Page 144 of Aviatrix

“I’m not allowed to share the specifics of my mission with anyone,” Eli says flatly. After a pause, he adds, “Is that why Quay’s here? For leverage?”

Annoyance flares beneath my ribs.

Lark licks his lips before answering, “Maybe.”

“Really?” I huff, shooting him a look.

I won’t let Lark use me to push his weight around.

“If you want to work together,” Lark says to Eli, “then you have to give me something to prove I can trust you.”

Eli shakes his head. “That’s not how this works. I don’t answer to you, Colonel. My clearance goes above your head.”

“I’m not asking for the optics of your classified mission,” Lark replies coolly. “I’m asking for something of value.”

“So you can hang it over my head later?” Eli smirks.

“We’re all going to share something in this room,” Lark says, “to prove we have the same goal. Even Kinley.”

“I don’t have any secrets,” I snap. A little too quick. “And I’m not playing some manipulative game. Our lives are on the line.”

“If you haven’t noticed,” Lark turns to me and says, “the only people we can trust right now are in this room.”

I laugh, incredulous. “No. I trust my team. I trust Atlas, Fox, and Glitch.”

Lark exhales slowly. “The information I’m about to share might change your mind.”

My heart starts to race. Then it slams. And for a moment, everything else—Lark, Eli, the cold table pressing against my palms—just disappears.

No way. No way Lark is about to make me question the people I trust most. The people I’d die for.

“Well?” Eli narrows his green eyes at Lark, fingers drumming like gunfire on the table. “What information are you sharing, Colonel?”

I shake my head, my pulse rising in my throat. My gut already knows I’m not going to like what comes next.

“A few months ago, Atlas received encrypted intel about a potential alien attack,” Lark begins, his gaze slicing to me.

How does he know that?

Did Gary tell him? Did Thea?

“And,” he continues, “they were also given specs for a classified jet. One that would only respond to female pilots.”

A chill rips through my chest.

He doesn’t even have to say it. I already know where this is going.

“First, they tested it with Glitch,” Lark says. “When it didn’t respond to her, they moved it to the desert base in California. The one you and I were at.”

My mouth falls open.

Eli shoots me a quick look. He sees it, too. The betrayal curling around me like barbed wire.

“Glitch’s arrival?” Lark goes on. “A distraction. While we were greeting her, someone was unloading the aircraft into the hangar.”

That can’t be true. Thea would never… Gary would never betray me. My team would have told me if they were in possession of VAL.

“Are you sure?” I force out. But it’s not even a question. “Do you have proof?”