His chest rose, fell, a sound low in his throat—half laugh, half sigh. “Like what?”
“Human.”
He shifted, his hand sliding up to cradle the back of my head. “I’ve never been less human than I am with you.”
The words hit something deep, dangerous, in me. I tipped my face up, meeting his gaze in the thin strip of moonlight. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” His thumb brushed along my jaw, gentle, steady. “It’s the truth.”
I swallowed hard, afraid of the way my chest ached, the way I wanted to believe him. “Because I can’t afford to lose this. Not when I just found it.”
His brow furrowed, eyes dark and certain. “You won’t lose me.”
I wanted to press him for promises, for details he couldn’t give. Instead, I tucked myself against him again, fingers curling into his shirt like I could hold him there by sheer will.
He pressed a kiss to my hairline, slow and unhurried, and whispered, “Sleep. I’ve got you.”
And for the first time in as long as I could remember, I closed my eyes without fear clawing at the edges.
For the first time, I let myself rest.
40
Beckett
The desert never stayed quiet for long.
Dawn bled slow and pale through the crack in the cave roof, turning shadows to gold. Elara was still pressed against me, her breath warm against my chest, her hand tangled in my shirt like she’d anchored herself there even in sleep. For one dangerous heartbeat, I let myself believe it would last.
Then I heard it—
Engines. Low. Crawling closer.
My body went rigid. In an instant, the tenderness vanished, replaced by the soldier in me that never truly slept.
“Elara.” My voice was low but sharp.
Her eyes snapped open, instincts razor-honed. She saw my face, then the tension in my grip, and she didn’t ask. She reached for her knife without a word.
The engines grew louder, more than one. Gravel shifted under heavy tires, the sound echoing across the ravine. Hydra.
They’d found us.
I snatched up my rifle, moving to the mouth of the cave, careful to stay hidden in shadow. A spotlight swept wide across the ravine floor, skimming closer, too damn close.
“They’re sweeping the gullies,” I muttered. “They’ll be on us in minutes.”
Elara slid beside me, eyes narrowed, braid falling loose over her shoulder. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t falter. Just looked at me with that same fire I’d seen in the convoy, in the desert, in her kiss.
“What’s the plan?” she whispered.
“Run,” I said. “And if we can’t…” I chambered a round, metal clacking sharp in the dawn. “…we fight.”
Her fingers brushed mine, quick and sure, grounding me for half a second before she turned back to the light cutting over the rocks.
“Together,” she said.
The engines roared closer, voices barking orders. Dust rose with the sunrise, choking the air.
