A pause ensued, Darren seeming to contemplate what his reply should be. Waiting to hear it was nerve-wrecking for somereason. While he did though, Aiden quickly realized he wanted Darren to want his help, and it was the possibility that Darrenwouldn’tthat was making his stomach fill with nerves.
“Sure. I could use some help,”Darren said, his words unleashing a wave of relief which scattered Aiden’s nerves.
“I’ll be down shortly.”
Aiden took the elevator to the cargo hold and found Darren by the open door watching two bulky men wheel up a foam-packed tubular object. Taking the stairs off the ramp that surrounded the space on three sides, he approached as Darren handed a wad of cash to the merchants and thanked them.
With the utility dolly gone, the two of them had to carefully maneuver the bracket to the spot Bea had readied for it. They secured it in place so it wouldn’t knock against the other bits and pieces strapped to the metal racks.
When they were satisfied with their work and the cargo doors were shut, Darren tapped his earpiece. “Bea, you can get us airborne. We’ve secured the bracket.” A pause, followed by a charming smile. “Yes, with me. He helped me.”
As they headed up the ramp toward the elevator, the gentle hum of the ship’s engine came to life and reached Aiden’s ears. With the slight clank of the docking clamps retracting, the ship trembled and lifted off, causing his insides to rush to his stomach as they always did whenever vertical acceleration occurred. He kind of liked that part—granted it was only when he wasn’t suffering from an anxiety episode—but it lasted only a few seconds as the Maine reached cruising speed.
The elevator doors opened, but Darren paused, not boarding it. He turned around and walked over to the ramp’s railing, propped his forearms on top of it, and gazed at the cargo and vehicle area below. Taking that as a cue to join him, Aiden did the same. Rather than the organized clutter of the cargo hold, his eyes settled on Darren’s profile.
“I spoke to Nyle earlier, while you were with Rick,” Darren said, his jaw tensing.
Aiden couldn’t tell if it was because Darren could feel him staring. “Did he find Liu’s people? Or did he figure out which vault has Sara’s ring?”
Darren smiled, turning so they could look at each other. “Both, kind of. He tracked one of the online footprints to a research facility near the Gripwich Mining Complex. We are already on our way. If Liu’s people are really there, we need to get to them before Marcus does.” He paused and the silence was heavy with his unspoken worry. “As for the vault, Nyle has narrowed it down to five possible facilities here on Mars, but he’s still working out which one.”
Aiden’s heart sped up. They hadn’t even made it back to the hideout from their last task and they already had their next mission: to talk to Liu’s people and figure out if they were really willing to stand with Darren. And then, they were going to retrieve the second signet ring.
“How are you planning to play this?”
Darren fingered the cuff of his shirt. “We’ll go together to Gripwich. And the vault… I’ll go myself.”
Aiden studied his calm expression. If not for the hint of tension in the set of his shoulders, it would’ve been convincing. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Darren pulled on the button, frowning at it. “I’m the only one Marcus won’t kill on sight if things go south since he needs my biosignature to access the Legacy inside the ring.” His indigo gaze met Aiden’s, intense and shivers-inducing.
Aiden licked his lips and watched Darren’s eyes dip lower to follow the movement of his tongue. “So you plan to go alone?”
“Yes. At least that’s what I should do, but…” Darren swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His face lost that calmness and the tension from his posture spread to hishandsome features. “I was hoping you would… come along,” he said in a shaky voice full of vulnerability. Then he let his attention wander back to the metal racks below as if he couldn’t really handle the eye contact after showing that hidden side of him.
Aiden was mesmerized. Captivated. He didn’t bother facing forward and just kept staring at Darren’s profile, mapping every angle and curve of his face without much conscious effort. Second to Darren, he and Rick were the ones with the most experience in combat, but Rick was too new to this to even be considered for a mission like the vault. Bea, Nyle and Kristen, on the other hand, were more or less out of the question as their skillsets were better utilized from the safety of the hideout or the Maine. Letting Darren go alonedidmake sense, but it brought with it its own set of problems, like the fact that dealing with certain types of security measures required more than a single pair of hands. In the event of an injury, being on his own also significantly reduced his chances of making it out without being caught.
Still, itwasan option and likely the one Darren had already picked, despite the danger it entailed. Asking Aiden, and probablyonlyAiden, to go with him could only mean one thing then. Darren didn’t just trust Aiden to be able to handle himself and make the odds of the mission’s success greater; hewantedAiden to be the one that had his back.
Aiden swallowed as the thrill of the realization lit him on fire.Darren wanted to be the one Aiden would willingly choose to have his back, too.He wanted another show of Aiden’s trust, he was desperate for it, because he too had felt that change on Earth and couldn’t come back from it.
An electrifying hum spread across Aiden’s skin. He had to refuse. He had to turn Darren down and shut this thing down before it had consumed him, transformed him into a man whowas even worse than the one who’d killed to protect himself. Because unlike Darren, Aiden’s fall would be his own doing and not something he could justify as the result of an unfair, cruel world.
Heart pounding, Aiden inhaled deeply, steeling his resolve so he could shatter Darren’s hope. Darren’s eyes seemed to understand what was about to happen before the words had left Aiden’s mouth, losing the spark burning in them. It hurt to see it go, making Aiden yearn to see it again, and that need overwhelmed every bit of logic he possessed.
“I’ll go with you,” he said, his chest feeling too tight and his breaths coming in too quickly.
Darren’s eyes went wide, his expression transforming from resigned acceptance to shock and then breathtaking relief. He tried to hide it, to recuperate control of himself, but he couldn’t. Whatever emotion he was trying to restrain was too strong perhaps, forcing that enthralling nakedness to the surface for Aiden to see. There was beauty in it, in the fact that it was a side only Aiden had seen, and it made that squeezing feeling in his chest intensify and ripple and echo and overtake the entirety of his being.
“Aiden, it’s… fine to refuse. You don’t have to come with me,” Darren mumbled, so evidently at a loss. “I can go alone.”
Aiden had the out if he wanted it. He could take back the words he’d spurted out when the part of him that was supposed to rein in his impulsiveness had failed to deliver. But he couldn’t do that, his heart aching just thinking of Darren going alone to a place which belonged to Marcus.
“I’ll go with you,” Aiden repeated, not breaking eye contact.
The fear, the relief, the shock on Darren’s face, they gave way to something dark and deep and hungry, yet another secret side of Darren that perhaps was not so secret after all, because Aiden’s tantalizing response to it was immediate. It paralyzedhim in sweet craving and he dared not move even as Darren reached out and brushed the curve of his jaw with cold knuckles. The caress was light and over way too quickly, yet it stirred Aiden up with a zing of electricity just beneath his skin that didn’t dissipate even as Darren retracted his hand.
In charged silence, they boarded the elevator and walked to the mess hall together, Aiden so he could wolf down that burger he’d gotten for himself and Darren so he could… do the same by the looks of the still untouched takeout bag. Rick and Bea gave it pointed looks too, but neither of them commented.
