“I’m serious.” Anya leaned forward slightly. “I know you think I don’t notice things, but I do. I saw how he looked when he held Mikoz. Like it mattered. Like the baby mattered.”
“Of course Mikoz matters?—”
“Not to the people who took us.” Anya’s voice hardened. “They looked at us like we were cargo. Products to be sold. But Selik… he looked at Mikoz like he was a person. Someone worth protecting.”
Her throat tightened. She’d seen the same thing, the way Selik had cradled Mikoz with such careful tenderness. The way his entire demeanor had softened when the infant had grabbed his finger. The fierce protectiveness that had flashed across his face when she’d mentioned finding a home for the baby.
“He also looks at you like that,” Anya added quietly. “Like you matter.”
“Anya—”
“I’m not saying you should marry him or anything.” The girl’s face scrunched up in disgust. “That would be weird. He’s an alien. But maybe… maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing if we stayed a little longer. Just to make sure Mikoz is okay. To make sure Selik is really who he seems to be.”
Hope bloomed in her chest, dangerous and bright. “You’d be willing to stay?”
“For now. To watch out for Mikoz.” Anya’s expression turned stubborn. “Someone has to make sure he gets a good home. And you promised his mom you’d take care of him. We can’t just dump him with the first alien who offers and hope for the best.”
“No. We can’t.”
“So we stay a little longer. Learn more about this place, about Selik, about what options we actually have.” Anya shrugged. “And if it turns out he’s secretly evil or planning to sell us or whatever, then we find another way. But if he’s actually a good guy…”
“Then maybe we have a chance at something better than what we left behind.”
“Maybe.”
She wanted to grab Anya and hug her tight, but she knew the girl would bristle at such open affection. Instead, she reached out and squeezed her hand quickly before letting go.
“It’s a big risk,” she warned.
“Everything’s a risk.” Anya gestured around the room. “Going back to Earth is a risk. Staying here is a risk. Trusting Selik is a risk. But at least if we stay, we’re together. All three of us.”
All four of us,she thought but didn’t say. Because Selik felt like part of this strange little family already, even if she had no right to claim him.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “We’ll stay for now. To make sure Mikoz has a good home.”
“And to see if Selik is as honorable as he seems.”
“And to figure out what we actually want instead of just reacting to what other people think we should want.”
Anya nodded, looking simultaneously relieved and terrified. “So we’re really doing this? Just… staying on an alien ship with a guy we met yesterday?”
“Apparently.”
“Dad would have a heart attack.”
“Your father had a heart attack every time I suggested ordering takeout instead of cooking.” She stood and stretched, her back protesting the movement. “I think he’d understand that desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“He’d say you were being naive again.”
“Probably. But we have to make the best decisions we can with the information we have.” She bent over to check on Mikoz, who was still sleeping peacefully. “And right now, the information we have suggests that Selik is our best chance at keeping all three of us safe.”
“Or our biggest mistake.”
“Also possible.”
Anya joined her, both of them looking down at the sleeping infant.
“He’s pretty cute,” the girl admitted grudgingly. “For a lizard baby.”
