Page 78 of Elas

“Okay,” I whisper with a nod.

“We’re leaving.”

“Leaving? It’s… already?”

“Commander Khors pulled me into his office today after I dropped you off. He ordered me to investigate therebel camp where they suspect Ronan stayed… on my way to deliver you to Ljómur.”

“He took your advice, then?” I ask, and his lips pull into a grim line as he nods.

“He decided you’re too much of a risk here, regardless of my attempt to convince him you aren’t a threat.”

“Okay,” I say, trying to keep my wits about me. “So, we’ll stop and check out this camp, and then what?” Reality sets in, and my tongue is suddenly too thick for my mouth. I swallow past the nerves as he assesses my reaction. “What’s our plan?”

He must sense my rising stress, because he wraps his arms around me and smooths a calming hand over my hair. “We’ve been given a vehicle and some supplies. We’ll scout the camp, because even if it’s not for Khors, Idowant to search for signs of Ronan. Knowing him, he found somewhere safe to take Cameron.” His cheeks lift in a smile as he breathes a quiet laugh. “He’ll be so pissed if I find him.”

“So, that’s it, then? We run away?” Elas’s humor fades as he pulls back to look at me. “What about everything we’ve learned about this base, Elas? We can’t just abandon it.”

“Yes, we fucking can,” he growls, daring me to argue, but I purse my lips and shake my head, defiant.

“What if it was us there, Elas? If it was me and you locked up? What if we were the ones being held and poked and prodded, and someone could help us?”

“But itisn’tus, August, and I won’t risk your safety for a bunch of questions we have no way of answering. All we’ve learned is that they’re doing experiments on mates.We don’t have enough information to do anything with it. We don’t even know if anyone is left alive.”

“What if we get more?”

“Morewhat?” He narrows his eyes as I shove my chair back and stand.

My hands fling out in my frustration, gesturing toward the clinic. “More information! Those idiots are transporting the last of the documents, and once the clinic is closed, they’ll be there alone. They said they’ll be working all night. What if—”

“August,” he growls as he scrambles to his feet, but I ignore him.

“What ifwe…” My eyes widen as the plan forms in my mind. “You said they assigned us a vehicle?”

“Yes,” he says after a cautious pause.

“What if we park it near the clinic and sneak inside? I know that building like the back of my hand… if we time it right, we could slip past them and—”

“And how exactly do you plan on getting inside?” Elas demands angrily, and I run over to the kitchen and pop open the drawer, showing him the access card.

“Do you remember this badge? Today, one of the workers admitted he lost his keycard. The Chief doesn’t know, so there’s no reason for her to deactivate it.”

“August, would you take a fucking breath and listen to what you’re suggesting? We are this close—this fucking close—to escaping this place, and you want to risk everything for people we’ve never even met!”

“It doesn’t matter that we don’t know them, Elas! We have to at least try. If the good guys sit back and donothing, the bad guys win. They win over and over andoveragain, and nothing ever changes!”

“Damn it, August!” he bellows, storming forward and crowding me against the countertop. We’re locked in a tense stare-off, his presence so close I can feel the heat of his breath and the rapid beat of his heart. “Fuck you,” he snarls, and I jolt at the venom in his voice.

“What?” I breathe, my eyes darting between his.

“Fuck you,” he says, more gently this time. “You’re making me choose between keeping you safe and giving you what you need. And no matter what my choice is, I can’t fucking win. If I refuse to help, you’ll do it anyway, won’t you?” He glares for a long second, but I don’t lie to him and deny it.

“Thought so,” he snorts, furious. “Not only would you probably get caught, but if by some fuckingmiracleyou made it out again, you would resent me for the rest of our lives, and that’s not an option for me. So, yeah, doc. Fuck you. Fuck you for giving me this impossible decision.”

“Elas,” I whisper, but he snarls and inches closer, until our bodies are flush. We touch everywhere, from our thighs and hips up to our chests, and he cups the back of my head and pushes our foreheads together.

“You are like sand slipping through my fingers, and I can’t hold on to you if you keep looking for danger. We’re so close, baby.Soclose. Tomorrow, we can be out of those gates and away from all of this, but you keep running away from me.”

“I’m not running, El,” I insist, gripping the thick leather hem of his armor and holding him close. “I’d neverrun away from you, but I can’t run away fromthem, either. They need me, and I can’t pretend this never happened.”

---