Page 51 of Elas (Mate’s Mark #2)

“Not this again,” he whines, and Elas throws his head back in a laugh, infinitely pleased with himself.

“You’re a menace,” I hiss, and Elas is all cheeky grins as he allows me to pull off his glove, then displays his tan palm. Reyes stares at it with open curiosity, even taking a small step closer to Elas to inspect it.

“Why isn’t it glowing?”

“According to our research, the mark changes once both of the mates accept the bond. Mine is the same color blue as his skin,” I say, tapping my chest and gesturing at a puffed up Elas. He’s adorably proud, and a mushy smile pulls onto my face.

“This is fascinating,” Reyes says, ignoring the gooey eyes we’re making at each other. “How do you know, though?”

“Know what?” I ask, finally moving my gaze back to his.

“Why it changed.”

“Oh, uh, well… we sort of… stole some files from the base before we left.” Reyes’s eyebrows shoot up as I gesture in the direction of the SUV. “Quite a few, actually.”

Reyes heaves a loud sigh, staring at me as the gears inside his head spin. Finally, he gives a resolute nod, gesturing towards the stairwell that leads to the hidden space. “Come on down, then. Sounds like we need to have a discussion.”

An hour later, we all sit back in our chairs around a small table in Reyes’s basement apartment, absorbing everything we just discussed.

Reyes shares what he’s learned from his observations.

It isn’t necessarily new information to us, but it solidifies what we already know and adds another complicated perspective.

The military is transporting imprisoned sets of mates to Ljómur, and they’re using his camp as a stopping point on their journey. It makes me wonder if the cooperative mates are moved in a more civilized manner. The zip ties and armed guards might be saved for those who put up a fight.

We bring down the files we’ve already read, leafing through them to reference notes as we share what we learned.

These experiments have been going on for decades, researching for something called Project V.

Elas explains we left the base under the guise of transporting me to Ljómur to work, and came here to search for Ronan under Commander Khors’s orders.

Reyes’s lips pull tight, crossing his arms over his chest as he chews on the inside of his cheek. “I should’ve known that purple fuck would bring trouble with him.”

Elas stares at Reyes thoughtfully. “How did Ronan figure out you were here? He wouldn’t have known about the secret rooms. This one was so well hidden that even with my tracking skills, I never would’ve found it if August hadn’t shown me.”

“Oh, uh, well,” Reyes says, shuffling uncomfortably in his seat. “I may have… sort of stabbed him.”

Elas’s eyes grow wide. “ You stabbed Ronan?”

“And… kind of… hit him in the head with a pipe and knocked him out. But in my defense, I thought Cameron was his captive!” Elas stares with shock written all over his face, then lets out a bellowing laugh .

“You… a human… knocked out Ronan ?” The entire table quakes as he slaps it, and Reyes and I exchange a shocked glance as Elas laughs.

“An Anunian warrior with a century of battle experience… and he was taken out by… this ?” He gestures up and down Reyes’s seated body as he howls louder.

Reyes looks like he wants to be offended, but both of us are so bewildered by Elas’s laughter that he can’t manage it.

Gleeful tears form in Elas’s eyes, and I finally break and laugh along with him.

I have no idea why it’s so funny. His laughter is just infectious, his shoulders shaking as he swipes at his eyes.

“Gods, I cannot wait to give him shit about being taken down by a human. This is the best thing I’ve heard in years. ”

Still grinning, I look at Reyes. “So, you attacked Ronan—”

“You like to do that, don’t you, stupid human?” Elas howls. “You like to stab people!” I shake my head and try to ignore him, but a rogue chuckle slips loose.

“—and then what happened?” I ask, trying to look apologetic while I giggle at Elas.

Reyes is flustered, crossing his arms in a huff. “Well, obviously he wasn’t very happy about it—”

“ Obviously! ” Elas bellows, thumping his palm against the table as I bite the inside of my cheek. I’m failing miserably in my attempt not to laugh along with him.

Reyes sighs, his eyes rolled up into his skull.

“Cameron talked him out of doing anything about it because I had information they needed. Ronan did tie me up to a chair—” Another howling round of laughter leaves Elas as my lips twitch.

“—but once they figured out I wasn’t a threat, they let me go.

If I had realized Cameron was there voluntarily, I would never have come out of here.

I would’ve just waited for them to leave. ”

Elas has calmed down enough to handle a serious conversation, though he still appears extraordinarily amused. “Speaking of leaving… do you know where they went?”

Reyes shifts uncomfortably, uncertain if he should share this new information with us. It’s sweet that he’s trying to protect them, even after their rocky start. “Ronan and Elas are best friends,” I say. “They’ve known each other forever.”

