Page 83 of Elas

We aren’t human, and don’t share their weaknesses. Three times their strength with senses that can hear the click of the trigger as they pull it and react just as quickly. The tides turned in our favor, and their kingdom fell.

We won.

We were always going to win.

But with our victory came the loss of the minds that maintained their technology, and soon we reverted to more basic forms of communication. Written messages. Radios, if the mission was important enough. The years that passed haven’t changed that.

Our kind don’t share the same arrogance as the humans with possessions. Advances stalled out, and we learned to maintain what we needed. Vehicles, appliances, and electronics are all the same as they were a century ago. We don’t care what they look like, as long as they provide us with what we need. Their obsession with immediate communication was something we never understood or embraced.

Right now, that’s working to our benefit.

The commander gave me express permission to follow leads before delivering August to Ljómur. By the time they realize we’re missing, we could be a thousand miles away.

He could be mine, and I could be his, without the deceit.

Without the fear.

August must be thinking the same thing, because as the wind whips through his golden hair, he reaches over and takes my hand. An orange glow from the rising sun shines off his skin, highlighting those almost invisible freckles that dot his cheeks. I smile, and he smiles back, and life in that moment is damn near perfect.

“So, where is this camp?” he asks.

“Northeast of the base. They gave me the coordinates.”

“You can find a camp on coordinates alone?”

I chuckle, squeezing his fingers. “Tracker, remember? I know the road grids and the maps, and with that information, it’s not too hard to figure out.”

“Ronan is a tracker too, then? Since you two were in the same division?”

I laugh louder at that, a fond smile on my face as I shake my head. “You would think that, wouldn’t you? Hells, even Ronan would tell you he’s an amazing tracker, but do you know what his secret weapon was?” August grunts in question, and I glance over with a smirk. “Me.”

“You were the one doing all the heavy lifting then, huh?”

“He likes to think he kept up with me, but there were so many times I’d have to steer him in the right direction. Couldn’t outright tell him he was wrong, because he’s proud as fuck, but sometimes I guided him there without him realizing it.”

“You took care of him,” he says softly, and a bittersweet smile lifts my mouth. Another wave of nostalgia hits me at the lifetime of memories.

“I’ve always taken care of him.” It comes out quieter than I intend, and August grips my hand tighter as I clear my throat. “Although, it wasn’t any sacrifice keeping him around. Ronan’s a hell of a fighter, but an even better cook. Someone should give that man an apron and toss him into the kitchen. He’d make a mate happy.”

“Do you think he’s cooking for Cameron?”

A wide, delighted grin digs into my cheeks at the picture in my mind. “He’s covered in flour and fawning over his mate... I’d put money on it. The times we visited Cameron in the prison, Ronan baked the bread we brought him.” I glance over again with a wink. “He’d murder me for telling you that.”

“How long will it take us to get there?” August asks, a giant yawn stretching his mouth, and I jiggle his hand.

“Why are you so tired?”

His head lays back on the headrest, watching me with sated, sleepy eyes. “Someone kept me up all night.”

“Oh, I kept you up, didn’t I?” I reach over and pat his crotch, and he snorts a laugh.

“Good luck getting a response out of him right now,” he teases. “Pretty sure there’s no fluid left inside my body after last night.”

“There’s plenty of fluid in there,” I snort. “It just might not be yours.” He barks out a loud, surprised laugh as I reach for him again. My smile softens as he tugs my glove off my hand, then twists my palm upwards so he can stare at the tan of his complexion. “Do you like seeing part of you so permanently on my skin?”

“Yeah,” he says, still smiling as he traces the shape with his finger. “We look good together.”

“Wearegood together, baby.”

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