Relief floods through her, relaxing her body and earning me a sweet smile. “Thank you. I won’t forget this, even after we part ways.”
Her comment has my stomach twisting in a violent way. I leave her to rub the paste on Henry while I investigate the yellow vegetation growing on the cave wall. It smells sweet like—
“Lemons,” Stella says, her voice echoing in the cavern. “I knew the smell when we arrived, but I couldn’t place it.”
“Lemons?”
“Right. I almost forgot we’re on an alien planet.” She sighs and cautiously approaches, holding Henry’s hand. “Back on Earth II, we had fruit there called lemons. They were small and yellow. Tart. If you squeezed them, you could add a little sweetener and have lemonade.”
I run my palm over the spongey yellow leaves. Nothing puffs out or smears over my skin. My nose doesn’t tickle and my hand doesn’t itch. I have a gut feeling it’s edible. I’m eager to get it back to my lab and take a closer look at it.
“Back at my lab, I grow something called goldenroot. I use it to make a candy the human females enjoy.” I pluck out a patch of the spongey leaves, careful to grab the roots too. “They tell me it smells like butterscotch. Are you familiar?”
When I turn my nog to look at her, she’s watching me with curiosity. It’s much better than the fierce expression. At least now, it feels as though she isn’t torn between wanting to run from me or stab me in the gut with a magknife.
“Yes,” she murmurs. “On Earth II, I ate them if they were available, though candy was hard to come by where I lived.”
“I would offer you some, but your son already claimed the ones I’d brought.”
She frowns and studies me for a beat, but then Henry wiggles, stealing her attention.
“Mama,” Henry mumbles. “I sweepy.”
Alarm flashes in her blue eyes, but I calm her with a reassuring smile.
“The candy doesn’t make you sleepy,” I assure her. “The histaberramine, though, is medicinal and has relaxing effects. He’ll probably sleep for a bit. Would you like for me to hold him?”
She shakes her nog hard. “N-No. I can do it.”
“Gawen,” Henry whines.
I want to remind her I won’t hurt him, but every time I tell her, she doesn’t believe me anyway. I’m surprised when she lets out a resigned huff and gives me a clipped nod.
Scooping up the small mortling, I rest his little nog on the top of my shoulder and keep him secure in my arm. Within seconds, he finds sleep. So as not to frighten Stella, I continue with our conversation as I collect more of the plant, stuffing them into a pouch at my waist.
“Was candy rare on Earth II?” I ask, glancing at her.
“For the poor, yes. Which I was.”
Her brows furl as though she’s deep in thought. I wait patiently for her to let her noisy thoughts escape the confines of her nog.
“Honestly, food in general was hard to come by.” She gnaws on her bottom lip. “I never want to deny Henry a thing. I want him to have everything I didn’t.”
“The Facility is teeming with stores of food,” I tell her softly. “And if you allow me to, I’ll make sure you never go hungry.”
Her expression softens, which makes my chest swell with pride.
“If this specimen is safe, I can attempt to replicate your lemonade.” I smile at her. “Plants are great sources of nutrition. They can be healing too. Our doctor, Avrell, relies on me to aid in the creation of medicine and supplements.” We slowly walk along the wall to where a bush of pink flowers is blooming. When she reaches forward to touch it, I gently take her wrist and guide her away. “Careful. That’s kimberlily. It’s toxic and shoots out a paralytic if you touch its petals.”
“Oh,” she gasps. “I won’t touch anything.”
I chuckle. “Just ask me first. Most of what we’ve encountered is safe and something I’ve already seen aside from the lemonade leaves.”
“Lemonade leaves?” An adorable tinkling laugh escapes her.
“Can you think of something else we should call them?”
“What if they taste like shit instead of lemons?” Her blond brow arches up.
Because some of the females have unusual ways of describing things like mating and excreting fecal matter, I know what shit is.
“If it tastes like shit, then we’ll put it in Hadrian’s dinner and see if he notices.” I wink at her. “Though Lyric seems the type to rip my nog off for upsetting her mate.”
She stops, frowning. “Hadrian is one of the monst—er, one of you?”
“A mort, yes. He’s the youngest male mort of our faction. Our commander sent him and Theron on a mission to Exilium to retrieve Willow. Her mother, Molly, has been searching for her.”
Henry whimpers in his sleep. It feels natural to pat his back to soothe him. Stella’s sharp gaze tracks my movements, but she must deem the action acceptable because she doesn’t tell me to hand him back to her.