Page 138 of Elas

“It’s safe here?” Taryn asks from the back. I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror and nod. I like Taryn. She has a level head, and although she’s used to being a leader, there was no power conflict or push to be in charge. Right now, she seems content to just be along for the ride.

“Very safe,” I assure her. “Anyone that knew the location of this village has either forgotten it or is dead. There was never a reason to return.” We navigate through the forest, and unsurprisingly, Ronan stands in the center of the path as we pull in, his eyes enormous and his arms crossed.

I’m barely even out of the car before he starts yelling. “Two weeks. Two fucking weeks you’ve been gone, Elas! I thought you were dead, you fucking blue asshole! What the fuckhappened?!” he demands, and his jaw drops as he stares at the crumbled SUV. The trip through the fence crushed the front end and cracked a window, and the side-view mirrors barely hold on as they dangle by their wires. His mouth flaps, opening and closing as he searches for something to say, and the bumper decides at that moment to give up. It thuds to the dirt with an anticlimactic thump.

Ronan’s massive eyes move to me and get even wider, taking in my sunken, sickly appearance. August walks to my side and puts his arm around my waist. Blood coats his filthy shirt and my bullethole-riddled armor. Both of us look like we’ve been to hell and back.

“Wha… what… the… what…” Ronan stutters, and I chuckle at his loss of words. Fucker has had something to say since the day I met him, and to see him rendered speechless is amusing. His eyes, already bigger than I’ve ever seen them, stretch wider as they move behind me. “And you brought fuckingstrays?!Elas, what the fuck!?” His voice turns shrill on the last word, and a few birds take flight.

“Oooh, an Anunian!” Lillith cries in her deep voice, taking a few steps forward. “We will spar sometime! I bet I will win.” Ronan’s eyes climb her frame, several inches taller than him and twice as wide.

“Yeah,” he says weakly. “Yeah, I bet you fucking will.”

August offers a charming smile that has no effect on Ronan, who just hikes his brow impatiently. “This is Lillith, and her mate, Taryn.” Taryn approaches with a cautious, polite wave. “Taryn was the leader at the camp I was living at when—”

“Holy shit!” Cameron bellows, bursting past Ronan with his mouth open wide. “Taryn!?”

“It’s so good to see you, Cameron,” she says with a genuine smile.

August glances over his shoulder at where Xeni stands near the rear of the vehicle. “And this is Xeni. He’s a medic, too.”

“And the reason we were locked up to begin with,” I snort derisively, and Ronan is immediately on guard. His dark brown eyes lock on mine in question.

“We’ve already been through this, Elas,” Xeni seethes, not daring to get any closer.

“Doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you,” I snap back.

“Yeah, well, an eye for a fucking eye, asswipe. You already took mine, so I’d say we’re even.” Silence sits heavily over the group as Ronan and Cameron glance at each other in surprise.

August clears his throat, putting a gentle hand on my stomach. “Elas.”

“Hmm?” I grunt, refusing to meet his eyes.

“Why don’t you let Xeni share his side of the story?”

“Don’t want to,” I mutter.

“You might not want to, but it’s only fair. He’s the reason we got out of that place.”

“And the reason I got to blow it up!” Lillith adds as Ronan’s brows lift higher. She makes a quiet booming sound effect, grinning as she mimes an explosion with her hands.

“El,” August says, voice stern. My eyes swing up to his, and I sigh again.

“There’s a lot we need to talk about,” I finally say, dodging the topic of Xeni for now. “But we’re exhausted and filthy. We have barely eaten since we left, and I’m pretty sure this uniform should be burned. Can we table the discussion for tomorrow, when we’ve all had a chance to rest?”

“Of course,” Ronan says after a moment, his eyes darting over the new faces. “I’ll put some food together while you all get cleaned up. There are only a couple of working showers, but there’s a creek past the treeline that can be used for bathing. Cameron can grab everyone some clothes…” He pauses, eyeballing Lillith. “Although they might not all fit…”

“She can have some of mine,” I offer, exhaustion hitting me full force. “I’ll get them and then I’m going to shower for the next three days.” August’s fingers slip through mine and squeeze.

“Creek’s fine with me!” Lillith bellows cheerfully, and Taryn nods.

“You guys go first,” Xeni offers quietly. “You need it more than I do.”

Ronan stares at him for a long moment, his eyes assessing. They flick to mine, seeming to ask for permission, and I give a reluctant nod even as my jaw tenses. “There are plenty of empty homes here,” Ronan says. “They’ll just need some work to make them comfortable.”

“Oh, honey, I could sleep under a rock in the desert and it would be more comfortable than being locked up in that place,” Lillith says brightly. “It’d be a bigger bed, too. My ass fell off that tiny cot so many times.” A reluctant smile tugs at my lips. Nothing seems to phase the giant woman.

August and I walk hand-in-hand to our house. We’ve only spent days within these walls, but an immediate sense of home registers as we step inside. I pass some sweatpants and a shirt off to Lillith. Xeni hangs back in the shadows, avoiding speaking with anyone. As though he can sense my attention, he turns and meets my eyes, and in that moment, he’s more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen him.

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