Page 114 of Ronan

“Yourun, Cameron.” We glare at each other before he gives a frustrated growl, throwing his hands up in the air.

“If you die, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“Go!” I hiss, and he shakes his head and snarls as he grabs my neck and slams our mouths together.

“I love you, asshole.” And with that, he runs off, disappearing from sight. Crouched and ready, I positionmyself in the shadows between two houses. A black SUV appears a couple of minutes later, but it parks out of my view, forcing me to wait and assess the situation.

“You’re sure this is the place?” A blonde human man steps into view, around Cameron’s height but much broader, and I’m careful to remain unseen as I inch closer. “It looks like there are signs of life—”

His entire body stiffens, and he falters to a stop as my blade presses against his throat. “Who sent you?” I growl in his ear as his hands fly up in the air, showing me he’s unarmed.

Idiot.

“N-n-nobody sent us…” he stutters, and I laugh, my sword digging deeper.

“Try again.”

“Ronan!” Shock has me unblinking, my grip reflexively tightening on my sword as a very familiar blue face stares back at me from the other side of the vehicle. “Fuck’s sake, man, put that shit down.” When I only stare, Elas bares his teeth at me with a fierce protectiveness I’ve never seen from him. He rushes around the SUV, barreling closer like a charging bull. “Now.”

“Elas?” My hold on the human loosens as I gawk, mouth hanging open.

“Is that a question? Is old age affecting you so much that you’re having a hard time remembering your oldest friend’s name?”

A snort interrupts him as Cameron walks out and places a gentle hand on my arm, pushing it aside and glaring at me until I sheath my weapon. The human darts away, tucking himself closer to Elas. “It’s so refreshing to hearsomeone else give him a hard time,” Cameron says to Elas, whose scowl flips to a grin. “Really sets the mood.”

“I told you to hide.” Cam just rolls his eyes at my growling, turning to the human and flashing him a giant smile.

“August! I’m so happy to see you outside of that place!”

The blonde man rushes forward, arms outstretched, as my lip pulls up in a snarl. “I will put this blade right back to your neck, human, if you so much as touch what is mine.”

“Here we go again,” Cameron says with a long-suffering sigh as August freezes, arms still suspended mid-air. “Drama queen.”

“Some things never change,” Elas agrees, and I bare my teeth at him, but he only chuckles. I finally concede with a heavy sigh.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask the onlytrue friend I've ever had, and unexpected emotions come to surface from his presence when I was convinced I’d never see him again. Warm fondness grows in my stomach as I realize how much I’d missed him, but I can’t let him see it or I’ll never hear the end of it. “And more importantly, how did you find us so I can make sure it never happens again?”

“That would be my fault,” a third voice says, and I raise my sword as I spin. “For fuck’s sake, man, how many times are we going to do this!?” Reyes stands halfway out of the backseat, warily watching my weapon.

“To be fair, you stabbed him last time,” Cameron says, and I snort as I lift my chin, nodding my agreement. “But it is a valid question… how did…” His finger swings between the three of them. “…thishappen? It’s like thestart of one of those jokes. A blueberry-colored soldier, a medic prisoner, and a rebel stowaway walk into a bar…”

Elas’s eyes soften as he throws an arm around my shoulders with a squeeze. “You’ve caused quite the ruckus, old friend.”

“We certainly figured that out,” I say dryly, but give him a one-armed hug, squeezing his shoulder as he shoots me a knowing smile.

“I’ve missed you, too, you grumpy fuck.” We both chuckle as he pulls away. “Everything spiraled after Commander Bravis went missing. August and I barely got away from base without raising suspicion.”

“Let me guess, you stumbled upon an abandoned rebel camp with a weird man living in a rat hole?”

“For the last time, I am not weird!” Reyes argues.

“How many days did it take him to come out of his lair, and—more importantly—did hestab you in the shoulder?” Elas grins at Reyes before he slides his arm around August’s waist, and my brows lift when August leans into him, resting his head on his chest.

“I told you he’d still be mad about it,” Reyes says to Elas, who chuckles at him before returning his eyes to mine.

My brows raise even higher when Elas’s hand drops to August’s hip, fingers flexing in an extremely intimate way. “We’d been hiding there for a few days when I discovered the entrance to his underground room.”

“Wait,” I interrupt, slashing my hand in the air in front of me. “You found one of the hidden rooms?”

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