Page 41 of Elas (Mate’s Mark #2)

August

Everyone is being weird as hell.

Xeni pointedly refuses to meet my eyes, and a ripple of avoidance has spread through the other medics.

I can understand him not wanting to talk to me right now, but the others are acting like I’m invisible, too.

Even Chief Aeliphis is acting strange. She never misses an opportunity to fluff her feathers, but today she’s oddly quiet and has barely spared me a glance.

Paranoia has me in a headlock, wondering if Xeni talked. It’s not unreasonable to assume he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble of keeping my secret. He owes me nothing, after all, and my trust in him could’ve easily been misplaced.

Overly optimistic is kind of my shtick.

Anxiety is an affective form of torture, and one that’s becoming far too familiar. Halfway through the day, just after I eat a hurried lunch to escape the weirdness in the break room, voices ring out in the hallway.

The workers are back.

“I haven’t gotten any sleep because your shitty driving is knocking me all around,” the loud one grumbles, and the other’s grunt sounds annoyed.

“Thought we’d get a break today and start in the morning, but they want the last of these files on the road tonight .

” He almost spits the word, and I realize that trove of information is about to disappear forever.

Elas will be furious if I sneak back into that room without a plan.

It’s reckless, but with everything that could be at stake, it’s a risk worth taking.

The afternoon treks along, and I’m poised as I wait for my chance, but the fates are working against me today.

Their usual routine is disrupted by urgency, and they take boxes as they load them instead of walking together.

There’s no opportunity.

“We’re going to be here all night,” the worker laments as it nears the end of the workday, and Chief Aeliphis’s scoff is loaded with annoyance.

“Then you’ll be here all night,” she snaps, while his squeak tells me she snuck up on them. “Whatever you have to do, you’ll do it, because the commander is up my ass for this to be done.”

“Last time we were here late, we got locked out of the building. We had to wait for a patrol to let us in and missed dinner to make up for it.” The chief’s impatience practically vibrates down the hall. Either this guy is an idiot, or he has a death wish.

“Did it not occur to you to use the access cards I had created specifically for the two of you? ”

“Oh, uh, I thought those were just for this room,” he admits, and she mutters something under her breath that I can’t decipher from here. “They work on the outside doors, too?”

“Yes.” The word hisses from her lips, full of venom, and the worker laughs nervously.

“Well, I guess that solves that then, doesn’t it?”

I can’t help my snort of laughter at the chief’s impatience. “Gods, I’m surrounded by idiots. Tonight,” she says again. “You will finish tonight .”

“Yes, ma’am. It will one hundred percent be done tonight. You can count on us.”

“Wonderful,” she mutters, before the determined clop of her footsteps fades.

“Hey, uh, Oza? Don't lose your keycard, okay?” The other guy responds with an irritated grunt that appears to be a question. “I, uh, kinda misplaced mine earlier this week, and I’m pretty sure Chief wouldn’t be very happy if I told her that.”

The keycard!

With everything we’ve learned from the files, not to mention the physical developments in mine and Elas’s relationship, I’d forgotten about it falling into my lap. Access to that room sits at home, tucked away inside a drawer.

An hour later, Elas peers in, and I immediately realize something is wrong. But when I question him with my eyes, he gives a subtle shake of his head. Chief Aeliphis appears behind him and says, “You have everything handled, then, Officer Elas?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He pushes the door open and stands aside for me to join them in the hallway .

She nods and turns those unsettling orange eyes on me. Underneath her usual sternness is a touch of something like regret. “Our circumstances were strange, but I am glad we met. You’ve given us all a lesson we won’t soon forget, and I wish you the best of luck.”

Confused, my gaze bounces between her and Elas, trying to make sense of what she’s saying. “Are we no longer working together?” I finally ask.

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Beckett. Take care of yourself.” And with that, she walks away and leaves me slack-jawed. My eyes find Elas’s, but he shakes his head again.

“Later,” he murmurs, the sound lost in the sudden hush of the hallway as my anxiety spikes. My palms sweat and my heart races as he guides me towards the door. Only, instead of going outside, he pivots and enters the locker room. “Collect any personal items you have stored here.”

“Why?” It’s suddenly hard to breathe through my restricted windpipe, and I swallow hard, my throat bobbing as his eyes follow the motion.

