Page 51 of Holding the Line
Eli chuckled quietly, nestled into Marsh’s side on the low outdoor couch.The warmth of the firepit glowed across their faces, stars glittering in the night sky overhead.He hadn’t moved far from Marsh since the rescue—not because he was too injured, but because Marsh hadn’t let him go.And while that closeness normally would have made Eli feel warm and safe, now it felt ...heavy.
Protective, yes.But also, afraid.And that wasn’t okay.
He sighed, fingers curling around Marsh’s.The man had barely left his side all week.
“You good?”Marsh asked, voice low, pressing a kiss to Eli’s temple.
Eli nodded.“Just thinking.”
He had been unconscious for most of the ride back, thanks to the Colonel cracking his head against the window.The memory was fragmented—blinding pain, then darkness.Before he completely passed out, he watched Kai being shot, which was something the man must have suspected was coming because almost as blood bloomed at his side, he had the door open and was rolling out of the moving car.When they’d gone back to search for him, there’d been no sign.Eli wasn’t surprised.Not really.And it bothered him that he had no idea if Kai had managed to save his sister, and that Marsh could find nothing about her on any service or website or anything.None of his searches came back with a hit.
And then there was the fact that Hogan was broken.He hadn’t seen Hogan smile since.
Across the table, Ty and Oren sat close but not touching.Dale was on the opposite side, eyeing them both with the kind of silent intensity Eli recognized as longing and confusion.Something had happened there.The tension was palpable.
Ty leaned back in his chair, beer resting on his thigh.“I’m going back to the range tomorrow.And the gym.I let myself get soft.”
Oren snorted.“You?Soft?You’re built like a damn tank.”
“A tank that got taken down by a goddamn dart,” Ty muttered.
“Two darts,” Dale raised two fingers in the air.“Those darts were military grade.Don’t beat yourself up.We all know it wasn’t a fair fight.”
“Still,” Ty muttered, not quite meeting Oren’s gaze, “it won’t happen again.And if there is ever a need to fight, I will not be sitting it out and waiting in the goddamn comms room.”
Eli watched the exchange with quiet curiosity.Something had shifted between those three, something subtle but significant.
Ricky leaned in toward Ezra.“Remind me again how many Oren took down before he even got hit?”
“Four,” Ezra said, smiling.“One of them with nothing but a goddamn brick.”
“I didn’t have a weapon,” Oren said, raising a brow.
“You had instincts and rage,” Marsh noted.“That counts.”
“Still took a blade,” Oren said, rubbing at the healing wound under his shirt.“Didn’t see that one coming.”
“That guy isn’t breathing anymore,” Dale said, his voice low.No humor this time.
Eli shivered slightly, pulling Marsh’s arm tighter around his shoulders.There had been moments in the field when he thought none of them would walk away from it.That Kai had doomed them all.
And yet here they were.
Together.
But that lingering question still hung heavy.
“Who cares?He betrayed us,” Hogan snapped suddenly.“Used everything he knew about us.Everything we gave him.”
Eli turned, frowning.“He did it for a reason, Hogan.You think that wasn’t killing him, too?”
Dev, who’d been quietly nursing his beer, tilted his head.“You know, that arrow that took the Colonel out?None of us had a bow.Let alone one that could fire a hunting arrow like that.”
Marsh’s brow furrowed.“You saying what I think you’re saying?”
Dev nodded.“Kai won three national competitions in long-range traditional archery.Guy’s a ghost with a bow.”
Dale let out a breath.“Gruesome way to go.But fitting.”