Page 59 of Chaos and Crowns

“Well, not this one. This was just a model used for the training of the Apollo 11 crew, but something like this went to the moon,” Odelle clarified. “Go on, inside you go.”

Odelle lamented that they didn’t have time to look at the model Mars rover right next to the capsule. The exhibit even had remote controls to drive it around a sand enclosure, simulating the experience of a rover operator. Then again, Antony would probably try to take the whole thing apart to see how it worked.

Antony ducked inside the capsule, head on a swivel as he tried to take in everything at once. “I thought I stayed relatively up to date on most science, but now that I think about it, Adam hasn’t brought an Astronomy book to the Sanctuary in almost eighty years. It seems like a lot has happened in that short time.”

“I don’t think eighty years is a short time in science these days,” Odelle argued as she ducked in after him. “We will definitely have to get you up to date on the space age.”

Once Antony was inside, he made his way to one of the narrow benches in the pod and sat down, although one leg bounced with nervous energy. Odelle had expected him to want to explore as much as he could while they waited, but it seemed that his concern for the mission was even distracting him from questions about space travel. Odelle frowned.

“Hey there.” Odelle squeezed herself onto the bench next to him, laying a hand on his jostling leg until it stilled. “We’ve got this.”

Antony’s wide hazel eyes met hers for a moment before he sighed. “I know.” He slumped back against the wall. “It’s just…doing a mission outside the Sanctuary brings up old things. Having people fighting to protect me—if they get hurt…”

“You’re here because you can do something important in destroying the crown—something nobody else can do,” Odelle assured him, letting the thumb of the hand on his thigh rub in soothing circles.

Antony put his hand over her fingers.

“And you’ve helped me remember how important my role is, even though I have felt lesser for it for millennia. I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with combat situations though,” Antony admitted.

“And you don’t have to want to fight,” Odelle reassured. “In fact, your appreciation for peace and creation over violence is part of what makes me love you.”

Antony’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at Odelle with wide eyes. She froze. Had something gone wrong with the plan already?

“You love me?” Antony echoed in a whisper.

“Oh.” Odelle hadn’t realized that was the first time those words passed her lips. It seemed so natural, so right, that it hardly even registered as an important step. She had never told any of the revolving door of himbos and jocks that she had loved them, and she expected it to be something she built up to for months—agonized over to get the moment just right. But here she was, admitting her feelings for Antony on accident while huddled in the back of an Apollo 11 space capsule.

“I guess I do,” she murmured.

There was a moment of silence as Odelle waited for Antony’s response, and her stomach turned to ice as he frowned. Perhaps after thousands of years of life, moving to I love you after a few weeks was too jarring. Heck, she would have thought it was too soon if it hadn’t just tumbled out of her mouth, so clearly the truth that she couldn’t deny it.

Odelle opened her mouth to do some damage control, to retract her statement if she could. Antony put a finger to her lips before she could speak. Being shushed in response to a love confession was a new low. Odelle was about to bat his hand away when she heard it. A feminine giggle drifted in from the hallway followed by something Odelle couldn’t make out in a deep timbre that sounded like Drew’s. As the voices came closer, Odelle sent up a silent prayer that Adam and Nora had hidden themselves thoroughly.

“Leading me behind the velvet rope? You are daring.” Amy Biderman’s voice drifted through the rocket exhibit and into the space capsule.

Odelle scarcely dared to breathe, and she could tell from Antony’s preternatural stillness that he felt the same tension.

“I told you, I don’t want to be overheard,” Drew explained, voice steady.

Odelle thanked the stars for Drew’s unshakable calm in times of crisis—if not when it came to flirting—honed by years of emergency medical care.

“Somebody needs to know what’s happening at the hospital,” Drew continued, “but I really want to remain anonymous.”

“That sounds serious.” Despite her words, Biderman sounded more excited at the idea of a story than concerned about what could be so horrible as to warrant an anonymous tip.

Odelle’s gut clenched, and she had to remind herself that Biderman was likely under the Shadow’s influence, prompting her to sensationalize negative stories instead of focusing on revealing the truth.

Next to Odelle, Antony inched to his feet, still crouched in the tight quarters of the capsule but tall enough to peak out a porthole. As the pair of footsteps drew closer, his eyes widened. He turned to Odelle, gesturing to his head and then giving her the thumbs up signal. She was wearing the crown.

Odelle’s heart hammered so hard she was shocked that Drew and Biderman couldn’t hear it from outside the space capsule. Still, she and Antony edged towards the door, Odelle in the lead. Peaking around the edge, she caught sight of Drew and then Biderman’s profile crowned in shimmering bronze laurels. Drew took a few steps around the woman, forcing her to turn her back to the Apollo 11 replica.

“So what is this scandal? I’m sure nobody will be able to hear us here.” Biderman’s tone snapped with growing impatience.

“Well—”

Nobody got a chance to hear what sort of story Drew had concocted. Odelle leaped forward, throwing her arms around Biderman’s neck from behind and jumping onto her back like an oversized monkey in a white gown. Despite Biderman’s smaller stature, the tackle didn’t drag her to the ground. Instead, she screamed in an inhuman voice and thrashed, but Odelle clung tightly, again thankful for every ounce of upper body strength she had built.

With Biderman’s arms pinned, Drew lunged forward and yanked the bronze crown from her head, pulling several chestnut strands with it. He paid no mind to Biderman’s shriek of protest and tossed it like a frisbee over Odelle’s shoulder to where she could sense Antony.