“I’m good. Worry about your killer, and I’ll worry about mine.” Damn right I will.
Taking off down the alleyways in between the standard apartment complexes, Darlia runs ahead of me, her long brown hair blowing behind her.
It’s nothing like at the beach. There she was happy, excited. Right now Darlia is acting like she’s still in The Academy, like she’s still being hunted.
A guard truck sounds from somewhere behind us. Acting on instinct, I grab Darlia’s waist and pull us both into a doorway, covering her mouth with my hand.
“Shhh.” Whispering in her ear, I remove my hand from Darlia’s mouth, still holding her against me and place a gentle kiss to her neck, trying to calm her racing heart.
“How far?” Her voice shakes. She’s scared.
“Three blocks, baby. You’ve got this.”
Waiting for the truck to pass, we leave the doorway before running again. I know the boys would’ve hidden as well, but I don’t know where.
My priority was Darlia.
I lead her two more blocks before we spot a patrol. I scan the area to find somewhere to hide, but there’s nothing. No doorway, no dumpster, nothing.
“Cayden…”
Let me think baby, I’ll protect you. Taking Darlia’s hand, I pull her into the apartment complex beside us. They’ll see us, but they’ll see my clothes, too. As long as I can hide Darlia’s face, all they’ll see is an elite somewhere he shouldn’t be.
So I kiss her.
I kiss her deeply, my lips moving against hers like it’s a dance. And then I do something I’ve never done to her before: I part her lips with my tongue and taste her mouth.
Darlia moves her tongue with mine. It’s obvious she doesn’t know what to do, but I only find it more adorable. My beautiful girl, so innocent.
I press my knee between her legs, and she whimpers. At the same time, the guard patrol spots us and walks inside. “Put your head on my shoulder.”
Darlia doesn’t argue, and I turn to the guards, putting on the cocky attitude everyone knows me for. “Is there a problem?”
“The girl, why isn’t she at her station?”
“She decided to take a vacation.”
That makes two out of five guards chuckle, and honestly the other three are just stuck up. That was a good joke, great even.
“Why are you in Zone Two?” one of the guards asks, clearly on a power trip.
“Vacation.”
“Papers?”
“You know the elites don’t have papers.” I’m starting to get pissed off, but if any of them see Darlia’s face, I know we’re screwed, so I play along.
“Maybe your Commander would like to know you’re harassing an elite instead of doing your job. I’m still above you, I could have your job or your life with a single phone call. So I would ask yourself how important this citizen is, or if you’re willing to let me have my fun and move on.”
I hate myself for saying that, but it works. The guard uniform covers everything but their eyes, and I see the fear flash in them. Bingo.
“Apologies for the interruption, sir. Please make sure she’s back at her station tomorrow.”
“Get out of my face,” I growl, and thank the gods he turns to walk away before one of his buddies sees the knife strapped to Darlia’s thigh, and immediately raises his gun.
“She’s armed!”
Panic mode sets in, but making sure to keep my face blank, I respond, “It’s mine, she’s just keeping the straps warm for me like a good pet. It will return back to the elite sector with me later.”