“Best friends,” Elas snorts. “Monsters don’t have best friends.”

“No?” I challenge, turning to him with a hiked brow.

“Whose barracks did you skip to anytime you had news to share? Who did you hunt down daily in order to pester? Gossip to about all your juicy little secrets?” Elas grimaces and grunts something I can’t decipher, and I turn back to Reyes with a satisfied smirk.

He glances between me and Elas again before he nods. “They didn’t tell me exactly where they’re going, no. Ronan mentioned searching for a village to the northeast of here… somewhere his platoon raided several years back?”

All signs of levity vanish as Elas sits forward, his unblinking attention focused on Reyes. “He said that? What else did he say?”

“Not much, aside from the fact that it was well hidden. Deep in the woods somewhere.” Reyes shrugs. “He didn’t exactly trust me. ”

“Wonder why,” Elas snorts, but turns to me with fresh excitement in his eyes.

“I know where he’s going. Honestly, I should’ve thought about it sooner.

Years ago, Bravis sent us to raid a quiet little village in a dense forest. That attack stood out to us both, because from the beginning it just felt wrong.

We’d always known the military was crossing plenty of ethical lines, but we’d never done anything about it until then. ”

“What did you do?” I ask carefully, and his eyes dart to the ground.

“We tried to warn some of the people there, but I don’t think any of them actually got away.

Commander Bravis wanted to kill them simply because they were living outside our reach.

He was arrogant enough that he was convinced they were purposefully refuting his authority by remaining hidden.

They had no idea who he was. No fucking idea, but he was too power hungry to see it. The attack was sport to him.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, rubbing at his tense biceps, and he offers me a sad smile.

“It’s in the past, August. There’s no point in dwelling on things that already happened.”

“No, but you’re still allowed to grieve them.”

Elas remains deep in thought before giving a resolute dip of his chin. “Well, that answers that, then.” He slaps his thighs and stands, like some grand decision has been made. Reyes and I both stare in confusion, and I stop him with a grip on his wrist. He glances down at me in surprise.

“Something tells me a lot of things just happened in that head of yours, but could you perhaps bring the rest of the class up to speed?” A momentary flicker of impatience crosses his face, but he obediently drops back into his chair. He scoots closer and slings a heavy arm over my shoulders.

“That’s where we have to go. That village was one of the most secure places I’ve ever seen. It took us weeks of tracking to find it, and even then, it came down to a stroke of luck. It makes sense he would go there.”

“How far is it from here? We have some fuel, but we have to be mindful of it.”

“There’s some gas here,” Reyes says. “I don’t drive anywhere, but it felt like a waste to let it go bad, so I’ve always routinely added stabilizer. Ronan took a lot of it,” he adds with a scowl that makes me grin, “but there’s quite a bit left in the garage.”

Elas nods, and I notice he’s quickly warming up to Reyes the longer we sit here and talk.

I don’t think Elas really has it in him to dislike anyone, unless they’ve done something to deserve it.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have extra,” Elas says.

“They only sent me with enough to make the trip between Glaston and Ljómur. They intended on me refueling at the base.” He turns to me then, absently pressing his lips to my temple.

“It’s another day’s drive from here, three or four hundred miles, and the terrain is rougher the closer you get to the forest. The extra fuel would definitely ease my mind. ”

Reyes nods back, and I fight my smile as I burrow my face into Elas’s chest, listening to them talk.

Fast friends, even after Reyes pulled a knife on him.

“There are lots of supplies we should bring, and the rest will stay tucked away in case we need to come back for more. The stuff in the cellars I haven’t touched in years, but it’s a good distraction when people stumble upon it.

Makes it look like there isn’t anything here worth stealing. ”

“Yeah, that was more science experiment gone wrong than exciting hidden treasure,” I say, and Reyes grins back.

“You gotta remember, those cans are a decade old at this point. We’ll leave them, but anything you want protected can be hidden down here for when we go.”

It hits me then. “We?” I ask, and a bittersweet grin spreads over his face as he glances around the basement apartment.

“All these years, I’ve been hiding down here, watching as the world moves without me.

At first, it was just the occasional passerby.

Then the military started coming, and their visits are getting more frequent.

When the team was here searching for Ronan, they almost found me.

One of them kneeled right outside the little window over there, and if I had been closer, they would’ve seen me.

It’s too dangerous to be here alone anymore, and it’s time I stopped standing still.

” He gives another quick one-shouldered shrug. “I’m coming with you guys.”