

“So,” I say, changing the topic, “your dad left for the mainland this morning? Does it feel weird to be all alone?”

Orca sighs wearily. “Yeah, it does, actually. I thought I wouldn’t mind it, but it’s so… lonely. I keep thinking he’s up in the lantern room, and then I remember that he’s gone, and it’s such a cold, sad feeling. You know?”

I press my eyes shut. “Yeah. I know.”

“I want this, though. I want the chance to prove to him that I am strong. That I have what it takes to handle the Otherworld.”

“You shouldn’t have to prove it, Orca. Your father should let you come to the mainland if that’s what you want. You’re an adult now—he can’t keep you prisoner.”

“He doesn’t keep me prisoner.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“So you want to stay on Recluse Island for the rest of your life?”

“No, of course not! I want to see the mainland, I told you that. I just…” Orca takes a deep breath and lets it all out again. “I don’t want to hurt Papa. He’s a good person, and he just wants to keep me safe.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a difference between safe and suffocated.”

“I know,” Orca murmurs. “And I think I can make him see that, in time. It’s been such a relief to be able to talk to someone about it. To be able to talk to you, a real person from the Otherworld! Sorry, you must think I’m so odd.”

“Are you kidding? You’re cool. You’re… unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Just because you don’t know what video games and movies are doesn’t make you odd. You probably know more about survival than I do. That’s badass, Orca. I think probably everything about you is badass.”

“What does ‘badass’ mean?”

“You know, like, cool. Strong, confident. Awesome.”

Orca falls silent for a moment. “Are you flirting with me, Jack Stevenson?”

“What? No.”

She bursts out laughing.

“No, I’m not,” I insist.

Damn it.

I want to know what she looks like.

We say goodbye after that so she can get some rest and start looking for Adam again first thing in the morning. For a while I just sit on the ground outside the hangar, watching darkness fall.

Thinking about Orca.

* * *

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