Page 137 of Promises in the Dark

I lowered my weapon, but not my guard. “And you couldn’t fucking radio in? We almost shot your ass.”

“Didn’t have time,” he said, nodding toward the trunk. “Figured you’d appreciate the fuel more.”

My team relaxed slightly, but the tension wasn’t completely gone.

“Alright, let’s—" I started, but then I heard another door slam.

I swiveled my head, the muscles in my neck protesting like I’d slept on a bed of railroad spikes, and almost had a fucking stroke.

“What the hell isshedoing here?!” I barked at Pyro, who looked like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

The idiot opened his mouth to answer, but Red cut him off with a look that could freeze lava.

“I can speak for myself,” she said calmly, stepping further into what we had claimed as our territory.

Her confidence was infuriating; it was as if she hadn’t just walked into a potential deathtrap without so much as a by-your-leave or backup plan.

“I heard Pyro talking with Viper about the problems you were having, so I came to offer medical assistance to the people in the village.”

“You what?!” I snapped, barely believing my ears. “I told you to stay at the base.”

Red crossed her arms, glaring at me like I was the idiot. “AndItold you, I go where I’m needed. These people need help, Rogue.”

I stared at her, my mind racing with a thousand curses and a dozen different ways this could go sideways. “You’re risking your life, and for what? To prove a point?!”

We’d moved off to the side, but the team could still hear. She stood there, not even fazed by my rage—if anything, shewas feeding off it and I couldn’t tell which one made me more furious.

“I’m here to help,” she repeated, stepping closer, almost toe-to-toe with me. “If you can’t see that, then maybeyou’rethe one who shouldn’t be in charge.”

That hit a nerve.

I moved closer, my shadow falling over her. I was close enough to see the flecks of gold in her green eyes, to feel the heat of her breath. My hand, trembling with how hard I was keeping my temper in check, grabbed her chin, guiding her gaze to meet mine.

“You being here is a distraction. It’s a liability. And I don’t have time to babysit you.”

She recoiled as if I had physically struck her, but her expression hardened almost immediately. “Then stop thinking of me as a distraction!”

Her skin was soft under my rough fingers, and I felt a pulse of something beyond anger.

“You’re gonna get yourself killed, Red. You’re not a soldier.”

“And you’re not my keeper,” she hissed, her finger jabbing the air between us for emphasis. “Why can’t you understand that?”

As my thumb brushed her bottom lip, she let out a soft gasp, her lips parting, and suddenly everything went to hell.Fuck, her being this close was scrambling my head.

“Because every second I spend worrying about you is a second I’m not focused on the mission,” I scoffed, releasing her chin but not stepping back. “I can’t do my job if I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering if you’re about to get your pretty little head shot off.”

She reached up, rubbing her chin where my fingers had been. “I’m not some damsel in distress, Rogue,” she insisted, hervoice rising like she was about to start throwing punches. “I can take care of myself.”

She was doing a real number on my head. It made me sick to my stomach how much control she had over me without even trying. She didn’t have to lift a finger; just being within a ten-foot radius is enough for her to start fucking with my mind again. She was the sweetest poison, and I was the fool coming back for more, knowing full well it was gonna kill me.

And the worst part was that I craved the chaos she brought.

“You’re gonna be the death of me. You know that?” I heard myself say, the words wrenched from some deep, fearful part of me.

She crossed her arms, staring me down. “I’m trying to save lives. Including yours, if you’d let me. So maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass for once, you’d see that.”

We were practically nose to nose, the world around us fading into a blur of background noise. It was just us, and the electric charge that always buzzed when we were at each other’s throats.

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