Nikos closed his eyes and shook his head. “No. I can’t ask you guys to throw your lives and careers away,” he said.
Angel snorted. “Dude, have you forgotten we are all trust-fund babies? It isn’t like we’ll starve if they kick us out.”
“Yeah, but we did this so we wouldn’t end up in jail,” Cole scoffed.
Nikos breathed out a deep sigh. He didn’t know what he would do, but he wasn’t going to give up. He turned when a chorus of excited voices and the distinct sounds of military transport trucks pulling up just inside the gates filled his ears. Dust swirled in their wake.
His mind was churning with ideas when the side door of the truck in front opened and a soldier slid out. His heart sped up when a familiar figure stepped down.
Nikos’s breath caught, and his knees nearly buckled.
“Holy shit!” Angel breathed, his eyes widening.
Cole and Lucas both choked back a laugh. Nikos took a step forward. He swallowed, wondering if he was losing his mind.
Markos.
Lean. Tattered. Alive!
His brother’s face was gaunt, his eyes shadowed, but it was unmistakably him.
Markos scanned the crowd but hadn’t seen him yet. When their eyes met, something shattered and rebuilt inside Nikos.
Markos murmured something to the driver, then started walking.
Nikos moved forward, slowly at first, then faster.
When they met, it wasn’t with words.
Arms clashed, fists clenched fabric; two brothers hanging onto the miracle that had been handed to them.
“Damn but it’s good to see you,” Nikos whispered.
“You, too, bro. You too.” Markos gave a broken laugh, resting his forehead against Nikos’s.
Nikos released a strained chuckle as he pulled away to study his twin.
“We almost had you. We were there, moving in. What the fuck happened?” he demanded.
Markos drew in a shuddering breath. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I’m done, Nikos. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here.”
Nikos gripped his brother’s forearms and studied his drawn face. Something had happened. There was a haunted look in his brother’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. Whatever Markos had gone through, whatever he had seen, had changed him.
“This is our last tour, bro. No more,” he promised.
Markos nodded and squeezed his arms before turning away to greet Angel, Cole, and Lucas, his voice subdued.
Nikos watched his brother. Markos was leaner, but whatstruck him was that when they saw him four days ago, he had been beaten, shot, and looked near death.
He’dfeltMarkos’s pain like it was wired into his own bones.
His gaze moved over his brother’s wrists. There wasn’t a mark on them.
“You good?” Angel asked, slinging an arm around Nikos’s shoulders.
“Yeah,” Nikos muttered, staring at his twin and suddenly feeling like he was looking at a stranger.
Cosmos stepped through the entrance to the Command Center. The CO of the base, Colonel Allen Cambridge, scowled at him. Cosmos shoved his hands into the front pockets of his fatigues and nodded to several enlisted men who looked at him with curiosity and awe.
