“Yeah. That’s weird, right?” I ask Brodin.
“I mean, it’s weird that it lights up when you touch it,” Steele replies.
“It just recognizes her DNA. Her fingerprints.” Brodin wraps his hand around mine. “Please, put it away.”
I squint at him, wondering what all the secrets are about. But I pack it away. “So...in theory, if a Solcrue saw me with it and knew my name, what would that suggest?”
Brodin grows eerily still. “When did this happen?”
“There were Solcrue on the ship trying to steal what was left of the emergency power,” I admit. “I tackled one of them and the chip fell out of my pouch. He called Command and told them I was alive just before Evo shot him.”
He swears a long string of curse words.
“You know why Solcrue know my name,” I state.
Poppy jumps us again. We rock in our seats. The ship calms and the blue light fades.
Still, Brodin doesn’t speak.
He glances at Evo. The moment we slow, he unbuckles and crawls out of his seat, flashes Daken a glance, then motions me up. “Come with me, Steele, you too. Hurry.”
Chapter 9: Aera
I get up and follow Brodin, wondering what’s got him so up in arms. Steele stays right behind me. Eon looks back as we move through the row to the aisle.
Evo is at my side in seconds. “Where are you going?”
Brodin leads us into the residential quarters, toward his and Isa’s room. Poppy calls out another countdown with a warning for extra turbulence.
Evo grabs all three of us, pushes us against the wall, then plants his hands on the metal. His body becomes a rigid arch, securing us in place. I’m squished in the middle, looking up at him, held in place by his armored body. The metal sheen of the walls of our ship consumes his face in a watery ripple.
Centurionjerks and sways violently. She isn’t used to this kind of space travel, and I find myself praying she holds together. To either side of me, Steele and Brodin swear as the ship rises and drops abruptly. I don’t feel it like I should, not with the rapid pace of my heart and the heat of Evo’s chest and thighs against mine.
Evo keeps his head turned away from me, even though he’s close enough I can catch the scent of rifle igniter dust on his skin. Instinct makes me grab onto him as the rough ride through space continues.
“Apologies,” Poppy calls over the ship-wide coms. “We dropped into an unexpected asteroid field. We will be clear in just a moment.”
Another abrupt jolt makes me cling harder to Evo’s body and curse. He feels stable despite the frenzied movements of theship. I focus on breathing through the shuddering motions of the walls, the floor beneath my boots, and my heart.
Evo’s attention jerks back to me. His heated breath descends over my face. My grasp on reality is shaken up in my pounding head. Through it all, he’s the one thing I can clearly sense.
When the ship smoothes out again, he closes his eyes and releases his hands from the walls. While Brodin and Steele head for the room, Evo steadies me by my armored shoulders and gives me a close inspection. He says so much without words.Are you alright? Was that too much? I’m concerned.
After a couple of deep breaths, my vision steadies, and the pressure in my head eases. “I’m okay.”
“Aera,” Brodin calls to me, then throws Evo a glance.
I let go of Evo. We follow them to the doorway.
“Of course he can do that,” Steele mutters, rubbing a hand over his shirt, repositioning it. “Talk about making a man feel insecure. Just shove a Titan in with Omega Force. He can make all of us feel inadequate in one protective move.”
“Steele. He is a man inside,” I whisper back. “Evo and every other soldier went through a lot of agony to become the guardians they are.” I playfully swat Steele in the side. “So shut up. Stop comparing dick sizes.”
He groans. “You’re only making it worse.”
I slap a hand to my forehead and laugh. “Stars, you’re ridiculous.”
Evo watches me enter the room with unusual focus.
