Page 16 of The Hollowed

She nodded. “Yes,” she said, faintly recalling Doc telling her to always protect her work and ensure it remained hers and hers alone. Everyone at the Institute had a competitive spark, and sometimes that was all it took for her peers to try and claim her success as their own.

“Good,” Doc said before his voice dropped to a whisper. “And have you done that with this project?”

She nodded again, firmer this time. “Of course.”

In truth, over the years, she had gone beyond caution. Luci had learned to embed cryptic instructions and patterns only she could decipher within her formulas. They were woven so deeply into her work that even the smallest fragment of her research would be useless without her. No one could steal her accomplishments, no matter how desperate they were.

Doc nodded softly, about to say something else, but Luci interrupted before he could. “Sorry — whatever it is, it’ll have to wait. I need to find Alex.”

He studied Luci for a moment and then pulled her in closer, catching Luci off guard. “Then just listen to me carefully,” he said quietly. “Be careful of how much you let them see. The Institute doesn’t care if it’s love or friendship. If they can use it, they will.”

Luci hesitated, caught between brushing him off and asking what exactly he meant, but the weight in his tone told her she didn’t want the details, not now, not right before she left.

“Okay… I’ll remember that,” she replied, locking eyes with Doc for one last moment before breaking away. Without hesitation, she slipped out the door quickly and headed for the stairwell, descending to the basement level where Alex’s quarters were.

By the time she pushed through the heavy stairwell door, her chest was tight and her breaths came in ragged bursts. She didn’t even know if he would be there but that didn’t stop her from sprinting down the dim corridor until she reached his door.

Instead of knocking, she pounded her fists against the steel door. The sharp thuds rang through the hall and the heads of other members of Prometheus’s security detail poked out from their rooms, but she didn’t stop until Luna’s bark erupted frominside, followed by the shuffle of hurried footsteps.

“Alex,pleaselet me in,” Luci begged, her voice breaking as she stepped back from the door.

Every second that followed seemed to stretch until the latch finally clicked and the door opened. Alex glowered at her before ushering her inside without a word. Luci watched as he hesitated to slam the door shut and instead, closed it carefully before locking it.

“Are you crazy, Luci?” he snapped, already turning back to shove items into his bag that was laying open on the floor. “You know how much trouble we’ll be in if you’re caught down here.”

She knew she should be packing her own bag, but right now fixing whatever had broken between them felt more urgent. Just an hour ago, he’d been ready to cook her dinner. Now, she wasn’t sure if those feelings had already slipped away.

“C’mon Alex, you and I both know that’s not why you’re mad at me,” Luci said, stepping forward and kneeling so she could catch his gaze.

It worked. He leaned back and his eyes met hers before he dragged a hand through his hair. The look on his face gutted her. It was like he’d already accepted her death as inevitable. It was the expression of someone who had already begun to mourn.

She could have taken offense at that, but she didn’t. Yes, she was a risk and a liability, and she had no doubt she would slow them down. But if there was even a sliver of a chance that she could find Noah, then she had to take it. Surely Alex could understand that.

“I…I don’t want to lose you out there,” Alex admitted, his voice trembling.

Over the years, Luci had noticed little things about Alex. The way his gaze always seemed to find hers in a crowd or how his tone softened when it was just the two of them. Back then,she told herself he was just being kind or maybe even playing some long game to gain her trust, but now she knew him better. He wasn’t capable of hurting her. Whatever force had pulled them together was so much deeper than friendship. Born from devastation, their bond had become something else entirely.

“I’m not going to die out there,” Luci whispered. “We might have to reschedule our date, but I still plan on having it as soon as we get to Arizona.” Her smile curved just enough to ease the tension between them.

Alex shook his head, but to her relief, the corner of his mouth lifted upward. He tossed the spare T-shirt in his hands toward her and Luna took that as her cue to join in, springing between them and trying to decide who to tackle first. Her indecision made them both laugh until she finally lunged at Luci, knocking her backwards.

Luci stumbled, laughing harder than before until she landed flat on the floor in the narrow space between Alex’s bed and Grayson’s.

Alex laughed too, but then he was suddenly there, pushing Luna aside. Hovering over her, his eyes shifted from being filled with grief to something like genuine care, admiration even. He didn’t speak at first, just studied her as if trying to memorize the details of her features. Then he lifted his hand and let his knuckles brush lightly along her jaw.

He was attractive in the traditional sense of the word. His skin carried a warm glow that contrasted sharply with the dark stubble she’d felt graze her jaw the night before. She remembered the softness of his lips. But he’d pulled away so quickly. She couldn’t be sure if she’d imagined it or not. And then there was his hair, dark brown with hints of red where the light caught it. He parted it down the middle, though one curl always seemed determined to fall over his forehead.

Yes, he was handsome. But in moments like this, when the world around them faded and it was just the two of them, he was beautiful in a way that made her heart trip over itself.

“You have to promise me you’ll do whatever I say out there,” Alex whispered, his voice dropping low as he let his weight press into her just enough for her to feel it. “No debates. If I say run, you run. If I tell you to shoot, you shoot. Can you promise me that?”

Luci barely managed to nod, her breath catching in her throat.

“Words, Luci. I need you to use your words,” he added.

In all her years, Luci had never felt this flustered. He hadn’t even touched her in the way she wanted. He’d just closed the distance between them until the air had been pulled straight from her lungs and goosebumps prickled down her skin. Her thoughts scattered and she found herself wondering what it would be like to hear him speak to her in that same commanding tone with a little less clothing.

God, she hoped someday she’d find out.