Page 175 of Fractured Loyalties
I shift closer to him. My thigh touches his. I don’t care.
“You kept going in there like you were invincible.”
He opens his eyes, slowly. “Maybe I wanted to be.”
I don’t look away. “And now?”
“Now I remember what it feels like to burn.”
The words are low, but not weak. If anything, there’s a cracked honesty in them I’ve never heard before.
I press my fingers against his pulse again. It’s weaker. Thready.
“You need a hospital,” I say.
“No.”
“Elias.”
“I’m not letting strangers touch me right now. Especially not ones who might be bought.”
“You think Volker's reach can go that far?”
“I think Volker doesn’t play by geography.”
Lydia cuts in without turning. “There’s a safehouse in the next sector. Old chemical compound. Still shielded. We’ll stop there. No chatter, no signal.”
“Clean?” Elias asks.
“For now.”
We don’t argue. None of us have the energy.
I reach into the med kit again and pull out a vial. Painkillers. Strong. Probably stronger than legal. I hold it out.
He stares at it. “That’s not a good idea.”
“You’re going to pass out if you don’t.”
“And if I pass out on that, I might not wake up.”
“Then trust me to keep you breathing.”
That pulls his eyes to mine. Not the predator stare. Not the unreadable glass. Just Elias. Tired. Human.
He takes the vial.
I guide him through the injection. It’s clumsy, awkward in the moving vehicle, but he doesn’t resist. He just watches me.
“Why are you still here?” he asks quietly.
I blink. “What?”
“You could’ve run. The second the door opened.”
“And go where?”
“Anywhere that isn’t wrapped around my fucking orbit.”
