I nodded. “Yes.”
“Why did you apply for this position? What was the real reason?”
The words came out before I could stop them. “Because I needed to be free.”
Andrek’s hands stilled. “That is an answer I can work with.” He stood, his wings brushing the shuttle ceiling. “Come. Let me show you your quarters. If you choose to stay, and only if you choose, you can meet Pip.”
He left the shuttle, and after a moment, I followed, my legs steady despite my reservations about my situation. The air on the landing pad was warm and dry, smelling of stone and floral from the gardens.
Andrek looked back at me, waiting. Despite everything, he remained patient.
“I’m going to be terrible at this,” I said, surprised by my own honesty. “I have no idea how to care for a baby. I’ve never even held one for longer than a few minutes.”
“I figured as much,” Andrek said. “But you came anyway. That suggests either courage or foolishness, and to be frank,I will accept either at this point.” He gestured toward the entrance. “Your quarters are in the east wing. You have a private bathroom, workspace, and access to the gardens as well as the common areas. I will show you Pip’s routines, feeding schedule, and sleep requirements should you choose to stay.”
“And if I fail? If I leave like the others?”
He sighed. “Then I will have to try again. And Pip will learn once more that people leave her.”
Somewhere in that beautiful house was a baby who’d been abandoned multiple times over; a baby whose caretaker stood before me at the end of his options, reduced to hiring a liar who could barely take care of herself.
I thought about running. Instead, I picked up my bag from where he’d set it down and walked toward the entrance.
“Show me,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “Show me everything I need to know.”
Andrek’s tail swished once, and he inclined his head. “Follow me.”
The doors slid open, revealing cool darkness and the faint sound of something crying in a high-pitched, plaintive, whine.
I stepped inside and let the doors close behind me, sealing myself in with the unknown.
There was no going back now.
Chapter 3
Andrek
Imadeaterriblemistake.
As I watched Danielle Slater stand frozen in my foyer, her face drained of color and her body rigid with stress, I couldn’t help thinking I had made a terrible mistake. Pip’s cries echoed through the house, and my newest hire looked like she might pass out.
“That’s Pip?” she asked, her voice thin.
“Yes.” I moved past her toward the nursery, keeping my movements slow and deliberate. I’d learned over the past month with my rotating door of nannies to be conscious of every gesture, every shift of wing or tail. Most species found Torzi intimidating at the best of times. In close quarters with a terrified human, I needed to be careful. “This is the nose she makes after five minutes of crying. At ten minutes, she will begin screaming. At fifteen, she will make herself sick.”
“That’s specific.”
“I learned her patterns.” I glanced back. Danielle hadn’t moved. “Are you coming?”
She swallowed hard, adjusted her grip on her bag, and followed. I heard her rapid, fluttering heartbeat. My secondary instincts registered it and dismissed it. I was a male who was at his wits end and needed help.
I spent almost a month getting the nursery at the end of the east wing right, calibrating temperature controls to Yxian preferences, the humidity levels as they would be on Yxia. I researched and wove a sleeping nest from materials that wouldn’t irritate her sensitive skin. During the day, when the first nanny still worked for me, I painted her room in soft blues and greens, both colors research said promoted a calm environment. Despite my best attempts, Pip had not calmed.
In theory, it was a perfect nursery for a Yxian infant. Despite its perfection, it had not stopped three experienced nannies from quitting.
I opened the door, and Pip’s cries intensified. The flustered teenager I hired to watch Pip while I picked up Danielle sat in a corner of the room, her hands over her ears.
“You may go. I will send the credits for watching the child to your account.”