“August, please trust me,” he says, and I force another swallow as I nod.

It only takes a minute to gather my measly stack of things from my locker.

Soap and a spare toothbrush, and a few items of clothing that technically aren’t even mine.

They all belong to Elas or to the clinic, but I take them anyway as a sad realization hits me.

“I… I don’t have much.”

“Me neither, as it turns out,” he whispers with a sad smile. He glances around before he steps closer and brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “We have each other, August. That’s what matters.”

The moment feels significant, like this precarious game we’ve been playing has finally been thrown off balance, and the scales are tilting us in a direction we can’t fight.

Something major is changing here, but Elas’s simple request stays at the front of my mind.

Trust me.

And I do.

Unequivocally, and without limitation.

So instead of dwelling on the uncertainties plaguing me, I simply take my pitiful stack of items and let him lead me home. Outside, the workers load another round of boxes in their van, and as they slam the trunk and head back inside, it feels final.

I curse the lost opportunity.

We get home, and I stumble to a halt when I notice packed bags sitting on the couch. “Elas?”

“What I’m about to tell you is going to be a lot, August, but hold off overanalyzing until we’re finished with this discussion.”

I find the gumption to scowl. “I don’t always go into overanalysis mode.”

He leads me to the kitchen table to sit, taking his spot across from me. “Yeah, you do, baby. And I love that about you, but I need you to stay focused right now.”

“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 the rebel 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, I do want 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 it isn’t us, 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?”

“More what ?” 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 if we…” 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 do nothing, the bad guys win. They win over and over and over again, 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 fucking miracle you 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. So close. 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 never run away from you, but I can’t run away from them , either. They need me, and I can’t pretend this never happened.”

“One day you’ll be out of my reach for good, August. One day you won’t fucking come back.”

“You don’t know that. We can do this, El, I know we can. We have to do something. ”

My heart thumps underneath my ribcage, the mark on my chest buzzing as he takes a long inhale, his eyes fluttering closed.

After a few breaths, they open and his lips press against mine.

“I have waited a lifetime for you… a lifetime I’d gladly give again if that’s what it took to find you.

Please, August. Please. I am begging you.

Run away with me. Be happy with me. We haven’t even had a chance to enjoy this yet. ”

“Gods, I am happy with you,” I whisper as I kiss him again. “Happier than I’ve ever been. Never doubt that.” My cheek rests against his chest, listening to the thud of his heart under my ear.

Steady and sure.

“If I don’t do something, I’ll never be able to forgive myself,” I whisper. He whimpers, a strained, wounded sound that breaks my heart as his arms bind me to him. “They can’t win. It’s not fair.”

“In case you didn’t pick up on it by now, this life rarely is.”

“What if it was us?” I repeat my earlier question as he sighs. “What if Ronan and Cameron were inside that facility? Our friends, families? How close to home does it need to hit before you realize that we have to do something?”

“We don’t have to,” he mutters, and I hug him tighter.

“We’re the good guys, Elas… we always win. ”

He snorts an indignant, angry laugh. “Someone’s been reading too many fairy tales.”

“Maybe so,” I say, “but aren’t those the best stories to live by?” We fall into a thick silence, and I can sense the battle raging inside his mind. I don’t rush him, just hold on to him while he sorts his thoughts.

After a long stretch, he pushes out a conflicted sigh. “We wait until dark.”

My head whips up, taking in his somber demeanor. “You’ll really do it?”

He narrows his eyes and continues. “The base slows down after ten. If we wait until midnight, the only foot traffic should be routine patrols. If the movers are done by then, they’re done, and that’s the end.

It’s too risky to attempt any earlier, and I will happily tie your ass up to keep you from sneaking out.

Any sign of risk, any at all , and we call it.

That’s my decision, and you will listen. ”

He must recognize my defiance, because he fists my hair and forces my gaze to stay on his.

“Let me protect you. Look me in the eye and swear to me you’ll listen, because if I say we’re done, then it’s over.

” His tone leaves no room for argument, and I can see just how much he’s sacrificing by allowing me this.

“I swear.” Nodding, I push up on my toes to catch his lips. “Thank you,” I murmur. “Thank you for understanding.”

He sighs again, and his eyes are heavy when we separate. “Come on, then. We need to pack, and apparently have a fucking heist to plan.”