The Lonely Orphan (The Lost Planet 5)

“Stage three?” Lyric asks.

“Madness.” I nod at Theron. “Third stage. Theron can head that stage up as they may need to be restrained.”

I start to walk off, but Lyric stops me. “But how do we prevent from getting sick ourselves?”

Theron bows his nog. “You can’t.”

“What?” Lyric hisses, stepping closer to regard me with a stern look. “What does he mean?”

“Means it’s airborne,” Zoe offers, her voice soft. “Willow and I reviewed the tapes. Stella and Henry never saw any of the other people. No one went into their empty quarters. Henry either brought it into the prison or it came in when the door was left open. Either way, it’s in the ventilation and everyone’s been exposed.”

“No,” Lyric murmurs before screaming. “I didn’t come this far to not see her over the stupid fucking flu!”

I grip her shoulders firmly. “It’s airborne. We’re all exposed.”

“What do we do?” Lyric has never looked so lost before.

“We make contact with Avrell back at the Facility,” I tell her. “It’s imperative we get some information to better handle this disease.”

“Let’s go,” she huffs, waving for Theron to join.

“Wait!” Zoe calls out. “You’re going to willingly go onto their ship alone with the two of them?”

Lyric’s gaze slides to mine and locks there. “We have to trust them. It’s our only hope.”

My heart races inside my chest at her words. I won’t let her down.

Leading the way, I stride down the halls back to where Willow is and peek my nog in. “Keep communication open with the Mayvina. When we can, we’ll try and lock in contact with the Facility too.”

Willow gapes. “With Momma?”

“We’re gonna rekking try,” Theron assures her.

* * *

“J-Just go up in the air and we’ll reach out,” Lyric says absently.

Theron and I exchange a look. The Rades are here and if Theron or I fall sick, communication with the Facility will cease. It’s our lifeline to the ones we love and we can’t lose it. That’s why it’s imperative we fix the transmitters.

As Theron fires up the engines, I grab Lyric’s hand and walk her into the supplies room. Her brows pinch in confusion.

“What are you doing?” she demands, her spine straightening.

The need to touch her soft face is overwhelming. So, I do. I don’t know if either of us will come down with The Rades, so I’m not going to waste any more time overthinking things. Her eyes widen when I cradle her delicate cheeks with my large palms.

“I’m going to give you my truth right now, Lyric. Everything will get a lot worse before it has any hope of getting better.” I rest my forehead to hers. “I will do everything in my power to help. Your people are my people.”

“Hadrian,” she murmurs. “I’m worried.”

Me too.

So rekking worried.

I give her a crooked grin. “Everything will be fine.”

Her palm presses to my chest. “I thought you were giving me truth. Don’t start lying now. I know which smiles are real and which ones aren’t.”

“I’m going to fix the antenna,” I tell her. “We may not get another chance. If Theron or I get sick, we may not have another shot at flying the Mayvina.”

She pulls slightly away. “I’ll go with you.”

“No,” I say gently. “You’ll stay here and assist Theron. I’m going alone.”

“Big Bird could come back,” she says, her voice shrill. “I can’t…”

“Can’t what?”

She looks away.

“Truth, sweet one.”

Her bottom lip slightly trembles. “What if I don’t want to admit my truth?”

“What if you don’t get another chance?”

We have a silent standoff as the ship moves. Theron accelerates quickly and Lyric loses her footing. My arm wraps around her and I pull her to me as I grip onto a shelf, keeping us steady. Her cheek rests against my chest as Theron takes us up the mountain. When we stop moving and it feels as though we’re hovering, I start to pull away.

“Hadrian, wait,” she says, urgency in her tone. “My truth is…I’m afraid to lose you.” Then, she blurts out, “As a friend of course.”

Disappointment surges through me.

That word.

Friend.

Aria says I’m her best friend.

Not mate. Not lover. Not husband.

“Right,” I say, releasing her and stepping away. “Friend.”

I make the mistake of looking at her. Beautiful. She’s so rekking beautiful. Everything in me screams to pull her to me and make her mine.

But she’s Lyric. Aria’s sister.

It’s not right.

It doesn’t feel wrong, though.

My truth is I want to kiss her.

“Please be careful,” she whispers, her words clawing at my heart.

I could kiss her. I could. When I leave this ship, Big Bird could eat me. I could fall down the side of the mountain. I could start feeling feverish and succumb to The Rades. Do I want to go into The Eternals without having this one gift?

The answer is no.

Stalking back over to her, I grip her delicate jaw in my massive hand, tilting her nog back so I can look at her pretty face. Her eyes are dilated and her lips are parted. Inviting. Nervous but welcoming.