“You slept in,” she smugly replied. “I really tired you out. Who needs a workout when you’ve got doin’ it on a cliff, huh?”
Sloane’s arm tightened around her middle. “I don’t sleep in.”
“You did today, Mr. I-Sleep-In-Two-Hour-Shifts.”
Helmet lifting off the pillow, she imagined he gave her a baffled look. “What time is it?” he asked again.
“Four PM,” she answered. “You should probably go eat somethi?—”
Cecilia yelped when Sloane rocketed into an upright position. She sat up on her elbows to watch him throw his legs over the side of the bed. Even through his undershirt, she could make out every defined muscle of his back bunched with tension when he reached for his folded pants.
“Sloane?” Concerned by the urgency in his movements, she laid a hand on his spine. “Baby? What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t mean to sleep so late,” he rasped, sounding more distressed than she’d heard before. “I’ve lost a whole day.”
Really sitting up now, she crawled to his side of the bed to peer at his helmeted profile. “Lost a whole day to do what? I didn’t realize we had a schedule.”
Sloane’s breathing seemed faster than normal. Placing his palms flat on his knees, he didn’t say anything.
In the short time she’d been able to see his face, Cecilia had gotten used to just how expressive his eyes were. Not being able to see them now when he was clearly upset about something made her hate the damn thing even more.
“Hey,” she murmured, covering his right hand with both of hers. “You can talk to me, champ. Whatever it is, we can work it out. If you’re upset about yesterday, that’s okay. It’s overwhelming to lose your virginity.”
Sloane’s head whipped toward her. “I’mnotupset about yesterday. It was the best day of my life.”
A warm rush ran through her from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. One thing she loved about Sloane? The man didn’t know how to play coy. He just said the earnest thing a normal person would’ve rather died than admit.
Giving his hand a squeeze, she asked, “Then what’s wrong?”
He let out what sounded like a trembling breath. That, above anything else, alarmed her. “Sloane?”
“We need to leave,” he quietly informed her. “Now.”
Cecilia stared at his inscrutable profile with confusion. “Like… go out?”
“No. We can’t stay in the Battery. We need to pack everything and leave.”
“And go where?” she pressed, too baffled to really process the flat seriousness of his tone. “Back to my apartment? Because I know you probably don’t mind the blood and guts, but I don’t think I can sleep there again.”
Sloane turned to her. Shoulders tense, he grated, “No. We have to leave the Elvish Protectorate.”
Her lips parted. “Wha… What are you talking about? Why?”
In an instant, her heart leapt into her throat. Her hands tightened on his, clinging hard enough to hurt someone with thinner skin than her elf. Whispering like they might be overheard, she asked, “Is it because you killed Duke?”
His hand flexed in hers. The tension rippled up his forearm until it ran like a wave through his biceps and shoulders. “No. It’s because I…”
She waited for him to continue. Her heart beat a little faster with every second that ticked by. The gods knew it wasn’t the first time a boyfriend had asked her to run away with him when the heat turned up, but she’d never actually considered it before. And she’d certainly never dated anyone who she knew for afactkilled people. It was always just sorta… implied.
But Sloane had. He’d killed three men right in front of her.
Normal people, even Patrol officers, shouldn’t have been able to just get away with murder. It made sense that something might’ve gone wrong, that he’d been caught somehow. Maybe the bodies turned up somewhere or any number of terrifying prospects that end with Sloane being punished.
Cecilia’s whole body tensed.The thought of him being put away for murder is scarier to me than the thought of him murdering. I really am sunk.
In a quieter voice, he told her, “My leave is up, Cece.”
She blinked. That didn’t sound so bad. “Okay… Then you should go to work. That’s not a big deal. I need to start looking for a part time job anyway while I wait for my teaching application to go through. If you’re worried about me being safe, I can just stay here while you’re on duty. No biggie.”
